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Flying footswitch learning time

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OzBungy
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Re: Flying footswitch learning time

Postby OzBungy » Sun May 19, 2019 11:20 pm

There's two kinds of flying foot switch. Front foot and back foot.

The one you see in all the videos is front foot. You keep the front foot in position and move the back foot forward. That's quite hard and takes a lot of timing to get right.

The back foot switch is where you position the back foot in front of the mast, bring the front foot back closer to the back foot, put the old back foot forward, then reposition your new back foot.

The back foot switch is super easy. You can stand around all day with both feet just in front of the mast. You can do it fast or slow. You can do it with smooth fluid movements, or lots of little shuffling steps.

You practice the foot switch by riding in "ski" stance with both feet together in front of the mast. Explore the zone of stability in front of the mast and see where you can put your feet. The zone is bigger with more speed and/or a bigger wing.

The appeal to me of doing the back foot switch is you get a lot of time to explore how the foil feels in lots of different positions and attitudes. Foil rising, falling, carving left right etc. It's loads of fun and leads into front foot switches. You progressively explore the effect of speed on where you can place your front foot.

You might look a bit kooky doing a shuffling switch, but you're less likely to crash. It looks much less kooky than the little scissor jump thing that people do.
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Re: Flying footswitch learning time

Postby jakemoore » Mon May 20, 2019 5:02 am

OzBungy wrote:The back foot switch is super easy.
Looking forward to trying this.

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Re: Flying footswitch learning time

Postby kiste » Mon May 20, 2019 9:51 am

OzBungy wrote:
Sun May 19, 2019 11:20 pm
There's two kinds of flying foot switch. Front foot and back foot.

The one you see in all the videos is front foot. You keep the front foot in position and move the back foot forward. That's quite hard and takes a lot of timing to get right.

The back foot switch is where you position the back foot in front of the mast, bring the front foot back closer to the back foot, put the old back foot forward, then reposition your new back foot.

The back foot switch is super easy. You can stand around all day with both feet just in front of the mast. You can do it fast or slow. You can do it with smooth fluid movements, or lots of little shuffling steps.

You practice the foot switch by riding in "ski" stance with both feet together in front of the mast. Explore the zone of stability in front of the mast and see where you can put your feet. The zone is bigger with more speed and/or a bigger wing.

The appeal to me of doing the back foot switch is you get a lot of time to explore how the foil feels in lots of different positions and attitudes. Foil rising, falling, carving left right etc. It's loads of fun and leads into front foot switches. You progressively explore the effect of speed on where you can place your front foot.

You might look a bit kooky doing a shuffling switch, but you're less likely to crash. It looks much less kooky than the little scissor jump thing that people do.
That's at least exactly how I nailed down my foot switch on my surfboard on the weak side (heal2toe). And if you take a look at the video from Kainani, she is doing something similar sometimes.
Will try it on the foil next time too ;)

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Re: Flying footswitch learning time

Postby Kamikuza » Mon May 20, 2019 10:29 am

OzBungy wrote:
Sun May 19, 2019 11:20 pm
There's two kinds of flying foot switch. Front foot and back foot.

The one you see in all the videos is front foot. You keep the front foot in position and move the back foot forward. That's quite hard ...
There's an easy way around it, IMO...

Kite stable at about 11, back hand on the bar, bear off the wind a tiny bit (ie. don't be trying to crank upwind), keep your speed up but comfortable, board about a foot off the water. You want to be on a comfy standing-upright tack, not cranking into it....

Step your back foot forward a couple of inches, to where you've got a stable but narrow stance.

This was the key for me: Twist your hips (and feet) so that you're facing forwards.

(this is the time to "pop" the board, or lift your knees, or let the board ride over the top of a swell)
(this is also the time to empty your head or think about something other than what you're about to do :lol: )

Now, just step like you're walking and swap your feet -- back to front then front to back.

Twist your hips to face downwind, and step your back foot back into position.

Tighten up and power up...



...for me initially, switching feet and rotating hips and shoulders resulted in misplaced feet and poor balance, or pushing the board around. I can literally step forwards/backwards without without shifting my CoG or upper body. Works every time.

I discovered the skiing/back foot change thing accidentally, when I muffed up a surface foot change and had to shuffle my feet around for what felt like ten perilous minutes. But I thought "heck if I can do that and it's so easy, why can't I change feet on the foil?"

But whatever works. Being able to do both is handy.

Find it easier without straps too.
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kitenight11
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Re: Flying footswitch learning time

Postby kitenight11 » Mon May 20, 2019 1:35 pm

Thanks again for all the Input, but could you also Mention how Long/how many sessions you took to get it dialed in?

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Re: Flying footswitch learning time

Postby Peter_Frank » Mon May 20, 2019 1:56 pm

kitenight11 wrote:
Mon May 20, 2019 1:35 pm
Thanks again for all the Input, but could you also Mention how Long/how many sessions you took to get it dialed in?

