Jumping is hard!
Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2013 4:42 pm
Headed out on Sunday for about 90 minutes with the ol' twin tip and worked on getting some air. Had some success, but also plenty of time body dragging back to my board after crashing. My biggest issue didn't seem to be landing when I did get into the air, thank you snowboarding, but rather getting the kite to pull me up instead of just downwind, dragging my board out from under me and teabagging me good.
I think my main issue is not holding that hard edge long enough, or perhaps not enough speed.
Should I be holding a typical upwind edge for speed, then carve hard upwind right before I pull hard on my back hand? Maybe I was losing speed holding that hard edge too long. I usually find that I fly my kite a bit too close to the water compared to others, but I was pretty diligent this day about keeping it around 45 degrees, at least when I was preparing to take flight. I got way upwind of the crowds after my first tack so I tried getting closer to that hill that seems to smooth out the water a bit more... perhaps I should just head down to lower launch for this kind of thing. Any advice on what I'm likely doing wrong would be greatly appreciated.
Anyway, I did manage to get my first grab while launching off of a wave, which was a little strange since I've never done a stalefish grab and my first attempt at going for the classic indy felt very awkward, whereas the stalefish felt GREAT. Also worked on my slide transitions, which greatly improved, and general stance to keep more weight against the kite and keep water from spraying my face by twisting my hips and keeping my front leg a little straighter. A great overall session and excited to get back out for more. I do miss my surfboard though.
I think my main issue is not holding that hard edge long enough, or perhaps not enough speed.
Should I be holding a typical upwind edge for speed, then carve hard upwind right before I pull hard on my back hand? Maybe I was losing speed holding that hard edge too long. I usually find that I fly my kite a bit too close to the water compared to others, but I was pretty diligent this day about keeping it around 45 degrees, at least when I was preparing to take flight. I got way upwind of the crowds after my first tack so I tried getting closer to that hill that seems to smooth out the water a bit more... perhaps I should just head down to lower launch for this kind of thing. Any advice on what I'm likely doing wrong would be greatly appreciated.
Anyway, I did manage to get my first grab while launching off of a wave, which was a little strange since I've never done a stalefish grab and my first attempt at going for the classic indy felt very awkward, whereas the stalefish felt GREAT. Also worked on my slide transitions, which greatly improved, and general stance to keep more weight against the kite and keep water from spraying my face by twisting my hips and keeping my front leg a little straighter. A great overall session and excited to get back out for more. I do miss my surfboard though.