How to Learn to Wing Foil

Two weeks ago we hosted our very first women’s wing foil camp in La Ventana, Mexico! It was awesome!

We had six out of six days of wind and lots of time on the water. Our group of six women ranged in wing foiling skills from never-evers to working on tacks. The cool thing about winging is that you can come into the sport with no water or wind sports experience and still have an epic time on the water. Our week consisted of down winders, tech talks on the beach and circuit training (doing short down-wind rides and then walking back up the beach). There were a lot of takeaways from our women’s wing camp. Here are a few of our favorite tips:

Start on a big board

Start with renting or borrowing a big board (120L-210L) for your first 10-20 sessions. If you’re coming from a never-ever background (no watersports experience), you’ll want to have your first few sessions on the wing with a inflatable foil board. The goal here is to figure out how the wing works and get really good with maneuvering yourself across the water. Big boards are stable and easier to balance on.

Keep the wing tip out of the water

The goal for your first sessions are to get really good handling the wing and generating power. Even if you’re not standing up yet, you’ll want to focus on keeping the wing out of the water and avoid catching the wing tips. Hold your arms straight overhead and keep steering the wing upward.

Work on speed control

In order to get on foil, you’ll need to generate consistent forward speed. Controlling the wing and balancing on the board will be your first goals but once you’ve achieved those, you’re going to want to foil! Use your wing to work on going faster, yet still in control.

Rest!

Learning to wing foil is challenging and you’ll be falling off your board a lot! Rest in between goes and keep your sessions shorter so that you don’t tire yourself out.

Do balance training on land

You can complement your water time with on-land training on a balance board or one-wheel. Keep your knees bent and your center of gravity low and imagine yourself gliding across the water.

Stick with it!

With no prior foiling experience, learning to wing foil can be difficult. Take it slow, celebrate the small wins and keep at it. You will get it!

We hope to see you at our next women’s wing foiling camp!

How to use visualization to progress your kiteboarding

Do you feel like you’ve reached a plateau in your kiteboarding? Are you struggling to learn something new? Feeling stuck is a common problem in kiteboarding and in life but there are a few tools that you can implement to get you over the hump. One of my favorites is the practice of visualization. 

Visualization is a technique that I’ve been using for a few years now, both on and off the water. The act of visualization is a practice that develops momentum when learning new things or accomplishing really anything in life. From learning a new trick on the water to giving a great speech to winning an award, the power of visualization is undisputed. Visualization helps to trigger your body and your mind into realizing that the thing you’re trying to accomplish is possible.

The power of visualization is grounded in the fact that if you can’t see yourself doing something, you probably won’t get there. Visualization helps you imagine success instead of the obstacles that could potentially occur. If you focus on the obstacles, you’ll feel less motivated. Obstacles can make a new trick feel unattainable. But focusing on actually landing the trick or having a great session will help you overcome those mental restraints and barriers. Athletes from Tiger Woods to Michael Jordan to Muhammed Ali all practice visualization and have relied on it to achieve their stratospheric success.

Visualization is particularly helpful when you’re practicing the skills that you can already do but it’s crucial when you’re learning a new trick or skill.  If you can’t imagine yourself doing it, chances are you won’t be able to. Before your body has developed the muscle memory it needs to land your tricks consistently, you have to work extra hard to get there.  The key lies in imagining yourself succeeding. By visualizing how the trick looks and how your body is going to look and feel as you do it you start firing the necessary nerve pathways in your brain. You lay down the basis for making the trick happen. If your mind believes, your body will follow suit. Alternatively, if your mind doesn’t believe, chances are you won’t ever get there. 

Utilize this practice for learning new grabs, learning to jump or learning KGB’s. I use this technique to imagine myself landing new kicker hits and for practicing my slider hits.  I also rely on it to set myself up for success during competitions. Start thinking of your personal kiteboarding goals and utilize this practice to enable yourself to get there. 

To develop a visualization practice for yourself, you’ll want to follow the below outline:

1. Find a place where you won’t be disturbed. Start by getting into a relaxed position, either lying on your back or in a comfortable seated position. Close your eyes and begin to relax.

2. Choose a specific goal that you want to work on; it can be anything from a board off to a back mobe. The key is to choose one thing to work on at a time. 

3. Start at the very beginning- setting up on the beach at your local spot.  Imagine feeling the wind on your skin, smell the salt and sand or the fresh, clean air, and imagine yourself getting excited to go ride. Feel the sand under your toes. Totally put yourself in the moment. The more vivid you can make the initial experience, the more your subconscious will start to believe.

4. Walk through setting up your kit in your mind; take in the sights, sounds and smells of the moment. Visualize launching and walking out to the water. Imagine starting to ride and feel the water underneath your board.

