Wondering if anyone wants to reveal their secrets to high good looking jumps....heading to squamish in a few hours and would love to add your tips and tricks to my day!
1 tip: Edge hard and don't push off with your legs. Instead cut the board upwind right when you feel yourself taking off. This is called loading the board.
2nd tip: Right before you cut the board sheet out a little. This will put the kite in a better position and let you cut the board even harder. Also by sheeting out, it leaves you with room to pull in for more power right at take-off, giving the effect of being pulled away from the water. That is what we call pop.
A jump done with load and pop looks really stylish
Hi Christie Colin is describing the modern "pop off the water" technique of jumping. This is where you briefly edge hard and dig your heels in and turn a bit upwind, and the load you create will squirt you off the water upward. This is also a wakeboard jumping technique and it does not use the kite. You will get small stylish jumps and will land with nice forward speed.
There is also an old school technique called "sending the kite" where you abruptly pull on your back hand to rapidly bring the kite overhead. This is guaranteed to lift you off the water. However, unless you edged hard (using the first technique), your jumps will be low and horizontal. The harder you dig you heels in just before you jump, the more vertical your jump will be. Combining the "pop off the water" technique and the "sending the kite" technique is how to get big air.
When working on "sending the kite" technique, start with your kite reasonably high, just above 45 degrees. Then send it rapidly upward to 12 oclock or a bit beyond. If your have reasonable wind, you will be lifted off the water. At his point the kite is moving back behind you and You MUST pull with your front hand to bring the kite forward before you land ..or you will swing like a pendulum in front of the kite and fall in the water with the kite way behind you. The most common mistake beginning jumpers make is forgetting to pull with their front hand. Another common mistake is not edging hard just before jumping which leads to long low jumps.
There is no quick easy way to learn. It just takes practice to figure out the timing. Carefully watch a guy like Don "big air" Armstrong prepare for a jump and you will see him use both the techniques above.