The Fear Factor

My winter posts about learning new school freestyle tricks tend to be heretic. I refuse to follow the common belief that "Thou shalt learn the Vulcan as the first new school move!". Of course, I get a lot of flak for these posts. But that's not all bad - at least, it tells me that someone ir reading my blog. And fortunately, burning heretics on a stake is not in fashion anymore.

It does not matter that my non-conformist thoughts usually are provoked by statements from experienced freestylers. Nor does it matter that there are some examples that the "crazy" theories are right. The "Flaka before Vulcan" theory worked great for Graham, who's gone on to much harder tricks since then, still ignoring Vulcans and Spocks from what I have heard. But in the eyes of many, that does not prove anything.

I found myself starting a lengthy answer to Pete's comments to my recent post where I had dared to suggest to learn the Funnel and/or Switch Kono before the Vulcan. Pete makes valid points, and unlike me, he knows what he's talking about because he's done it on the water. So I figured a response would need to be very lengthy, and follow a two-pronged approach:

1. Invoke a higher authority. That always seems appropriate in religious battles. 
2. Explain the relevance of a feeling that Pete probably does not know: fear.

To get started, let me show you a brief video that introduces my "higher authority":

That's Andy Brandt, coming in with style in Bonaire. The first time I saw the movie, I thought that was one of the coolest tricks I had ever seen. Here's another example where he uses it to turn around in a lull:

I have also seen Andy do Reverse Duck Jibes live, and I still think it's one of the coolest tricks out there. So cool that it took me a long time to imagine I could learn to do it...

Of course, Andy never suggested to learn the Funnel before the Vulcan. However, he has suggested to try the Switch Kono with a 360 entry (sometime called the Kaino), and he has demonstrated the move - another wicked cool move. I have actually tried the Kaino a few dozen times. I never got close to landing one, but I have managed to get the board into the air, and to turn upwind enough while falling backwards to get wind into the sail from the right side again. So the Switch Kono seems doable - except that I seem to loose too much speed in the 360 entry.

Another thing that Andy made me try is jibing in the straps, flipping the sail without switching the feet, and planing out switch. I have tried that, too, a number of times, and got to the point where I can pick up a little bit of speed again when planing switch on the new side. Not enough to plane at full speed, but enough to know that planing switch in the straps is nothing to be afraid of.

Which brings us to the Fear Factor. If not for the Fear Factor, we'd see a lot of windsurfers throwing spin loops - everyone agrees that it's easier than a planing jibe. The loop is also a very cool-looking move, and supposedly a lot of fun to do. But at the spots where I usually sail, maybe one out of 20 to 50 windsurfers will ever throw a loop - and that's counting only windsurfers with a decent jibe. The rest is mostly to afraid to ever try; a few (like me) will try occasionally, but are too afraid to commit.

For moves like the Vulcan, the Fear Factor also gets in the way. The moves and crashes don't look quite as scary as the loop, and there is nothing scary about just popping the board, so the first baby steps are easy. But sooner or later, commitment to turning the board around in the air is required, and crashes in the footstraps will result. Those who overcome their fear quickly learn that they won't die, and that the crashes (usually) look worse than they feel. But others stop here, saying "maybe next session". My lovely wife never shows any fear of crashing; when learning the planing Duck Tack, she'd practice in 30+ mph wind, crashing 50 times in a row. When good conditions to work on the Vulcan came up during out Texas trip, she popped the board out of the water just fine; but fear kept her from committing to letting go of the rig in the air, and turning the board around.

So why is the Fear Factor so much smaller when going down the Switch-Duck road towards the Funnel / Switch Kono? There are several reason:

• Going switch can be approached in several non-threatening ways, which include light wind practice, on-land practice, and not switching feet after jibing. This will sometimes lead to crashes, but those crashes are not that different from, say, a blown jibe.
• Ducking the sail can  be approached in several non-threatening ways. IMO, learning the duck from switch requires some simulator training on the beach ("sail chi"), and then learning the light wind duck tack. 
• Backwinded crashes are harmless. Before considering the Duck Tack or Funnel, you should learn the planing Carve 360. Unless you are super-human, you will get flattened by a backwinded sail many times while learning, and you'll learn that this is a harmless and fun crash. I am a big chicken, taking just about any excuse to not work on any tricks; but I will try 360s, even when it's really windy, because I know the crashes are harmless.
• It's worth doing even without the jump. So maybe going down the Switch-Duck road will let you learn the Funnel and Switch Kono, or maybe not. It does not matter much - even if you never pop the board from a backwinded switch stance, you still have mastered the most difficult part of two very cool tricks, the Reverse Duck Jibe and the planing Duck Tack. Seeing Andy do the Reverse Duck Jibe started all this - and the Reverse Duck Jibe also teaches you carving a jibe on the heels, something you can then apply for planing backwind jibes.

