shano82 said..
OK, so I've cracked the basics of boosting and getting off the water, can do small jumps and land fairly smoothly, however once I start to really send the kite and get some decent air, I'm finding it nearly impossible not to hit the water like a sack of spuds.
I'm sending the kite from 10 o'clock to 12ish, getting off the water, and staying under the kite, no pendulum effect...bar pulled all the way in and kept in....and then I'm basically dropping straight down and landing on my butt/back. I've tried sending the kite back down from 12 as I approach the water, and pulling it to my hip to try and rotate so I'm pointing downwind as I land, but it's not seeming to help much.
Should I be:
a) flying the kite a bit more while I'm at the peak of my jump and on the way back down to try and keep it powered up? (ie zigzag from 10-1 or something...I'm not up to kiteloops yet)
b) sending the kite back down from 12 more aggressively (ie same as I send it up to 12 to get off the water) or earlier?
Ive been trying the last few days with a 2013 Airush VarialX 12m (18-20 knots), 2015 Neo 6m (25-30knots) and 2013 Fuse 7m (22-25 knots) - they've all been able to yank me off the water and get what feels like some decent height, so I'm putting it down to technique rather than kites.
I had the same problem (you can find a similar thread I posted several weeks ago). Watched all utube videos, have ‘Progression’ video, read forum threads, some of our esteemed forum members offered advice, some even volunteered their time – I joined their sessions to get a few tips, but I still could not get it. It seams it comes natural to some - quite depressing to read posts ‘I started 6 months ago, can go toe side both sides, jump and boost high, but have trouble with landing some of my kite loops’.
It is nearly 3 years since I started kitesurfing and I had some ‘mental block’ when it came to landing jumps
(like you, I figured out how to get up above the water, but could not figure out how to come down with grace). As a last ditch attempt I bought a ‘Learning To Fly’ video – next step was to be one on one instructions with an experienced instructor at $200 or so per lesson. The video is about 50 min long and covers in detail a basic jump. After watching it about 5 times and 4 sessions later I can jump twice as high as I used to and land 7 out of 10 jumps. When I don’t land them, I usually know exactly what I have done wrong.
The video has very little on landing – it is all about correct body position when riding, preparation for the jump, edging, and timing of the jump. After watching it for the first time I was disappointed that there is hardly anything about landing in it as ‘only landing’ was my problem. After putting the theory into practice I learned that I had many problems that I was not aware of. I learned that if my riding stance, edging, position of kite, and timing are right, the jumps are smooth, high, well controlled, and the landing ‘just happens’. Just like everybody says, couple meters above the water ‘redirect your kite and point the board downwind’ - but it works only when everything beforehand is done wright.
I have no affiliation with the author of the video (Anton) but I recommend it to all newbees and intermediate riders who reached the ‘mow the lawn’ stage. Even if you think jumping is not for you, the video will give you detailed description on how to improve your riding stance, greatly improve your upwind performance, teach you how to control the power of the kite so you don’t claim that you must change the kite or board when the wind picks up or drops off a little. And jumping? Jumping is so easy when you do the basics right!
I wish I had this video two years ago - It would have cut out months of frustration out of my learning curve. Learning is part of fun, but it is not fun if you can’t progress through one basic step for a year. Best spent $25 - utube preview below:
Good luck!
