Unhooked in the surf

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General Gear Reviews Newbies The Hookup Foiling Lost & Found WA NSW QLD SA VIC TAS

terminal

1421 posts

terminal

1421 posts

15 Mar 2015 9:14am

sir ROWDY said..

terminal said..

sir ROWDY said..

PRAWNDOG said..
I really enjoyed unhooking down the line on my back hand, but then learnt to ride switch and havn't felt the need to unhook since. After reading this entertaining thread i think it's time to start unhooking whilst riding down the line switch, must be the closest thing to surfng ??

Closest thing to surfing would be riding backhand. No-one can surf properly switch.

Seriously though, switch is fun but you will find un-hooking (if un-strapped) on your switch is a whole level harder than staying hooked-in. I give it a blast every now and again, but I also like pushing my self on my backhand as it's totally different to what you do on your natural side.

That's another thing that puzzles me.
Can surfers surf properly on their natural side?
Do they do relatively better in competitions on their natural side?
If so, that would suggest to me that front hand surfing is better than backhand surfing.
Then learning to ride switch would be progression even if it was more difficult to do properly than backhand.

Perhaps true in a way. But I don't think that riding switch on a kite = surfing switch stance... Riding backhand on a kite well (doing airs etc.) has it's own unique problems.

But the key thing is - is riding front hand better than riding back hand? That is the factor that really matters rather than difficulty IMO.

Kiting back hand might be more difficult than surfing back hand or kiting front hand, but if it's not better then is it more progressive?

It's probably easier to get agreement on what is more difficult than what looks better.

IMO progression is shades of grey and goes in all sorts of directions, so I don't get it if people claim it only goes the way they think.

Jedibrad

NSW

527 posts

Jedibrad

NSW, 527 posts

15 Mar 2015 8:46pm

Ok i like this

Poor form No.1 That thing when someone does a gybe way out on the flats instead of a bottom turn in the pocket?

sir ROWDY

5378 posts

sir ROWDY

WA, 5378 posts

15 Mar 2015 6:13pm

terminal said..

Too true Terminal, comes back to what I said before... What is better art? What is Art?

If you want what is more difficult, for me personally doing airs off my backhand kiting (even hooked-in) is much harder than doing one switch. This might differ for some people, but I still haven't seen anyone doing some decent airs kiting off their backhand (down the line), especially so un-hooked.

JBFletch

QLD

1287 posts

JBFletch

QLD, 1287 posts

16 Mar 2015 8:55am

sir ROWDY said..

KBwhokbs said..
Unhooked, no straps?

Does this mean I take the pedals off my bike and select the biggest gear.

Strange analogy I know but it seems to fit.

Funny you mention it actually, because in park BMX it's considered lame to have brakes... so it's not really far off.

Lame and personal preference are two different things Rowdy.

I have setups and styles i like to ride with, and if the someone else has a different setup, i don't think its lame, its just their choice.

For someone of such stature and industry importance i think its LAME that you wrag on people, simply because of their level or personal preference.
Lets encourage everything and PROGRESS the sport.

eppo

9789 posts

eppo

WA, 9789 posts

16 Mar 2015 9:18am

I was fortunate enough the watch the finals of the world championship wake boarding comp yesterday arvo, now those guys are doing some amazing things with power!

Plummet

4862 posts

Plummet

4862 posts

16 Mar 2015 9:48am

Fark me!

This is one big pisssing contest!.

"My way is better than your way" blah blah blah blah.

Go and ride the waves and enjoy them. Hooked in, unhooked, straps, strapless, with or without kite, Surfboard, mutant, twin tip, sup...... etc etc,,,,, blah blah blah.

He who grins the most wins!....

Get out there an experience it. If you like it, continue. If not, do it a different way.

Disregard any nut bar on an internet forum that tells you that your way is not as good as his way......

tomme

VIC

475 posts

tomme

VIC, 475 posts

16 Mar 2015 2:10pm

Plummet said..
Fark me!

This is one big pisssing contest!.

"My way is better than your way" blah blah blah blah.

Go and ride the waves and enjoy them. Hooked in, unhooked, straps, strapless, with or without kite, Surfboard, mutant, twin tip, sup...... etc etc,,,,, blah blah blah.

