OK so now I wanna jump...

[cedric]

Hi there,

I guess I'm an intermediate kiter now, going upwind fine, getting my turns toeside to heelside ok, playing around with little waves at 3rd ave, feeling pretty good on the board. Great, having a total blast.

But now I wanna jump. So I watched my BOOST II video for the 12th time and I tried to do what they say but man do I get my ass kicked !! Very often I fly horizontally, or send the kite too quick forward which gets me slammed. In fact, once airbone I don't really know what to do.
It's pretty laughable so far.

The main points I cannot seem to master are (basically everything in fact):
-How high do I fly the kite ?
-How fast should I go ?
-How much should I steer backward?
-How long should I wait before sending the kite forward.
-Should I look at the kite once airborne ?
-What types of moves should I try at the beggining (besides the "slamming water in the face" move) ?

Thanks for any advice, with luck I can still try this season.

Cheers

Cedric

[jstjohn3]

Practice, Practice, Practice. The description of what you're doing sounds about right for someone just starting to catch air. It certainly won't hurt to sneak a peek at your kite once in a while to associate it's path in relation to where your body happens to be careening through the sky at that particular moment. There is no "one" way to jump as there are many different flight paths one can decide, or NOT DECIDE, to take. You're in for a treat. Finding your way through the air to a nice landing is going to change your life forever.

[cedric]

So I guess there are no magic tricks. Try it, fall, try again. An avoid drinking too much bay water...

[charlie]

nicely put john,
and the old
try to send the kite from 10 to 1 oclock or 2 to 11
tip #2,as soon as you start to leve the water ,start to pull back with your foword hand so the kite comes over your head,
bring the kite over to the way your going.
i liike to compress my body in the air so i can reach for the water with my leggs for landing.
start with small" send its" working bigger and bigger.
happy flights

[Pablito]

One trick that helped me was to ride with your bar out against the stopper (ie, don't ride locked in to your harness loop or powerlock), setting the sheet strap so you still have enough power to go upwind. Then as you initiate the jump (moving your kite towards the zenith) pull your bar down all the way (power up). You will instantly generate twice as much power, which may make up for the lack of "pop" you are getting from your board.

On your way back down, let the bar out again, which will soften your landing and slow you down (although it also may make it harder to keep riding when you land, but when you're first learning to jump, you probably will just sink into the water when you land anyway).

[sflinux]

I agree with Charlie's post. I found myself to be in more control if I started out with smaller jumps and gradually be more aggresive with the kite (11 to 12, 10 to 12, 11 to 1, 10 to 1, etc). The key thing you want to work on is smooth landings. Once you can land small jumps smoothly, gradually go bigger.
One thing people didn't mention is when to release your edge. If you release your edge to early, you will do horizontal jumps like you mentioned. I find it helpful to have speed (enough where you are in control). If you bring your kite low you'll get some acceleration, then send your kite back near zenith and try to edge hard upwind. Release your edge when you start to feel a vertical pull. Follow Charlie's advice, once you are in the air, pull on your forward hand to bring the kite back in the direction you were originally going. If you don't send the kite back, you will fall like a rock. If you send the kite back, it will give you some momentum so you can land with some speed. Again, I recommend starting off with small jumps with the focus on successful landings. Do like Charlie said, and have your knees bent in mid-air, so you can use you legs as shock absorbers in the landings.

[cedric]

Alright that sounds good. Seems like the good timing for releasing the edge is a key.
I guess that another tricky part is when and how fast to send the kite forward. I remember sending it too early (or too fast) on a big -well for my standards- jump and got pulled forward real strong, ending in a violent face down in the water, kinda scary (I'm not too excited about breaking my ribs). If the pull forward is too hard then the chest goes forward and the legs stay behind, talking about a smooth landing!
I guess starting small helps keep the balance at the beginning and not feel like a puppet played by the kite once in the air.

Cedric

[Pablito]

Some kites accelerate much more quickly than others coming down from 12 oclock (others here probably know the techie reasons, I don't). I have an Airrush Lift that generates amazing power and speed into the landing -- which is great once you get the hang of jumping, but when you're learning...faceplant city.

Another thing to think about is where your hands are on the bar. Some kites take a lot more bar pressure to both launch and land properly. Others require much lighter pressure, and if you jack the bar too hard, you will go up and down way too fast. It doesn't sound like you're having this problem, but if you do, try moving your hands closer to the middle of the bar.

Also, learning to jump and jumping in general is much easier as a beginner/intermediate when the wind is really steady. This seems like a "DUH" point, but I know that as a beginner, you're often not sure whether your are doing something wrong or the wind is. The gusty wind we've been having lately is going to make improving your jumps much more challenging. The experienced guys will say, "No, gusts are great for jumping", but that's a ways off in your (our) future riding...

[cedric]

I'm riding slinsghot, mostly 05 Fuel 13m. Don't know how that compares to your airush. It feels kinda fast turning to me.

As for the gusts, well sure I'd like the wind to be nice and steady, but I found 3rd to be often gusty, and I don't feel comfortable working on my jumps way out in the channel. I try to watch the other kiters and see where and when they start to jump to assess how good the situation is.
But I don't get enough opportunities to go on the water to get picky.

All your advices are great by the way.

c

[Pablito]

Well, when it's gusty, you're supposed to time your jumps when the gusts hit (bigger jumps, easier to handle the extra wind in the air, etc.) You set your sheeting to be powered in the lulls and sortof OPed in the gusts. But if you're like me, you're often too scared to do that, so you keep your kite depowered so you can hang onto your edge in the gusts and not get yanked. Then, you try to boost when the gusts drop off and don't have enough power.. Which might be another reason your jumps tend to be horizontal.

However, if you get it dialed in this fall, I'm sure you'll be nailing it next season when the wind smooths out.