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cynbad wrote:Hey lonny,
The winds have backed off for a couple of days here at the Gorge. I am on a 9m kite....holy hugeness!! Anyways, since the wind is gone, so are the kickers. How are you geting such good clean 'pop' off that flat water???

You are killing me with the 9 comment! I have not ridden in 6 weeks! I am not even sure I can answer your question anymore.

Flat water jumps and jumps off of kickers are two different animals. On flat water its all about speed and technique to get some decent air. With kickers you hit it and you are going up, no doubt! Of course airing and landing are just as hard on a kicker if not harder. Since I ride a lot of very flat water I spend a lot of time just working on ollies and getting them as clean and as fast as I can do them. The next time you are out find some super flat water, and go out nicely powered. Now as weird as this may sound do not try to jump off little ramps or chop. You want to find serious flat stuff to work on your technique. Build up a good amount of speed, and edge against your kite by using your back leg to build tension. When you feel some nice tension push down with your back leg and at the same time lift up with your front leg and shoot your kite towards its sweet spot for lift. Every kite is different, but hopefully it will not be too far behind your back. Its similar to a wakestyle jump, and takes time to get the timing down. Do not edge to the point where you lose too much speed. Timing and technique are critical to getting a little ollie or a 3 foot nice lift. Now when you start doing this you might only get 6", but do not worry about it. When I first started I was stoked to just get a little air and keep going fast the same direction. Now, spend just an afternoon doing that. Let me know what happens after and how I can help some more. I hope that helps a little.

Hey, and would you mind sparing us a little of all that wind so we can ride over here? Have fun for me!

thats one of the things that impresses me on the skim stoke vids, the pop!! ya guys got pop!!! i have no pop off flat water!! thanks for the tips, ill put them to a try next session.
it been really crappy here too...

That's awesome! It is very wonderful how flat it gets at Matheson, when the tide is going out and there is only 6 inch of water it can get wicked flat that's amazing thing. It is an excellent, how good Sundogchicky is in real surf and the skim. Overall, that is nice.

Nice little video. I like that you kept it real- no big lights and bling, just a couple guys out riding showing some skills and even wiping out occasionally. I have not seen too videos with skim boards as I'm more into the strapless surfboard in waves. One thing I did learn from your video is than surface handle passes LOOK easier on a skim. Either that or you guys are just exceptionally talented! Take it as you wish.

Again, nice video and thanks for sharing.

G