Hi all, ive been having some trouble with my jumping technique and wondering if you guys would share some tips. I can jump and get decent air but my problem is, i come down hard and often very uncontrolled. I get some speed, bring the kite up past 12 oclock, edge upwind and then sheet in the bar. I go up, then as i get to the peak, i swing the kite forward into the direction i want to go. I then drop down hard so end up splashing down into the water hard which often leads to me losing my board or losing control of the kite. I dont know why i cant have a 'floaty' soft landing.
In almost all cases, a bad landing is caused by a poor take-off technique in the first place. You probably have a more horizontal pull rather than a vertical pull. With a poor take-off you will most often pendulum under your kite and accelerate very fast downwind. This causes your kite to fly too far forward (behind you). This makes your lines go slack and therefore it becomes very difficult to send the kite back in front of you for a softer landing, hence why you splash/crash hard upon landing.
You most likely need to work on your stance to begin with and have a much more aggressive edge (the more water you can spray off of your board, the better your stance is and the more aggressive your edge grip will be before take off).
With a better ''pop'' at take off you will have a more vertical pull and will have much better balance and control of your kite whilst in the air.
If you can't ''pop'' off of the water at least 1 meter high without sending your kite to 12' then that's another sign that you need to work on your stance/edging/timing skills.
You also need to think of pointing your board downwind before landing, the higher you go, the harder you need to re-direct the kite AND the more downwind you need to point the board.
Work on your pop without sending the kite to 12 at all, this can take a lot of practice to master. Also work on trying to spray as much water off of your board while riding.
Swinging under the kite (Pendulum effect) is normally caused by not carving upwind enough at take off (guilty of this myself on occasion).
Try practising aerial transitions/jump transitions. You'll need to wipe off your sideways momentum if you want to get these dialled in nicely. Its a much bigger carve upwind than you'll need to boost big but it should give you better control so you can find that sweet spot.
I bet you're redirecting too soon. Try redirecting it later and later to see the effect. Worst that'll happen if you leave your kite overhead is you'll parachute down ;)
Thanks all. I will start with carving harder before lift off and implement all the suggestions. Will also practice my popping without putting the kite up to 12.
I've got the same problem as you. Yesterday I decided to try looping the kite on the way down. It worked really well. I think because I've already pendulumed under the kite it makes a nice gentle loop
..... To edge hard up wind to pop do you basically just push your back foot out hard and lean back ??? I'm getting back on a twintip after a long time off and trying to get the jumping thing right too... Cheers
marno said.. ..... To edge hard up wind to pop do you basically just push your back foot out hard and lean back ??? I'm getting back on a twintip after a long time off and trying to get the jumping thing right too... Cheers
Have a look on YouTube for Lewis Crathern's video tutorials.
marno said.. ..... To edge hard up wind to pop do you basically just push your back foot out hard and lean back ??? I'm getting back on a twintip after a long time off and trying to get the jumping thing right too... Cheers
Have a look on YouTube for Lewis Crathern's video tutorials.
Cheers, those tutorials explain it all really well..
In almost all cases, a bad landing is caused by a poor take-off technique in the first place. You probably have a more horizontal pull rather than a vertical pull. With a poor take-off you will most often pendulum under your kite and accelerate very fast downwind. This causes your kite to fly too far forward (behind you). This makes your lines go slack and therefore it becomes very difficult to send the kite back in front of you for a softer landing, hence why you splash/crash hard upon landing.
You most likely need to work on your stance to begin with and have a much more aggressive edge (the more water you can spray off of your board, the better your stance is and the more aggressive your edge grip will be before take off).
With a better ''pop'' at take off you will have a more vertical pull and will have much better balance and control of your kite whilst in the air.
If you can't ''pop'' off of the water at least 1 meter high without sending your kite to 12' then that's another sign that you need to work on your stance/edging/timing skills.
You also need to think of pointing your board downwind before landing, the higher you go, the harder you need to re-direct the kite AND the more downwind you need to point the board.
Work on your pop without sending the kite to 12 at all, this can take a lot of practice to master. Also work on trying to spray as much water off of your board while riding.
Hope this helps
Christian
Totally Agree, well explained. Hope he watches the WOO jump video by top Red Bull riders which reinforces what you said. Here is the link. woosports.com/kite/jumphigher/
I spent a whole season trying to learn without much success. Next year I bought a $20 video by Anton chernyshov ( not sure about the last name). It is called 'Learning to Fly'. It is very detailed and long (50 min.) and it helped me to finally boost after watching it fee times and after about 10 sessions. I recommended it to a friend but he.didn't like it much, so it is personal.
It goes in detail into good stance and take off but there is not much about landing. Per previous comments, it is easy to land softly if your take off is correct.
I learnt kiting when I had lots of time but little money. Could not afford lessons but that $20 spent was well worth it for me.
Totally Agree, well explained. Hope he watches the WOO jump video by top Red Bull riders which reinforces what you said. Here is the link. woosports.com/kite/jumphigher/
