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Learning to get air "load and pop"

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Northwest Kiteboarding -> Gorge / Portland / Oregon Coast
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kayak4r

Since 12 Jul 2018
6 Posts

Kook



PostThu Jul 12, 18 10:15 am    Learning to get air "load and pop" Reply with quote

Hey All,

Just started riding upwind and smoothing out my transitions this year and looking to lay the groundwork for jumping and freestyle. My last lesson ended with attempting to get a little air and I have watched a lot of you tube videos on the matter. Was hoping some forum members would be able to give a little insight and on getting air without sending the kite.

I'm specifically confused if I should be bearing downwind a little before carving hard upwind to load the edge. Seems like when I do this I lose all tension in the lines and when I carve hard upwind I slow down and either sink or am no longer going fast enough to get any pop. My second question and confusion is do I need to be stomping down on my back foot heel edge for pop or is releasing the edge enough. Looking for both riding in chop and the flats.

Thanks for any input or links to other topics I couldn't find by searching.

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North

Since 01 Feb 2016
30 Posts

 



PostThu Jul 12, 18 11:00 am     Reply with quote

Good for you for learning pop before trying sent kite jumps. You are learning in the correct order.

To answer your question, yes, you will get better pop with a quick downwind heading to gain a little speed, then crank hard upwind and pop. That said, it's going to take a long time to get your timing down, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with first learning to pop without the extra speed. As far as flat vs chop goes, I'd start in flat water to figure out the technique. Sometimes, you'll get decent air off chop even when you time it wrong and at this stage of the game, you need to learn the difference and try to perfect your pop timing.

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knotwindy

Since 25 Sep 2011
598 Posts

Addicted



PostThu Jul 12, 18 1:18 pm     Reply with quote

Not sure this applies to you but I see it a lot when people are learning. As a beginner going upwind is a priority so they try to learn to pop from going upwind hard. If you are really pushing upwind hard and bear off you will slack the line and slow down unless you have a ton of speed. Try riding across the wind more to start with so when you quickly bear off and back up again you are not slowing/slacking as much. You need the kite back in the window more to begin with, not pushing towards the front of the window.
Again, hard to tell without seeing you but this is really a common problem that you cannot see on the videos and is not talked about much.

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bwd

Since 04 Aug 2007
385 Posts

Obsessed



PostThu Jul 12, 18 4:17 pm     Reply with quote

SOunds like your bearing downwind, then upwind + pressing/popping off back foot is just slow.
The whole deal normally should take 1-2 sec.
And you need to be powered enough that doing it does NOT slack lines.
Speed (&therefore line tension) should build through the first half of the move.
Really just try building speed while edging on beam or close reach, then briefly flatten board - like for 1 second- so it boosts your speed and carries you a few meters downwind.
Then carve upwind a bit without edging hard.
Instead of focusing on how hard you edge and angle board with your heels, just focus on stomping all your weight on back foot, what feels like straight down.
It’s not really straight down though, since the board does have some angle, just not the max angle you can dig in with your heels. This fact is the key to how it works!!!
As you do this, send kite up a little ( like from 9:30-10:00 ) and sheet in.
Straighten your back leg as you pull your front leg up. Try to also pull back leg up at last second (split second).
Congrats you just did a pop jump.
Look down at the world from a few feet up.
Smile.
Land.
Practice.
The few feet may become few meters, if you work at it and ride
powered.

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kayak4r

Since 12 Jul 2018
6 Posts

Kook



PostFri Jul 13, 18 7:19 am     Reply with quote

Thank you all for the advice. I know for sure that once I figured out going upwind...that's all I'm constantly trying to do. So, I absolutely know for sure that I'm starting the load and pop steps with an already way to aggressive upwind direction. I'm going to try and back off a bit and ride across on my next attempts, try it with out bearing downwind and add that in later.

I'm also definitely too slow if the whole deal should only be a couple seconds max. Like when I was learning to ride toeside...it took a lot of convincing and thinking in the brain to slide out from the heels to the toes, but now it's almost second nature and when I decide to switch I just do it. So, I'll try to speed it up.

Just dialing it all in, so when I get to the point of really sending the kite. I've gots lots of nice pop to work with!

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