Is there anyone who can ride unhooked down the line decently who goes back to riding hooked in because they actually like it better?
Select to expand quoteBrien said..
Is there anyone who can ride unhooked down the line decently who goes back to riding hooked in because they actually like it better?
Haven't heard of one so far 
.
Select to expand quoteeppo said..
no spark it's called EVOLUTION...didnt you know...
I assume you're taking the piss Eppo.
But it kind of doesn't really add up, because whether you remember or not Felix was actually a big advocate of riding waves with twin-tips and boots and then later on was one of the last riders to loose the straps... So in a way your piss take is actually a piss take inside a piss take... I call it Pissception.
Select to expand quotesir ROWDY said..Dave Whettingsteel said..
I ride with straps and love them but the video Austin posted got me thinking... I totally rate him as a brave and gusty wave rider, and him riding unhooked, how far the bar moved away from his body as he was doing turns sort of showed how if you disconnect the power transmission train it changes how you ride. I'm pretty crap, but I can see how it would enhance your style.
So it's not the act of unhooking that matters, but how it mighty enhance your experience that matters.
Still reckon that op video was unreal but. However he did it!
Agreed. Also agree it was a pretty cool video.
Un-hooked (and un-strapped) is all about pushing yourself and pushing the boundaries of what people think is possible.
Logic would tell you that putting straps on your skateboard would be the easiest way to get it off the ground, likewise that taking a helicopter to the top of a mountain would be a far easier way to get there than climbing it... but it's usually not the easiest way that's the most for filling, progressive or enjoyable way to do something.
100% agree with pushing yourself unstrapped, couldn't care what people think is possible... we ride in two inch slop (and that really is talking it up) but the constant challenge of striving to improve is where I am enjoying the sport and being strapped to the board really limits that.
My 2 cents
Select to expand quotesir ROWDY said...Brien said..
Is there anyone who can ride unhooked down the line decently who goes back to riding hooked in because they actually like it better?
Haven't heard of one so far .
Question answered.
Felix is a legend but has more powered style
And the two hands on the bar with arms stretched above your head mid bottom turn…. is not "freed up"
I don't know…. maybe if our ideas of the direction of progression differs then there's no use discussing it??
Select to expand quoteJedibrad said..
Felix is a legend but has more powered style
And the two hands on the bar with arms stretched above your head mid bottom turn…. is not "freed up"
I don't know…. maybe if our ideas of the direction of progression differs then there's no use discussing it??
I'm quite obviously not referring to Felix as a benchmark (or the style he has)...
I agree, two hands on the bar looks crook, I try not to do that ever... (not like you don't see tons of photos of people in mags hooked-in bogging off the top doing the same thing 
.)
You can have your own ideas, you don't need to be inline with my thinking.
I will say however that i think it's narrow minded to think just because you don't see people doing something well all the time, that it's not progressive. If you had never seen what people do wake-style kiting now you would think the exact same thing if you saw someone doing the first crappy looking raleys or similar.
Select to expand quotesir ROWDY said..
Jedibrad said..
Felix is a legend but has more powered style
And the two hands on the bar with arms stretched above your head mid bottom turn…. is not "freed up"
I don't know…. maybe if our ideas of the direction of progression differs then there's no use discussing it??
You can have your own ideas, you don't need to be inline with my thinking.
I will say however that i think it's narrow minded to think just because you don't see people doing something well all the time, that it's not progressive.
I most definetly give up...
So what is the definition of progression?
Maybe a hydrogen filled balloon/kite, unhooked, strapless, riding in a cross-on steady wind with a perfect peeling wave and you can wave the bar about with slack lines and ride the wave like a surfer until the wave ends and you have a kite available to get you back to the line-up without paddling?
Is surfing the ultimate and a kite is a handicap that has to be minimised?
Select to expand quoteterminal said..
So what is the definition of progression?
Is surfing the ultimate and a kite is a handicap that has to be minimised?
What ever you want it to be really... I mean what's "advancing" an art-form? What is art?
I don't see how you're "minimising" the kite aspect any-more by un-hooking than staying hooked-in... if anything according to a few people in this thread it would be the opposite way around .
Select to expand quoteeppo said..sir ROWDY said..
Jedibrad said..
Felix is a legend but has more powered style
And the two hands on the bar with arms stretched above your head mid bottom turn…. is not "freed up"
I don't know…. maybe if our ideas of the direction of progression differs then there's no use discussing it??
You can have your own ideas, you don't need to be inline with my thinking.
I will say however that i think it's narrow minded to think just because you don't see people doing something well all the time, that it's not progressive.
I most definetly give up...
Probably a good move, it will be just like staying hooked-in, take the easy path .
Select to expand quoteterminal said...
So what is the definition of progression?
Not having to paddle
Regardless of what i think is better or worse and why or why not one should do it, the stupidest part is there are people getting defensive over the topic.
Hooked, unhooked, strapped, unstrapped, surfboard, twintip, skate or whatever other weird craft you choose to ride.
Blow the bloody thing up and go kiting.
If your unhappy about someone else's preferences, stay down the other end of the beach.... cos its all fun and we hate haters.
