How to jump in Kitesurfing

Jumping is one of the most beautiful experiences kitesurfing can offer us. Feeling the force of the wind that propels us over the water, seeing our board that takes off from the sea and feeling that we “fly” is an indescribable and unique sensation.

Like any manoeuvre, there are many critical points to take into account. It is necessary to practice and master specific movements, both with the kite and with the body itself, which must be trained to achieve a successful jump. Once the basic jump technique has been mastered, we can begin to think about higher and more complicated jumps.

First jumps in Kitesurfing: the magic of being in the air

 A hooked jump is a basis for later performing many freestyle tricks or more technical jumps. It can be to the right or to the left, as appropriate. It consists of 3 stages: take-off, time in the air and landing. We will describe in detail to give you a base of the technique to use.

TAKE-OFF – STARTING YOUR KITE JUMP
To be prepared to start jumping, we must have a good command of the kite, as well as a certain autonomy and handling of the board as well as our body. These three elements must be combined with some harmony to achieve a successful jump.

It is advisable to start any basic jump from the heading through, that is, 90º with respect to the direction of the wind, either to the right or to the left.

To start a jump manoeuvre, we must take a sufficient speed and take our board in an upwind direction. Choosing the correct speed, neither too low nor too high, will make our jump successful in terms of height and time in the air.

Initially, we direct our kite upwards (12 o’clock) and then backwards, we prepare to lift our board by bending our knees and bringing the bar closer to the body.

The moment we make a cut into the water, pressing with our legs, is called “pop”. After doing the pop, we bring the bar closer to the body so that the kite lifts us and supports us during the jump. The ideal is to do this when we notice that the kite pulls with more force, to achieve the highest possible height in our jump. It is essential to bring the bar closer to the body (lower it completely) at the moment in which we detach ourselves from the surface of the water.

Time in the air of the kite jump

Once in the air, it is about keeping our knees bent and our body quite stiff, maintaining the ideal posture for the jump and the subsequent landing. Use this body tension to stabilize yourself, keeping an eye on the kite and the kite a little downwind.

The time we will spend in the air, known as airtime, will depend on several factors, the most important being the type and shape of the kite, although it will also be affected by the power of the wind, our weight and the physical posture. Once we are reaching the highest point of the jump, it is essential to start positioning ourselves for the landing.

During the time we spend in the air, our posture will seek to avoid any rotation that could make us lose our balance or destabilize us, generating problems when landing. We must leave the kite at the zenith, that is, at 12 o’clock, so that it continues to support us and thus the fall is as gradual as possible.

When we begin to descend, we must move the kite a little down and then in front of us, so that it continues to generate traction and we do not plummet. To get the maximum hang time, already having a good command of the entire jumping process, we can move the kite (always being at 12 o’clock or close to that position) doing small eights, a more advanced technique.

LANDING AFTER JUMPING

The correct handling of the kite will allow you to have a controlled landing. To achieve a soft landing, we must direct our kite downwards to release tension from the bar. Once this is done, before touching the water, our knees must be bent enough to cushion the impact, but not in an excessive way that could lead us to fall or lose our balance.

Remember to use the centre lines to determine the position of the kite. A useful resource in case you reach the kite is to loop over you to put it back in place and achieve more lift (more advanced).

When you are just a few feet from the water, focus on looking at where you will land. Sometimes it helps to release one hand from the bar to give yourself more range of movement, although you won’t always feel the need to do so. When landing, we must push one leg in the direction the kite is pulling us, keeping our centre of gravity just above the other.

When landing, the ideal would be to allow the board to drift a bit in the downwind direction before returning to the upwind direction; Those seconds will also help us to accommodate the posture of the body. Sailing downwind will allow us to stabilize, check our equipment and return to a good body position. The aim is for the manoeuvre to finish as smoothly as possible and close to the direction we were originally coming from, to continue navigating correctly.

As we practice the manoeuvre, we can start to accelerate it to achieve higher jumps and more significant airtime (time in the air). The maximum objective is to perform the jumps in a fluid and smooth way, making the transitions between one stage and another practically not noticeable, with forceful, fast and controlled movements. Initially, it is always advisable to separate the process into these three stages, and gradually join them in a single process.

The ideal landing curve is one that does not generate an abrupt fall, nor does it create an impact going forward quickly. The handling of the kite, the board and the body posture play a key role in achieving a successful jump.

