I’ve just recently gotten into the world of pumping, have been kitefoiling for 5 years and finally decided to get into it. I’m about 4 sessions in and of course it’s quite challenging even with the previous foil experience. I’d like to know from you guys in your opinion what is the best launch to learn from the start. My local spot is a concrete dock with no overhang and about 60cm high in once area and 30 in another. I ride an axis png 1300 v2. I have tried two methods. The first one was holding the board by the back, giving it a slight push and then letting go and jumping on. The second was the more normal technique of kicking off, placing my hands on top of the board and getting my back foot on first then my front. I find that with the second method I really struggled to keep the nose of the board down and glide after I got my back foot on, always pitched up pretty aggressively even if I tried to think about pushing down on the front of the board. The first method was just a bit inconsistent. Anyways any advice on a good technique to learn and keep trying in the beginning would be great. And yes I understand that I have only just started and I won’t learn this in a day but some advice might speed it up. Thanks guys.
I’m right there with you (going to buy a ladder for my own portable launch later today)…
It seems to me that it really depends on you (esp. things like flexibility) and your context (dock). Picking a technique that is roughly compatible with those constraints is the first thing.
I think the second thing is to then put in the time with that techique and be consistent…you can get it eventually and reps are super important.
Many of us (cough, cough, not me) get hung up on optimizing our gear, setup, strategy, when reps likely matter more and there are plenty of ways to be successful.
After settling on my own game plan, last night I went down the rabbit hole on Yvon Lebarthe’s reverse/inverted drop start, which he argues is the way to go and he would know, right? But does he know what’s best for me? Or does my man Gwen Le Tutour who has a different approach and recommendations?
Saying this one more time, mostly for myself, just pick something reasonable and go do it again and again and again…
(and if you are having trouble getting weight forward, that could be a commitment issue, and Gwen often talks about thinking about getting your chest forward (for pumping too), and/or getting the front down sooner of course)
Yeah 100%.just tricky as I can’t really build speed at my dock otherwise I might kill my wing tips on the dock. Anyways like you said just gotta keep repping it out.
I too ride on a concrete dock with no overhang. I learned to dockstart by running along the side, throwing my board and jumping on, it would trash my foil along the side of the concrete and even when I was careful, if I let some begginner try, they would trash the foil which took hours to epoxy and sand smooth again. My solution was to build a ramp launcher so no more trashed foils and can ride super small foils with fast take off speed or super wide span foils easily, here is the teaser video for that and the build video, the build video has links to free plans in the comments section. PS there are many dock launch setups, floating PVC, bolt on hold your board types and ramps and of course all the ways to launch just by yourself. Repetition is key and figuring out which one to try, its hard to unlearn once you start, so pick carefully : ) Hope your journey is epic, as mine has been!!
if you can run or push the board harder, it will help a lot. then landing on the front foot instead of the backfoot first will help too, creating your first pump
I am a bit taken with this guys “lazyboy” start, which is almost heading straight out from the dock/deadstart…wish I had that flexibility…
learn the running start so that you don’t need to learn a new technique to start smaller foils
it will take 100s of attempts
You don’t mention how high your dock is, I will assume it’s under 50 cm though.
The biggest thing you can do to speed up dock starting is video yourself, even if you don’t post it, just watch it yourself.
I firmly believe the easiest way to learn on a dock under 50 cm is the second method you are using, as long as your are flexible enough to touch your toes easily. When dock starting the location of your back foot is critical while the location of your front foot can vary and it’ll still be fine. People naturally focus on where their front foot lands if the are jumping on something and this method forces you to focus on back foot placement which is why it’s so good.
Think of it in 4 steps:
1: hands on sides of board
2: front hand on top of board, back hand on top of board
3: front hand on top of board, replace back hand with back foot
4: replace front hand with front foot
The 1300v2 is a very easy wing to start and you should be good with a single step. If you want it might be easier to do 2 steps though, just angle out away from the dock about 30°.
It sounds like you are putting your back foot too far back and / or not putting enough pressure on your front hand during the transition. I like to use my knuckles to gain a few extra cm of reach with my front hand.
Which fuse and stab are you using? Axis rigs are usually hella pitch unstable as they push you on to shorter and shorter fuses to make up for the size of the front wing. The 640 fuse is much easier to learn on than the 600 and below. When it comes to stab the 460v2 is by far the easiest to learn on but you will replace it quickly after you learn. Skinny 45 is one you wont replace but will be a bit challenging, might want to start with a Skinny 55 or 50.
Here’s a clip of me starting the Atlas 960 which requires 2-3 steps as it’s a smaller wing but it gives you a good idea of the steps, in the full video I also go over the knuckle technique.
I also have my first gos on the 1300v2 with the 600 fuse and 45 skinny:
It took me well over 100 tries to learn to dockstart. Luckily I am quite stubborn. But it really sucked learning. I suggest you commit to trying some large number of times like 100x knowing you’ll get it eventually.
I will say that around try 75, I figured out a thing to develop and I suggest you start trying it sooner than 75 tries.
Focus not on getting up and pumping, but rather keep trying just to get your feet on the board in the right place with just enough speed to glide down to a stop smoothly. You won’t get a long glide, but if you are wheelying out or stalling out or nosing in - you know to make an adjustment.
Once you can get to be consistent with getting your feet in the right place with enough speed to glide just a little, you have it. start pumping
In terms of setup I currently have the 600 fuse and 50 skinny. Definitely wasn’t my best move but again I really did think the previous experience would help out a bit more. Regardless I’ll keep trying and if I get no progress in a while I will change out the fuse and possibly the stab.
For reference this is what 90% of my attempts look like, my goal for this session was purely to jump on with just the back foot and glide with front off which is why I left my front leg there. I’ll try take my back hand off when my back foot lands next session and also really try get more over my front hand. Maybe also move my back foot further forward.
Dock start attempt
Just move your back foot farther forward, this is me on my first session on the 1300v2 with crazyshort 45 skinny, note how my back foot is fully in front of the mast.
I should also note that I ended up using a +0.75° shim for the 1300v2 to make it feel more like my 1401/1180/1201 but that wasn’t until a few sessions in.
@Kyklonas I also have the Axis 1300 PNG V2. I do the static start: light push at a 15 to 30+ deg angle away from the dock, hands off, and jump on with back foot first. I use the 30+ deg angle push off if there is no underhang at the dock I use. I haven’t learned the “rock start” yet where you push off 90 deg from the dock.
Depending on your weight, you should be able to learn the static start. Launch from highest part of the dock. The higher the better. If you need more height, bring a pallet or two. Don’t launch into a headwind. If your dock is in the ocean, pick the time of day so that you are launching AGAINST the tide.
@Kyklonas , at first glance through the thread, I missed your video. Check out this video at the 3 minute mark; you are making the same mistake. Even though the video covers a running start, the tips are still relevant to your video attempt.
https://youtu.be/fBYG48xN6TI?si=ErGEEWL2FJP5eWGg&t=180
Copy that will give it a go next session. Thanks for all the tips guys!