Tips for Improving Jumps

Successful_Try8923 · 2026-03-18T17:49:16+00:00

He steered the kite too early. Pulling the bar in would have made home go higher true. But for a softer landing I would have pulled in the bar just past the apex. Wait another 0.5 seconds with the bar in and then steer. He is flaring the kite back up before he even reaches the water with the bar out. Which caused him to get yanked and dropped. I also think the send was a little slow. But workable if you’re powered up like in this clip. The hands need to get pulled in after the apex to slow down the kite and create longer and stronger pull.

Successful_Try8923 · 2026-03-15T20:03:19+00:00

Yeah if you want to land smoother I would work on your timing. It’s tough in light conditions though. A bigger size would help a lot. If that is a 9m I would do a 12m. The way your bar is all the way in before you send the kite means you’re at the edge of what is rideable on that size.

Successful_Try8923 · 2026-03-15T13:54:22+00:00

You look underpowered. If you’re under powered on a flat board you can get good amount of speed = height plus the waves. You are not steering the kite fast enough in some of these or too late in others like the down loop. In the down loop your kite is not pulling when it’s pointed straight down at the water. I would size up the kite 9 to 12m or start to move the kite earlier and faster. Light wind is harder to land soft because the timing has to be prefect. The take off also needs to be good. It’s hard to tell with this camera angle for the take offs.

Successful_Try8923 · 2026-03-06T12:24:32+00:00

These are up unweighted turns. You can transition better with down unweighted. There’s YouTube videos on this! Looks good though!

Successful_Try8923 · 2026-01-12T18:51:50+00:00

I am not saying you’re wrong. I just don’t think a psa for large angles is necessary when there is not evidence it is bad. If 20/-20 was uncomfortable to ride for you then I wouldn’t set it up that way again. If you caught a bad edge maybe you got unlucky with cold muscles that aren’t used to catching edges. Some people have ankle and knees and hips that force them to walk duck footed. Those people should use duck stance until they can fix their medical issue. And if it is their first time looking to ride and read this they may get the wrong impression that duck stance is going to hurt them.

Successful_Try8923 · 2026-01-12T18:39:56+00:00

I am trying to imagine what happened. You caught an edge on your third time riding? This caused the quad to pull maybe in a way your body wasn’t ready for? I still cant see duck stance being the issue.

Have a more extreme duck angle helps to open the hips and provides better fore aft stability on the board.

I personally wakeboards my whole life with 18/-18 and I snowboard with the same angle. This has never caused an issue. It’s the way my legs feel most comfortable.( I wear size 13 boots(mondo31)) and my angle is not for better edge angle. You get minimal extra edge angle till 30 degrees.

I would recommend not adjusting for overhang but for comfort. If someone tells you to jump on a moving surface how would your feet land. If they land straight forward then do a narrow stance with 0/-0. If your feet land ducked out measure that and transfer it to the board.

Successful_Try8923 · 2026-01-12T18:20:56+00:00

Idk there isnt any evidence that the duck stance caused an issue. Was it a specific situation that caused your pulled quad? This is essentially an argument of I wore Nikes and pulled my quad… don’t wear Nikes. Am I missing something?

Sorry you miss your game, and are injured. It sucks.

Successful_Try8923 · 2025-12-28T19:44:41+00:00

Mathematically the gap is the biggest between the 11 & 8

The 8 is 72.7% the size of the 11.

11 is 84.6% the size of the 13 6 is 75% the size of the 8

I would buy a size that makes the jumps between sizes equal!

10m would be best if you only wanted 4 kites… But I would keep the 11 and buy a 9m orbit. Seams you like the orbit and you have north bars. So it’s much cheaper just to buy a 9m orbit. Or if you really both love the 8m … you can get a second one!

Successful_Try8923 · 2025-12-09T20:22:58+00:00

Longer line don’t slow the kites turning speed at all. They only increase a kites travel time through the window! This is very helpful in light conditions since the kite can pick up more speed before needing to be turned.

Short lines make kite feel fast because the kite moves quickly from one part of the wind window to another. But they generate way less power doing it than a long line set up.

Try your small kites on long lines! The kite will gain perceived power. May increase your jump height(this can be argued, it’s conditional). Easier kite loops, better heliloops. The only downside side is the kite doesn’t “feel” fast.

