Two Hands Posted August 19, 2009 Report Posted August 19, 2009 We all start somewhere and end up somewhere else... How's your journey looking? I'm sitting here during the longest period of cruddy wind we've had in ages What it has done though is given me a chance to think about what I've been doing tricks wise and also what I want to add to my 'tricks list' in the near future. So this is my 'to do' list I've been noticing that I'm slipping into a 'dominant hand situation' so that started to be sorted out the last time I was out. The right hand inputs need work in Lazies and Multi lazies (and also it's my weaker JL direction) I also have a taste of the 'Insane' but it needs work, I can get into them with a pop to backflip and tension one line, but I can't get my head around the 'quick' in I've seen out there. I seem to be able to get out of it nice and easy though, it's a very nice looking trick when done well. I did have some success with a multi wrapped LH multi lazy the other day , but I think it needs more work before I debut it publicly Oh and of course... the bastard of bastards the comete... So what are your challenges?? TH Quote
steve_hobart Posted August 19, 2009 Report Posted August 19, 2009 TH, I know what you mean about dominant hand... I have the right hand comete down pretty consistently now (although still not as consistent as other tricks..)..however I find the left hand comete very challenging and have a very low % rate with them. My aim this summer is to get high consistency on both. Last summer I focussed on JL's - and did them for months and have them down pat now...so I figure the same focus on the comete will have that one down by summer's end....Mind you that means 4 or 5 1 hour sessions per week doing nothing but comete's...all summer (that was the time I had to put into the JL). I would also like to nail my 540's smoothly - currently they are a bit jerky and rushed.....and then of course is the dreaded side slide..... :-) cheers steve Quote
trippnu Posted August 19, 2009 Report Posted August 19, 2009 just about to get into stunt kite flying and was wondering how long it takes to master some of the basic and advanced tricks Quote
Two Hands Posted August 20, 2009 Author Report Posted August 20, 2009 Hey Trippnu, It's a good question with a complex answer The bottom line is that you start with the building blocks and grow from there, nothing beats good time on the lines although natural kinesthetic ability will get you 'there' faster but there are many variables. Things like time, your local conditions and what you consider 'mastering' a trick will all come into play on your journey. I can say that my personal journey has so far lasted for about 2 and a bit years, I would consider myself at a 5-6/10 level, some will think I'm better than a 5 and some worse than a 5... What really matters is that even after 2 years putting in on average 3-4 hours a week, I still look forward to being able to go out and fly. I rarely get frustrated, even if what I'm doing doesn't always go the right way on the day. If you set KPI's then some will be exceeded and some will fall short... It's not as easy as it looks, but the rewards are there every time you go out. I have to say I don't think I've mastered any trick yet, but I do see from time to time what they will look like when I do master them. Just remember to enjoy the process, if you don't you'll be missing the whole point of this past time/hobby/sport/addiction. In a week of flying you'll be doing thinks that look really cool and in 2 years you'll probably be doing things that look really really cool. Doesn't get much better than that! TH Quote
Cesium Posted August 21, 2009 Report Posted August 21, 2009 Not really a single trick per se, but more along the lines of pushing into ever-more ambitious combinations. Oh wait, there is a trick I need to learn. I bought a pair of Transfer XT.s' awhile back with the plan to use them for learning two-handed/two-input multi-lazies. I've never flown those kites, so maybe I should get around to it sometime this year. Quote
TassieDevil Posted August 22, 2009 Report Posted August 22, 2009 I've been working on the snap stall for most of this year.. and I still only get one around 1 or 2 out of every 5 attempts. I can't seem to do them unless the conditions are at least reasonable (smooth)... and I think my main fault is concrete-shoe syndrome. I ain't given up yet tho.. Gary Quote
