Better grip before jump in chop?

[kiteswede]

Hello!

Tried to search youtube but didnt find. I tend to loose the grip of the board in the chop when I start to bring up the kite to 12-13 to make the pop before the jump.

Its get easier when I pop on a small wave. But would be nice if there is a trick to keep better grip in chop

I also get better edge when I drive the kite up and down to pump the edge.

Anyone got any tricks to share?

[fluidity]

I think technique can only go so far in chop. I had a very low rocker super high concave board for my first good design. Similar to the OR Mako. Rounded ends. carves beautifully, you can tell someone is riding one just by the way it carves so beautifully. But in the chop, easy to catch a front edge and fail the setup for the jump.
Moderate taper to the ends, medium rocker and squarish ends help a lot for jumping in chop, also a smaller board in my opinion. You need grip from channels, concave and fins, some combination of them. My favorite board for last couple of years has high concave, diamond ends, a lot of taper to the ends and it's only 1350 long- I'm currently 105kg. I like to ride bigger kites, smaller boards. A bit less taper and squarer ends would help jumping.

[Herman]

It might be worth looking at how you carve up into wind for the pop. I found a gain from changing my mindset from leaning back to "sitting" on the heel side rail. This change in mindset allowed me to bend my legs during the carve up which gives better chop absorbtion and gave the opportunity for a better spring up if you get the timing right.

There is also a lot of difference between sending the kite sheeted out and sheeting back in somewhere near the zenith, rather than just keeping it sheeted in. I also find that even small technique changes tend to screw with your timing and so you have to persevere a bit to see any benefit. However making changes and perseverance does eventually expand your awareness and control options.

My apologies if this is too basic for the level you are riding.

[dice]

I'm having this issue also, I often lose my grip when I send my kite and then I have that horrible mini jump that sometimes goes a lot downwind.
All that effort to get upwind and then it's wasted because my bad grip

I have a kiteboard from 2005 somewhere, so I might try to improve with a new kiteboard.
What kind of board should I look for? I've looked into a lot of kite specifics, but never into the specifics of a board (yet).

Ps: I don't mean to hijack your thread, I just hope it might be helpful to know what kind of board would be perfect for this kind of situation.

[NorwayIsCold]

There is also a lot of difference between sending the kite sheeted out and sheeting back in somewhere near the zenith, rather than just keeping it sheeted in. I also find that even small technique changes tend to screw with your timing and so you have to persevere a bit to see any benefit. However making changes and perseverance does eventually expand your awareness and control options.

Do you jump higher if you send kite sheeted out and then sheet in compared to just keeping it sheeted in?
I feel that I loose too much line tension if I sheet out before redirecting kite for a jump. Do you sheet out a bit? Like a couple of cm?

[NorwayIsCold]

I'm having this issue also, I often lose my grip when I send my kite and then I have that horrible mini jump that sometimes goes a lot downwind.
All that effort to get upwind and then it's wasted because my bad grip

I have a kiteboard from 2005 somewhere, so I might try to improve with a new kiteboard.
What kind of board should I look for? I've looked into a lot of kite specifics, but never into the specifics of a board (yet).

Ps: I don't mean to hijack your thread, I just hope it might be helpful to know what kind of board would be perfect for this kind of situation.

Fins have a big impact on grip. If you have small ones the try putting bigger ones (5 cm) and try your board then. It will change the feeling of the board completely and you will gain more grip immediately. And swapping fins will cost you only 25$ or so (check eBay).
If you want to change a board then look for something with channels, medium rocker and not very long. I would demo Naish Monarch, Shinn Monk or Ronson, Slingshot Widowmaker.

[Herman]

Norwayiscold

I do not jump as high by sending the kite sheeted out and sheeting in at the zenith. It just allows me to carve further into wind to meet a ramp or kill forward speed for an aerial transition. Personally I am too old and decrepit to worry or want to maximize height. Having said that I do try to maximize control and it helps me if I am aware of sheeting and in control of sheeting angle at each phase of the jump.

Obviously each kite rig will have an optimum sheeting angle for each set of conditions to gain max height but I think a good starting point is to sheet out a little for the send, sheet in hard at the pop and sheet out a little more for the redirect. Timing is all important!

2cm of sheeting out sounds like a good starting point to me but it is a feel of the line tension related to the speed of the kite when you are doing it!

After thought: there are also steering inputs associated with each sheeting angle change but these just seem to come naturally!

Regards Herman

[or6]

I think Herman is spot on. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets some serious for someone past his prime .

[plummet]

I agree with others. You need a good chop riding board or your screwed. Other than that the technique is to be powered to all hell and do a very fast load and pop in the trough between one chop and the next. A fast kite helps and well as does a fast direction changing board.
Ultimatelty you cant go as high in the chop as you can with a run-up and a kicker.

[jumptheshark]

Has anyone mentioned the concept of bearing off a little before you load and pop, rather than just trying to load your lines as much as possible with constant edge? Taking some pressure off your edge before you spot your piece of chop to load up on can help you really nail it when you set your edge. Same concept can be described as softening you knees a little leading into the final progressive edging of the load and pop. Helps you loose less speed to the bits of chop just before your take off point. You can really see this technique when watching wake style riding, but it applies well when trying to go big in chop. It not only serves to help you really set the edge well, but it drops the kite deeper into the power zone for when you pull the trigger and redirect.