5. Now here comes the fun part: Set yourself up for the trick. The wind is perfect, steady and smooth, the water is flat, and you feel amazing. Walk yourself through every part of the trick; imagining executing it flawlessly. Imagine every part of it in depth from the takeoff to the landing. As you take off the water, visualize exactly how your body looks; visualize your hand placement, which muscles are engaged, and your kite placement. Picture the trick in its entirety a few times over. Imagine yourself in the trick and also look at it from an outsider’s perspective. As you complete the trick in your mind, visualize coming out cleanly and landing on the water perfectly. 

6. Spend about 10-15 minutes on each trick or goal. Picture yourself accomplishing your goal a few times before ending the visualization.

The trick is to really immerse yourself in the moment. Utilize all of your senses. And finally, tailor this to your needs, for example, if you’re a wave rider imagine perfect barrels. Do this every day and you’ll be well on your way to reaching the next level in your kiteboarding. 

Visualizing is a key factor in setting yourself up for success. Use it to eliminate any doubts in your mind and picture yourself accomplishing your goals. By making the vision stronger than anything that can set you back, you optimize your chances of succeeding. This doesn’t mean that you won’t have to work hard and practice, practice, practice but it is a powerful way to get yourself where you want to be. 

In summation, the power of visualization is a real thing. If your mind believes, your body will achieve! If you’re feeling stuck in your kiteboarding or want to learn something new, give yourself as many tools as possible. With the next trick, you want to learn, incorporate visualization into your routine and see for yourself. The best thing is, you can work on your kiteboarding from your couch!

Progression’s nemesis; the plateau and how to avoid it.

by Colleen Carroll

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I get asked all the time, “How do you keep progressing” or “How do you stay motivated”?  These are completely valid questions.  Most kiteboarders will experience plateaus in their progression or times where it is difficult for them to get to the next level.  Whether this is working up the courage to send a first jump or bringing it all together to land that first handlepass, we all face similar challenges holding us back from our next big progression breakthrough. 

A lot of my success has come when I’ve traveled to a consistent kite spot with ideal freestyle or park conditions with a group of like-minded riders.  We kite together everyday and just when your motivation is starting to waiver, your friends pick you up with a suggestion or by learning something new and exciting themselves.  Recreating this environment that nurtures progression in a friendly and inviting way is one of the major driving forces behind running all women’s kiteboarding camps with my favorite kiteboarding partner, Sensi Graves.

Our next camp will be held in flatwater paradise; Dakhla, from October 12th – 19th at the perfectly situated hotel, Dakhla Attitude.  With all of the amenities and accommodation located directly at the lagoon’s shore, we are certain that this is a fabulous place to step up your game and get off that plateau you’ve been riding!

And for those of you who can’t join us in Dakhla…

Here are my top 10 tips for staying motivated and progressing on the water:

1.     Take care of yourself!  Get a good night sleep, eat good food packed with lots of energy and drink tons of water (especially if you are somewhere hot – dehydration will leave you feeling drained in no time).

2.     Warm up.  When I’m excited to get on the water I want to rig and get out there as fast as possible!  But warming up is just as important as committing to the trick you want to learn.  If you hit the water with cold muscles you’re more prone to injury and are not ready to go full power.  I love doing yoga first thing in the morning.

3.    Watch videos of what you want to learn.  Before your session watch videos of the trick your working on and try to break it down in your head.  If you can get someone to also video you even with a phone or gopro review your attempts afterwards and analyze with the video of someone succeeded at it.

4.     Set goals for your progression.  This is a big one!  Without a clear goal in mind how can we expect to get anywhere?  Look at the fundamentals that you are good at and what is your ultimate goal.  If you just learned to ride upwind and want to learn to do a raley to blind, you will want to set many small goals that will act as steps to get you to your end goal.  Use each step as an individual goal and take on one with each session.  If you aren’t clear of a good next step for your progression, ask someone around you who is a better rider than you.

5.     Ride with other people.  If you have a goal in mind, vocalize it to them and ask them theirs.  When you see them pushing hard to get their own goal it will help fuel your fire to go for yours too.

6.     Choose a riding location that is conducive to the style of tricks you want to learn.  If you want to learn freestyle tricks – go somewhere with flatwater and consistent wind.  If you want to jump higher or learn kiteloops try to go somewhere with strong wind.  And if you’re just kiting at your local spot – decide what you’re going to work on for that day by factoring in the conditions that you have.

7.     Try something else.  If you just can’t seem to figure it out, I find it helps a ton if I take a break from what I’m trying and focus on something slightly easier for a bit.  Once I’ve succeeded at that I come back to what’s more challenging.

8.    Be consistent.  Practice does eventually lead to perfect!  Try, try and try again.  Even better if you can try several days in a row as the same spot.

9.     Celebrate the wins!  This is one of Sensi’s favorite quotes and I’ve totally adopted it.  Even if you’ve only accomplished step 1 to get to your ultimate goal – you have to relish in it!  You’ve already succeeded.  Feeling good about your riding will lead to confidence and confidence leads to commitment. 

10.  Commit.  If you really want to learn hard tricks and maneuvers you have to fully commit.  You might fall on your face.  It might hurt a bit.  But without commitment your chance of success is slim to none.  You got this – believe in yourself!