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After watching a bunch of videos today hunting for downward 180 turns, that stall seems an unavoidable part of the maneuver. From a bit more watching, people generally leverage the downward 180 as a lead into another motion, and rarely use it to continue on as a forward-drive 180 turn. From assorted indoor videos it seems the downward turns are used to lead into a bicycle (especially Watty and John), a larger circle (more common for Brett Marchel and Amy Doran), lead-in to an axel (Brett), a lead-in for a long glide (common with Paul LeMasters & Conner Doran), and especially for transitioning to reverse flight leveraging the stall to reverse (common for John, Paul, Conner, and many other people's videos). Fletch was the only person I could find in videos who regularly used the downward 180 to actually reverse the direction of forward travel, and those turns often included the kite trying to lay flat and stalling briefly, exactly what I've been experiencing. For a few people (like Mario Di Lucca) I couldn't find many downward 180 turns at all. Most of those transitions benefit from stalled motion. The upward 180 seems to be the direction reversal of choice, downward 180 is a lead to something else. All that watching made me wish there was something like other sports statistics. Like percent of freethows made, statistics of how often particular baseball throws are made, or in this case, the percent of time specific maneuvers were chosen. But alas, it's just watching YouTube at faster speeds and watching for specific actions.

Three hours today and I'm a bit more consistent. I switched lines a few times and found it easier with longer lines, 15 feet instead of 8. Adding a small upward swing before the turn also helped a little. Unfortunately that put me at risk of hitting the ceiling on the long lines. In positive terms, I managed eight in a row downward 180 turns at one point during practice, and I had to abort less than half of the time near the end. Upward 180 turns are much easier.

Based on feedback, I've increased my sail tension even more than before, and added longer leaders by an additional seven inches or so. This gives much deeper arc on the leading edge from the tension, and all the brake means leaning back about 1.5 feet when the handles are vertical. With these adjustments, the drive on the kite has changed significantly. Some of it is for the better, the kite moves much slower and more controlled, and takes less pressure before catching the air. Unfortunately, with the changes when making 180 turns it feels like all power cuts out. Sometimes the kite flips itself into a glide I didn't intend, with the wingtip inside the turn falling toward me and laying flat (0:22, 0:30, 0:59) for a difficult recovery. Other times it de-powers, forcing a landing or crash (0:08, 0:30) . Still other times (0:45, 1:02, 1:20) I can pull through it; the power loss has several waves, one where it catches itself after the turn, another where it hits the wind wake from the previous pass, and then it stabilizes. When it happens the kite does a bit of a swooping motion, easier seen than described. Here are some clips. Before the adjustments, less brake meant easier recovery and tighter turns. Is this an expected amount of stall, or turbulence, or whatever it is for proper adjustments and I just need to compensate for it with practice, or is there something you can see in my actions or tuning that needs to improve?

I know a few places that are okay, they all have turbulent variable breezes since we're several hundred miles from the coast. During the summer months parks are quite hot, but I try to fly every Saturday weather permitting. Zilker Park near downtown is big but is off-leash and usually has multiple dogs running around. I know some people who fly on some of the UT Austin fields on occasion. I usually fly at the Old Settler's Park complex closer to my home. I've run across a few random kite flyers, but those I've talked with have always said they fly on a whim on windy days once or twice a year rather than weekly/monthly/etc. But more on that could probably discussed elsewhere. For this topic, I'm just happy to have my name in the drawing.

That's always an issue for us inland folks. Those who live near an ocean coast mostly it is a matter of scheduling and perhaps an hour or two of driving. For those deeper inland you're often looking at a full day or multi-day trip to meet with people. Moving to Austin a few years ago it's now only a 6 hour drive to a beach where I know people sometimes fly, less than half the travel time. And as for the kite, it's a lovely color combination, and mid-vent is my usual choice. I kept putting that stock combination in the online shopping carts, but always took it back out again as my second favorite. I love bright kites in the sky. That's why 1464 is the number to pick. ;-)

My work is talking about possibly flying me out to Seattle the second week of August. Just a hop, skip, and four hour drive away the week before the festival, so I could make flying cross-country contingent on a week off. Right now the odds of traveling are fairly low (probably 25% chance) but that's better than the 0% chance I was expecting for watching from Texas. I don't see an option for a "maybe" on the form. Should I sign up so I can get the information as it comes out, or wait until firmer travel decisions?

