Popping to blind - good progression for landing to blind
Tue, 07/06/2010 - 10:56
Here’s a little trick / tip I was working on last weekend. John Modica taught me this in a lesson last year and it helps to practice this before trying to land stuff to blind. It’s a cool little trick to do on its own as well.
1. Figure out which tack you want to pop to blind on. It is usually the opposite of your better toe side tack.
2. Make sure your depower strap is adjusted properly (normally this means depowered quite a bit).
3. Ride on your tack and get up as much speed as possible. You'll need this, and don't worry about going too fast - you can't as you'll see you shave off a ton of speed and will want all you can keep.
4. Bear off (this is when you will start to slow down, so the more speed you enter with the better), unhook as the pressure is released from the bar & chicken loop and at the same time you are unhooking, bend your knees and compress your body. When you’ve unhooked you should be heading downwind quite a bit.
5. Spring up – JUMP – and rotate your body to the blind position (the rotation is inward) – popping from heel side to the opposite toe side (blind). When you jump, you need to let go with your back hand. Try doing this off the backside of a piece of chop if you have some, or just jump when on flat water.
6. When you land you want the board to be headed dead downwind. If you edge at all back upwind, while in the blind position, the kite will power up and you will yard sale. Don’t worry if this happens, as it may take a few tries and some commitment to jump all the way to blind – which again you want the board headed dead downwind when you land.
7. At the same time you are landing to blind or just after you land, pass the handle. If you’ve done surface passes (which this basically is) you’ll know how. If not, practice on the beach first– you turn the bar 180 so your palm is facing up, then receive with your other hand behind your back and then spin it the remaining 180 – so your lines will be twisted once when complete.
8. Ride away and smile - it's a fun, low risk trick and a good prep to landing stuff to blind. After you nail it a few times, try to do a small railey before you land.
A few tips to go along with this:
-Speed is your friend!
-Make sure to depower your kite, you will not need much power for this.
-Do not try to keep the bar flat without spinning when passing – you run the risk of grabbing the wrong side of the bar.
-Jump as far to blind as you can – it is difficult to jump too far, but easy to not jump far enough. You want to land with the board headed dead downwind.
Tue, 07/06/2010 - 11:39
#2
BS 180
Backside 180's are a ton of fun and IMHO look really smooth when done right.
Here is some video from the master himself working through the trick.
Tue, 07/06/2010 - 12:10
#3
BS 180
Thanks Chooch - I didn't know the name or if it was even considered a trick on its own.
Nice vid too, shows how much he heads/lands downwind - which is the key I think. As mentioned the kite powers back up if not heading downwind -then your shoulder gets a nice stretch..
Tue, 07/06/2010 - 13:53
#4
don't forget to keep the kite
don't forget to keep the kite low dawgg
Thank JC for posting that, here's another variation I found last night.
Pop to wrapped
Tue, 07/06/2010 - 13:44
#5
Freestyle v. Wake style
My kite has 2 different settings Freestyle and Wake style should this trick be attempted on wake style mode or freestyle??
Tue, 07/06/2010 - 14:20
#6
Set it and forget it
Your kites should always be on the wakestyle setting - it just sounds much cooler.
In all seriousness, the BS 180 is a no power trick. So it doesn't matter what you have your kite set on. You are only hopping, not really popping to blind (or wrapped as Brian posted), so it doesn't matter (IMO).
In general though, for true pop, I believe you would want your kite on wakestyle. It will allow the kite to sit further back in the wind window and give you more power, while staying a little more stable.
Thanks B, I've never tried wrapped. Never really understood it actually- that vid is good at showing it. Will try next time, doesn't look too bad.
Wed, 07/07/2010 - 11:09
#7
Wakestyle
I'm going try next time to use the wakestyle and will see how bad I'll crash 
Stay tuned..
Thanks for the explanation..
Tue, 07/06/2010 - 23:38
#8
Push down on bar, keep close to body
Forgot to add this.
When you are heading downwind and compressing, try to keep the bar as close to your body as possible - bend your elbows, don't let the kite pull your arms straight out. As you bear off, you can push down on the bar and pull it in toward your waist. Then when you hop to blind, the arm/hand that is still holding the bar will be close to your lower back, which makes it easier to pass the bar.
If you let your arms all the way out, then it is harder to pass the handle before the kite powers up again.
If you notice in the Dre video, he pushes the bar down and pulls it in toward his hip.
Forgot to mention - with the hand you are leaving on the bar - wrap your index finger over the depower line. This will help keep the kite stable when you let go with your back hand.