Leaderboard

Here's my prototype, I'm happy with the spacing, tail length etc. It flys well, bit of a bugger to get back down. Now to take it apart and do the art work! Sent from my SM-G920W8 using KiteLife mobile app

I spent hours watching some really great fliers "click" with their routines.. That Wow factor truly is a matter of the flying emphasizing the musical phrasing. Addressing the mood of the song with the style of flying and then adding accent points where appropriate to literally punctuate the performance. Paul uses soundtrack styles of music a lot which have natural builds and lulls which he takes advantage of every time. Take the analytical approach to this. Looks at the performances you want to emulate and what you remember from those performances. I call them pop points. What was going on with the kite at the time? What was the music doing? What particular point of timing, performance or trick made this stick in your mind? Paul's "Back to the Future" routine from a few years back had him doing a catch on 80+ ft lines. He'd tug the kite just before a certain point in his music and it would seem to take forever diving out of the sky into his waiting hand. The times I saw him do it, the catch was the crescendo and everything leading to that point in the music was just building to that catch. The timing of the catch was everything. Watching John Barresi's looney tunes performance, the animation of the kite literally carries you back to the cartoon that sparked the performance. The kite becomes everything from Bugs Bunny's ears slapping Elmer Fudd's head to a chasing gait to even the flowers blooming after the hair tonic was applied. It all fits. John's "I'm the Man" demo for the Djinn had a pop point for me as well. The diamond bicycle. The smoothness of that particular sequence within the video highlighted the entire sequence. Watching Chris Shultz's Mirage stack performance is mesmerizing. The kites have a life of their own with a banter and playfulness that literally demands you watch. It's one of those moments where you forget you are recording and end up recording the ground or the sky while you just watch. These are pop points for me. What do they all have in common? The motions of the kite whether difficult or easy, clicked with the music and the overall performance to create a memorable moment. It doesn't have to be an axel or flic flac. It can literally be a stop or sudden change of direction or speed. Now when I'm listening to music I use for my demos, I find those accent points I want to emphasize and practice whatever move I want to do there around that point. Where do I need to be in the sky? What aspect does the kite need to have at that time. The pop points don't have to be difficult at all. One pop point I use in a song is an unexpected double cymbal hit. I time my approach loading the sail and flying slowly across the window (forwards) using each beat of the song to load the sail a bit more. On the double cymbal hit, I quickly accelerate the kite with each hit releasing the energy I've loaded up into the sail. It's not a hard move to do but when you see it timed with the music (and when I get it right) it just pops. You listen to the song later and the cymbal hits you never noticed before will stand out to you. Bottom line is, Yes, there is technicality involved but those pop points are what makes a performance memorable. Placing them at strategic parts of your sequence will maintain audience attention and get you on the right track. As you start stringing these pop points together with cohesion and continuity, your performance will leap ahead with the impact you are looking for. Personally, everything between the pop points, I fill with soul flying. I think Paul does some of the same approach. I'm under the impression John visualizes a grid in the sky and approaches it methodically with short sub-routines and transitions between them.

Man I have been reluctant to respond. Don't want to come across as kite snobby ( I am) or discouraging (maybe). 0 to 3 is the toughest for me to fly in and has been the hardest kite decision to make. The cost of my latest SUL(2pt frame) borders on insanity. So far I think it's worth it. My first SUL I bonded with instantly and is the kite(3pt frame) I want to fly the most. 2 to 14/15 mph and will handle gusts to 15 easy.Got it 2nd hand but it was still crazy money.Thought I was ready for a 2pt framed kite but I'm not quite there yet. Little intimidated by the more fragile frame. NO similar framed kite will survive for long the willy nilly flying I like to do at times. As my skills and discipline improve I think I'll bond to it just as much as the 3pt.Not flown either much in the last month due to high winds and wet weather. Super excited when I got a Zephyr and it taught me a lot. Took a long time but on good days I could fly it in 1 to 2 mph. 3 to 4 is where the tricking would start. Kite has a lot of adjustments and that took some time to figure out. As I got better the constant need for adjustments in my rollercoaster winds got on my nerves. I'd have a better opinion of the Zephyr if I lived where winds are smoother. For 0 to 3 the only 2 kites under $160.00 that I thought about were the Prism 4D and Flying Wings Acrobaxt. That was in the first couple months of flying and concluded it was best to save up for other kites. A lot of folks think the 4D is twitchy in it's upper range. I don't think twitchy is a viable critique. Adjust your inputs. Take that with a LARGE grain of salt though because the funnest kites I fly are the Premier Addiction, Flexifoil Psycho and HQ Delta Hawk.Fast kites are not for everyone.Level One USA opened their online store yesterday. $200.00 gets you a Reloaded UL but the Badass UL at $275.00 flies lower. Paul DeBakker claims he can fly it in nothing. He designed the Hydra which I really dig but hasn't been very durable for me. Planned on getting a Benson Superfly to replace it but getting a Badass instead. Pauls a pro and being that confident in the Badass is good enough.PAW was heavily involved in it's design and I've watched/read a bunch of his stuff.Contact them and you'll probably get some good advice. I too live on disability so I have to be pretty diligent in my kite purchases. Most of mine are used. My quiver is now loaded up and I really have no need for other kites. Want though, well that's a ongoing problem. Under $160.00 there are 3 kites I'd really like to have. The Sky Dog Crossfire Comp not to be confused with the Crossfire or Crossfire II. That would be my wet weather kite and I'd give my Black Dog to my grandkids. Knowing what I know now it would have been my 1st kite. Premier Wolf ng because good fliers claim it's even better than my Nighthawk and I fly that kite a LOT.The Kymera at $112.50 + shipping from ITW has been on my mind for a long time. 0 to 3 is tough. I've spent the most time researching the needed skills and equipment for that wind range. Honestly I'm still kinda lost. Hate to say it but I don't think you can get a good allround tricky SUL for $160.00. Not even a good used one unless you get real lucky.Hopefully someone can prove me wrong.The ITW Echo and Kite Forge Kaiju take different skills then what I'm focusing on now. For the cost one of those might serve you better.When it's 115 F ya can also fly one of those in air conditioning.