I have been trying to switch feet on the foil with very limited success so I thought I would find out how many ways there are to switch your feet on a raised foil, I have found 6.

Anymore suggestions?

1. Pull the bar in and Pump the back foot so the front of the board pops up and then switch feet,

2. Push down on your back foot and as the board rises switch feet, without using the kite

3. Push down on your front foot first and then change feet,

4. Use only the kite to make you weightless and then switch feet

5. Riding the board in ski stance and shuffle your feet www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kitesurfing/Foiling/The-secret-to-moving-your-feet-Hydrofoiling?page=1

6. Don't have to pump, just ride the board near the surface then wait for a bit of chop and change feet as the board crosses the crest .www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kitesurfing/Foiling/The-secret-to-moving-your-feet-Hydrofoiling?page=1 ,

Anyone else got any more techniques

I've just started my journey but found it pretty similar to surfboard transitions. My tips are:
1. Get rid of front strap.
2. Do a gentle pump and change feet when the board is rising.
3. Put new front foot behind old front foot.
4. I seem to have plenty of time to change feet from prefered stance before gybing, but for some reason need to swap feet very quickly going from switch to prefered stance or it doesn't end well.
I hope this helps

I followed the process from video 1 - the kitesurf college video - about 2 months ago.

Simply put, I kept doing surface footswaps (previous video to the one you have posted) until I was getting 9/10 without falling (about 5 hours of practice over 4-5 sessions) and was making quick, smooth foot movements so I was only touching down for a second or 2, Then I tried whilst foiling. To my surprise I had a 4/5 success ratio whilst on the foil (made the first foot switch but fell 20m later) in that first session.

I have both front and rear straps and found that worked for me because it was a consistent foot position each time so I could get my muscle memory working. I used the biggest foil I have (Shinn P-foil) for slow speed and stability and tried on a day when I had plenty of power in the kite so I could pretty much ignore the kite and focus on what my feet were doing.

Ultimately, I'd say that without a consistent surface footswitch, you aren't going to be capable of getting it right. Once I had a good surface footswap, the limiting factor was then fear on my part but it turned out to be easier in some cases because on the surface the board bucks over the chop which makes the footswitch harder than when on the foil.

Select to expand quote

weebitbreezy said..
I followed the process from video 1 - the kitesurf college video - about 2 months ago.

Simply put, I kept doing surface footswaps (previous video to the one you have posted) until I was getting 9/10 without falling (about 5 hours of practice over 4-5 sessions) and was making quick, smooth foot movements so I was only touching down for a second or 2, Then I tried whilst foiling. To my surprise I had a 4/5 success ratio whilst on the foil (made the first foot switch but fell 20m later) in that first session.

I have both front and rear straps and found that worked for me because it was a consistent foot position each time so I could get my muscle memory working. I used the biggest foil I have (Shinn P-foil) for slow speed and stability and tried on a day when I had plenty of power in the kite so I could pretty much ignore the kite and focus on what my feet were doing.

Ultimately, I'd say that without a consistent surface footswitch, you aren't going to be capable of getting it right. Once I had a good surface footswap, the limiting factor was then fear on my part but it turned out to be easier in some cases because on the surface the board bucks over the chop which makes the footswitch harder than when on the foil.

Thanks, I have the surface footswaps nailed , now I can footswap with the board off the water and the board touches down , it seems fear is my obstacle, I also have trouble coordinating the rear foot pump.

Option 4 is the one that worked for me. Initially if you have power in the kite and foil, just pull in slightly on the bar and switch your feet. Don't think about pushing on the board at all, pull in to take pressure off your feet, flick feet, let bar back out to restore foot pressure.

Hardest psychological bit to make it easier- do this with speed. When i was learning, i would slow down as much as possible, but that makes it harder. Get going at normal speed, keep kite at 12.30 or 1 o'clock, pull bar in half way and flick your feet around, let bar back out. The foil is going to stay where it is if you have speed and don't push down.

it was mostly a psychological barrier for me, once i was confident with taking feet off and moving around then it was easy to throw in ski stance, pump in lighter winds and so forth. above based on strapless, your results may vary with straps.

