KW #77
U N L E AS H E D ! 2 0 1 6 F I R ST R E L E AS E S A N D A H Y D R O F O I L BU Y E R’ S G U I D E
M A G A Z I N E HANDS OFF MY WORLD TOUR (AGAIN) • 2016 HEADS-UP • MAURITIUS • BOOST TUNING • DEATH OF FORMULA
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AS RIDERS CONTINUE TO SMASH THE IMPOSSIBLE AND Q UA R R E L S E X P L O D E I N T H E C O M P E T I T I O N B AC K R O O M S , K I T E B O A R D I N G I S N ’ T Y E T R E A D Y T O B E B O X E D U P…
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Whether you want to increase your kite fitness, boost bigger or learn to be more at one with increased levels of power, Ruben Lenten is here to share a few thoughts
CAPTION > Ruben letting his flair run free on a special late evening session in Cape Town... after plenty of prior preparation PHOTO > Ydwer van der Heide
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oing with the flow is about following instinct, doing what feels right and then adapting to things as they occur â&#x20AC;&#x201C; that's what I love doing. It's not always as easy as it sounds because for most people the mind automatically kicks in, applies itself as a brake and disturbs the flow. It's important to be in tune with your body and your mind, to focus on the things that come naturally. After flying a kite for 17 years I know my style and my favourite moves, which narrows down my goals. On the world tour I was challenged to do the most technical moves. It was fun but not in my nature. I ride because I want to feel free; as if time disappears and there's nothing to lose - only the feel of huge adrenaline rushes from big moves
that I've learned to allow to flow effortlessly. In Cape Town I landed a Boogie Loop 900 for the second time. The Boogie Loop is now my favourite move as you go full speed, jump as high as possible and right from the take-off you're committed to dive into the front rotation while pulling the kite into a loop the opposite way. It's a very different feeling and taking this move higher and higher definitely adds to the adrenaline levels. When I go for that trick it just has to feel right. There's no thinking; just committing to and trusting my instinct - that's what I live for and that's how I want to ride. I'm not saying people should ride outside of their limits, but if I can help progressive riders open their minds to what's possible with a kite; to help them learn to just ride
very freely, then that's great. Here are just a few thoughts that I think form the basics of how to progress in my style of riding, slowly taking things a step further to help all of your sessions flow like never before. You'll be amazed what you can do!
BODY, CONDITIONS AND GEAR First of all, it should go without saying that you have to be fit. Warm-up before every session and understand what you want to achieve. Also maintain your gear well, regularly check it over, especially before a big session. Really check the conditions and learn to properly understand them. Make sure you can be as ready as possble in your body and mind to ride hard and fly high.
Preparation and knowledge will really feed your confidence.
FEEL AND AWARENESS You already know what feels good to you and what you feel confident with on the water. Concentrate on expanding that by really becoming aware of your movements. Play around and learn to feel the effect that little adjustments have. Feel what your breathing is doing; control it, feel confident with it and start to use it to help you. Even when you're just riding around, hopping over a few waves or tacking upwind - it really helps if you can learn to control your breathing. Channeling more oxygen to your muscles gives you more feel in your riding and therefore more awareness of your capabilities.
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THERE’S NO THINKING; JUST COMMITTING TO AND TRUSTING MY INSTINCT - THAT’S WHAT I LIVE FOR AND THAT’S HOW I WANT TO RIDE. I’M NOT SAYING PEOPLE SHOULD RIDE OUTSIDE OF THEIR LIMITS, BUT IF I CAN HELP PROGRESSIVE RIDERS OPEN THEIR MINDS TO WHAT’S POSSIBLE WITH A KITE; TO HELP THEM LEARN TO JUST RIDE VERY FREELY, THEN THAT’S GREAT.
