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HELP. Please share you OLLIE Technique / Tips?

This is the place to talk about riding styles, tricks, conditions, what works, what doesn't on your skimboard. Wondering about what skimboard to get for kiting? Post it all here.

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HELP. Please share you OLLIE Technique / Tips?

Postby Kitemare » Wed Nov 18, 2009 5:44 pm

Watching the vids of Lonnie, Roberto, Jon, Joey, Bryan, and other getting good height
on flat water. HOW DO YOU DO IT? Bryan in the "dog jump" gorge video is flying high
on a skimmer. Any and all detailed suggestions would be appreciated. Don't hold back,
tell all! Board direction, edge, body position, kite position, everything.
Don't think the board ( Surftech Morpheus ) is the issue. What's your technique?
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Re: HELP. Please share you OLLIE Technique / Tips?

Postby mattv » Fri Nov 20, 2009 1:10 am

I think what is missing in the videos is the hours and hours and hours of practice, crashes, and wipeouts that went into to making that jump on the video look so good. I know from my experience it took me going 100% strapless skim board riding to be able to perform some of these tricks. Now looking back the tricks seem so easy and second nature but in the begining I never though I would be able to get it down.

For each person the technique is a little different. For me it helps to have a wave, even a little baby one to help get the board in the air. I always look for small ramps, and I mean small, even little ripples, anything to get more height. Normally with video you will not be able to see any waves on the water due to the angle of the camera but most of the time there are ripples or small chop that everyone launches off of.

If the flatest of water you have to create your own ramp by endging hard upwind just prior to takeoff. This is or course made all the more difficult as there are no straps and no fins.

In the end it comes down to taking your lumps and getting lots of practice. Good luck.
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Re: HELP. Please share you OLLIE Technique / Tips?

Postby tungsten » Fri Nov 20, 2009 11:12 am

I actually started ollying back when I had no clue I could ride strapless... snicker snicker... easier to learn as I didn't loose the board all the time. It's cheating I know. :oops: What I do is, keeping the kite rather low, good pull, not too hard on the edge but relaxed upright position, and then it's a movement with a bit pressure on the front foot which I shift to a hard stomp on the backfoot... board pops, lead board with front foot (hold it in the wind), back foot follows.
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Re: HELP. Please share you OLLIE Technique / Tips?

Postby Lonny » Fri Nov 20, 2009 12:54 pm

In addition to the great thoughts posted by Mattv and Tungsten here is some information I posted in another post that you might find helpful...

Flat water jumps and jumps off of kickers are two different animals. On flat water its all about speed and technique to get some decent air. With kickers you hit it and you are going up, no doubt! Of course airing and landing are just as hard on a kicker if not harder. Since I ride a lot of very flat water I spend a lot of time just working on ollies and getting them as clean and as fast as I can do them. The next time you are out find some super flat water, and go out nicely powered. Now as weird as this may sound do not try to jump off little ramps or chop. You want to find serious flat stuff to work on your technique. Build up a good amount of speed, and edge against your kite by using your back leg to build tension. When you feel some nice tension push down with your back leg and at the same time lift up with your front leg and shoot your kite towards its sweet spot for lift. Every kite is different, but hopefully it will not be too far behind your back. Its similar to a wakestyle jump, and takes time to get the timing down. Do not edge to the point where you lose too much speed. Timing and technique are critical to getting a little ollie or a 3 foot nice lift. Now when you start doing this you might only get 6", but do not worry about it. When I first started I was stoked to just get a little air and keep going fast the same direction. Now, spend just an afternoon doing that. Let me know what happens after and how I can help some more. I hope that helps a little.


What Mattv said about hours and hours of practice and crashes is 100% true. I really started to excel once I gave up all other forms of riding, and just focused on riding my skim regardless of the conditions. At one point it was not like I thought about the board any more, but it was just the board I rode. I am not saying this is for everyone, nor am I suggesting that you should give up riding strapped. However, when I focused on doing just one thing for a while it seemed to help me accelerate through the learning curve more quickly.

tungsten wrote:I actually started ollying back when I had no clue I could ride strapless... snicker snicker... easier to learn as I didn't loose the board all the time. It's cheating I know.

This is a great point by Tungsten, and can help you build some technique without as much eating water, or cheating too much. :D

Also, keep in mind that if you can cross train by getting behind a boat, cable park, winch, it can make a big difference when you hit the water with your kite. Guys like Joey and Bryan kill it because they also spend a ton of time on their skims behind a boat.