Two Hands Posted August 26, 2009 Author Report Posted August 26, 2009 TD, Your suspicions are probably on the money, concrete feet are the bane of freestyle progression. The wind down here has been ballistic for the last 6 odd weeks And not being able to fly has been quite annoying, so the other day I took the VV for a run, all vents off and with quite a lot of weight on it. What I generally ended up doing was just flying around the wind window trying to keep my passes straight and my corners sharp, at 25 knots there's not much left you can do... But, being the 'freestyler' I did feel the need to commit to at least one 'classic' descending cascade... Well lets just say, in order to complete the task I had to channel Hussein Bolt . I was videoing the session, and on review I can be seen pretty much sprinting down the beach to get the trick down. Now although it's an extreme example it did remind me how much foot work comes into play with freestyle flying. As another little observation, as I'm prone to recording quite a few of my sessions, I do see a correlation with dancing and flying. If I was critical with what makes a good sequence and whats average I'd say it's the fluidity of the pilots body motion. My first experience with freestyle was watching John Barresi flying a Sea Devil on Youtube, the thing I noticed was that when there was a shot of Johns movements, it appeared as though he was dancing more than he was controlling a kite... I don't look like that often, I'm more your Pinocchio before his transformation TH Quote
ctrlaltkite Posted August 26, 2009 Report Posted August 26, 2009 Most difficult trick of all time....trying to trick the Mrs into letting me buy another sport kite! Quote
steve_hobart Posted August 26, 2009 Report Posted August 26, 2009 Most difficult trick of all time....trying to trick the Mrs into letting me buy another sport kite! you told me that you had all your new purchases delivered to work Quote
Oooo Posted August 26, 2009 Report Posted August 26, 2009 inverted flight across the window with my rev B series and inverted hover at any height !!! Quote
Frostillicus Posted August 26, 2009 Report Posted August 26, 2009 Most difficult trick of all time....trying to trick the Mrs into letting me buy another sport kite! Nice one! I can totally relate! Ha ha ha. Quote
jolli Posted August 26, 2009 Report Posted August 26, 2009 3D on short lines or flying in reverse off a dog stake... anyone tried it ? Quote
Two Hands Posted August 27, 2009 Author Report Posted August 27, 2009 Dogstaking... Hmmm I've got all the bit's just haven't put it together yet... I think it scares me, the idea that there are potentially 4 lines to get tip wrap with... TH Quote
Cool_Aid_Guy Posted October 1, 2009 Report Posted October 1, 2009 just worken on my flapjacks and yo-yo's and lazys and combos im geting ther Quote
steve_hobart Posted October 1, 2009 Report Posted October 1, 2009 onto the backspin cascades at the moment (on my NSE) - trying to make them smooth controlled cheers steve Quote
fabsio Posted October 12, 2009 Report Posted October 12, 2009 I am still working on my fades, will not be happy with them until I am getting 90% achieve rate (more like 40% at present). I am hoping now the weather has cleaned up a bit, I can get out and put som long sessions under my belt, rather than 20mins here and there in less than favourable winds. I am also working on single and double tip stabs, but cant work out the perfect time to flick the wrist so the stab is not too harsh, or the kite doesn't settle at all. Quote
Two Hands Posted October 13, 2009 Author Report Posted October 13, 2009 Fabsio, Sounds like you'll need to start focusing on the 'foot work' aspect of flying, both the fade and tipstabs benefit from being nimble on your toes. This is where the idea of you head being slightly ahead of what your hands and feet are doing will really help. If you have time to say "I'm going to do a fade" then you probably have time to 'set' yourself up properly for it, hands by your side, palms facing backwards, up on your toes and ready to move to suit what the kites doing. If the nose even hints at dropping then arms forward (quickly but not a lot) as the nose rises then take up some tension by bring the hands back. Don't worry if it is working out to be harder than it sounds, because it is! It's a simple trick but requires constant active and subtle adjustments to the lines. The up side of this is that getting the fade right will really help with so much of what freestyle flying is all about. Oh, and your right..... good winds are soooo much easier than the choppy stuff... But the choppy stuff will really teach you about fast active adjustments, so it's not that a bad training ground over all. Have fun out there! TH Quote
