Users of the Progression Player and subscribers of our monthly newsletter have already had access to this short video that’s for anyone wanting a little inspiration to spice up their next session!
Everyone has to turn around at some point, whatever level you’re at, the Progression Trick Wheel will highlight 9 different tricks all based around the fundamentals of edging, jumping and rotations. Take a look, get inspired and trying something new when you next hit the water:
Continuing our exploration into understanding some of the most iconic wakestyle tricks, today we have a Trick Progression for the KGB.
This is probably one of the tricks that confuse the layman kitesurfer the most as the name has no relevance to what is actually happening!
And even once you realise there is a back roll in there somewhere, it can still get your head aching trying to visualise it.
So heres the Progression…
1st Progression: Unhooked Powered Back Roll
2nd Progression: Unhooked Powered Back Roll with a backside 180 (landing to blind) / Back to Blind
3rd Progression: Unhooked Powered Back Roll with a backside 180 and an Airpass (landing toeside) / Back to Blind with an Airpass
4th Progression : Unhooked powered Back Roll with a backside 360 (landing heelside) / KGB
You can spot a KGB by realising the trick has started with a back roll but then crucially the backside 360 rotation is notably in the counter direction.
If you want to learn the KGB or any of the powered tricks leading up to it check out the Progression Kiteboarding Professional DVD for in-depth instruction and demonstrations from the wakestyle master Aaron Hadlow.
In part 1 of this blog post we introduced you to some top tips for popping whether you are riding Hooked-in or Unhooked. The two videos have had a great response but check them out if you’ve yet to watch them… But now we thought it would be good to show you how you can take the basic technique of popping and move it forwards into more advanced tricks.
What next – Hooked-in Popping…
1. Popping on its own will get pretty boring pretty quickly so the next progression is definitely Popping to Toeside and it definitely beats forcing the board round like you may have been doing so far.
2. Next up has to be grabs and there are a lot of them to try, which in itself can keep you busy for some time!
3. Finally we suggest you take a look at the more advanced technique of Popping to Blind. This is a trick that takes some practice, to get used to the contorted position you have to get into. However once again, it will improve your kite and board control and set you up for taking your next progression, unhooking…
What next – Unhooked Popping…
When it comes to unhooking then possible tricks that lay ahead are endless! But to start with heres a few of the first progressions you should look at taking…
So there you have it, your next steps for popping whether you are hooked or unhooked. If you want more in-depth help with your kitesurfing then check our the our Progression DVDs which cover many of these tricks in full detail, including common mistakes and key elements helping you to get it nailed faster!
In Issue 51 of KiteWorld, their Motordrive section cover how to “Get Pop”. Now for any riders wanting to perform unhooked tricks learning to pop is a necessity but for those of you who aren’t quite ready to make that step yet, popping hooked-in is still a vital skill to learn. To that end we have created two ‘Top Tip’ videos for kitesurfers learning to Pop Hooked-in & Pop Unhooked.
Now fundamentally the technique for popping is the same whether you are hooked-in or unhooked:
Keep the kite low and stable
Edge hard off your back leg, with your whole body moving back against the kites power
When you release the edge your whole body comes forward
The unhooked version however requires better timing and control to ensure you can harness that power correctly – but start learning your pop hooked-in and you’ll be half way towards the next progression of unhooking.
Hooked-in Popping
Popping hooked-in is a great technique as it will not only giving you leg up when it comes to unhooking but also offer you a range of new tricks to learn whether its popping to toeside, popped grabs or trying back rolls without sending your kite.
For those wanting to uphook, getting good pop is vital for Raley’s, S-bend’s, in fact every powered trick that exists! Quite often the most common problem for any unhooked trick comes back to the very beginning and mistakes in that initial pop.
Want to master this trick in full? The Progression Kiteboarding Advanced DVD covers everything from setting up and learning the basics of unhooking, to learning to pop and then on to in depth instruction for how to throw down a raley and a s-bend -buy it now from our online store.
So this is just part one of the ‘art of popping’ from Progression, in the next blog post we’ll run through some of the progressions you can take after the basics of popping to spice things up a bit!
Its a double whammy with this blog post – showcasing two new advanced ’trick definition’ videos and giving the answer to our recent “Name That Trick’ competition where you could win a North Airstyler Harness.
This time we tried to confuse you all as much as possible by mashing together two different tricks performed by the stylish New Caledonia rider Tom Hebert:
Did you work it out? Well the first one is a Crow Mobe – or in plain english a toeside front roll to blind:
Most people got that but it was the second one that cause quite a few problems! We had back to blinds & back mobes – WRONG! Alot of people got close with a Slim Chance but unfortunately WRONG! For the Slim the body needs to get fully inverted during the pass. So that left the correct answer… the NIS (Non-Inverted Slim) and then just to catch a few more people out there was a grab thrown in for good measure!
Now the last thing regarding the NIS, there was a pretty even split between answers for the NIS and the S-Mobe. Essentially they are the same trick (and in Wakeboarding the NIS doesn’t really exist) but in kiteboarding there is a small visual different between the two. The NIS is a front roll with a frontside 360 where as the S-Mobe is a s-bend with a frontside 360. Other than the front roll / s-bend difference you can usual see the difference in the frontside 360 – the bar pass on the NIS happens slightly off axis where as the S-mobe is a very flat frontside 360. As we are feeling generous (and we think its pretty much the same thing) we have included all those who answered NIS or S-mobe!
Anyway, the moment you have all been waiting for… and the winner of the North Airstyler Harness is….. PHILIP SNOUCKAERT!!
Thanks to North Kiteboarding for their support and thanks to everyone who took the time to enter our competition. Watch out for the next Name that Trick coming in the next few weeks…
A final note on our ‘ Trick Terminology’ videos:
These videos do not have any in depth instruction but instead can help you quickly and visually define a particular kitesurfing trick. Whether you want to line up your next kiting progression, find inspiration or just appear more knowledgable down the beach these videos are an easy way to get clued up fast!
If there are any tricks you would like us to cover in our ‘Trick Terminology’ videos then just add them into the comments below and we’ll get it done!
Todays videos are for the all the advanced riders looking to add a little something more to an existing trick.
Starting with a Krypt – a cool name for what is simply a raley landing toeside!
Then we have a Toeside hop to blind, its technical and the full backside 360 without an airpass makes it look fast and stylish.
Finally we a Raley to blind with a pop out – not as easy at looks, but pop outs are getting added to all types of tricks by the pro’s and it’s definitely a cool addition to your repertoire.
What tricks do you want to see next? We’ve got a couple more waiting in the wings but we are open to suggestions…
Users of the Progression Player and subscribers of our monthly newsletter have already had access to this short video that’s for anyone wanting a little inspiration to spice up their next session!
When it comes to unhooking then possible tricks that lay ahead are endless! But to start with heres a few of the first progressions you should look at taking…
Its a double whammy with this blog post – showcasing two new advanced ’trick definition’ videos and giving the answer to our recent 