What? I convinced you that perhaps there might be something to this theory, at least for some windsurfers with big inner chickens? Well, here's a step-by-step plan for going down the Switch-Duck road.

Step 1: Prerequisites. If you omit these, later steps will be a lot harder.

1. Sail chi on the beach. You have to be good at luffing the sail from the clew. An hour spend on the beach can save many hours on the water.
2. Sail switch and backwinded in light wind. Sailing in switch stance and sailing backwinded (or lee side) are basic skills that anyone who came up through ABK camps will have learned. If you have not, it's time to go out and practice. It's much easier to learn in light wind on a big board and small sail than in planing conditions!
3. Light wind Duck Tack. Learn the Duck Tack in light wind on a big board and a small sail. I mean a really big board and a really small sail - like a 200 liter sailable SUP and a 4.7 m sail for guys. It's a pretty hard trick, but it's also one of the coolest light-wind moves.
4. Carve 360s. Start with planing downwind 360s out of the footstraps. It's not absolutely essential that you get them, but you should at least get close.

Step 2: Play time. These steps are optional, but helpful.

1. Jibe without foot switch. Do a regular jibe or duck jibe and flip the sail, but do not switch your feet. Instead, keep sailing on the new reach in switch stance, and try to pick up speed again.
2. Strap jibe without foot switch. Very similar to step 1, but do not take your back foot out of the strap. Sail as long as you can, then either switch feet or fall backwards.
3. Carve 360 in the straps. Staying in the straps for a Carve 360 requires that you keep your weight more forward, both when initiating the carve and at the exit. The move requires good power and is a lot easier on flat water.
4. Kaino crash. Start a Carve 360 in the straps. After the board turns to the new tack and the sail starts to get backwinded, let the sail push you up and backwards while flaring the nose of the board as high as you can. Push the nose towards the wind to get wind into the right side of the sail again. Unless you have a ton of speed on flat water or a wave that pushes you, the chances of actually making a Kaino are very slim. But the crash looks cool and is a lot of fun.

Step 3: Switch planing.

1. Practice on land. Put a board on a lawn or a sandy beach, and practice switching your feet, like Phil from getwindsurfing.com showed on his instruction video.
2. Switch on the water. Go sailing, and switch your feet while planing. You may want to try the different approaches that I had described in my previous post to see which one works best for you. 
3. Keep your speed and direction. Keep practicing the foot switch and planing in switch stance. The goal is to keep your speed up. Keep power in the sail while and after switching your feet, and see how far you can go without going to deep downwind.

Step 4: Ducking the sail. I hope the water is warm! You will crash. A lot.

1. Duck going downwind. Duck the sail after switching your feet while going slightly downwind. If you kept your speed, going downwind a bit should reduce the apparent wind to levels that are not much higher than during your light wind duck tack practice.  Try to keep the duck quick, not as floaty as Andy did in the videos above. Sail a couple of seconds backwinded, then crash or start on working an exit.
2. Duck on a beam reach. Try ducking the sail on a beam reach, or even going slightly upwind. This will make the Duck Tack exit easier, and will give you more power for jumps. But you'll also have more apparent wind.
3. Sail backwinded. Practice sailing in control after ducking the sail. See how far you can go. It seems the pro level freestylers can sail in this position forever!

Step 5: Old school exits. These are optional - go on straight to new school if you like. 

1. Reverse Duck Jibe. Just copy what Andy does in the videos above :-). But it you did a less "floaty" sail duck, you can keep more speed and even plane out. This part is identical to the ending of the backwind jibe. If can already do backwind jibes, it should be easy; if not, learning backwind jibes should be easier after you mastered the Reverse Duck Jibe.
2. Duck Tack. Carve upwind instead of downwind to end this as a tack. You will stop planing, so this is identical to the light wind version. 