The most common problems when we talk about kite jumps

At a general level, it is recommended never to jump in shallow water, in areas crowded with riders or near the coast, or with nearby obstacles. The ideal is to do it in a clear area, and far enough away from other riders and people to avoid complications.

Having said this, we should not get frustrated if the first few times we jump, the result is not optimal. There are several reasonably common complications that we are likely to experience while learning. They are:

Fly far, but not high: It happens when the kite propels us to leeward, but not upward. In these cases we must improve the pop, concentrating on the moment of the edging and jumping to windward to achieve the right lift. If you don’t have good speed when you pop, you probably won’t get too far out of the water either.

Losing the edge: In cases where you lose the edge, slip and break, you end up falling sideways or on your back. The jump is a failure before it started. In these cases, start slower and more stable, concentrating on keeping your edge steady throughout the takeoff stage. Push the board with your back leg as you lift your front leg.

Falling too fast: You may land without speed, falling too fast. In those cases, it’s all about steering your kite forward to gain momentum. It can also happen that you fall on lead, like a stone. That is because your kite was launched too far: keep it at 12 always. In case of landing too fast, you should keep your kite at 12 o’clock longer and not send it forward for too long.

Swinging under the kite: Two things can happen here. In cases where you’re swinging under the kite, you’ve likely taken off too far downwind. Seek to focus on the pop and jump upwind. On the other hand, if the problem is that you turn under the kite, the solution is to turn your board so that it is facing the wind, achieving stability in the air and stopping the uncontrolled turn.

And finally, common-sense recommendations:

• Never start a jump in extreme situations or with little body balance.
• Avoid jumping in extreme weather conditions.
• Keep the bar close to the body and balanced, avoid steering without pulling harder on one side than the other.

Conclusion

How to jump with the kite? This is a question that we begin to ask ourselves once we have completely mastered the manoeuvre of getting up on the board and we begin to navigate and fully control the direction of our navigation, and it is our duty as professionals to warn you that in order to jump it is completely necessary that you can count on a certain level of skill and confidence in it to do it in a way in which we can perform this task without losing control, that is why it is best that you do not rush and practice a lot what would come to be the water start.

Some of you will surely wonder why we insist on dominating the water start if we have come to talk about jumps because this is important since before doing jumps we must dominate very naturally the position of placing the rear leg semi flexed and the front leg fully stretched, We must master keeping the board glued to the water without sinking the front part and the pressure that we must apply to girdle against the wind since these steps are very important when making jumps and you will see why we insist on them and that you practice these fundamental manoeuvres.

To be able to take a jump in kitesurfing it is necessary, first of all, that we have started the navigation movement, in addition to that we must take the kite from the usual navigation angle of about 45 degrees until 12 o’clock in our flight window, that is, towards the zenith or in other words above us; For this, we must maintain our usual navigation position and press the bar with our backhand with which we will be able to take the kite towards the zenith; once the kite passes 11 or 1 o’clock in the wind window, it will be time to press the bar with both hands.

In order to gain power in the jump, the moment the bar passes through 11 or 1 in our flight window it is necessary that we help ourselves with our legs to cut slightly on the water; This leg movement is a bit more technical and will help to tighten the lines to their maximum, making us gain the power we are looking for to carry out our jump, but make no mistake, that is not yet all that must be done to carry it out. When the kite is arriving at 12 o’clock, we must extend our legs and let ourselves be carried away by force acquired by the kite to be able to jump.

Once we have jumped, we must take the kite back to the edge of the flight window to be able to return to the water correctly, for this, while in the air, we must press the bar with our right hand and it is very important that to avoid injuries In our lower extremities we flex our legs slightly before the board touches the water again and cushion the contact of the board with the sea with the legs, that is why lifting the kite taking it to the edge of the flight window when we are still in the air it is very important as it will help to minimize the impact.

The manoeuvre of carrying out a jump can increase in difficulty depending on the strength of the wind and the size of the kite used, for beginners it is highly recommended that when starting to practice the jumps these practices can be carried out with the intensity of the wind Just for navigation, in this way you can have more control and in this way you will help to strengthen the learning process since the force and pressure that the learners must apply will be less, thus making them pay more attention to the technique than to the force they must apply to maintain control of the kite.

• As the intensity of the wind increases, the difficulty of the jump will also increase, that is why, to begin with, we recommend that you do it with the right wind force to navigate and if you make the learning of this manoeuvre can be carried out more speed and security.