Flying footswitch learning time

[dkazhdan]

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.

Thanks for the instructions.

what i am not able to figure out is how to move the front foot? I can obviously move my back foot around by just pumping the board but my front foot is always glued to it.
Do you guys just wiggle it out or there's a different technique?

[kitenight11]

Hi,
does it rally help significantly to use a bigger frontwing/Is it really worth investigating in another wing, I am pretty happy otherwise with mine? How big should I go, compared to my 2018 540 sqcm duotone GT wing? Will I not loose the speed characteristics and turnability (for example in gybes) of mine?

[Kamikuza]

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.

Thanks for the instructions.

what i am not able to figure out is how to move the front foot? I can obviously move my back foot around by just pumping the board but my front foot is always glued to it.
Do you guys just wiggle it out or there's a different technique?

Wiggle. That dance step where you rotate your foot on the heel, then ball, moving sideways.

[Kamikuza]

Hi,
does it rally help significantly to use a bigger frontwing/Is it really worth investigating in another wing, I am pretty happy otherwise with mine? How big should I go, compared to my 2018 540 sqcm duotone GT wing? Will I not loose the speed characteristics and turnability (for example in gybes) of mine?

Yes. Yes, it does help.

Yes, you will give up some speed but turnability? I dunno, depends how you define it.

How much do you weigh?

I rode a Naish kite foil again this month, and it was horrible and wobbly and needed so much power all the time. Today I rode an 8m Switchblade while the racer boys were on 15m race foil kites that 2:1 size ratio has never been in my favor before

[jkrug]

i tried Kamikuza's method of getting both hips and feet pointing forward, and then just taking a step yesterday. i think that will help in my progression, or lack thereof. the hardest part was getting in that position with my feet. but once there, the step forward and back was fairly easy. gotta keep trying, but felt most stable with this approach. biggest problem was kite position after the steps cuz i completely lost power with kite near 12. but it was awfully light, too. think with stronger winds it'll be easier.

[Peter_Frank]

I still think it is extremely individual.

I havent found it easier on the bigger wings, and I got from just over 500 cm2, through the midsized 7-800, to the 11-1200 cm2 sized.

Because you ride with more power/kite with a smaller wing, and you dont change feet while going downwind but either at the start of the jibe, or at the end, it is in my experience not important with wing size.
Going a tad faster with a smaller wing, usually makes the foil even more stable for switching feet in fact.

So for jibing in itself (switching feet while carving) I dont see much advantage, if any, of the bigger wings.

The kitelift is used slightly or hugely when switching feet, and the kite lifts more with smaller wings - I think that is why it doesnt matter much which wing size?

Kami does find it a lot easier, so might be individual, or the individuals specific technique.

When around 700 cm2 and up, I dont find ANY difference at all.
With smaller wings there might be (or not), but only rarely ride the small wings nowadays - only for jumping with straps.

Peter

[FLandOBX]

The simplest thing you can do immediately to help your foot switching is to start riding with a narrower stance. Once you are stable in a very narrow stance, a foot switch from that stance is very easy since there is so little that is actually changing. As you progress, you can widen the stance you initiate your foot switch from.

Thanks for this tip. I think it'll make a huge difference in my progression to foot switches.

I'm still trying to dial in heelside-toeside-heelside carving without a footswitch, so I'm playing catch-up to you experts. But, this morning, I moved my backfoot 6 inches forward and my front foot 6 inches back. With the narrow stance, I felt much more comfortable and can envision an easier foot switch from that position. I actually wobbled through one successfully, but spent most of my time carving back and forth downwind, looping the kite, without foot switches. For my next session, I'll make some equipment adjustments to facilitate the narrow stance from waterstart.

Good tip.

[TomW]

This is all very similar to learning footswitch on a surfboard.
Narrow your stance, learn where balance point is. Pump up and down with narrow stance. Turn hips forward and do " ski stance".
Once you are confident with this, start doing the Kai ( the Hawaiian prodigy girl) back foot dance. Stand on one foot!
Then go for it. Switch before turning when going in weak direction, and after when going in strong direction. Once that's learned, do the opposite.

[eddiemorgs]

I can now change feet on both sides without any problem . On jshapes foils around 800 to 950cm2

For me , the keys things are ;
Kite fairly neutral
feet and hips pointing forward to take out extra movements.
Start with more weight on the back foot so the front foot is unweighted. This makes it easier to move the front foot back when it comes to swapping, as you mention the feeling of not being able to move the front foot.

When i swap , I step off the back foot first at the same time as giving the mast a small pump which rises the board while you swap and land the new back foot over the mast.
I also usually look for a bit of chop to bury the foil in whole doing this.

Cheers.

[TilmanHH]

Are there any goals to go for while learning pumping? I can do it both sides anf toeside now, but not very safely.

When I put my feet to a narrower stance, then I cannot pump anymore? At least it gets very wobbeling then and in that narrow stance I cannot pump anymore. So I put the board onto the surface and don't even stick that easier footchange;)