He who grins the most wins!....

Get out there an experience it. If you like it, continue. If not, do it a different way.

Disregard any nut bar on an internet forum that tells you that your way is not as good as his way......

Also everyone enjoys different things, Rowdy may find switch airs harder than me which may mean he enjoys the feeling more when he lands one, all comes back to why I love this sport, we can all go out on different kites, boards, at the same location and have a great time.

try each method people talk about, see if it clicks or feels like something you want to try and get better at, if it grinds your gears and you prefer to ride hooked in boosting in a seat harness, do it.

eppo

9789 posts

eppo

WA, 9789 posts

16 Mar 2015 12:06pm

Well clearly riding unhooked is the pinnacle of kiting evolution and anything else is taking the easy path and is just downright lame.

Oh and by the way, I ride unhooked....

surfnkiteall

64 posts

surfnkiteall

WA, 64 posts

16 Mar 2015 4:12pm

JUST ABOUT SUMS IT ALL UP

eppo

9789 posts

eppo

WA, 9789 posts

16 Mar 2015 5:16pm

Yeh that's pretty sick above.

sir ROWDY

5378 posts

sir ROWDY

WA, 5378 posts

16 Mar 2015 7:29pm

JBFletch said...

sir ROWDY said..

KBwhokbs said..
Unhooked, no straps?

Does this mean I take the pedals off my bike and select the biggest gear.

Strange analogy I know but it seems to fit.

Funny you mention it actually, because in park BMX it's considered lame to have brakes... so it's not really far off.

Haahahaha. I don't actually care about BMX they can do whatever they want, I'm just pointing out that the collective of that discipline (as far as I've observed hanging out with them) think in a way that he would likely find strange.

I'm not "wrag"ing on anyone, meerly bringing my opinion and point of view to the table... It's a forum, that's what you do on a forum.

Maybe you should start a new forum where everyone just posts each other kisses and hugs.

sir ROWDY

5378 posts

sir ROWDY

WA, 5378 posts

16 Mar 2015 7:32pm

Plummet said...
Fark me!

This is one big pisssing contest!.

"My way is better than your way" blah blah blah blah.

Go and ride the waves and enjoy them. Hooked in, unhooked, straps, strapless, with or without kite, Surfboard, mutant, twin tip, sup...... etc etc,,,,, blah blah blah.

He who grins the most wins!....

Get out there an experience it. If you like it, continue. If not, do it a different way.

Disregard any nut bar on an internet forum that tells you that your way is not as good as his way......

As far as I can tell this thread was started to get some real info into unhooked waveriding... Then along came all the "stoke saviours" telling everyone that they should just do what they want and that unhooking is pointless... Ahh the irony.

surfingboye

NSW

2707 posts

surfingboye

NSW, 2707 posts

16 Mar 2015 10:46pm

I just wanna know if anyone is doing the lorocopter unhooked yet?

loftsofwind

QLD

226 posts

loftsofwind

QLD, 226 posts

16 Mar 2015 9:51pm

With all this talk about 'surfing the wave' they should just make a kite that has a mode for auto pilot, Once on a wave if you could somehow change your kite into one of those toy kites (the 1 line kite) you could completely release it and just let it sit there attached to your safety leash, with no worries about kite you can slash and hack the waves you want. lol

Please green thumb if you think this is the future for kites!

sir ROWDY

5378 posts

sir ROWDY

WA, 5378 posts

16 Mar 2015 7:51pm

surfingboye said..
I just wanna know if anyone is doing the lorocopter unhooked yet?

POTY nominee?

eppo

9789 posts

eppo

WA, 9789 posts

16 Mar 2015 9:29pm

sir ROWDY said..

Jedibrad said..
Why o why would you remove the ability to lose almost all the kite pull i.e. depower??

This whole freeing up the body is just crap

It gets totally free when you dump the power

Why would you want a high centre of effort continually pulling your body from up near your ear anyways??

Wake up hipsters

Or maybe your all riding undervolumed boards and need that constant pull??