3-400 sessions I would guess, took some years to learn, and still improving slooooowly :roll:

Could do it occasionally pure luck and very rare when starting over 5 years ago, after a year on the gear back then - but it is NOT the gear IMO so I dont think it matters at all.
I dont find it easier on bigger wings either, doesnt matter really...

Still not 100 % confident, at least not on the "bad" side it can easily go wrong sometimes, and especially some days, other days close to 100 % success 10 out of 10 on the bad side (and 10 out of 10 on the good side).

Switching feet on the way out of the jibe, with very little kitepower so not much lift from the kite to help, does not make it easier, but it is possible with timing and "pop" of the tail of the board.

8) PF

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Re: Flying footswitch learning time

Postby Kamikuza » Mon May 20, 2019 2:46 pm

Peter_Frank wrote:
Mon May 20, 2019 1:56 pm
kitenight11 wrote:
Mon May 20, 2019 1:35 pm
Thanks again for all the Input, but could you also Mention how Long/how many sessions you took to get it dialed in?

3-400 sessions I would guess, took some years to learn :roll:

Could do it occasionally pure luck and very rare when starting 5 years ago, after a year on the gear back then - but it is NOT the gear IMO so I dont think it matters at all.
I dont find it easier on bigger wings really...

Still not 100 % confident, at least not on the "bad" tack it can easily go wrong sometimes, and especially some days, some days close to 100 % success 10 out of 10 on the bad side (and 10 out of 10 on the good side).

Switching feet on the way out of the jibe, with very little kitepower so not much lift from the kite to help, does not make it easier, but it is possible with timing and "pop" of the tail of the board.

8) PF
This is why I feel a bit guilty...and keep promoting big wings :D I got them pretty much straight away...on the big wing. And the caveat that it's all on my strong side.

I tried surface changes as soon as I could gybe, and they seemed impossible so I gave up and just rode toeside. When I got a decent foil (my third kite foil in foiling year 2 IIRC), I had another crack at surface changes and got to the stage where I could do them fairly consistently at the end of the year I had that foil.

Got the big wing, and within a couple of sessions had foiling changes almost perfect. 6 months later, I'm surprised if I screw it up.

Also managed 360s and tack to toeside within literally a couple of sessions. Had with first success (tack) within a dozen committed attempts and my first 360 was successful too.

So this is pretty much the start of my fourth year foiling, can't be more than 150 sessions in total...average once a week would be hard to believe these days :(

I think when you get a base of good riding and kite control, and build up the little steps like moving the back foot, it all just comes together when you decide to push it.

Big stable platform makes up for a lack of talent. If I can do it, anyone can.

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Re: Flying footswitch learning time

Postby junebug » Mon May 20, 2019 3:46 pm

kitenight11 wrote:
Mon May 20, 2019 1:35 pm
Thanks again for all the Input, but could you also Mention how Long/how many sessions you took to get it dialed in?
Knowing how long it took someone is artificial because you don’t know how often they went, how long they were out when they went, their experience with directional boards, what kind of gear they were on, conditions at their local, etc.

That said, it took me about a year. It took me probably 6 months to get surface jibes with footswitch and another 6 months to get flying jibes with footswitch. The key for me was to stop thinking about it as a footswitch and start thinking about it as a hipswitch. It’s not just the feet that have to change; it’s the entire stance, and for me that originates in the hips.

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Re: Flying footswitch learning time

Postby Kamikuza » Tue May 21, 2019 12:58 am

junebug wrote:
Mon May 20, 2019 3:46 pm
kitenight11 wrote:
Mon May 20, 2019 1:35 pm
Thanks again for all the Input, but could you also Mention how Long/how many sessions you took to get it dialed in?
Knowing how long it took someone is artificial because you don’t know how often they went, how long they were out when they went, their experience with directional boards, what kind of gear they were on, conditions at their local, etc.

That said, it took me about a year. It took me probably 6 months to get surface jibes with footswitch and another 6 months to get flying jibes with footswitch. The key for me was to stop thinking about it as a footswitch and start thinking about it as a hipswitch. It’s not just the feet that have to change; it’s the entire stance, and for me that originates in the hips.
This. Just knowing that someone could do it was enough for me.

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Re: Flying footswitch learning time

Postby cglazier » Tue May 21, 2019 3:05 am

junebug wrote:
Mon May 20, 2019 3:46 pm
It’s not just the feet that have to change; it’s the entire stance, and for me that originates in the hips.
It's easier if you don't move your hips.
First twist your shoulders and hips so they are in the position they will be after your footswitch.
Now, don't move your upper body at all, just step forward with your back foot.
Then to keep your balance you will instinctively move your original front foot back to the middle of the board.
You are done, congratulations.

One other tip: do not look down, keep your eyes on the horizon.

:wink: CG
Last edited by cglazier on Tue May 21, 2019 3:16 am, edited 1 time in total.


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