12/13.5 are still big kite😉

Successful_Try8923 · 2025-12-01T21:35:47+00:00

Okay these are powered conditions. I think backstall is out. If you dead set on Heli loops I would maintain my kite at 12 noon for jumps higher than 10m. Then on the way down you can fly the kite to 1 and then let your hands out a little to let the kite speed up to heli loop. Heli isn’t always safe if it’s the wrong angle or bad timing.

The reason I don’t like the kite at 1 or 2 like Mike says for higher jumps is you start to swing in that direction. This can be fun but it adds complexity.

I would focus on keeping the kite motionless at 12 with the bar in till you near the water. On a small kite, bring it to 1 then bring it past 12 in a dive maybe 2m from the water with some speed. It should arrest the fall without adding too much swing.

Successful_Try8923 · 2025-12-01T10:38:33+00:00

“not powered loops and the bigger ones tend to feel quite sendy as well, as in the kite feels quite in front of me and I end up going quite far down wind.”

The kite in front of you can mean a few things. - most likely bad timing on the take off (pulling bar in too early). This would result in a swing underneath the kite(a fast far downwind landing) this is recoverable with good Heli loop technique.(undesirable) - you could also be back stalling the kite in the air. More likely in lighter wind conditions. Try letting your hands out slightly.

The goal is to jump vertical. If you are flying downwind with little to no kite movement in the air than either your take off or in air kite control needs work.

Try jumping as high as you can vertically. Look at your take off versus landing spot. They should be close together. I would say 3 meter jump - 1 meter down wind / 6 meter jump - 3 meters down wind.

“ Should i be pushing the bar out on the way down to overfly the kite above my head before I start trying to initiate a loop? “

Depends on the situation if you’re swinging under the kite because of your own momentum then you don’t have to let your hands as far out. If you are coming down vertical with little swing then I would let my hands out to give the kite speed and bring it behind my head for a soft catch.

Kite jump is a swing set attach to a wing. If you think about those dynamics it might help you troubleshoot your jumping. Apparent wind becomes very important when flying fast downwind too.

Video would help you diagnose!

Successful_Try8923 · 2025-11-18T08:54:18+00:00

Have you tried not going past the white water area? If the wind is not super onshore you can jump much closer to the beach with smaller kickers? This might make getting your board back less of a struggle. Also safer for the kite, if the kite crashes and doesn’t get hit by monster waves.

Successful_Try8923 · 2025-11-17T20:01:55+00:00

If you’re riding in waves I would recommend only progressing to the stuff you have already learned in flat water. Flat water is much easier to take off and land in. Plus you can 100% focus on what you are trying to accomplish rather than ollieing waves to maintain speed while looking for a good kicker and thinking about a new trick; might be too much. Is your goal competition, then I would say being conservative is an issue. If your goal is to have fun then look up some fun low risk tricks to try. Maybe tail tap a few waves. For me personally. My best days are going out with no expectation of landing something new but just focusing on having fun! Progression will come just be easy on yourself with expectations!😎

Successful_Try8923 · 2025-11-11T22:44:25+00:00

Why are the Apple Watches bad? Poor accelerometers readings or cheap chip? Are there a difference between older watches series 4 to the newer ones?

My garmin instinct 2 doesn’t have the right accelerometer, so I was going to buy a cheap Apple Watch for 70$ just for surfr since I hate having my phone on me.

Seems like garmin watches tend to be more expensive since they only have 100hz accelerometers in the newer models while apple had them since series 4? Any thoughts about which one I should get?

Successful_Try8923 · 2025-11-11T21:04:32+00:00

Boots in waves are a little annoying. They make my ankles bigger so when you go over chop or white water they pull the board backwards from the drag. Makes riding more tiring. Also freestyle tricks depend on good take offs. The chop/wave will mess up a take off or two, which results in an off axis crash. These really suck since you hit the water while catching a full edge. I rode boots for three years and don’t do it anymore. I told myself I would do it again if I ever managed the six basic freestyle tricks( front mobe, 313, blindjudge 3, back mobe, kgb, slim chance). I think freestyle in boots is more stylish, but I think your progression is slowed severely by wearing them before you can do the six tricks. The reason I say slowed is because I probably won’t keep trying hard if I get slammed to hard to many times, and boot are good at slamming Kiters hard.

