Hi, trying to downloop transition, managed to do it when I tried it the first couple of times, and now i just keep slamming the LE into water - I must now be over-thinking it. I am competent with toeside, and I thought that I had good kite control - obviously I don't.
Does anyone have any tips? I have read conflicting advice on where the kite should be, 45,60 and even 75 degrees- where should it be when I initiate the turn?
Would it be easier to practice down looping the kite when off my board, or can it only really be done with some tacking speed - the times that i got it working I felt significant pull down wind - which felt awesome, but could hurt if I was simply body dragging?
Any help appreciated, thanks guys.
Steve
Hello Steve
You need to really commit to the turn and pull hard on your front hand
I keep my kite at either 10 ish or 2 ish depending on direction
I started with edging hard to stop then down looping the kite and following in the new direction
Once you have confidence in the kite you can switch to toe side and down loop the kite during your turn
It looks harder then it is - Just commit and give it a go
hope this helps
Tristan
Hey Steve
try initally from even higher say 11 or 1 then you will learn how much room you will need to get the kite around and once you get used to that then you can send the kite from lower.
My favourite transition and very handy in the surf as well.
I'd say that if you keep slamming it into the water your lines don't have enough tension through the turn and the kite is not responding when you work the bar. This means the arc of your turn is too wide and you're running too much down wind or your not starting with a loaded kite.
Before you start the transition, I assume you're already toeside, load up the kite by pushing upwind as hard as you can with your back foot (up on your backfoot toes). Front hand only on the bar. Slowly take the kite high. Change to back hand on the bar only, then straighten up a bit with lots of speed and turn the kite under. Prepare for the pull.
Lean back and try to be my aggresive on your back foot heel as the kite comes round, keep a small arc on the water to keep line tension and the kite will come round quickly. Put both hands on the bar now to straighten up the kite in the new direction. If it pulls too hard bear away a little to regain control and then re-apply back foot pressure.
You can also control the turn with bar pressure as well. Hope this makes sense. It's all about maintaining line pressure so that the kite responds to your comands quickly.
Thanks guys. I think the answer is that I have been pointing the board downwind and loosing line tension and control. - cheers.
Nailed it yesterday, thanks guys. It was all about loading the lines before the loop.
Although, on my last one, I got a bit cocky and the arc of my turn was too wide and went down wind into the slack lines - all I could think of was that poor guy who lost the top part of his finger, eitherway, when the kite fell out of the sky the lines inverted which ended my session.
Although, I've got it! Cheers again.
Hi Steven83,
Yep!, You're onto it. Just initiate the downloop before you start the turn on the board but be more upright so the pull from the kite will tow your downwind as required.
if you start the carve first, the lines lose tension and the kite responds too slowly.
Enjoy!
KH