There have been times in my life I wished I could have similar. Work in a place for a while, get a bunch of employee discounts and ultra-cheap clearance items that still work perfectly, all the scratch-and-dents that only have cosmetic issues, etc. Also a chance to try out all the different options to get a good feel for them. Not just kites, but get to use all the cars, get to use all the musical instruments, get to use all the ultra-comfy mattresses, get to try all the audio systems, all the latest and greatest computers, etc. Another would be being the driver in the commercials where they pop up the warning, "professional driver, closed course, do not attempt".

I'm not sure where in "Cackalacky" you are located, but assuming North Carolina, there are plenty of kite stores along the coast, such as Kitty Hawk, where you can pick up the kite in person immediately from their stock. You'll find EXPs for certain, and the Reflex models. Depending on the store they may have some B-series or New York Minute models on their older inventory, too. EXP is ready to fly. The others will need buying line and handles.

Either way, remove the tension for storage. Elastics and fabric both stretch out. On most kite designs it isn't too hard to swap out old elastics unless they're sewn along an edge, but once the fabric stretches the tension is gone forever. Laid open on a floor seems risky for punctures, tripping hazards, and other damage. I'd prefer something hung on a wall over being on the floor just for the safety issues.

There are two basic styles. You described the second. The first style is called stacked kites. Here are some YouTube videos. Basically a bunch of similar kites are tied together in a stack. They can be single line, or multiple line if the pilot wants to control them. My current profile picture to the left is two kites stacked together, then flown as one. These kites can have tremendous pull even in light winds. Sometimes pilots have multiple people helping them, ready to grab hold and keep the pilot from lifting to the air or from dragging across the field. The other style is called line laundry. Here are some YouTube videos. This starts with a strong, powerfully lifting kite like a sled or parafoil. Smaller items are attached to the line, such as spinners, streamers, climbers, smaller kites, and they are lifted with the kite. Large show kites can have tremendous pull, capable of lifting several hundred pounds, so they need to be securely anchored. They can be beautiful, and are common at kite festivals. If you're interested, find a kite show and chat with the people involved. The can be fun, but needs caution and experience. The bigger and more elements you add, the more dangerous it becomes. In both styles there is risk involved because of the high strengths and tensions involved. People are sometimes injured or maimed. The two biggest risks are being pulled into the air and having your fingers or hands twisted in the lines due to a gust. I have met people who have suffered both kinds of injuries (two people with missing fingertips, one man whose legs and ankles were completely rebuilt after being thrown into the air and blowing out his knees and ankles on a hard landing) and read many tales of people who suffered such injuries. Even when you're prepared and experienced, accidents happen. I know of a man, Dean Jordan, was in charge of kite field operations for various AKA events, owned a kite manufacturing company, and was experienced with that style of high pull and man-lifting kites. At an event where he was surrounded with experienced people, after a few hours of enjoying high power man-lifting kites and properly wearing assorted safety gear, he made a small mistake that nearly cost his life, shattering his pelvis and breaking assorted bones, landing him in the hospital for an extended time.

Given your location in Oregon, you're able to make a day trip to try out several options with other people's kites. That's the cheapest and easiest way to try them all. It would be a full day, but I'm certain there are plenty of people willing if you're able to make the drive. There are plenty of worse things then spending a Saturday at Lincoln City or Long Beach or Ocean City.

