I went through all this when i was working up the courage.

Then one day i just did it! Its not hard, its not that scary, you just need a nice jump and then sheet in hard with your hand back and at the same time look back and around u will go, and it hurts less if you dont bail out!

also, i used to find that i would keep using the excuse of "oh that wave is not right" etc

so, make sure you attempt one on your first run out, and then you will loose the fear for the rest of the session.

and lastly

JUST DO IT FFS!

I cant land them properly yet but at least im trying them without the fear.

The difficulty I have on chop is spotting the ramp early enough to unhook. Any tips?

John Guyer from SOS gave me some advice a while ago with respect to surfing.

The more time you spend in the waters, the better you get at reading it.

It is a thing that comes with time.

Chad

Select to expand quote

Bails said...

The difficulty I have on chop is spotting the ramp early enough to unhook. Any tips?

Don't unhook. It will unhook itself when u have pulled in hard and you are upside down. I personally dont reckon you should ever unhook when jumping untill you are airborne. The arms have too much give in them when you hit the ramp and get the jolt upward. You never get the height you want or need for a decent forward loop. Also, I think the whole idea of trying to do forward spins 1 foot off the water as a lead up to proper forward loops is not making it any easier. Overcoming the fear is the same is both cases. Learn to do jumps 3-4 mtrs out of the water even if it is off wind chop. Get use to all different types of landings stacks etc. Then just pull the trigger. I'm also not convinced the whole put your hand back real far and pull as hard as you can thing is best when learning. I would suggest a bigger jump and slower spin. So you may not rotate all the way round and land on your back. That's what wetsuits are for. Just my ten cents worth.

Sounds like good advice. Thanks

Time for step 4!

if its a small jump make sure you dont break your mast so use an acute downwind angle when you trow into it. if you do it properly should should be at least mast height in the air.

Select to expand quote

TerryNorth said...

Bails said...

The difficulty I have on chop is spotting the ramp early enough to unhook. Any tips?

Don't unhook. It will unhook itself when u have pulled in hard and you are upside down. I personally dont reckon you should ever unhook when jumping untill you are airborne. The arms have too much give in them when you hit the ramp and get the jolt upward. You never get the height you want or need for a decent forward loop. Also, I think the whole idea of trying to do forward spins 1 foot off the water as a lead up to proper forward loops is not making it any easier. Overcoming the fear is the same is both cases. Learn to do jumps 3-4 mtrs out of the water even if it is off wind chop. Get use to all different types of landings stacks etc. Then just pull the trigger. I'm also not convinced the whole put your hand back real far and pull as hard as you can thing is best when learning. I would suggest a bigger jump and slower spin. So you may not rotate all the way round and land on your back. That's what wetsuits are for. Just my ten cents worth.

Great advice....

When I was learning forwards I was unhooking before hitting a wave or ramp... I honestly believe this was what held me back for so many years...

The biggest advantage of staying hooked in when learning forwards is that there is alot less chance of you bailing or not 'committing' to the loop. Forward loops are all about commitment. Every single time I have failed, crashed or eaten poo when looping, I would come up from the water and instantly know that the only reason I crashed and didnt complete the rotation was because I second guessed something, ANYTHING, while in the air...

By staying hooked in, the whipping feeling/motion will be felt through the boom, harness lines and ultimately your harness... This all helps with the rotation.....

STAY HOOKED IN!!!!

Oh and forgot to say, if you learn how to loop when your hooked in, it makes learning 1 handed forwards all that easier....