I hope its ok I document my progress here. Or if Im hoogin up forum posts I can stop.
Anyways Im making amazing progress and can pop up nice and fast and get foiling comfortably. Im slow turning and navigating my way across the pt and also kinda pumping. Im making it all the way to the shallows before I lose speed and cant quite pump my way back out. So my new problem is how to pump. Im really trying hard but it seems like Im mostly relying on the wave energy. It certainly feels like my pumping helps while Im on the wave but clearly Im lacking in technique.
Im planning to go out again today and try the smaller board 4’3" 33L and see if having a smaller board will help with pumping. Altho I imagine the ffb 4’10" 45l board isnt the hindrance.
I need to remind myself to lift to initiate the pump instead of pushing down to initiate the pump. I remember a utube vid where gwen says you need to lift to pump and hop but puching down will not initiate the hop part of the pump… something like that.
Unfortunately, pumping takes a lot of practice to get good. My big break through was finally getting a Code foil and Kruzer board that are creating the perfect amount of glide to keep my heart rate down. But good technique is key. It is basically riding a pump track on a skate board and learning to steer slightly up and down to create the track is key. Jumping up is not exacly it. You are powering up with rear foot bias as you stand slowly, then “lifting” the board by bending knees. The next key is why you lift your rear heel, which is to throw your weight forward with the last push of standing and then landing on your front foot. This all very subtle and if you are expending a lot of energy, you are doing it wrong! Also, exit out of the wave with speed. You need a few seconds to get stable and high on the mast before pumping.
Sweet!!! Ok will keep updates going. The pump track analogy helps Ill try visualizing that and report back my findings. Gonna watch that foil vid too and try to remember key tips before I head out
Keep us posted on which foils and stabs you’re using as well, if you don’t mind! I ride cab foils so am always curious to hear how people are playing with stabs and shimming. Good on you for getting after it!
Took the 4’10" 45l 70cm alu mast h1200 out today again. Im really digging this wing. It has really easy lift and good glide. Used the foilparts med fuselage and 13" unifoil shiv tail with the same 1’ +aoa to keep me from breaching not on take offs anymore but just for when Im foiling across the wave. I need to get back on the h1000 and h800 just to feel them again but Im kinda addicted to the 1200 right now. Plus the swells have been pretty meager so def feel more lift is the ticket. tide was 1’ low and swell was 1-2 occ 3’ long ass waits.
To my surprise I was actually able to pump today. I didnt really do the hop or anything specific ezcept I started pumping harder with more effort and also kinda lengthened my frequency so bigger slower pumps. One thing I did notice was I was inadvertwntly lifting my rear heal. I was not thinking about it but it seemed to be a byproduct of my increased effort. I was also pumping hared while I was on the wave so when I exited it I had some momentum to keep going. I almost did a double but fizzled out right before I hooked into a 2nd swell. The second time I actually exited the wave and started pumping back out but had nowhere to go and ran out of steam. I think alot of my surfing experience is really kicking in now that Im generallly comfortable when Im up on foil. When I pop up I do it super fast but often my feet are kind not in a perfect spot but I kinda ohshitohshit myself into balance and stabilize and am able to ride the wave after regaining some composure. Lets just say Im addicted.
Went out again today. Not much new progress still cant pump too far after kicking out of the wave. I have moments of effortless glide on a pump here and there but before I know it Ive lost momentum. Im gonna drop down to the 800 wing tomorrow and see how that feels. I can tell the 1200 has a max speed that I hit pretty quickly. Still catching some good sets off the middle top of the pt to the start of the lower houses. Im a little too eager to get up and get going sometimes and I have to force myself to slow down. Catching waves at mondos is so tricky on a prone board. Id say more tricky than a surfboard. It almost feels like whackamole!! Have to be just right where the whitewash starts breaking and nowhere else.
My rear leg calf feels sore too def from the pumping effort. I never had this from surfing
Tomorrow I might try the ono m800
gonna try 60/40 foot weight front/back and try standing narrower per oskarfoils suggestion too
It will pump better than the cab 800 I’m pretty sure. Never ridden the cab stuff though.
Pumping is just something that takes time. I like to phrase it this way to new guys. If you have a max cardio time of 30 seconds up on foil and you use 25 of those seconds riding the wave, well then you only have 5 seconds left to pump. So if pumping and connecting is your goal. Get off the wave you caught within the first 10 seconds and be at speed when you pull off. Then you’ll have 20 seconds to get to the wave behind and connect.
Eventually you can extend that 30 seconds to a longer time period. Pulling off with speed and early in the run is key to making connections though. Easier to maintain speed than it is to build spee.d
Great advice! Just learning, so I get so excited that I ride the wave at my local pointbreak all the way to the end where there is a steep beach with backwash. I usually start my pump in the refracting soft bouncy water. I need to make myself peel away earlier on the pump-hump.
Took the cab 800 and it is so much faster. My popup has to be on point. Also cutting thru the water is faster so need to pay attention to breaching while pumping. One cool thing is it catches wavea so much easier. The cost tho is I def have to work more to keep it in flight which requires more pumping skill than I currently have. Its really cool to swap between foil sizes to match my mood and conditions. I dont think you have to be expert/intermediate to ride smaller foils but just wont have the same glide. But its worth it to switch them up.
1200 and 1000 are prob best for where Im at but if Im feeling a need for speed the 800 is super fun.
