My brother who learned to kitesurf not that many years ago, he could ride quite okay, also ride waves.Arcsrule wrote:Thanks PF. I was hopeing someone would disagree with my friend. Unfortunately, I have never learned to body drag properly with only a 50% success rate. Fortunately, I've always flown foils so the need was not there...MOST OF THE TIME
But eventhough a good surfer/windsurfer/kitesurfer when ON the water, he could not bodydrag upwind that well, or not at all - only sometimes he succeded without knowing why ?
I told him this very simple trick (as I looked at him and could see why it went wrong) - namely to mentally ride/drag sidewind instead of reaching up towards the board, as you would intuitively.
And voila - he blasted upwind immediately every single time
You "stall" yourself if trying to reach towards the board
When you ride ON your board, this is easy to feel, as if you point too high and "stall" the constellation, you will drop out of planing.
But in the water, this is not the case - you can not feel when it is right or wrong that easy.
Others with upwind bodydrag problems has had the same success simply by thinking "halfwind" - and it works like a charm every single time
I honestly believe, that those few who wears leashes even after learning to kite - is because of the very same issue, and that is a shame, when the solution is so easy: Think halfwind !
PF