Most people who hate on un-hooked wave riding are the very people who will never do it properly. It's just like the crowd of old days who hated on boots because they knew they would get served up if they rode them, so they tried to make out like boots were stupid because if they didn't ride boots then people would think they aren't good anymore... It's easy to see why people don't like progression.
,
I think it's actually the reason why wave-riding is so popular worldwide. It hasn't progressed as much as freestyle so everyone can kind of still relate to it, everyone can still kind of pretend like they are one of the best. If proper un-hooked stuff starts becoming the norm they will lose that ability to relate and pretend, thus I think some people (even sub-consciously) fight against it. (It was the same with riding un-strapped for a long time)

p.s.
Remember how many people used to go to National comps when the level was lower and they all thought they had a chance of winning???

Whatever glass bubble you operate in, I want one...

Plummet

4862 posts

Plummet

4862 posts

17 Mar 2015 2:52am

loftsofwind said..
With all this talk about 'surfing the wave' they should just make a kite that has a mode for auto pilot, Once on a wave if you could somehow change your kite into one of those toy kites (the 1 line kite) you could completely release it and just let it sit there attached to your safety leash, with no worries about kite you can slash and hack the waves you want. lol

Please green thumb if you think this is the future for kites!

It already exists.

The auto zenithing Arc.

Plummet

4862 posts

Plummet

4862 posts

17 Mar 2015 3:10am

eppo said..

sir ROWDY said..

Whatever glass bubble you operate in, I want one...

hehehe....

Yep our rowdy does have a special myopia or tunnel vision.

Here's my take on unhooking in the waves. I see the point if you are a surfer and want to try and create the surfing experience as closely as you can. However the application of unhooking be must very limited to smaller waves, lighter winds at locations that it doesn't really matter if the kite goes down.... and or by sponsored riders that get free kites.

If you find yourself kiting it massive seas in big winds at locations that can cut you to bits and kill you if you stuff up, the absolute last thing you want is to drop the kite.

PS Isn't unhooking a regression? not a progression. After all didn't all kitesurfing start out unhooked?

sir ROWDY

5378 posts

sir ROWDY

WA, 5378 posts

17 Mar 2015 5:11am

Totally agree, I've lost the plot... Those shredders out there doing the same boring hooked in S-turns year after year though, they know where the progressions at

IanR

NSW

1342 posts

IanR

NSW, 1342 posts

17 Mar 2015 9:09am

Progression in Rowdy's head seems to be all about mimicking other sports as closely as possible
In the surf you must only ride as a surfer would
In flat water you must only ride as if you where being towed by a boat.
I think progression is about taking advantage of our point of difference, the kite and using it to go beyond what other sports can do

I'm no self important EX PKRA judge though, I'm just an old guy that loves to kiteboard and will never compleat

Plummet

4862 posts

Plummet

4862 posts

17 Mar 2015 7:26am

IanR said..
Progression in Rowdy head seems to be all about mimicking other sports as closely as possible
In the surf you must only ride as a surfer would
In flat water you must only ride as if you where being towed by a boat.
I think progression is about taking advantage of our point of difference, the kite and using it to go beyond what other sports can do

I'm no self important EX PKRA judge though, I'm just an old guy that loves to kiteboard and will never compleat

I'll agree with that! Anything that uses the kite beyond what other sports can do is progressive. Anything that copies other sports is not progressing the sport of kitesurfing at all. Infact quite the opposite. Its limiting the sport to other sports preset limitations.

Personally I have no desire to be like other sports. I love the feel of the power of the kite and the wave at the same time. But I am not trying to progress the sport either. I just want to enjoy.

eppo

9789 posts

eppo

WA, 9789 posts

17 Mar 2015 7:48am

sir ROWDY said..
Totally agree, I've lost the plot... Those shredders out there doing the same boring hooked in S-turns year after year though, they know where the progressions at

Mate you are not getting my point. its all in the delivery of the message man...

unhooking is most Defintely something all SB riders should explore

just stop coming across as a narcarsistic know it all, the enlightener - bringer of all wisdom on the definitive progression of our sport.

