14 replies to this topic

[Ant_B]

Hey all,

Recently got myself a vented rev to play with, and coming from dual line flying I'm curious about footwork? I jump around a lot with the duallies, but kind of got the impression with the Rev's that the less footwork the better, especially if you want to do team work one day.

At the moment I'm still moving backwards and forwards when I'm doing moves like slides, esp in gusty winds. Is that ok or should I concentrate more and more on the control movements with the handles, and try to move my feet less and less?

[REVflyer]

if the wind is decent and steady, try sitting down or leaned against a tailgate and then draw one of the quad precision figures

try it again moving your feet this time, not just rotating your waist & shoulders

you should eventually be able to draw that figure both ways, walking around if the wind is poor or rock solid stationary if it's sufficient

I'm in the habit of asking the judges before competition, .... do you deduct score if the pilots move their feet? The answers are, many times amazing ~ seldom a consensus opinion.

It's still fun and great practice, if you're ever truly bored with chasing pets & kids

[SparkieRob]

When I first started flying Revs, I kind of expected just to stand there and fly.
BUT.. I was given some really good advice,
give to the kite in a gust,
and move my feet.
I made a conscious effort to move my feet one time on the field and I was able to keep my kite in the air the whole session. For me, it made a huge difference. A couple of steps here and there, a little dance with my kite.

Rob.

[katrina]

Hmm. It is true that you shouldn't need to move much unless the wind is low. In that case, you will see the whole line of fliers moving forward and back. The moving forward isn't necessary, except to gain ground. When you are flying team, you CAN'T be moving all over the place. Your feet will move of course, you will shift your weight, put one foot in front of the other, then back again, but you'll stay relatively still. (If there is forward and back movement, the leader initiates it.) So you must know how to control the kite while staying in one place.

But if you are flying by yourself, why shouldn't you move around? There's no reason not to, as long as you're not running backwards with the kite. It feels nice. I'm pretty sure I move more when I fly on my own. So I say move all you want. It's not something to even think about right now. You can think about it later, when you're ready to step into a line. Just learn to fly the kite, don't think about your feet. If they move, they move. It could actually smooth things out, to move your whole body rather than just your arms.

[katrina]

One of my favorite videos, check out Watty, remembering that the goal is to keep your feet STILL, got it?



I was thinking that JB moves a fair bit in his Rabbit of Seville solo routine, so I went looking. This is low wind, so of course he's gotta move, but interesting. Take a look:

http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

Note the 360 to gain ground halfway through, yup it was low wind. So standing still wasn't an option. Bad example maybe, but it shows the footwork so nicely! Other vids just show the kite. But I think he moves a lot, in that routine at least, regardless of the wind. Here's another, same weekend, note the flags are blowing nicely yet he's still moving.

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=jk8M8RbxtyI

John will probably come along and argue that all that movement is just for effect.  So yes John, we know you could fly it just as well standing stock still.  Or lying in a hammock.

[Felix Mottram]

<snip>

John will probably come along and argue that all that movement is just for effect. So yes John, we know you could fly it just as well standing stock still. Or lying in a hammock.

I think that moving is rather important. I appreciate that some folk will be constrained in this respect but may well want to fly kites within the limits of their capabilities. We should encourage them in this respect while understanding the limitations of a static position.

At some stages in learning how to fly a Revolution Kite it may be beneficial to rely on wrist rotations of the handles and it may be possible to do quite a lot with a static stance in this respect. However, in order to deal with changing air flow and the specific requirements of team flying a more dynamic approach will be required where the flier adjusts to conditions by moving, maybe quite radically, on the ground to compensate for the effective windspeed that is needed, or needs to be reduced, in order to complete a particular move or sequence of moves.

I have noticed quite how far in opposition the handles may need to be, especially with a Rev 1, in order to maintain a horizontal pass in light winds and the dexterity needed to switch from a left pass to a right pass and observed how pulling the change, left handle/right handle, can drive the kite around the turn. I have also noted that in high winds with brakes maximised the same moves can be executed and can effectively reduce muscle fatigue in the process; a great benefit...

Changing your stance on the ground on a regular basis will certainly reduce fatigue in the simplest sense!

Felix

[Kitelife]

I posted these links some time ago... May or may not be stimulating.

Some great videos to get a feel for body work...

[Baloo]

I pretty much had to teach myself to fly a Rev, no one else near me had One, so it was read loads of posts and see if I could fly it. There were nowhere near as many videos on here then.

Being pretty lazy I thought it was great how you could just stand still and fly. I did tend to turn a bit fairly naturally depending on the attitude of the kite, that is about all.

