what model kite were you using ?

Mate you gotta tell us you kite type. Some kites need to the kept at 12, bar pulled in especially just as you land. Some like mine ask to be downlooped or cranked across the window at the last minute.

You are probably not pulling in the bar and also leaving the kite at 1 or flying it too soon past 12 to 10...

numbers based on a south wester heading out to sea in WA. rework for your situation.

Yep the boys advice above is correct. type of kite makes a huge difference to how you apply/time the technique.

To be fair the technique is the same.

blast in one direction.
send kit in opposite direction past zenith.
pull bar in and jump
reach apex of jump
redirect kite back in the direction you are going
dive kite down into powerzone land and ride away.

Without know your kite all i can do is guess and draw a parallel with my kites. In the smaller faster sizes . you hold the kite for longer at the sent position then redirect and dive it down fast as you come in to land. its pretty important to have the slam the bar in just before landing if you have let it out.

I think you just aswered it in your reply dont pull bar till you are about to pop otherwise you kite is stalling on the way too zenith and when you are coming down shot that kite foward to pull you along istead of falling .

My Core GT's drop me like a rock. I'm almost ready to pull the trigger on a kite loop on the descent (but not yet), but apart from that the timing when I redirect/send it on landing is important if I want to keep moving.

Because I'm not yet game enough to pull the trigger on a loop on the descent between the apex and when I redirect it I sometimes 'wiggle' the kite back and forward across 12 o'clock, not much movement say 11:30 to 12:30 and only a couple of times, but it does seem to help slow the descent before I re-direct the kite proper.

Thanks guys, all good stuff to work on. I have no problem looping the kite with a surfboard to keep myself powered up, and I like downlooping carved turns. But when I am up in the air, its that marriage commitment thing. No backing out.
Hey Gerry, you are right about the bigger kite, with my 11.5 I don't seem to have the same issues. Hoping I can catch up with you this season for a few lessons on some serious hang time...I came back from Thailand early as I didn't like living there. Great place for a holiday, but few things beats Jervis Bay. Pretty spoiled really.
Okay, so its all about the speed, bar out when redirecting, pull in on pop, fly to zenith, redirect as I reach the summit. Down loop if I am feeling heroic, if not fly it across the window near zenith, then just before landing send it hard into the power zone.
You guys are great, thanks for the response.
Cheers

Ive not flown revs , my c4 does it too . so at a guess redirect earlier and while up there fly side to side vigorously .

breakzmaker said...

I know what you mean, you have to fly the revs more I found with my 9 rev 2. If it isnt square above your head, it will tend to just suck you back down into the water. I always had to keep mine up above me, almost at zenith, whenever I went big, otherwise I'd get spanked.

...it happens because the kite is not full sheeted in even with the bar pulled in, so you have to use the movement of the kite to generate power. This setting suits beginner intermediate kiters as they can't stall the kite even when fully sheeted. With extended front lines, the kite will fully sheet in and gives the float to the jump. However, with this setting the kite can stall and fly backwards when it is further in the power zone, e.g. after a crash, loosing control, wave riding.... Advanced riders who combine waves with jumps have to be aware of this to get the best of both worlds on a rev. I didn't find this problem on other kites, like Cats, RPM, Cult... what I flown last few years.

This is all very interesting...thanks for the continued input. Don't think I would add extensions to the front lines, maybe bring the back lines down two knots. I hate when the kite flys backwards, not a fan. I would be more inclined just to keep the kite moving above my head from 11 to 1, or slightly less. It does mean looking up at the kite to see where it is while practicing this.
I really like the idea of the downloop, its going to have to be a perfect day for me to commit the first time.
cheers

My advice would be to tune your kite properly. It's probably stalling while your in the air do your having trouble redirecting it for a smoot landing. Have your back lines equal length with your front when the bar is pulled in and your powered up fully.

Only flew the rev2 13m but the thing I can say about smaller kites is you need to fly them a little more than big kites because they don't have the same amount of float. I tend to send the kite, do the jump, redirect at the peak of the jump as i would normally but send it back again and the redirect forward hard before landing. It tends to be more of a problem on my 7m than the bigger kites.

As I mentioned before, I have no problem jumping with bigger kites, its just that with the 9 and 7 I fall out of the sky. There are some great enlightening tips here for me, so again, thanks. With my 11.5 and other 12 meter kites I have flown I get plenty of hang time and easy smooth redirect. These Revs however are really whippy, the move fast, and the best explanation that has been given is that I am stalling the kite by sheeting too soon when I send it. Also, a few months ago during the peak of winter I went out to a flatwater spot on howling westerly, rode my 7 meter kite, it was over 30 knots, gusting in the low 40s. I hardly had to send it to get launched, and I do remember flying it from 11 to 1 to stay in the air. That is the only time I have flown that kite with a tt', and in those kind of winds. I prefer it as a surf kite. But I want to get the jumping aspect with a small kite down, hence coming here to learn. Perhaps a different kite will help with that, maybe a small kite that isn't so quick, who knows. But I am lacking in the technique as far as how I sheet and understanding the dynamics of where the kite should sit while I am on the way back down.
Again, that was another reason why I posed the question earlier, what does it mean when people say, " to have the kite catch up to you." Does that mean the kite is in front of you where you can see it, or behind you? I still don't have a clear idea what that means.
And finally, yes, it does take loads of practice, some heartache, hopefully not too much body ache, to get to the level of big air on small kites. I have the time, the patience, and hopefully a strong enough body to withstand the punishment to break through.....
cheers

hmmm, by all reports, downlooping is the way to go...
So, when do you actually pull the trigger for the loop? Half way down, or just after apex? Or a meter or so before impact? I am gearing myself up for for the first trigger to pull.....(my insurance is up to date!)

Thought id add something... Some kites do not respond well when sheeted in. Having never flown your kites can't comment on how they respond but its worth trying sheeting out fora really brief micro second whilst redirecting there kite, this will initiatea much quicker movement in the kite which will help generate lift for your landing.

I normally do this on smaller jumps but just depends on how far back the kite is in the window at the layer stages of the descent!

Also try looking up at your kite occasionally whilst your learning the motions (back and fourth) helped me back in the day!

Josh