Hi all
I am trying to learn to pop, but have had no success so far.
I can pop over a bit of chop quite easily, but on flat water I just barely make it of the water.
I was just wondering exactly why do you bare of for a second before loading again? Is this just for balance to really be able to load well?
I bare of, then edge hard and just seem to kick up a bunch of spray and kill speed.
Thanks
Obviously, practice is the key. That said, particularly on flat water, try playing around with not baring off. I often get my best pop in flat water when I edge hard, build up speed and release the edge. Releasing the edge is something that took me a while to really understand and "feel". I started to get it by allowing the kite and the tension that had been built up to lift me from the water as I "popped" up and stopped edging hard. Make sure you don't kill the power in the kite by edging hard and barring in too much.
Thanks BurkeyBoy,
I will give that a go, so just load up, riding at moderate speed and then release the edge.
Sounds like it's going involve some face planting :-)
hey wihan,
when learning to pop i found it easiest to -
to pop you need to be going your proffered direction (goofy or natural), get speed while edging against the kite, once you have enough speed spot your takeoff (chop is easiest while learning) slightly edge towards the kite and letting a bit of slack in your lines, then aggressively edge against the kite quickly, and roll onto your toes, then bring your feet back under neath you to land cleanly. The actual pop should be a quick and fast movement.
once you can comfidently do this hooked in, try the same technique but unhook when you are edging towards the kite. Just remember not to send the kite and try keep your hands in the middle of the bar.
heres a few video tutorials -
unhooked raley (same concept, just dont focus on getting your legs above your head yet)
One step at a time. Forget unhooking for now and just remember the KISS principal.. Keep It Simple Stupid.
Hey. I been trying load n pop hooked in and wasn't getting huge amounts of air. Just enough for a grab. From the second vid in this post it looks like you need to be unhooked to get the big pop. Is that true? I know practice, practice, practice, but wondering if heading on the right track.
Also!
Do you get more pop on different rear pigtail settings i.e. A or B (best kahoona 2011 V3)
The kite boosts ok when you send it, but don't seem real lofty.
Cheers
Kitch
Sure, you're gonna get more pop unhooked. But as a few of you are struggling to get good pop hooked in I would assume you're still at a relative beginner to intermediate stage? Have a go at unhooking if you like at this stage, good luck with that There are stages of progression for a reason. I get hooked in pop up to 6 feet in flat water. Speed and quick release of the edge is the key.
A board with a reasonable bit of flex also helps.
Slightly off topic - how do you get good pop toeside? Do I need stronger toes?
@ WihanYou bear off so that the kite is deeper in the window when you load up and so that you can get some momentum of your body moving away from the kite, leaning further back as the tension in the lines is reduced, so you can load them up more as you carve away again.
@ KIT33R A flexy board will not help with pop. Most freeride boards these days have pathetically flexy tips that can't be loaded up. They just bend and absorb the energy: great for folk who have yet to learn to ride well through chop, crap for loading up.
Toeside pop will never be as strong, but same principles apply. That said, even Hadlow has his kite a bit higher when he initiates toeside tricks and therefore gets more height from his kite and requires less pop component.
You bear off also as its easier to unhook, it maybe only subtle and more of a flattening off edge rather than bearing downwind.
I have been using Liquid Force board shorts with dyanbar. I don't think it would be great for unhooking as the hook flips up as soon as you unhook. Might go back to waist harness next session to try riding unhooked and then a raley.
Thanks for the info
Kitch