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Flying with one hand?!

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bkkite
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Flying with one hand?!

Postby bkkite » Thu Dec 02, 2021 2:23 am

So I feel like an idiot asking this, but how do you all fly your kite with one hand? Especially when you're up in the air?

Maybe i'm doing something completely wrong (I'm riding Core XRs, Nexus 2s, and an Xlite), but I feel like i often have a hard time holding the bar or steering one hand and keeping things under control. Especially in the air after a jump, it feels like I really need two hands to hold down the bar and to steer accurately enough to keep the kite where it needs to be and to dive it as I land?

I've even tried shifting some of my kites to the lower bar pressure setting, but I still can't quite figure it out. Thanks for any tips!

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BillyGoatGruff
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Re: Flying with one hand?!

Postby BillyGoatGruff » Thu Dec 02, 2021 8:38 am

Get your hand over the center line, split so three fingers are on one side and the other finger and thumb are on the other side.

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Re: Flying with one hand?!

Postby Dingus » Thu Dec 02, 2021 11:15 am

I suggest trying to tack upwind toe side. I could not do it with two hands on the bar.

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Re: Flying with one hand?!

Postby Ice101 » Thu Dec 02, 2021 11:44 am

You don’t really need two hands on the bar for jumps. Long as your front hand is on you will automatically pull slightly on that hand enough to keep the kite forwards and in a good enough position. Put your other hand back in when past the apex and done what you wanted. Practice tweaking the board for longer and holding it longer until the last seconds before landings it will all happen naturally that way and your jumps will look more stylish. You don’t need massive kite movements for jumps as long as your front hand is in the centre of the bar and on the forward side of it.

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Re: Flying with one hand?!

Postby knotwindy » Thu Dec 02, 2021 3:37 pm

This will sound ridiculous but just spend a couple of minutes body dragging upwind. You will easily learn to fly the kite up and down with one hand. Great practice for later n the air flying.

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Re: Flying with one hand?!

Postby galzohar » Wed Dec 08, 2021 11:18 pm

Small adjustments are easy with one hand once you get a hold of it (grab as close to the center as possible, and learn to "twist" the bar by applying appropriate pressure to steer the kite). Large+fast movements to the opposite direction or jumping is difficult, though, but then again once you're in the air you don't need both hands to hold the bar in or even for sheeting the bar out before landing. If you end the trick with a loop then you can just use the looping hand in the center of the bar and move it to the side when you need to loop the kite (which is why darkslide with a grab is a classic and simple trick).

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downunder
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Re: Flying with one hand?!

Postby downunder » Thu Dec 09, 2021 3:07 am

Hi

the problem with riding one handed is that you might develop very quickly a Tennis elbow. Particularly with often looping.

And that is not fun.


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