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flying foot switch - advice needed

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Pedro Marcos
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Re: flying foot switch - advice needed

Postby Pedro Marcos » Mon Jun 04, 2018 9:26 pm

The kite should be high so you can "hold" on the bar and be able to fly way if something goes wrong (for that you should not be underpowered), you should "hop/ollie" just before the foot change so it creates a "neutral" position of the foil for a few seconds. IT IS MUCH MUCH easier with a bigger wing that doesnt stall at low speeds.

Im now learning the race jibe to my weak side (i was jibing to toeside which is really bad when racing), and the way i train is not going more then 50m after each jibe, so basically i do around 60 jibes atempts per hour minimum. The first thing you need to learn is to crash in a safe way, and then its repeat until your brain gets it. If on each session you are trying it like 10 times maximum because you are afraid of it, it will takes ages to learn.

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Re: flying foot switch - advice needed

Postby GCKiter » Tue Jun 05, 2018 2:20 am

There have been a lot of great posts on reviewing this topic. I like the idea mentioned about thinking it as stepping up out of your crouched position when you do the foot change. I also have trouble syncing everything in place ie , bar pressure to go weightless as I switch my feet,keeping kite in correct location to prepare for the turn and not stalling out as I make the turn. So many things to consider no wonder it’s been the most difficult thing for me to master.

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Re: flying foot switch - advice needed

Postby SaulOhio » Tue Jun 05, 2018 2:52 am

I just had a session where I managed to at least remove my back foot from the footstrap while still flying. But the only turn I completed was fully on the water the whole way. And that was the only turn I completed.

This is on a home made hydrofoil, and I think my footstrap position may be too far back, and I may need a vertical fin on the stabilizer.

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Re: flying foot switch - advice needed

Postby TomW » Tue Jun 05, 2018 7:47 pm

I'm riding foothooks, and while riding the hooks are well back and forward, so basically strapless. I only use them to make waterstart easier.

I'll give it a go:
Mores speed,
Board flat.
Kite high and powered
From crouch do a slight ollie and quick foot switch, focusing on holding in bar, and rotating hips.
Easy, right? :roll:

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Re: flying foot switch - advice needed

Postby jumptheshark » Tue Jun 05, 2018 8:47 pm

Not all flying foot switches are the same. I have no problem going from natural heelside to natural toeside. The switch back is a bit tougher. The other two I don't bother with at all yet. The two I do are both easier at particular moments.

The easiest spot for me to do my heel to toe is just before doing a jibe. I can do it just fine without the jibe, but the set up is the same. A little pump and jog upwind while going up a swell with the switch at the weightless moment of cresting and then toe side down the back and back down wind into a jibe... or not. The switch back works best for me right after a jibe or tack and before really accelerating onto the new tack. That one often still has a little touchdown. At least the first few of a session do and then it flows a bit better. I have a much harder time divorcing that one from an actual jibe. I can eventually do it alone, but have to set it up as if it were one, ie go deep down wind for a sec, decelerate, carve upwind and do it then as I lose a load of speed with the kite high, sheeted in and ready to dive onto the new tack once the feet are planted.

For what its worth.

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Re: flying foot switch - advice needed

Postby nothing2seehere » Wed Jun 06, 2018 9:34 am

I notice several videos suggest making the foot switch during the phase where you are heading downwind. I'm only just starting to play with foot switches and on a surfboard like many others here I make the switch either before or after the carve.

Is it the right thing to do to make the change during the carve? I remember I used to do this when windsurfing so was wondering if this was a carry on from then or whether there is a long term advantage in it?

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Re: flying foot switch - advice needed

Postby windmaker » Wed Jun 06, 2018 10:23 am


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Re: flying foot switch - advice needed

Postby windmaker » Wed Jun 06, 2018 10:24 am


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Re: flying foot switch - advice needed

Postby Peter_Frank » Wed Jun 06, 2018 3:46 pm

nothing2seehere wrote:
Wed Jun 06, 2018 9:34 am
I notice several videos suggest making the foot switch during the phase where you are heading downwind. I'm only just starting to play with foot switches and on a surfboard like many others here I make the switch either before or after the carve.

Is it the right thing to do to make the change during the carve? I remember I used to do this when windsurfing so was wondering if this was a carry on from then or whether there is a long term advantage in it?

For racers (or when riding big foil kites) it makes sense to do it during the carve sometimes close to downwind, as they can ride "weightless" for a lot longer because of a lifting kite up overhead, than us free/waveriders.
Or they do it when initiating the carve, before the kite downloop.

On a windsurfer it is easy to do it during, as you are waiting for the sail to flip around so you can grab it, and you want to head out planing on the new tack feet switched before you power up.
In reality it is somewhat on the way out of the jibe too in fact, and most often not dead downwind.

For freeriders it is not recommendable (at least not for some like me), to change feet when going dead downwind where no lift from the lines and you need a much tighter arc here to keep foiling in lighter winds and with smaller kites.
It is somewhat a "carry on" you have brought with you, and IMO only disadvantages if you do it midway dead downwind during the jibe - do it on the way out if you want the same "good" feel :D

So either change feet before or when going into the carve, or change feet on the way out or just after the carve, is my recommendation when you dont ride powered big kites with high speed.

I like to jibe close to how I do it on windsurfers and kite waveboards, on the way out that is, just before getting powered and heading up, but not too early so no support at all - timing is more difficult, but when it works it is great :rollgrin:

Have you seen this thread nothing2seehere ?: http://kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=19 ... ilit=video

8) PF

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Re: flying foot switch - advice needed

Postby OzBungy » Thu Jun 07, 2018 2:20 am

I went from not being able to do flying foot switches, to doing them all the time.

Essentially I am doing them almost exactly the same as on a surfboard. I place my back foot at the balance point in front of the mast. Move my front foot back, then move the new front foot forward into the strap. With a little practice it becomes smooth and fluent.

Sometimes there is a little bit of dabbing to get the feet in the right place. About half the time it's fluid and easy.

Before doing this I practiced just riding around in "ski" stand with both feet together in front of the mast.

I know it's not the classic strap-to-strap flying foot switch, but it's easy to do. More importantly, as I became more comfortable and fluent with the move, I was able to do strap to strap changes. It's all about developing the feel and muscle memory to be able to ride with my body and feet in any position on the board.

For strap to strap changes a big powerful kite helps. I use all surf kites between 5 and 15.5m.

One other thing helped. I went from a 155cm board down to 120cm. On the first session some things were harder, especially anything on the surface. Now everything is easier and much more fun.


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