Little secret ....your not...shhhhhh

flyingcab

VIC

942 posts

flyingcab

VIC, 942 posts

17 Mar 2015 12:08pm

IanR said..
Progression in Rowdy's head seems to be all about mimicking other sports as closely as possible
In the surf you must only ride as a surfer would
In flat water you must only ride as if you where being towed by a boat.
I think progression is about taking advantage of our point of difference, the kite and using it to go beyond what other sports can do

I'm no self important EX PKRA judge though, I'm just an old guy that loves to kiteboard and will never compleat

Sound like a lawnmower to me

Jedibrad

NSW

527 posts

Jedibrad

NSW, 527 posts

17 Mar 2015 2:47pm

It's funny the use of Benny above…. he is easily the best unhooker i've seen by a country mile and yet in these shots he shows the limitations of the unhooker

Shot 1 i don't even have to explain what is happening here

Shot 2 just say you really wanted to push the tail out and rotate a bit then your arm is gunna behind you and still pulling

eppo

9789 posts

eppo

WA, 9789 posts

17 Mar 2015 11:57am

Well in summary from my perspective, I can absolutely see the benefit of unhooking in the surf in the right conditions to free up the arms and body to rotate closer to a Dude surfing (If that's your goal). Biomechanically it makes perfect sense to me.

i just can't subscribe the way this message is getting delivered at the expense of progression with other methods.

Progression is happening in all areas and through all styles.

This is unhooking pedalstool has to stop, it's just downright nauseating and complete self Indulgent bullsh1t.

Hausey

NSW

325 posts

Hausey

NSW, 325 posts

17 Mar 2015 3:51pm

eppo said..

sir ROWDY said..
Totally agree, I've lost the plot... Those shredders out there doing the same boring hooked in S-turns year after year though, they know where the progressions at

Now now Eppo - don't get nasty, take a chill pill and sit back and look at the sunset!

Those S-turns hooked in are OK!

I don't know you or Rowdy that well - but I have seen him kite and he's definitely progressive. During a big swell and strong winds a couple of months ago and I sat on the beach and watched him ride waves unhooked and unstrapped and thought he's probably light years ahead in ability than most. He was doing some hooked in S turns as well.....mixing it up, man! He probably lives and breathes kiteboarding and is enthusiastic enough about the sport to try and educate those on the forums - which is a good thing!

'Narcissus was a youth that pined away from love of his own reflected self image' according to my dictionary - if Rowdy looked in the mirror it would probably crack!?

Jedibrad

NSW

527 posts

Jedibrad

NSW, 527 posts

17 Mar 2015 3:58pm

Huh??

Can't you see why it peeves me as i believe the exact opposite to your first paragraph

And Yes… I do remember a few years ago when you spruiked the rebel as a good surf kite and i believed the exact opposite to that as well

And Yes… If forums aren't for this crap then what… I'm quite sure more than a few of your 5236 posts are nauseating and complete self Indulgent bullsh1t.

waveslave

4263 posts

waveslave

WA, 4263 posts

17 Mar 2015 1:31pm

All this talk about "surfing the wave".

You must be kidding me, right ?

You're "kiting the wave". [whether unhooked or hooked]

Kitesurfing in any form will never be surfing.

Never.

It's like the other day when I was checking the surf.

A stand-up guy who had just finished his session said to me;

"I had a great surf, awesome".

I thought to myself;

"No you didn't dude ... you had a great sup".

lol.

eppo

9789 posts

eppo

WA, 9789 posts

17 Mar 2015 2:31pm

Hey I agree entirely, rowdy is indeed trying to contribute and educate, I have never denied that.

Its how he's going about doing it that pisses me off and I'm not the only one. Just the only one stupid enough (plus a few others) to say so.

To the other guy...

The rebels okay in the waves hooked in, depends on how you want to ride.

I have never once claimed that the style I pursue is better than any other, so get your self indulgent context right mate. That's what I have a problem with and again I may be a lone voice but represent those who are afraid to make such comments. I'm not.

Ive vey seen hooked in guys absolutely rip, it's been a pleasure to ride with them on the water, spend more time watching them than doing anything myself. One in particular. So I've seen evidence from every chosen style and rider trying to progress and take it further.

So I'm on rowdys side it seems and then I'm not....

flyingcab

VIC

942 posts

flyingcab

VIC, 942 posts

17 Mar 2015 6:47pm

Its funny how the people who don't unhook can tell what it feels like by looking at pictures.
Why don't you try it and get comfortable with it before you say: "ugh, it it looks like it pulls you the wrong way"

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