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Developing Skill Sets


DWayne

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Before I got my kites I did a lot of reading about skills. The thing that stood out most was John B. saying "own the hover". That was the thing I started on and work the most on still. After I got the upright hover fairly controlled I started working on hovering on a wing tip and then inverted. Next I started doing clockwork. After I could do 12-3-6-9-12 in both directions I started working on slides and slow smooth center axis spins. What basic skills should I be working on next? Is it time to start working on precision patterns?

BTW,

I'm getting better at the one handed flying too. I can do an inverted launch, rotate and fly away one handed now. :sign_kitelife:

Denny

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You could start working one tip pivots (The latter), reverse flight in all directions, and flying in circles without turning the kite.

I understand the first two,

but really don't understand "flying in circles without turning the kite". :confused!:

Enlighten me please. :prop:

Denny

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Here's a great set of stuff to practice...

http://www.reeddesign.co.uk/iskcb/#MI

Animated, for your pleasure! ;)

Tell us what your favorites are, and which ones scare the snot out of you!

I looked at those before I started flying Revs. Some of them look a lot harder now. :D

I'll try a couple of them tomorrow.

Thanks John.

Denny

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SLOW is the name of the game... Inch your way through them.

As you get the feel for it, begin to speed up as your skill increases.

Ladder up wasn't too bad. Steps and Turns was really hard. Roman Ten was OK. The first half of bumps was easy. The second half was hard. My reverse flying needs a lot more work.

Denny

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Denny

It really sounds like you are doing well with your Rev. Consider getting together with the Rogue Valley Windchasers for one of their fun flys at Crescent City. That's 261 miles from Corning, but would be well worth the trip, especially if J D Fabich is there. J D is a neat young man and a member of iQuad.

The Windchasers have a great gathering at the beach across from Anchor RV in Crescent City Memorial Day weekend. If you don't have an RV, there are nearby places to stay. We have been there four out of the last five years.

Check out their site.

http://www.windchasers.org/index.php

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I tried the arc circle today. :kid_frustrated:

My next 10 hours of flying need to be in reverse. ;)

Denny

Right on the money... If you want a balanced set of skills, you'll need to spend a fair amount of time in reverse while you're learning.

Quite often, I'll spend an hour or two straight doing everything I normally would, but backwards. ;)

One of my top drills, start slow, build speed with time.

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  • 1 month later...

Been having a go at that circle thing myself lately. To be honest, I think I am trying to run before I can walk, so I have decided to put that down for a while and try perfect some of the easier figures. I think the suggestion of trying to do everything in reverse for an hour each session is a good one. Again, going to have a go at that although I have to say that I find my wrists start to give up after about half an hour with the kite upside down - I guess that is a symptom of having to try too hard.

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Thank you John, and I think you have confirmed my gut feel. I suspect it is a negative cycle where when you find something hard you tense up and try all the harder. The negative element of the cycle of course is that by tensing up over trying you just make things worse. In fact I think Stephen Hoath said something similar about my stance generally when he saw me fly. There is a similar process in teaching people to steer a racing yacht properly - at first they are all tense, but once they progress beyond the movements and feelings being alien you can concentrate on relaxing them and letting them find their rhythm with the wheel and their legs.

Next time I am out I will try to spend my allotted time upside down (if you get my drift) and to think "chill"

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