CONTROLLED SPEED AND AGGRESSION
Play around a little by making small adjustments to your posture, or try a slightly different stance. Then practice different edging techniques and see which gives you the ultimate pop and more controlled landings. Every landing is a little different as the water surface is never the same. Sometimes I like to land more weighted on the back heelside fin as it breaks the water nicely and allows me to land more smoothly. Don't be afraid to play around with it, see how it works and what feels good. Increasing your awareness for what's actually happening, what's possible to change and really using your mind positively rather than negatively is all part of going with the flow and making things look smooth.
Opening your mind to start to incorporate some of the descriptions above will help you begin to ride harder. When you want to expand on that with some flying I suggest you either start with regular big-air jumps or back rolls – whatever feels natural. These can be done in many ways and you have to find the way that works best for you. Once again, play around with the technique and don't be afraid to crash as that's how you learn – but do make sure you observe the usual safe kiteboarding practices with plenty of space all round you and that you're in deep enough water. Big jumps offer so much in kiteboarding and you'll start to want to go higher and higher; I warn you: it's pretty addictive.
The basics of really improving at big air is to make sure you go into your jumps with plenty of speed. Spot your take-off and then make sure that you learn how to really time your edge and pull with the kite. Pull your front foot up and into the wind and push off with your back foot underneath you. As soon as you take-off make sure you're in control from the first moment by stabilising / tensing up your body. This will help you keep control over you arms so you can prepare for the way down. Once you've reached your highest point and the kite is still slightly out to the side of the window, start moving it back to twelve and beyond so you get some extra lift and forward speed. Once you're almost ready to touch back down, release the tension in your body in order to position yourself correctly to take the landing with the nose of your board pointing downwind and landing with your tail first. If you feel you didn't go high enough then you either didn't have enough speed going into the jump or you didn't edge and / or pull hard enough. It's really about creating as much tension between the board and the kite as possible and then getting as fast a reaction out of your equipment as you can. As for the back rolls, these are lots of fun and I'm still playing around with different variations each session. To begin with, just cruise into it, keep your hands in the middle of the bar as you don't want to move your kite unwillingly and then, with enough speed to be planing comfortably, just edge upwind, pop and look over your back shoulder. You can do this as high or as low as you like in the beginning. As you come around the loop be ready for some impact and, again, as above, play around with how your board touches down in order to ride away with speed.
C-KITE POWER There is one more thing that I'd like to share, especially for those who have been kiting for several years and feel like they're getting stuck with their riding. Before you give up on freestyle and switch to wave riding, make sure you
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spend a season on some gear that has decent power. Although they are fantastic for general freeriding performance, bow kites and most hybrid kites are not ideal for performing really big air moves where you want lots of control over the power. Having too much of a depower range means that you can't let go with one hand very easily because you'll either depower the kite or steer it to one side, which I find annoying when you really need accurate handling at vital moments. I ride a C-shape kite with depower no longer than 35cm and I use my board as a brake instead of having so much depower in the kite. If a big storm passes I just move the kite down to the side and block the power with my board – this is why it's important to build up strength in your legs, too. There's still a safe zone, but way more room for performing the way I want to as there's instant reaction and power in the kite when I want it. There's no delay in the pull; I don't have time for that. Our playground changes in an instant and if I don't get the reaction I want the moment will have passed. A C-shape kite also moves much more efficiently through the window and I really like that feel. The kite also turns around the wing-tip with power and is much more predictable and useful for big, controlled airs. These are just my two cents on how to start to progressing further and attain ultimate control through getting more from your board and kite. Once you go with the flow and really get in tune with your body, mind and gear, your sessions will start to link together much more fluidly... and they'll look much better to anyone who's watching! Ruben is an extreme athlete and his views are aimed at riders who already have the experience to know that they are ready for a higher level of performance. Increasing general knowledge and having a healthy and progressive mindset towards performance goal reaching is something that we recommend for any rider, though. Our advice is to keep on progressing, stay inspired and keep things fresh in order to not stagnate. Progression are a great source of learning, from beginner to advanced. Find their instructional videos at: www.progression.me KW