I now find it difficult to move around, do understand about walking back whan the wind gets light and making ground if the wind is more brisk.

Watching others fly I so wish I had understood the importance of movement from the start.

However I DO enjoy flying and I think that is overall the important thing. We do it for fun, if you are getting stressed out by flying you are doing it wrong, so ultimatly whatever works for you is the best way, unless you are flying in groups then there has to be some order to things.

I think if you are a keen dualie flyer and understand the importance of movement with one of those it will only help you in your Rev flying.

[Ant_B]

Thank you everyone for your detailed answers, this forum is really amazing

Interesting videos, I hadn't realized how much people move in the teams, I'd just seen it from the kites in the air mostly and assumed they couldn't move much.

To be honest with my duallies I love the "dance", trying to balance the ups and downs of the wind with my whole body moving, it feels like i'm part of the kite and hooked into the sky so I'm glad it works with the Rev's too

[Felix Mottram]

Thank you everyone for your detailed answers, this forum is really amazing

Interesting videos, I hadn't realized how much people move in the teams, I'd just seen it from the kites in the air mostly and assumed they couldn't move much.

To be honest with my duallies I love the "dance", trying to balance the ups and downs of the wind with my whole body moving, it feels like i'm part of the kite and hooked into the sky so I'm glad it works with the Rev's too

Try these too:-




Felix

[Aerochic]

What Katrina said... Obviously if you're with others you're going to have to be careful, but when solo?... Move Baby Move and have FUN!!!!

Love that Watty video, btw. I missed that one somehow, Hee!

[Stone in Shoe Bob]

This question really made me smile. I was originally a single liner and took up Rev flying after nearly 30 kite free years. When I started out with Revs, I had the opposite problem, I didn’t move enough.

Although we probably don’t move as much as duel-liners, we do have breaks for speed control, but you will still see, have already seen, good Rev fliers moving. It’s probably not a good idea to over analyse this, but think of it as fine tuning, good Rev flying is a whole body thing and often adjustments are better made with a gentle step back or even just shifting your weight from one foot to the other.

It’s not so obvious in Felix’s first video, but in the second you will clearly see the guys using their ground position to adjust their speed, sometimes forward sometimes back. They know each other well, they have been flying together for years and are aware of who is where and when. They don’t get in each others way they are flying this way because they can. Their work on the ground plays a big part in making what happens in the sky look so crisp and snappy.

You can fly rooted to the spot, (or sitting in a chair if you want to show off), but it does require more concentration, it is a different technique and is more about thought than feel.

If, sorry, no, when you are invited to join a mega-fly you will have to be a lot more rooted to the spot. Mega-flies are team flying but where any wow factor comes from quantity rather than quality. Mega teams are often flown in a grid, formation where kites are arranged in rows and columns in the sky and the pilots are standing in a grid on the ground, with the pilots at the front of the grid flying lower in the sky and the pilots at the back flying the higher kites. Standing in a grid you can not afford to move much more than half a pace forward or back as to do so would obstruct others.

[Felix Mottram]

<snip>
If, sorry, no, when you are invited to join a mega-fly you will have to be a lot more rooted to the spot. Mega-flies are team flying but where any wow factor comes from quantity rather than quality. Mega teams are often flown in a grid, formation where kites are arranged in rows and columns in the sky and the pilots are standing in a grid on the ground, with the pilots at the front of the grid flying lower in the sky and the pilots at the back flying the higher kites. Standing in a grid you can not afford to move much more than half a pace forward or back as to do so would obstruct others.

With the Super 16 at Long Beach 2010 we did, as I recall, begin to explore the possibilities of moving on the ground 'in grid'.

We certainly established the 'not static' grid in the sky...

Felix

is another of Bart's vids...

[Kitelife]

Aye, keeping a grid moving (kites) is critical in light wind... Trying to hold a hover, bodies start to disperse and kites start to fall.

I tried to explain that one during the Revoclinic last March, but I don't think they believed me and ended up having on heck of a tough time.

[Felix Mottram]

Aye, keeping a grid moving (kites) is critical in light wind... Trying to hold a hover, bodies start to disperse and kites start to fall.

I tried to explain that one during the Revoclinic last March, but I don't think they believed me and ended up having on heck of a tough time.

The more I think of it we really did walk forwards 'in grid' to gain ground in that initial Super 16 fly in 2010!

I understand from Ashley that the wind on the Monday on site after Revoclinic last March was onshore and near perfect <grins>

Felix