http://vimeo.com/30548776
We received an email from Christian who is asking us for help regarding his Flat 3´s. As usual, Hamburg-based CORE Teamrider, Tim Kummerfeld, is going to focus on this question of how to learn it properly. His" Kummerkasten”, which is german for an “agony column”, provides the essential tips to learn proper tricks.
If you have any problems with a trick or you want to adjust it here and there, as it is not working perfectly, don´t hesitate and drop Tim an e-mail at kummerkasten@corenation.net!
In his e-mail Christian stated that he has some problems with his Flat 3´s, therefore, in his search for help, he contacted Tim:
“Hey Tim,
I progressed so far that my raileys work out well and I wanted to get started on handlepasses, so I thought that a Flat 3 might be a good starting point?!
However I always miss the bar. I rotate completely and also land but I get tangled up in the leash. Can you give me any tips on this, or is there another way to learn handlepasses easier?
Christian”
“Moin Moin”
to my second edition of “Kummerkasten”!
Here in Germany it is already freezing cold and the rain and the thick clouds make everyones´ mood go down. However not for us kiteboarders! Because this summer, despite the absence of sun, brought us even more wind than we hoped for. Because of this we now start highly motivated into autumn and for which we also have some new suggestions for your next trick.
The word handlepass always forms a sort of barrier around itself and makes it sound harder than it actually is. I am going to show you a trick, which is against all expectations really easy and fast to learn.
Drumrol … Ta-Dah! The Flat 3!
Sideshore wind around 18 knots and small kickers of about 1 to 2 meters are the perfect dreams of many kiteboarders, but you should at least have close conditions to get started on your first Flat 3´s.
Flat 3… what exactely does it mean? Actually it´s fairly easy – you go out looking for a wave, which you can use as a kicker and while jumping you do a 360° rotations around your body axis. The handlepass is therefore compulsory.
In this context Frontside (FS) and Backside (BS) don´t stand for Front- and Backloop, but instead describe the direction of you rotate to pass the bar. Rotating over toeside and wrapped, while passing from back to front hand makes it a frontside pass. Instead, rotating over blind and passing from front to back hand makes it a backside pass. More common and easier is the FS pass, as you almost completed the whole 360° rotation before passing the bar, which makes you almost “fall” right into it. Sounds hectic - but it´s not! So calm yourself and just follow my explanation for a perfect FS 360°!
Head for the sea with medium power in your kite. Spot a particularly pretty specimen among the incoming waves. Ideally just before breaking and therefore still clean and steep. Only at the very last moment before hitting the wave, you abruptly go downwind and unhook immediately. Use the wave as a kicker, pull the bar to your hip and keep your hands close to your body.
As you using the wave as a kicker, you have to jump downwind, while you turn your head towards the back, as well as pulling the bar to the backside of your hip to start the rotation. Ideally you won´t be having any pressure left on your bar and lines.
Now all there is left to do is grab the bar behind your back with your front hand while carrying on the rotation. After all that nailing it is only a small formality, for which you just have to make sure that you keep the bar close to you at all times. Once you got the hang of it, the trick is super easy and you can always run it smoothly.
Common mistakes
Still there are a few common mistakes I want to outline here:
Getting unhooked and going downwind too early is going to leave you a lot of pressure on the bar and you are going to be dragged in a tilted body position.
Initiating the rotation through the handle pass: Wakeboarders are not training the rotation on a trampoline for no purpose; as the turn is only coming form hip, shoulder and head. You sort of “just” do the handle pass to make sure you don´t wrap yourself in.
So everyone, let´s go and dip in the cool waters and get started with your practices.
For the next “Kummerkasten” write an e-mail to
kummerkasten@corenation.net and I´ll explain the most requested trick.