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Switchfoot Dojo

Kaser1

Kaser1

Tom Curren status
May 3, 2004
10,271
262
83
Maine
This goes out to the wing foilers out there.

So i've been winging since last September, never really tried switching my feet so I'm facing the wing on every reach. I've kind of tried it a few times, switching my feet, but failed miserably, getting bucked off almost immediately.

Yesterday, wind was good and had some flat water in the harbor so I gave it another go.

And if you don't know what "toe side" is, here's a sample from a few days ago. At the :16 mark you'll see that I'm holding the wing across my body as I'm twisted with my feet staying in the right foot forward/goofy foot stance.

This doesnt bother me too much, but you have a lower line or angle across the wind and you will lose ground compared to if you switched your feet and had your body square on the wing.

My first mistake that I overcame was planting my front foot on the switch. If your foot is in the wrong spot, too far left or right and you can't control the roll of the board. So planting it quickly in the right spot was key.

Second mistake I overcame was not keeping my hips forward and weight over front knee. It was like when you first started foiling and you were back foot heavy, doing wheelies and wobbling. Once the body posture was corrected and got rid of the "stink bug" stance, relaxed and straightened the legs things started to fall into place.

And lastly, figuring out WHEN to switch my feet was the biggest breakthrough. So going out strongside/goofy, completing my jibe, then switching. And the opposite timing on from going switch back to goofy. Start the switch before the jibe.

Also, when I'm switching is not completely on foil, board just skimming surface for stability. Hopefully this will improve and I can switch while up on full foil.

If interested I'll put the GoPro in the mix to show how I'm doing it. I watched alot of vids of the good guys on how they do it, that helped alot.
 
H

Hdip

Michael Peterson status
Apr 23, 2005
3,337
797
113
Malibu, CA
How about a harness line to a hook on a sliding spreader bar that can slide to your front hip. Then you use one hand to feather the angle of the wing. Wouldn't that work almost as good as switching your feet?

The blue planet guy holds his duotone boom one handed toeside and then feathers the wing with his leash which I thought was a cool trick.

Learning how to start switch on a kite was a pain. But necessary for me as the predominant wind here only let me start heelside facing out to sea and I had to get back in at some point :)
 
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J

juandesooka

OTF status
Jan 12, 2009
346
294
63
interesting points Kaser. I was talking with a surfer/kiter/windsurfer friend about this. This is something that arises only from the surfing community getting into windsports. Windsurfers must ride both feet forward. Kiters can ride regular foot one way, toeside the other, but it's 75% efficient at best, so it's a must to learn to ride both ways in order to get upwind efficiently. Most kiter/surfers only use wrong foot forward to tack out and then surf the waves only dominant foot forward, either frontside of backside on left/rights. Some kiters brag about being equally adept at riding waves either foot forward ... and my standard response is that "that's correct, you are equally awkward in how you kitesurf waves both ways". Kiters are such kooks! (myself included) :)

For kiting, most riders will turn to toeside, then switch feet for the new tack, and then switch back to toeside before the turn back the other way. In other words, most riders do not attempt turns wrong foot forward. It is always dominant foot forward in turns, either toeside-heelside, or heelside-toeside.

For kite foiling I only learned to ride left foot forward, because I learned behind a boat. Toeside came easy and I just never invested the time to re-learn right foot forward. For winging, I have found toeside pretty awkward, so I have had to invest the time to ride right foot forward too. I find I can't really pump, but as long as wind is strong enough to lift me, it's fine once I am up.

For making the turn, I am finding I can do a toeside to heelside switch while staying on foil. The heel to toe switch is more awkward, i need to drop to surface and miss it half the time.
 
Clamsmasher

Clamsmasher

Michael Peterson status
Apr 22, 2013
1,858
929
113
Nar
I’m gonna have to commit to switch... I’ve launched successfully a few times but it’s scary as sh!t....guys that can do it have total freedom though.

has anyone tried holding the wing behind their back with both hands?
 
Kaser1

Kaser1

Tom Curren status
May 3, 2004
10,271
262
83
Maine
Clamsmasher said:
has anyone tried holding the wing behind their back with both hands?
Click to expand...
yes, and yardsale'd every time. I'm sure you could get it eventually, but putting myself in that position just was begging for some shoulder sprain or blood in some manor.
 
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