fabsio Posted October 13, 2009 Report Posted October 13, 2009 Fabsio, Sounds like you'll need to start focusing on the 'foot work' aspect of flying, both the fade and tipstabs benefit from being nimble on your toes. This is where the idea of you head being slightly ahead of what your hands and feet are doing will really help. If you have time to say "I'm going to do a fade" then you probably have time to 'set' yourself up properly for it, hands by your side, palms facing backwards, up on your toes and ready to move to suit what the kites doing. If the nose even hints at dropping then arms forward (quickly but not a lot) as the nose rises then take up some tension by bring the hands back. Don't worry if it is working out to be harder than it sounds, because it is! It's a simple trick but requires constant active and subtle adjustments to the lines. The up side of this is that getting the fade right will really help with so much of what freestyle flying is all about. Oh, and your right..... good winds are soooo much easier than the choppy stuff... But the choppy stuff will really teach you about fast active adjustments, so it's not that a bad training ground over all. Have fun out there! TH Me being nimble is like putting a bull in a ballet!!! Thanks for the tip with the nose control, it is what is making or breaking my fades at present, I will keep it in mind. Fabsio Quote
Two Hands Posted October 13, 2009 Author Report Posted October 13, 2009 Try to fly, for a little while, consciously on your toes (or at least your weight placed there) and also with your knees bent a little. Think of it as 'setting yourself for movement'. If and when I find myself getting flat footed (and you can see it in the flying, a good gauge for this I find, is tip wraps. These are generally a really good sign of 'under movement') then I actively go into this mode for a while... Either that, or go have a sit down and a drink of water (Remember to keep your fluids up!). Tricking a kite is pretty active stuff and in gusty and stronger winds, you can get really quite warn out, and sometimes, without noticing For me I find 1/2 hour spurts are ideal (20 mins is way to short of time , time to chuck more sickies ). Enough time to clear some of the cobwebs out of the attic, and time enough to have some fun. Then, if I get the time to, take about 5-10 mins off between sessions. With the fade, work with it in conjunction with another trick, like the axel, it generally only requires a nice footstep forward to get it looking really nice, and there's plenty of learning in an axel. The double tipstab are pretty 'up there moves' in my books, particularly with regards to breaking spars. Good luck, I'm nowhere near making them rock solid, I find em a bit scary THB Keep it up though, time on the lines really helps, and great wind maybe helps a bit to TH Quote
TassieDevil Posted October 14, 2009 Report Posted October 14, 2009 I wouldn't even know where to start with a tip-stab.. ain't looked at any of the tutorials yet.. I'm still practicing the Fade, Lazy Suzan and the elusive perfect Snap Stall. Closest thing I could do is a tip stand, mostly by rotating the kite up onto one tip at launch and trying to hold it steady.. which I've found is bloody hard ! On rare occasions I might let the tip gently touch the ground when I'm right out at the edge of the window, but I've found it almost impossible to hold it steady once it's touched down. Gary Quote
fabsio Posted October 14, 2009 Report Posted October 14, 2009 I have been bringing the kite in at about a 30deg angle and when about 1m off the ground, slack off and spin the kite vertical (or 45deg for single stab) and release tension on the lines. If you do it slowly, the kite floats down gently (for practicing) or a sharp release drops the tips firmly, but should not bend the spars. I find these only possible heading towards the edge of the window but I am not quick enough with my releases when flying from edge in, and the kite just lifts instead. Quote
Bryan Beasley Posted October 26, 2009 Report Posted October 26, 2009 Hey all! - nice debate. Tip stands and controlled spikes are a great way of improving overall control - loads of practice is key. ;-) just as a tip though, all of the control is done with the wing that's on the ground - the higher wing can be totally slack - tiny inputs towards to make the higher wing rise, away to make it fall. It's loads easier if you're on the right side of the window though, right hand tip stands - right of center in the window - left hand, left side. A nice spike also, is to initiate a lazy rotation close to the ground (or just throw back from take - off) and instead of recovering with both hands like for a 'Kombo' or 'Flapjack', just recover with one hand to jab one wing into the ground. Bryan Quote
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