#1Board Control
- Aim your board upwind, push hard off the back foot and try to make a small pop!
- If you start sliding… Put your pressure on the back foot. Losing your edge… Try placing less pressure on your heels.
- Nail the pop and you’ll already see jumps of >1m on your WOO! 👍
- To maintain board control when overpowered, build your board angle, keep your weight back, and depower the kite to allow your body to stay back. Keep that harness tight so it’s not pulling you over your edge!
- Smaller boards can help build speed in flat water, but can be unstable in chop. Big fins can help you hold your edge in big wind.
- Larger kites will help create more power, just be sure you’re not getting ripped off your edge too early as you pop. The highest jumps have a big pop UP vs. a pop downwind.
- Build speed and line tension until you catch a gust, and then edge upwind to generate a big POP!
- Use swell and waves for the perfect ramp, edging to the top of the wave as you start sending the kite.
#2Sending the Kite
- Steer the kite just past 12. Once airborne, level off the bar and remain calm
- Finally redirect the kite smoothly to gain a soft floating landing 👌
- Common mistakes 🙅 Failing to send the kite with commitment, sending the kite too far (to 2) by continuing to pull on the back-hand
- If you see a 3s hang-time or more, it’s a good sign that you are using the kite well! 🙌🏿
- Expand your comfort sending the kite bit by bit. Practice generating power by signing the kite while resisting with your edge.
- Want to generate more power? Send the kite faster!
- C-Kites require a more dramatic send than Bow Kites
- Finishing the send with the kite overhead will pull you UP, not forward, leading to higher jumps!
#3 #4 #5Approaching Takeoff
- Place your hands in the center of the bar
- Sheet the bar out as much as possible, while still in contact with the steering lines
- If your bar is too far in, the kite will be to deep in the window 🙅🏽♂️ If your bar is too far out, you won’t gain much height 🙅🏾
- Focus on good timing and a good center of gravity 👈
- Sending the board upwind keeps tension on the kite
- As the kite hits 12, bring your butt down to the water
- Your body weight should be distributed mainly over your back-foot
- Just as you clear all contact with the water,
- Face the board just behind you
- Sheet your bar in fully to obtain maximum lift
- When in the air, aim to get your weight backwards, and your board in front of you as soon as possible 🙏🏾
- Keep edging on a consistent tack as you approach takeoff with an eye on your takeoff spot
- As you approach takeoff, you should be sheeted out on the bar, keeping the kite above you as you send it and allowing for room to sheet in to boost upward
- Experiment with different tacks and depower for faster board speed
- Lean against the harness and dig in your back heel to hold down lots of power. Lowering your butt may cause the harness to ride up.
- As you send the kite, you’ll get a brief moment to edge upwind as the kite “breathes”. This should allow you to pop without losing your edge.
- A center fin might help you edge…. 😉
#6Kite position while airborne
- Try to avoid unnecessary movements
- The kite needs to stay above you as long as possible
- Common mistakes: Continue pulling on the back-hand and the kite will offer less hang-time; Moving the kite too severely, you will lose that nice floaty feeling
- Good kite position increases your hang time & reduces your landing g-force
Q&A Week of 3/5
#7Bar position while airborne
- Straight after take-off: sheet the bar in. This will maximize your lift and give you a direct feeling with the kite
- In the air, try to not apply any harsh inputs on the bar
- These techniques will give you a solid floaty boost, which you will see on your height stats 😎
Q&A Week of 3/5
#8Body positioning while airborne
- Bring your knees up after take-off to keep balanced. This also encourages you to use your core more 🤙
- Try to look into the direction of travel to avoid rotating into a front-roll
- The earlier you are able to adjust your position, the more effective your boosting will become
Q&A Week of 3/12
#9Redirecting the kite
- By redirecting the kite, you receive that horizontal float for a smooth landing
- Common mistakes: Redirecting too soon accelerates you down wind with a heavy landing; Redirecting too late gives you a big bomb 💣
- With a well-timed redirection, the g-force on your landings will decrease 👊🏽
Q&A Week of 3/19
#10Landing
- Allow your body to drop out of that tucked position, directing the board down-wind
- Common mistakes: Too much weight applied to back-foot will result in a crash; Try to land on an edge nearly always results in sliding out
- With enough practice, you should be able to record some landings below 2g in your WOO stats with a clean ride away! 👌
Q&A Week of 3/26
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