Once you've got the feel, do it a million times on the same tack without gybing, swap heelside/toeside/heelside/toeside, and it very quickly becomes second nature.

Select to expand quote

CH3MTR4IL5 said..
Option 4 is the one that worked for me. Initially if you have power in the kite and foil, just pull in slightly on the bar and switch your feet. Don't think about pushing on the board at all, pull in to take pressure off your feet, flick feet, let bar back out to restore foot pressure.

Hardest psychological bit to make it easier- do this with speed. When i was learning, i would slow down as much as possible, but that makes it harder. Get going at normal speed, keep kite at 12.30 or 1 o'clock, pull bar in half way and flick your feet around, let bar back out. The foil is going to stay where it is if you have speed and don't push down.

it was mostly a psychological barrier for me, once i was confident with taking feet off and moving around then it was easy to throw in ski stance, pump in lighter winds and so forth. above based on strapless, your results may vary with straps.

Once you've got the feel, do it a million times on the same tack without gybing, swap heelside/toeside/heelside/toeside, and it very quickly becomes second nature.

Thanks , speed is scary with my current level, however its time to try

Comfortable angle to the wind ie., not too much pull from the kite ... kite at 11 or 1 and don't sheet in, keep your feet split front and rear, turn you hips square so you're facing forward, then just step each foot forwards and backwards -- natural as walking. I did it as I went over a bit of chop so I had the gully to keep it flying, if the board dropped.

I used to misplace my feet a lot trying to rotate myself from one side to the other, the "walking" method made it consistently successful.

I got stuck for too long with slow foot movements. My feet seemed glued to the board.
I've recently started going to myself "3-2-1 NOW!", and just bang my feet round rapidly. Seems to work for me, can't say its pretty mind.

this is totally me - feet glued to the board. I'm having limited success with the surface swaps but getting better slowly. Kami's comments about facing forwards, hips square seems to resonate with me. Does anyone have an opinion about whether a pocket board makes this easier or harder ? Im using the duotone hybrid surfboard which is like 5'2" or 5'4" or something. Its long in anycase.

My experience James - my footswaps went through the roof on a pocket board. I'm riding axis tray 94cm and you literally can't put a foot wrong or it ends up in the water. was way easier than a hybrid. Can't back that up with science but i'm sure there is some swing weight stuff as well but primarily my feet are always in the right place because there is nowhere else for them to be!

struggling with tacks though, can't get the board to cant over as i turn it.

Select to expand quote

CH3MTR4IL5 said..
My experience James - my footswaps went through the roof on a pocket board. I'm riding axis tray 94cm and you literally can't put a foot wrong or it ends up in the water. was way easier than a hybrid. Can't back that up with science but i'm sure there is some swing weight stuff as well but primarily my feet are always in the right place because there is nowhere else for them to be!

struggling with tacks though, can't get the board to cant over as i turn it.

Have you tried tacks to toeside? Lets you focus on the carve and the hip thrust to bring the board back upright again. I think Mac kiteboarding did a tutorial where they covered it.

Select to expand quote

weebitbreezy said..

Have you tried tacks to toeside? Lets you focus on the carve and the hip thrust to bring the board back upright again. I think Mac kiteboarding did a tutorial where they covered it.

Ah thanks for that! I thought you meant starting toeside and then doing the tack with the foot swap to heelside, but having found the video i see what you mean - a bit of a mental headgame for me to work it out but that's definitely the way to go first...

Select to expand quote

CH3MTR4IL5 said..
My experience James - my footswaps went through the roof on a pocket board. I'm riding axis tray 94cm and you literally can't put a foot wrong or it ends up in the water. was way easier than a hybrid. Can't back that up with science but i'm sure there is some swing weight stuff as well but primarily my feet are always in the right place because there is nowhere else for them to be!

struggling with tacks though, can't get the board to cant over as i turn it.

