Here is an example of someone taking off too far forward, no doubt they can feel they are too far forward because they are a sponsored / competitive rider, and they SHIFT BOTH THEIR FEET, multiple times, finding the groove.
Could he have done that critical top turn hack if he didn’t move his feet? Zero chance. Maybe unfamiliar un-dialled foil, but whatever the point is that he needed to find the sweet spot. So for turns, find the sweet spot.
But wait, literally the next clip, Zane pumping out to the back in a pump stance, and then shifting them both back when he starts getting onto the wave. He moves his front foot like 4 times. And those are the visible movements from 500m away. Most of the time these are imperceptible shuffles and twists to shift it a centimetre or two. Why had he moved his feet before the pump? Why did he need to move them again after the pump? Because he had a long ass pump out the back on a high performance foil, and it was easier with a different weight balance…
Then the Axis rider, he moves his feet before the off the lip and after. Why?
So, for prone, move your feet, find the groove, find the push. I rest.
I wonder if I should change any of these now that I’ve turned this into a grand theory
Yes, this is a good point, I’ve based all of this on riding these types of conditions, and the smaller the foil the less it will tolerate your feet being wrong. The way to truly feel this is to SUP downwind on a race foil where there is no chance of pumping if you are too far forward, but when you paddle up your feet work their way forward, and so you quickly discover the principle of good trim.
Onto Adam:
yes that is what I’m talking about. @Kurtis is right he almost never moves his feet because he is so perfectly dialled, but I’ll also say that it often looks like Adams pumping is super laboured because he is favouring the surf stance… so not exactly a good example for the rest of us, but that shuffle is the type of adjustment I’m talking about.
Anyway, looking at Adam for example of people doing it wrong is not that useful as obviously he is perfectly dialled in the edited clips.
This agrees with the point I’m making, for towing, you don’t need to pump much, you’re riding small foils at high speed, and so the balanced surf stance at high speed is enough to pump the foil, and if you’re towing you don’t bother killing yourself to link another wave, which is the same as all Adams clips.
For most people, their setup isn’t correct, and their stance isn’t equal, especially when they’re proning, and their pressure isn’t equal. Example, Liam from GFP when foil driving dented his board under his back foot from pressing so hard to keep the nose up.. dented! too far forward.
My point isn’t that struggling intermediates are standing too far forward, and they should work their way back.
Interestingly, this below shows how far back Adam is, when he gets hung up in the lip, he needs to drop knee to keep from breaching. Most people would not stand in such a precariously trimmed stance, but to get the most out of it, you must. Similar to how most advanced surfers can’t even ride a pro level board because it’s too unforgiving
