Back hand or front hand grab

[mattv]

I have been practicing ollies for a couple of weeks now and I am finally getting decent jumps on a regular basis with some nice small ramp waves. Nothing big but still exciting. I am ready to go bigger and want to be able to add a grab in order to keep the feet on the board longer and to add back and front rolls. I have been practicing front hand grabs and can pop the board up and into my hands without any problem. Landing is another issue. I have been wondering about doing back hand grabs now as well as it would be easier to keep the kite in the correct position and keep my feet on the board. Does anyone do front hand grabs regularly and if so any advice?

mattv
http://www.kitesurfinfo.com

[chanson]

hmm...

well, Lonnie seems to be the grab-master...so, we'll see when he chimes in...
but, for me... It is easier to grab with my back hand. I had some major surgery about a year ago on my wrist(back hand) and I am always a little timid when leaving just my back hand(bad wrist) on the bar...

I haven't done the back rolls/transitions yet, but I have gotten a few grabs dialed..
So, I don't actually pop the board into my hand.. I release and tweak my bag leg out(towards wind), then I can reach down and my board is right where my back hand is going....

I need to try the front hand cause it seems what a lot of skimmers are doing...
plus, this wrist thing is in the past...!!!!! i think it's just a mental thing now.

[Lonny]

hmm...

well, Lonnie seems to be the grab-master...so, we'll see when he chimes in...

Thanks for the kind words..but hardly a master. However, I am a willing apprentice, and here are my thoughts...

I think it is far easier to learn grabs or any transition, be it back or front roll, by using your front hand to grab your skimmy, surfboard, or luch tray for that matter. If you are trying a mutant or indy grab I like to use my back hand similar to the way Chanson described it.

Half of the trick with any aerial is just the getting the board to your hand, which can be total luck sometimes. It does help if you ollie the board upwind so that the board floats its way right back to your hand by using the wind. The windier it is the trickier this gets, especially if you are trying some higher altitute grabs. Also, keep in mind in order to do a back roll you generally will loop the kite, and it is far easier to keep your back hand on the bar to initiate the loop vs. moving your front hand to the back side of the bar and holding the board with your back hand. Sounds too complicated right??

What I did for like the first, oh 300 times.. , was just to work on my pop-shuvit to get it to the point where I could catch the board. Once I started to catch the board a lot, which sounds like where you are at Matt, then I started to work on kite position and re-directing the kite to land it as a transition. Keep in mind that every kite style has a sweet spot where you get a little lift from the kite but not to the point where it pulls you forward or back. You need to find that sweet spot because that is where you want the kite when you are doing your grab to get the board back on the water. Then you can start to send the kite either the same direction or keep going the other way to try a transition.

Let me know if you have other questions as you progress and we can fine tune from there.

BTW - Chanson nice new Avatar!! We need that shot full size for the site!

[Slyde]

Front hand grabs are definitely easier for me. Lonny is correct that redirecting the kite is the harder part. I used to ollie the board into my hand but found I was often missing the catch so now I tend to be less agressive with the pop and reach down more grabbing the board and getting my legs airborne at the same time. If you work on it you can get your back hand to send the kite a little, pull in, and redirect by pulling in and levering forward a little to get a bit of float before redirecting. Its a tough nut to crack but a smooth grabbed transition where you drop the board, land and ride off without coming off the plane is sweet. Funnily enough I find that adding a front roll makes the kite redirection easier but I've yet to land one of these good enough to claim it. Trying in more wind makes the float a little easier to get than when its way marginal. Of course the real hotshots do it all at speed without needing to send the kite much at all.
Skim on!

[sundogchicky]

being balanced with your grabs is helped by being balanced with your kite steering. im unbalanced a bit with my back hand redirection to opposite forward , thus back hand grabs come easier for me. low loaded, non sent, and transitions,, is where i find the frontys easier for me.

back hander.jpg (11.82 KiB) Viewed 27889 times

photo jasonwolcottphotography.com
having a wave to load into or use as pop is helpful for this " Crail" or what my freinds called The" DELANEY SLOB" after Kevin Delaney the legend / trainer/snowboarder/mountainboarder/ kiter/ announcer

[Lonny]

Sick Shot! I wish someone could stand at my beach and catch a shot like that, but our break is 2 miles off-shore.