Gybe vs. toeside

[Yann]

I'm not a gyber. I ride exactly 50% of the time toeside. To be honest I've never seen the point in gybing. To the gybers out there, do you feel equally comfortable riding waves on both stances? Do you always ride waves frontside? What's the point with gybing? What's your opinion on being a complete surfer? Riding equally well on both stances or mastering backside/frontside and toeside/heelside equally? Please enlighten me and I might change my mind and start switching stance. I think it looks pretty cool to switch stance really quick and controlled but I just hate riding on my unatural stance. I have 20 years+ skateboarding so I guess I'm kind of an old shooler when it comes to riding switch. Surfers don't ride switch much either so why do it when kitesurfing?

[chanson]

Interseting topic for sure.
When riding in gorge swell, racing, or just trying to make ground up wind...I always jibe..
But in the ocean, I like riding toeside better...Can't ride real waves for shit when I am switch-stance. Again, if I'm trying to make upwind ground to get back to a nice break, I will jibe for sure.
The thing that gets me is when you see riders riding up to a wave, jibe real quick on the way up the face, then rip back down frontside.

I don't really have a problem just riding backside when i need to on the wave,...makes it harder to smack the lip, but gives you some good backside slappage practice.

When in the gorge swell, I will try and ride,smack, surf some swell switch just to get it down..
Who knows'...we'll see.

[Lonny]

Yann super good topic for discussion and interesting...

I gybe quite a bit in the waves. It is really nice if you are heading out on normal stance and see a nice lip that you gybe on, smack the lip, and then don't switch your feet and rip down the wave toe-side or switch and go front side. I really think its a matter of personal style, but I think it is important to ride well Front Side and Back Side. I definitely find myself focusing on riding switch on only one tack and heelside on the other. Lately I have been trying to improve my switch riding on my weak side (goofy), so that I can be better at riding waves from the opposite wind direction. Our good wind with waves almost always blow from the Right or Port Tack going out towards the waves, and when the wind switches to the Left (rarity with waves) I ride like a total tool because I am only really good at gybing and switch on one side. I am working to improve that. However, give some gybing a shot you might find it forces you to look at your riding in a different light, and develop something that you are not as comfortable initially but will make you a better wave rider for sure.

I am sure that a couple of the hard core wave guys here have some feedback as well.

[JonModica]

I'm not a gyber. I ride exactly 50% of the time toeside. To be honest I've never seen the point in gybing. To the gybers out there, do you feel equally comfortable riding waves on both stances? Do you always ride waves frontside? What's the point with gybing? What's your opinion on being a complete surfer? Riding equally well on both stances or mastering backside/frontside and toeside/heelside equally? Please enlighten me and I might change my mind and start switching stance. I think it looks pretty cool to switch stance really quick and controlled but I just hate riding on my unatural stance. I have 20 years+ skateboarding so I guess I'm kind of an old shooler when it comes to riding switch. Surfers don't ride switch much either so why do it when kitesurfing?

I will NEVER ride a wave swtich. Just cant and wont do it. But whenever i know im not gonna either do a trick, ride a wave, or whatever for a few minutes, i switch to go upwind faster, and its easier.

[sundogchicky]

i guess jaime o brien, and that kelly slater guy arent real surfers. they ride the barrel switch, so they must be barneys.
it is more comfy riding switch than a long tack toeside. i can only do just so many years of riding in one direction without boredom, My ideal day would be getting barreled both right and left, reg and switch. the best riders are the guys you cant guess if their reg or goofy. Even old school skaters (mostly post 70's) did tricks to switch, from switch. got some more excuses? Ambidexterity. it should be an elementary school course. but then again
maybe you are born right nutted, right eyed, and right eared and of course right handed. evolution is being slowed by an outdated , unbalanced approach to life. Dont let this continue, your kids will hate you when their careers are cut short because they cant ride switch stance.i am learning to forgive mine.
then again, its only kiting and which ever direction puts the biggest smile on your face is the direction to go. i kinda like the fros approach," i cant, i wont and you cant make me, damnit!!! " no excuses , just i suck and thats it. hmmmmmm i dont buy it after watching fro boy in action.

[sundogchicky]

so many cool gybes, so little time. throwing a sick shuvit gybe on the way out, to catch the wave coming at you, or just making each of those little trannys you do so damn many of ,a little more polished. you turn around when you come in, and then again to go out, over an over. etc. i like to see something new come outa all that turning around, besides , well, just turning around.

[Yann]

The last couple of sessions I've been practising tacking and switching stance (still going in the same direction). I think it's much easier to tack from natural to switch than the opposite. Switching stance going in the same direction is still just a matter of luck. My boards are all pretty narrow, 18 1/2" something which makes it kind of hard. Can anyone give me some pointers on the footwork here? Do you jump around with both your feet at the same time or do you move one foot at a time and in what order? Also if you do anything with the kite like raising it to 12 o'clock or going downwind to level out the board for more stability etc? What about speed?