Hope that helps, and let me know if I can throw some more tips your way.
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Re: HELP. Please share you OLLIE Technique / Tips?

Postby Kitemare » Sat Nov 21, 2009 1:21 am

Thanks guys! Excellent info! Based on the comments I know that I was going about the ollie totally wrong.

Had my kite high, the board pretty flat, riding across the wind and only trying to smack the tail.
Probably not going fast enough as well. Now I understand that I need to approach it more like a load and
pop on a twin tip.

Read your suggestions, went back and watched the videos again at can now see the upwind carve and spray
just before the ollie. Strange that I didn't notice it before.

Thanks for the suggestions!!! Appreciated!
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Re: HELP. Please share you OLLIE Technique / Tips?

Postby davejayc » Thu May 13, 2010 10:01 am

I've gotten to the point where, like you said above Lonnie, I am riding my skim despite the conditions. Before it was my 10 knot board on a 13m, but now its also my 20 knot board on a 9m. I really enjoy the skim! And I also appreciate, in another post, you recommended I buy a smaller skim. I went from a 58x22" triple x, to a 54x20 zap pro, and man its so fun.

Anyways to the Ollie..

I skateboarded as a kid so I had a pretty good ollie down back then.
I've learned a lot about loading and popping on a twin tip from my practices ollying on a skim.

Having said that, I can get some air off a kicker, and land the board. Not crazy air, maybe 1 footers.

My issue is this: I can't seem to get the board to point up, and against the wind. It seems to be staying about parallel to the water. So I feel like in the air I disconnect from the board, and it doesn't stick to my feet like I think it should.

Any suggestions?

Word up,
DC
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Re: HELP. Please share you OLLIE Technique / Tips?

Postby Lonny » Thu May 13, 2010 7:00 pm

davejayc wrote:I've gotten to the point where, like you said above Lonnie, I am riding my skim despite the conditions. Before it was my 10 knot board on a 13m, but now its also my 20 knot board on a 9m. I really enjoy the skim! And I also appreciate, in another post, you recommended I buy a smaller skim. I went from a 58x22" triple x, to a 54x20 zap pro, and man its so fun.

Anyways to the Ollie..

I skateboarded as a kid so I had a pretty good ollie down back then.
I've learned a lot about loading and popping on a twin tip from my practices ollying on a skim.

Having said that, I can get some air off a kicker, and land the board. Not crazy air, maybe 1 footers.

My issue is this: I can't seem to get the board to point up, and against the wind. It seems to be staying about parallel to the water. So I feel like in the air I disconnect from the board, and it doesn't stick to my feet like I think it should.

Any suggestions?

Word up,
DC


Yo DC,

Yeah!! You made my day with that post. That is awesome, wait till you take your skim out in 30. :shock: Skim and 6m equals mega fun! :twisted: Then it gets really nuts!! Or is it the other way around :?: I have been called crazy a few times by my kiting buddies. :roll: Anyway...

Now that you are putting those techniques to use on the water, and I know you are, because you would not lose your board when you ollie unless you are getting high enough to have the wind grab it from you. Here is the secret to keeping your feet glued to you when you launch, after take off take your back foot and just push down ever so slightly with your toes so that it forces your heel side rail to point up towards the sky. When you do that right the wind will push the board right up against your feet - no hands or grabs necessary! In fact, try not to grab to learn how to control the board with just your feet. Some people also twist their body a bit to help point the tail into the wind, which also helps for a soft, and speedy downwind landing.

Go get out there, and let me know if that helps! Shoot us some video or pics of you with your new found skills!

Later,
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Re: HELP. Please share you OLLIE Technique / Tips?

Postby davejayc » Tue Oct 19, 2010 10:03 am

Having recently purchased a surfboard (6' x 19" thruster), I've been taking that out through the fall, as this is our big wind / big wave season.

What I've learned is that strapless airs are sooo much easier / natural on a surf!

The board feels just as floaty in the air as in the water. It sticks to my feet with solidity.

With the fins as well, stomping the tail down I found made it way easier to pop out, mind you I can only pop off of little kickers; waves / swell.

I found with the skimmer, the stomp and pop motion has to be so precise in its timing and strength, much like a skateboard ollie. The surfboard feels more like I'm launching off a ramp.

What I look forward to now is to go back out on the skimmer to see whether the skills I've learned are transferable!

DC
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Re: HELP. Please share you OLLIE Technique / Tips?

Postby posty » Fri Jan 28, 2011 10:12 am

This is very helpful.

I only did the pop but didn't really ollie.

Can't wait to get back out there...

Thanks guys!
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