I think the short board is less forgiving and therefore you are more committed. It might also be lighter and easier to
manoeuvre . my experience is spend some time going toeside, not hard upwind just toeside to get comfortable riding prone. Also I don't bump the board but edge up wind a little to give a bit more weightless without relying on pulling the kite. Swap feet quickly get the back foot
planted to be able to hold lift, then later ease into foot strap. . Need to carve board as soon as foot is down, and turn kite to keep tension on lines.

Select to expand quote

CH3MTR4IL5 said..
My experience James - my footswaps went through the roof on a pocket board. I'm riding axis tray 94cm and you literally can't put a foot wrong or it ends up in the water. was way easier than a hybrid. Can't back that up with science but i'm sure there is some swing weight stuff as well but primarily my feet are always in the right place because there is nowhere else for them to be!

struggling with tacks though, can't get the board to cant over as i turn it.

I think the short board is less forgiving and therefore you are more committed. It might also be lighter and easier to
manoeuvre . my experience is spend some time going toeside, not hard upwind just toeside to get comfortable riding prone. Also I don't bump the board but edge up wind a little to give a bit more weightless without relying on pulling the kite. Swap feet quickly get the back foot
planted to be able to hold lift, then later ease into foot strap. . Need to carve board as soon as foot is down, and turn kite to keep tension on lines.

Timely topic for me - thanks Jhana
Totally drooling over MACkite's site.. clean wind clean water...
Does anyone have equivalent to that??
Be very tempted to come for a foiling break - can focus on the task.
Cheers
AP

Select to expand quote

jamesperth said..
this is totally me - feet glued to the board. I'm having limited success with the surface swaps but getting better slowly. Kami's comments about facing forwards, hips square seems to resonate with me. Does anyone have an opinion about whether a pocket board makes this easier or harder ? Im using the duotone hybrid surfboard which is like 5'2" or 5'4" or something. Its long in anycase.

Part of the issue with a hybrid board is that the deck is not flat. Pocket boards are flat and less prone the twitchiness of yaw that you get with a curve on the deck. I had a lot of pocketboard experience but when traveling thought I would take one on the road. It was okay as a surfboard, and just okay as a hydrafoil. Which is all fine if you are learning, but not so when learning to gybe, swap feet, or tack.

So tacks to toeside were a fail yesterday, couldn't get my head around it and just ended up prirouetting off the board. But the hands above head-weight over board tip at the end of the video has resolved most of my issues with the duck tack. Cheers for the recommend!

sorry for thread hijack jhana

Select to expand quote

CH3MTR4IL5 said..
My experience James - my footswaps went through the roof on a pocket board. I'm riding axis tray 94cm and you literally can't put a foot wrong or it ends up in the water. was way easier than a hybrid. Can't back that up with science but i'm sure there is some swing weight stuff as well but primarily my feet are always in the right place because there is nowhere else for them to be!

struggling with tacks though, can't get the board to cant over as i turn it.

The bonus with small boards is that your balance gets good. I'm amazed with how bad my foot placement can be -- heels hanging completely over the edge, feet too far forward or back -- and still manage the transition. Forced to adapt.

I still can't explain tacks heel to toe is easy, still can't change feet mid tack -- why would you want to?!

The trick is driving your hips around, to drive the board through upwind. You don't really need to lean way back like you see in videos IMO but then you need to really sheet out so you're not fighting the kite.

Don't aim to get the whole way around, you just want to get the board through the wind and let the kite pull you around into the new tack.

There's a bunch of tips everyone can give you, but for me it was the hip drive through upwind that gave me momentum to get over the board, combined with getting the kite across the zenith at the right time.

Honestly when it clicks, you'll be like Jesus this is easy how did I make such a hash of it?!

Oh and -- bend your knees going into it.