By the way, there is an interview with Ian Alldredge in the latest issue of Core Online Magazine (page 39) as well as a step by step guide on how to tack(page 62).
http://www.coreonlinemagazine.com/magaz ... 5full.html

The tack guide was what helped me. Is this gybing or is it only gybing when the nose of the board is pointing downwind? If anyone can give some pointers on the gybe (board nose downwind) I would be happy. Footwork, speed, kite etc.

[Todd]

I'm no expert on jibing, but in my second life I wear straps and do course racing. In the one method, you do an upwind ole and move your feet at pretty much the same time as the kite is directly overhead - this whole manuever goes fast and there's plenty of wave kiters that do this too strapless (this is really a tack). In a normal jibe (or gybe), I bring my rear foot up towards the front foot as I carve downwind and bring the kite overhead, then switch my feet (which also forces the board quickly thorugh the remaining rotation) and dive the kite so I get powered up quick and can go back on the attack. Another option is to downloop the kite - this is better when you are hauling ass downwind and are confident in your ability to edge hard through the turn and switch your feet at the same time. When the kite is on it's way down to the bottom of the loop, there isn't much juice, so this is when you want show your best dance moves and get your feet in the right position. After the bottom of the loop, the kite generally lights up with power and you are able to come out of the maneuver with a low angle downwind and carrying great speed.

I find that when I am on a regular surfboard, I just move my feet around pretty much as I please so long as I'm not pointing too high upwind. I like to ride frontside and backside, switch and regular just that my skills stay equally crappy on all possible points of sail I will often ride switch heelside to get upwind going through slop, then quickly change to switch toeside to gouge the face of any decent wave coming my way. I will usually bring the kite quickly up towards 12 to achieve this without wiping out. Keep in mind that I ride a lot of knee to chest high crappy slop, so take it all with a grain of salt.

Enjoy!!

[Yann]

Thanks Todd! Exactly what I was looking for. Now it's just a matter of practise!

[mattv]

I look at it like this. The more different ways I can ride a board the better a kiter I will be. I want to be able to gybe both sides, ride toeside both sides, and do everything else in between. When we allow ourselves to get into a habbit, i.e. only riding waves in one certain way, it reduces the dynamic nature of strapless kiteboarding, which is the whole point, IMHO. The reason I like riding strapless is that without foot straps I can move around and experiment with different stances in different conditions. Now I have weak and strong stances like everyone else probably does but I try and work on my weak side as much as possible. We get winds from all directions so we may be on rights with side-shore winds one day and lefts with side-off the next, and on-shore the day after that. We even have a location that can be side shore near the beach and offshore further out, in relation to the waves. To be able to handle all conditions I need to be a dynamic rider and not pigenhole myself into one certain riding style.

Another way I like to go at it is backwards, especially on the skim in side-shore winds. I ride into the waves backwards on the skim and turn the board side ways as I get close to the wave. I hit the wave going sideways and dig in on the face as I take the kite across the window. I smack the top of the wave and head off back to shore or do it again depending on the size of the waves.

[Todd]

Ditto for me on the skimboard in the waves.

[JonModica]

I look at it like this. The more different ways I can ride a board the better a kiter I will be. I want to be able to gybe both sides, ride toeside both sides, and do everything else in between. When we allow ourselves to get into a habbit, i.e. only riding waves in one certain way, it reduces the dynamic nature of strapless kiteboarding, which is the whole point, IMHO. The reason I like riding strapless is that without foot straps I can move around and experiment with different stances in different conditions. Now I have weak and strong stances like everyone else probably does but I try and work on my weak side as much as possible. We get winds from all directions so we may be on rights with side-shore winds one day and lefts with side-off the next, and on-shore the day after that. We even have a location that can be side shore near the beach and offshore further out, in relation to the waves. To be able to handle all conditions I need to be a dynamic rider and not pigenhole myself into one certain riding style.

Another way I like to go at it is backwards, especially on the skim in side-shore winds. I ride into the waves backwards on the skim and turn the board side ways as I get close to the wave. I hit the wave going sideways and dig in on the face as I take the kite across the window. I smack the top of the wave and head off back to shore or do it again depending on the size of the waves.

Totally agree,
But DONT LIMIT yourself to what you have just seen around, try to figure out new ways.
I really like tacking instead of gybing. It can allow you to switch your feet really fast, and you wont go downwind as much as a gybe!
check it out. Tell me what you think!

[gman]

Hey what a cool website!

Great sequence. Been working on this method watching Sky Solbach:

from Lance K http://www.nwkite.com/forums/t-2234.html&highlight=tacking+surfboard

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