Step 6: New school exits: Funnel and Switch Kono. 

1. Do the Fu. If you pop the board and turn the nose downwind, you'll start a Funnel. But a Funnel is a 540 degree turn - you add a 360 after jumping the board around 180 degrees. When starting out, you don't have to add the 360 - just jump the board 180 degrees, and then sail away. This is the equivalent of a Vulcan, but you're in regular stance here, so sailing away should be easier. Nobody else does it that way, but that's because everyone else has learned the Vulcan first, and then the Spock and Spock 540, so they are already good at sliding backwards through more turns. I don't know what this move is called, but since it's the first 1/3rd of the Funnel, we'll take the first 1/3 of the name, too, and call it the Fu.
2. Funnel. After you recovered from the initial shock that you managed to jump the board around and were able to sail away from it, it's time to learn sliding backwards. Then, add a 360 turn. Check the videos how to do this, I don't really have a clue.
3. Switch Kono. If you played around with the Kaino crash in step 2 above, you may have a pretty good idea what to do. I really don't so I'll leave this for another post in the future.

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Maybe I wrote this entire post mainly for myself. The approach above does not make any sense for the typical new school freestyler - a young, wild, and most likely blond windsurfer hell-bend on jumping, and without any fear. I'm an older guy, closer to 60 than to 50, with much better light wind freestyle than high wind freestyle, even though I sail much more in high wind than in light winds. I may have managed to keep my gut from expanding too much in the past three decades, but my inner chicken definitely has grown - grown to a size that may be incomprehensible to a 25-year old. But when I look around at an ABK camp, I often see other guys of a similar age, with similar skill sets, and (presumably) similar familiarity of the Fear Factor. So perhaps this post might prove useful to someone else, after all.

Backwind Jumps

The title of this post is misleading. This post is really an illustration how careful one has to be about what one writes on the internet. You never know what kind of ideas you put in peoples heads!

Regular readers of this blog may have noticed that I have not posted my typical crazy theories about freestyle moves this winter. Some may even have hoped that they'd make it through this winter without being exposed to yet-another freestyle theory that is obviously completely wrong. Hah - zu früh gefreut! Here is my new theory:

• For some freestylers, the first "new school" freestyle move should be not be a Vulcan, Grubby, or Flaka, but rather a backwinded move: a Shaka, Switch Kono, or Funnel. 

A few of my back-and-forth-sailing friends may now wonder what the hell I am talking about, so let me show you a video of a Funnel:

How could I possibly think that's the first new school move to learn? I'll blame tim319. On a thread about learning the Flaka on the British windsurfing forum, he posted this:

"I think I'm gonna crack funnells in much less time.
Apparently as soon as you start to get them you make the majority."

Interesting enough to prompt a few Google searches. Very quickly, they turned up this statement by Flo Söhnchen, a top German freestyler:

"Der Funnel ist eigentlich relativ einfach" (The Funnel is actually relatively simple)

That is quite a contrast about what he writes about one of my previous favorites, the Flaka:

"Durchhalten! Irgendwann klappt das verdammte Ding! :)" (Keep at it - you'll get the damn move eventually!)

And about the Grubby:

"Irgendwie find ich es recht schwierig, den Move richtig konstant hinzubekommen" (Somehow, I find it quite difficult to make this move really consistently)

Now back to what Flo says about the Funnel:

"Was den Move schwierig macht, ist das Duck-Schiften des Segels in der Switch-Stance-Position vor dem Absprung." (What makes the move difficult is ducking the sail from switch stance before the pop)

So, if you already know how to duck the sail while planing switch, the move should be easy! Admittedly, this is a difficult skill - I have read that it is more difficult than learning the Vulcan. But I know at least two women who learned the planing Duck Tack before the Vulcan - my lovely wife Nina, and Marji from Bonaire. There are a couple good reasons to learn the planing Duck Tack before starting with new school tricks. One is that is has a light-wind counterpart, which can be quite helpful to learn the sail handling (which is, indeed, non-trivial); the other one is that the crashes look a lot less dramatic than Vulcan crashes. The light-wind Duck Tack is also a move that can be done in almost-planing conditions, and with a high success rate once you learned it - two things that install confidence.

