news flash: some people are better athletes than others.
2014, I'm like one one of the first non-race cruiser foilers here in Puget Sound, Washington State. Now I'm the old-timer who knows everything. Legend in my own mind.
But all I can do is toe & heelside jibes, and footswitches. Any attempt at tacks, 360s, you name it and I'm swimming.
Yeah, my younger son picked up foiling in about 50 minutes. After two hours he was switching feet on foil in the middle of the choppy Columbia River on a 91 cm mast. I had been working on that for weeks. He told me, "I don't know, just switch your feet..." Day 4 he is sitting on foilboard, small strapless jumps etc. None of this is an exaggeration.
Some folks just "feel it" and flow with it. Others, like me, "fight it"until we finally give in and start to accept new movements.
And yes, both of us on the 633 wing. His "board" is a free wakeboard. He sawed off one end for 3' length, slapped epoxy on the cut, drilled four holes to mount mast, used bolts from hardware store, and gorilla glued down a collection of old and spare deck pads.
2014. Casa Verde in La Ventana. I'm sitting with my beer crying over my month in LV devoted to learning Foil. At this point I've ridden maybe 20 yards total for 20 sessions. LF Foil Fish.
A young woman sits down next to me and says "What's the big deal about foiling? I was ripping in 20 minutes"
Grrrrrr....
I’m in no hurry to reach the end of this game, I’m just enjoying we’re I am at the moment. It’s all about my progression, I don’t measure against others.
Yeah, Some people are just better at some things. I am shit house at any form of trickery! Any form. Spacially i'm fucked rotating around then trying to land. But give me some stupid as crazy conditions and i'll ride the hell out of them....
Anyway I think gear is a lot easier to learn on now and there's a lot more resource to draw from. Also some people push harder than others. Where one person stops trying another will push forward. I don't push at all with tricks pretty much everyone kicks my arse with trick. But I push with wind and sea conditons.
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Yeah, Some people are just better at some things. I am shit house at any form of trickery! Any form. Spacially i'm fucked rotating around then trying to land. But give me some stupid as crazy conditions and i'll ride the hell out of them....
Anyway I think gear is a lot easier to learn on now and there's a lot more resource to draw from. Also some people push harder than others. Where one person stops trying another will push forward. I don't push at all with tricks pretty much everyone kicks my arse with trick. But I push with wind and sea conditons.
This, once riding in general is mastered, those that try shit, learn shit. If you just ride in basic fear of what can happen then your brain learns nothing about what are very complex 3d moves that require basically your entire body to be coordinated in flying a kite in 3 dimension and handling a board in 3 dimensions with just your feet! Don't be hard on yourselves it is really tricky stuff....and like any athletic stuff, some people are just faster learners. Suspend fear, go into tries with speed and commitment and your brain will help you.
As with learning the basic foil flight, when you come back to your next session you will already be better than your last tries. In our group, the guys that are often crashing and in the water waiting to retrieve their board are the ones that have become the most advanced....because they are trying stuff. The ones that are always on the foil and its unusual to see them flailing in the water....are in a state of foil limbo. The other thing I have noticed is that trying and getting to one maneuver will absolutely help others. Rotating a slow back roll helps you with kite control in tacks and 360's etc...so it all gets accelerated.
These users thanked the author cwood for the post:
Yeah, Some people are just better at some things. I am shit house at any form of trickery! Any form. Spacially i'm fucked rotating around then trying to land. But give me some stupid as crazy conditions and i'll ride the hell out of them....
Anyway I think gear is a lot easier to learn on now and there's a lot more resource to draw from. Also some people push harder than others. Where one person stops trying another will push forward. I don't push at all with tricks pretty much everyone kicks my arse with trick. But I push with wind and sea conditons.
This, once riding in general is mastered, those that try shit, learn shit. If you just ride in basic fear of what can happen then your brain learns nothing about what are very complex 3d moves that require basically your entire body to be coordinated in flying a kite in 3 dimension and handling a board in 3 dimensions with just your feet! Don't be hard on yourselves it is really tricky stuff....and like any athletic stuff, some people are just faster learners. Suspend fear, go into tries with speed and commitment and your brain will help you.
As with learning the basic foil flight, when you come back to your next session you will already be better than your last tries. In our group, the guys that are often crashing and in the water waiting to retrieve their board are the ones that have become the most advanced....because they are trying stuff. The ones that are always on the foil and its unusual to see them flailing in the water....are in a state of foil limbo. The other thing I have noticed is that trying and getting to one maneuver will absolutely help others. Rotating a slow back roll helps you with kite control in tacks and 360's etc...so it all gets accelerated.
Its not fear hold me back from tricks. Its A) im not good at them and B) I dont find any joy in them. I'm not a trickster. Simple as that. I find it detracts from my joy of flow. I am a terrain rider searching for flow. I want to ride an interesting and challenging terrain. So I will push into high winds, bigger seas, and larger waves and go faster. That is my interest. Not doing a back roll or similar. This crosses all the sports that I do. I seek out terrain and ride it.
After reading about Oregon's young son and Purdy's young woman acquaintance, I wonder whether small lighter people have an advantage learning more complicated tricks on foil? If a lightweight rider and and heavyweight rider are trying to learn a foot switch maneuver on the same equipment, the lightweight rider would probably have an advantage (all other things, like athletic ability, being equal) just because the rider's movements around the board would have less effect on the flight path of the foil. The end result would be that the lightweight rider would have more margin of error in moving around the board than the heavyweight, and fewer crashes during the learning phase. Does this make sense?
In the end, I agree with others that the greatest advantage in progressing with freestyle tricks on the foil is a go-for-it mentality and the willingness to try new things. Same as on a TT. If you want to progress, you have to take some risks and push the limits a bit. But maybe being light is also advantageous on a foilboard?
Yeah, my younger son picked up foiling in about 50 minutes. After two hours he was switching feet on foil in the middle of the choppy Columbia River on a 91 cm mast. I had been working on that for weeks. He told me, "I don't know, just switch your feet..." Day 4 he is sitting on foilboard, small strapless jumps etc. None of this is an exaggeration.
Some folks just "feel it" and flow with it. Others, like me, "fight it"until we finally give in and start to accept new movements.
And yes, both of us on the 633 wing. His "board" is a free wakeboard. He sawed off one end for 3' length, slapped epoxy on the cut, drilled four holes to mount mast, used bolts from hardware store, and gorilla glued down a collection of old and spare deck pads.
2014. Casa Verde in La Ventana. I'm sitting with my beer crying over my month in LV devoted to learning Foil. At this point I've ridden maybe 20 yards total for 20 sessions. LF Foil Fish.
A young woman sits down next to me and says "What's the big deal about foiling? I was ripping in 20 minutes"
Grrrrrr....