Gybing the Skimmy help

[AdeyG]

I've now been out on the Skimboard 3 sessions (Zap Pro) in choppy water 13-17mph wind. Great fun and amazed that as a novice I can ride it in quite choppy conditions and just how well it goes upwind.
I have fitted a leash attachment through the heel section of the rear deckpad to which I attach a retractable leash. This has already saved me loads of time as the first time out when I fell off, being a skimboard, it goes for miles. However it does mean that I have to gybe the board like my surfboard but its even more difficult! I get it about 25% of the time but would like to improve the stats. Any tips? Do I switch and gybe or gybe and switch. I find that I can turn to go toeside Ok is just when I try to move my feet there is a problem and things go wrong very easily.
Can't find a nice easy video to follow which will help me out either. Help appreciated or do I just keep trying?

[pebbles]

First of all get rid of that leash. I know it helps but it has the potential to hurt you severely. Get comfortable body-dragging for the board.

For gybing, as you start to bring the kite to 12 edge a little harder and kick/twist your ankles and just try to let the board spin under you on the surface of the water, the kite should be at 12 and as you put your feet down on the board you should be diving the kite in the opposite direction. If you are too aggressive with the kite you will get lifted more which makes it harder to land.

It was hard for me at first but now I can do it without thinking. Hope this helps!

[willydtb]

same thing that pebbles said, get rid of the leash and this is the reason why if you get yanked off your board, the board is gonna follow you and if your pulled off hard enough that board could slingshot at you and the result could be bad. As for gybing the skim, I come from a windsurfing background and what I do is as im coming around toe side the kite shoud be coming around to so that you keep your speed up, and the key here is speed. If your not going fast its gonna be harder to do the transition. so as your coming around toe side and you have pass from the down wind position to your new tack bring your back foot along side your front foot and if you can imagine the board is much wider up towards the front and thats where you need to keep your weight up front, not towards the back or your gonna stall the board and sink. once your going the new direction move your previous front foot to the back quickly. timing is the key and like i said speed is 75% of making this happen. And it looks so cool when you come flying through a toeside carve, such a good feeling.
good luck and keep trying.

will

[AdeyG]

Thanks for the tips guys. I've had a couple more sessions since originally posting and had a bit of a breakthrough!
I now realise what I am trying to do is a 'shuvit' rather than a normal gybe. The breakthrough came when a local instructor, probably feeling sorry for me after wiping out again in the shallows, told me to swing my hip of the leading leg in the direction of the turn, ie on a starboard tack leading with right leg then rotate the right hip into the turn. This effectively, as I see it, spring loads your body, so that mid turn when the board changes direction and the hip 'unwinds' it sort of takes the feet with it and behold they are in the right position for the next run. Don't know if I've explained it that well but it seems to work.
Regarding the leash, it's the retractable kind that lets the board go a distance away and only slowly pulls it back. When I get better I will probably dispense with it.

[davejayc]

Dude I really like your analogy of spring loading the hip! I'll try it next time I'm out.

Pop-shuvits do work well for flipping the board around. But I feel that gybing will help if you ever plan to transfer these skills toward a surfboard.

I turn my body around on the skim almost like a jump with both feet moving close to the same time. I load the board up then bear downwind, to take the power off the edge, then do a quick 180 jump and keep riding.