Select to expand quotesir ROWDY said..eppo said..sir ROWDY said..
Jedibrad said..
Felix is a legend but has more powered style
And the two hands on the bar with arms stretched above your head mid bottom turn…. is not "freed up"
I don't know…. maybe if our ideas of the direction of progression differs then there's no use discussing it??
You can have your own ideas, you don't need to be inline with my thinking.
I will say however that i think it's narrow minded to think just because you don't see people doing something well all the time, that it's not progressive.
I most definetly give up...
Probably a good move, it will be just like staying hooked-in, take the easy path .
But but Sir, he started it !!!
Select to expand quoteDave Whettingsteel said..
Haha.... school teachers....:)
We'd be brought in for mediation now and have to sit through a lecture on bullying...!
Then we would leave with confused looks on our faces and start at it again...
Select to expand quoteJBFletch said...
Regardless of what i think is better or worse and why or why not one should do it, the stupidest part is there are people getting defensive over the topic.
Hooked, unhooked, strapped, unstrapped, surfboard, twintip, skate or whatever other weird craft you choose to ride.
Blow the bloody thing up and go kiting.
If your unhappy about someone else's preferences, stay down the other end of the beach.... cos its all fun and we hate haters.
After all ,We're all on the same team ,
Select to expand quotecauncy said..
JBFletch said...
Regardless of what i think is better or worse and why or why not one should do it, the stupidest part is there are people getting defensive over the topic.
Hooked, unhooked, strapped, unstrapped, surfboard, twintip, skate or whatever other weird craft you choose to ride.
Blow the bloody thing up and go kiting.
If your unhappy about someone else's preferences, stay down the other end of the beach.... cos its all fun and we hate haters.
After all ,We're all on the same team ,
Yeah we are!
Even the unhooking crew are welcome!
^^ what ever works to slay dragons really
There's merit in unhooking,but in mush the only stoke im finding is in micro moments. Makes it hard to feel like there's any progression
Select to expand quotesir ROWDY said...
Are we?
No,but a pat on the back is a good placebo
I really enjoyed unhooking down the line on my back hand, but then learnt to ride switch and havn't felt the need to unhook since. After reading this entertaining thread i think it's time to start unhooking whilst riding down the line switch, must be the closest thing to surfng ??
Select to expand quotePRAWNDOG said..
I really enjoyed unhooking down the line on my back hand, but then learnt to ride switch and havn't felt the need to unhook since. After reading this entertaining thread i think it's time to start unhooking whilst riding down the line switch, must be the closest thing to surfng ??
Closest thing to surfing would be riding backhand. No-one can surf properly switch.
Seriously though, switch is fun but you will find un-hooking (if un-strapped) on your switch is a whole level harder than staying hooked-in. I give it a blast every now and again, but I also like pushing my self on my backhand as it's totally different to what you do on your natural side.
Select to expand quotesir ROWDY said..
PRAWNDOG said..
I really enjoyed unhooking down the line on my back hand, but then learnt to ride switch and havn't felt the need to unhook since. After reading this entertaining thread i think it's time to start unhooking whilst riding down the line switch, must be the closest thing to surfng ??
Closest thing to surfing would be riding backhand. No-one can surf properly switch.
Seriously though, switch is fun but you will find un-hooking (if un-strapped) on your switch is a whole level harder than staying hooked-in. I give it a blast every now and again, but I also like pushing my self on my backhand as it's totally different to what you do on your natural side.
That's another thing that puzzles me.
Can surfers surf properly on their natural side?
Do they do relatively better in competitions on their natural side?
If so, that would suggest to me that front hand surfing is better than backhand surfing.
Then learning to ride switch would be progression even if it was more difficult to do properly than backhand.
Unhooked, no straps?
Does this mean I take the pedals off my bike and select the biggest gear.
Strange analogy I know but it seems to fit.
Select to expand quoteterminal said..
sir ROWDY said..
PRAWNDOG said..
I really enjoyed unhooking down the line on my back hand, but then learnt to ride switch and havn't felt the need to unhook since. After reading this entertaining thread i think it's time to start unhooking whilst riding down the line switch, must be the closest thing to surfng ??
Closest thing to surfing would be riding backhand. No-one can surf properly switch.
Seriously though, switch is fun but you will find un-hooking (if un-strapped) on your switch is a whole level harder than staying hooked-in. I give it a blast every now and again, but I also like pushing my self on my backhand as it's totally different to what you do on your natural side.
That's another thing that puzzles me.
Can surfers surf properly on their natural side?
Do they do relatively better in competitions on their natural side?
If so, that would suggest to me that front hand surfing is better than backhand surfing.
Then learning to ride switch would be progression even if it was more difficult to do properly than backhand.
Perhaps true in a way. But I don't think that riding switch on a kite = surfing switch stance... Riding backhand on a kite well (doing airs etc.) has it's own unique problems.
Select to expand quoteKBwhokbs said..
Unhooked, no straps?
Does this mean I take the pedals off my bike and select the biggest gear.
Strange analogy I know but it seems to fit.
Funny you mention it actually, because in park BMX it's considered lame to have brakes... so it's not really far off.