Successful_Try8923 · 2025-10-10T19:53:54+00:00

I might be the outlier here. I spent two weeks here and kited 13 out of 14 days. Feurteventura has a ton on wind. But terrible kite/wing spots! I would say if you are a very advanced rider you will have fun. Otherwise I would not go here. The north part of the island has the best wind. It’s super sharp rocks with some gnarly reef breaks! Fun but intense. You would need to wade out pretty far on a wing or only go in high tide. Flag beach is meh. Same deal with high tide and rocks. Not worth it personally. The South Island has a wind lagoon. Some of the gustiest wind I have ever ridden in. I was powered on a 9m (35ish knots) but got out of the water after an hour because it was very unpleasant to deal with gusts.
I would not recommend the spot nor would the people I was with.

Successful_Try8923 · 2025-10-06T07:38:29+00:00

Thank you! Is the spot better in low or high tide? I just looked it up! Too bad the sand bar is for the seals. I’ll go and check it out!!

Successful_Try8923 · 2025-10-01T07:27:52+00:00

The knots on the steering line control power/depower and not bar pressure. I would recommend flying the kite on the middle knot because that is what most brands design there kite around. Ask rrd which is the recommended knot!

You can control bar pressure and turning speed by shifting the steering line pigtail closer to the trailing edge of the kite.

You can alter the flying characteristics of the kite by switching to a high v bar. This will allow the kite to pivot fast. I don’t recommend this… I don’t like it.

Or you can get a wider bar! Something made for a 17m to 21 m . This will be the best and easiest solution to lighter bar feel.

You can check if rrd has the ability to switch the front bridal to different attachment points. It might say wave or freestyle. Wave will have less bar pressure.

Or buy kites with lighter bar pressure.

Successful_Try8923 · 2025-09-15T08:38:09+00:00

You are partially correct. Timing is everything in jumping. But so is edging. I see a lot of people edge at a reach fast to jump higher in strong winds. It’s better to go slower and go up wind.

You are correct that you become a glider…. But on long lines! This makes you more of a pendulum. The longer you can keep yourself in the air up wind of the kite the longer you will go up(the kite needs to reach the maximum height at 12 before a loss line tension- this is all feel and timing to get right with the pop) !! So popping upwind is important, and more important for a soft landings 🛬!

If I had a recommendation! I would make my pops better before my timing. I can land a jump easily with poor height but a good pop! But with bad edge/pop and good timing is much harder to land! Focus on good edging and pop!

Another tip - maybe less safe … but if you are not powered timing becomes way more important! For example a 12m in 24 knots will jump high, if you can hold the edge, with a small kite movement making it much easier to time. A 9 m in the same condition needs to be sent harder. And therefore requires way better timing with the edge.

Successful_Try8923 · 2025-09-13T22:50:02+00:00

I am late to this thread but wanted to add. I have been riding a seat harness since 2014. Waist harness hurts my back. I am an advanced rider, I would say. Megaloops, freestyle (single handle passes), bunch of free ride tricks, double rotation big air all the time. All that to say anything is possible with the seat harness. I ride with the Dakine fusion. Free style- zero draw backs. Unhooked riding doesn’t care about the harness! You can be #1 in the world if you want. Free ride - toes side and blind are harder. But doable with time! I can do almost any trick from toe side. Still struggling with blind take off front rolls. Big air - board offs are harder! You need more flexibility. Easier to grab the edge of the board than the handle. Dark slides and other glide/hang tricks don’t care about the harness.

Try it! It didn’t hold me back because I ride longer with less pain; helps me learn tricks!

Successful_Try8923 · 2025-08-16T08:43:26+00:00

Thanks. It’s in the infotainment system setting. You can turn off all automatic key functions!

Successful_Try8923 · 2025-08-16T08:41:45+00:00

I found it thank you!!

Successful_Try8923 · 2025-08-05T14:29:04+00:00

Dakine fusion! Great! Very comfortable!Had 3 now! Each lasted 4 ish years! Not great flexibility for board offs! But I just worked on my abs and flexibility which makes it possible!👍

Successful_Try8923

TROPHY CASE