So, if we assume a windsurfer can do the planing Duck Tack, and that she can plane switch in the straps, is the Funnel really a good move to try? That still seems highly questionable for the following reason:

• Looking at just the board movements, the Funnel is the equivalent of a Spock 540: the nose is jumped downwind to turn the board 180 degrees into a backwards slide, followed by an additional 360 turn while sliding
• The Spock 540 is the trick you learn after the Spock, which you learn after the Vulcan; many who have learned them all say that it takes just as many tries to learn the Spock as it took to learn the Vulcan.

It it wasn't rainy and cold outside, I might just stop here, and ignore what tim319 and Floh said (and perhaps remember that so far, I have had quite limited success planing switch, and never even tried a planing Duck Tack, although I have the non-planing version down). But it is rainy, so we'll continue by carving the moves into little pieces, and comparing them.

1. Preparation

For the Spock 540, there is not much to do - get over the board for a pop, instead of staying more out like you would for a chop hop. Easy enough to do.

For the Funnel, you have to go switch stance, and then duck the sail, without loosing to much speed. Definitely much harder!

2. Take off

In the Spock, the sail is upright and depowered. That's quite different from chop hops, where the sail is to windward and powered. 

In the Funnel, the sail is backwinded and slightly forward. The pressure in the backwinded sail helps to get air. If you don't jump, the backwinded sail will throw you backwards - but if you've worked on 360s, you know that these crashes are harmless and often even fun.

3. In the air 

In the Spock 540, we have to let go of the backhand, and switch hands to the other side of the boom. We also want to push the nose down to create a rotation point. That's a lot of things at the same time, while the board is in the air - one of the things that make learning the Vulcan (the first phase of the Spock) hard.

In the Funnel, we have held on the the boom the entire time - not so hard.

4. Sliding backwards

We have turned the board 180 degrees, so our stance has switched: in the Spock, we are now switch stance, while in the Funnel, we are regular stance.  If you stop the Spock here, you have a Vulcan. You could stop the Funnel here, too, but nobody seems to do that. If you did, you could sail away in a regular stance, rather than from a switch stance as in the Vulcan. The sail now needs to go towards the nose of the board to continue the rotation. This seems easier in the Funnel, where we are in normal stance, and more difficult in the Spock 540, where we are switch stance.

5. After turning 360 degrees

We are backwinded and sliding. In the Spock 540, the body is twisted up - relative to the regular backwinded stance, we are in switch stance. In the Funnel, the stance is almost identical to the stance before takeoff, except that the sail is still more forward to push the nose around for the final half-turn.

6. Exit

In the Spock 540, the sailor exits in switch stance; in the Funnel, the exit is in normal stance.

In summary, the Funnel does seem quite a bit easier after the initial preparation, since we do not have to switch hands on the boom mid-air, and are in a normal stance through the entire rest of the move. So perhaps we can believe tim319 and Floh!

I am not claiming that the Funnel is much easier to learn than the Spock 540. It's possible that it is actually more difficult; after all, the Tricktionary 2 still had it listed in the "Extreme" section. However, it appears that the hardest part of the Funnel happens before takeoff. This part can be learned without any jumping or popping! Since the crazy crashes that we see when guys try to learn Vulcans and Spocks are eliminated, the fear factor is greatly reduced.

Additional motivation to learn the planing Duck Tack and the switch duck in the straps is that it leads to the Switch Kono. If you've ever seen Kiri Thode or Tonky Frans throw a sky-high Kono on perfectly flat water in Bonaire, you'll agree that this is a very cool looking move. Perhaps more importantly, it is the only new-school move that does not scare me at all, for a very simple reason; when working on Carve 360s in the straps, I got thrown backwards by the backwinded sail many, many times. Some of those times, most of the board was in the air, and I got the nose turned enough to get a bit of wind into the sail again from the right side. In the worst case, those falls were harmless; typically, they were a lot of fun, even if it was windy enough that I'd stop doing duck jibes.

So, I got two tricks I'd love to try, the Switch Kono and the Funnel. To get there, I'll probably first need to catch up with Nina a bit, and finally work on the planing Duck Tack. So that gives a couple of high wind goals for the upcoming ABK camp in Hatteras: 

1. Planing switch in the straps
2. Ducking the sail while planing switch

There. I said it. Now I have to do it. Then we'll see what that leads to. Maybe I'll throw in a few Shove It/Shaka tries while we're down there - after all, they are backwinded jumps, too.