Sounds silly I know as how hard is it to straighten your arm..? yeah right
. I'm struggling with straightening it so I keep space between me & the rig. Anyone else gone through this stage & got any tips on how to get the brain to make the arms do what i want..
Going through the same thing myself.
Something I am considering on those light wind days, is to head down to the park with a steady breeze and practicing on land.... going through the motions for a few hours of repetition has to help....
If you really grab far back enough on the back hand you have a better chance of straightening you front arm going into the gybe, as well as leaning into the turn.
Always look where you want to go, not at hands/feet whatever. I find looking where I want to go helps prevent lots of gumby stuff like having the sail too close etc. When I enter a gybe I usually do a quick shoulder check to make sure noone is at the gybe exit. Once I enter the gybe I'm looking around the mast at the inside of the gybe and where I want to go. If you don't look where you are going you have no chance of seeing bumps etc and reacting to them, you may as well close your eyes and hope.
I also find raking the sail back a little on entry helps me see the entry a bit better and focus on where I'm going rather than what my feet and hands are doing, as well as keeping some rig/body separation. Usually when I bin a gybe or do a gumby one, it's because I've taken my eyes off where I'm going.
Think about turning the board by leaning the rig forward rather than with pressure on the downwind rail. Let the rig pull you forward and over to carve the board.
Practice on dry land, even on a non windy day certainly helps.
I need to practise the foot changes on land again too as I am getting clumsy & need to think too much on the water..
Just that I know all the flaws & bad habits will show up once I go back to summers choppy water..
I've heard of gaffa tape on the elbow being used to good effect!
Been trying to get this jibe thing down pat for over 15 years and I still at it!
But my best result has been when I don't think about it too much, just keep focused and looking into the direction of the turn.
Yes I need to keep more mast foot pressure..Ive got slack in the flat water but it will get me when I go back to choppy conditions!
then its back to gumbo ville.. Might try the gaffa tape- dont want to be looking at my elbow to see if its bent when I should be looking at the exit!
As a general gybe practice, after watching Guy Cribb, i setup board(less fin), with mastfoot, mast bottom section and boom in garden and stepped thru the gybe.
First of all very slowly noting that i had everything correct, then faster, then with eyes shut (I've not done that bit on the water!)
The main key I always advice for a good jibe is to move your backhand back on the boom (maybe longer back than you think). This is mentioned by others here as well.
The mast foot pressure, rail grip, control, right position with the front arm, bending the knees will all follow easier from the wider grip..
The wider grip gives you a lot more control over the rig and you are leaning more over the board and into the jibe. This engages the mast foot pressure and get the rail "to bite". Your knees kind of automatic bend more and absorbs the bumps.
Also try to swing the sail on a earlier stage in the jibe, so you are not going to much upwind out of the jibe and loosing speed.
Whenever I forget to move the back hand back the jibe getting pretty average,,
If you are a fast sailor you don't need to get into the jibe full speed. Slow down a little before the jibe. Most important is to commit 100%. Wide grip and the first foot steering into the jibe you pull the rig slightly back as this engages the mast foot pressure and rail grip as well in the same time you are leaning into it. Swing the sail earlier than you think to keep speed and momentum.
For lighter wind the wide grip still apply. But if the jibe is slower (or bigger sails), then it is more important to move more weight forward on the board to keep the speed up.. Kind of ride the board "flatter" around.
Bit of a repeat of what other said,, - but just my view on it.
Thanks.The video is ok but but I prefer the Guy cribb one I have. It breaks it down more . Also a few things - in the first gybe he grabs the mast as he gybes which is a bad habit to get into.
The 2nd one she uses overhand grip to grab the other boom which tends to make you stand up and you cant grab as far back.So that's not as good in chop.
Not that I can do it.. But I like the way Cribby does it..He also does the hand change with the least amount of grabs..
If only it was as easy to do as critique..
Try duck gybes. They are an under rated gybe and aren't as hard as they they look. As you start the gybe move your back hand back a bit and then as the board is heading down wind, with your reach across with your front hand and grab the end of the boom. If you keep the board on the plane the sail will be lite and you duck under the sail grab the other side of the boom and sail off. As long as you don't loose the sail , chances are the board will stay on the plane more often than a carve gybe.
This is bringing back flashbacks.....
One of the other tips someone gave me is bend the knees and use the bow and arrow position.
Bow and Arrow - as in front arm straight back arm sheeted in (and having the wide hold on the boom) this actually pulls you forward over the board.
The gybe is probably one of the more complex moves in windsurfing, so many things need to happen in a short space of time and then all the variable depending on wind and water state.
When Cribby does the rig flip and the old back hand becomes the new front hand, as he reaches under he grabs the other side of the boom with an underhand grip instead of an overhand grip, wondering how many people do that. 
When he does a boom shaka, sailing out clew first, he extends the front arm throwing the rig forward while letting go of the back hand which enables it to slide towards the mast clamp, so he's not really sliding his hand back in a boom shaka he's pushing the rig forward and letting the boom slide thru this back hand.
I have one of those T boom bras with a small mast pad connected to the boom bra, this keeps me from grabbing the mast.
..on the plan for this summer when I get the arcs sorted out ( foot pressure )..
It's tempting to stay with my bad habits as I get most of my gybes & plane out reasonably often but I know if I learn the right way I'll be so much better..I don't want to fall in all the time as I relearn..
But I like the way Cribby does it..He also does the hand change with the least amount of grabs..
But I like the way Cribby does it..He also does the hand change with the least amount of grabs..
If you want to know how far you should lean forward going into a gybe, stay hooked in into your harness. The rig will pull you forward, but the power will release and become neutral as you turn down wind. Keep leaning, begin to move the sail forward so the mast is over your outside rail. When you begin to feel power in the sail again (you will be sailing clew first) release the back hand as you complete your foot work, reach under grabing boom under grip, sheet in and sail out.
Try sailing into the gybe still hooked in. Move your backhand back 20 cm on the boom. Turn down wind and sheet in hard. This will lift you forward out of your sailing position (your harness will unhook automatically). Keep leaning forward hard bending your knees. Put all your weight on your boom as you lean. Keep carving through the gybe all the way around until the sail is neutralizes and lays down and sinks into the water. The purpose of this is to show you how far you can commit leaning forward, and how much pressure you can lean onto the boom through the down wind part of you gybe. If your half hearted you will not be able to push the sail down onto the water!!
Once you've done this a few times try to use the same amount of commitment but start switching feet and flipping your sail to complete a gybe. If your not committing enough into the gybe the board doesnt stay on rail, flattens out and becomes very prone to chop etc, making it very hard to stay balanced.
Hopefully you'll realize that the as long as there you have wind passing over the outside of your sail it will not touch the water (there's pressure there). Before you know it you'll be doing lay-down gybes.
When you initiate the gybe, do you change from underhand to overhand on the front hand?