An older brother who was traveling --- then age 19 with a job and money --- was introduced to kiting and bought two stackable power kites in 1985 (I believe they are Flexifoils) which is how I ended up with Catch the Wind catalogs. CTW kept sending catalogs to our house every few months, and I'd read all I could. I had several cheap plastic kites, but my first "real" kites were a single line parafoil in 1986 and a basic dual line line in 1987, both from Catch the Wind. I would fly them both in a weed-filled field near my house after school, and since I wasn't allowed to actually touch my brother's power kites and he was away, I learned how to fly dual lines as a ten year old flying by myself. I cannot begin to guess how many times I set down my lines hoping the kite wouldn't fly away, set the kite up carefully resting on a tall weed, ran back over to the lines, and tried to launch. ... then after instantly crashing, setting the lines down, walking back across the field, carefully standing it back up, running back before it fell over, and attempting again. This was before standoffs, and I had nobody to fly with, nor videos to watch. I keep the parafoil in my car and it sees occasional flight time. Last summer I flew with my brother who still has those flexifoils, while we occasionally traded off with my newer kites. I keep that old simple 4' dual line kite in my kite bag for nostalgic reasons, the elastics and seams are basically dead. I still have the old blue SpiderLine, though, it is spectra line that still works after 32 years.

It may feel that way, but imagine both the legal repercussions and how you feel if you distracted a pilot or flew into their flight path, and hundreds died as a result. Height guidelines and distances vary by country. The US has height limits of 150 feet (45 meters), 400 feet (120 meters), and 500 feet (150 meters) depending on details. Compare with countries that have shorter limits like the UK and Switzerland at 60 meters, or countries with longer distances. Distance from airfields looks like it is commonly 5 km, or about 3 miles, but some are 10 or more. Basically it is a mix of both being responsible and being liable. Given the right circumstances it may be reasonable to fly at low altitudes a short distance from an infrequently-used airfield that is shielded by trees or buildings so the pilots wouldn't be distracted nor distressing to ground radar. But even so, if there was an accident at the airport while you were flying nearby, even if the kites had nothing to do with it I wouldn't want to face the scrutiny and investigation that followed. Different airfields will have different levels of enforcement. You can be certain if you're flying near LAX or Heathrow you'll be getting a visit from officers. But if you're flying near a small community airfield you might get supportive spectators visiting from the radio booth.

Learning is fun. What you described is typical for everyone who is trying to figure it out on their own. Watch lots of videos, tutorials, and guides. Learn about line management and how to wind/unwind your lines consistently. When you follow a working system all that is required is walking the lines out and picking up the handles, they're ready to fly. When something goes wrong, you may have hundreds of twists, or worst of all, a huge number of loops and knots that need to be picked out individually. I was on my own, following whatever materials I could get my hands on. I know the frustration well. I desperately want to fly with others, and even today will occasionally travel hundreds of miles to fly with someone. It looks like you have people relatively close, take advantage of that. An single hour with a skilled guide can be worth many days worth of trial-and-error learning, especially when just beginning. Both are great. Parallel, for a cola would you suggest either Pepsi or Coke? There are small differences but nothing that will matter for now. When you have a lot of experience and try a variety of lines you may develop a preference, but the differences are slight and nuanced.

Third major iteration. It is about 1/3 the weight of my first attempt. This is still a work in progress. The motion-based patterns using the gyroscope and accelerometer aren't fine tuned for this new version of the hardware so I didn't want to show the motion patterns, only motion colors. The microcontroller bundle is 21 grams, the light strip is 71. The mid-vent Djinn started at 237 grams, and was 341 grams when fully assembled, so the tape adds about 12. The battery life depends on how bright the lights are, since they can each of the 300 lights draw anywhere from 0-60mA ranging from off to full bright. The 350 mAh battery lasted around 45 minutes, better than I expected and longer than some of my tests at home. The wind was variable and turbulent, the Djinn performed wonderfully. I chose the mid-vent because the forecast called for 8-10 with gusts to 15, with a low pressure system moving in. Winds were good when we set up, but then dropped to almost nothing shortly after setting up. I choose short lines and feared I'd be doing more training with light wind practice so I used 30 foot lines. With almost 50% of the weight added extra, and such variable wind, it flew wonderfully. I can only imagine how a group fly with the directional-based colors would look. As each kite followed along the line their colors would match each other as they flew through each position. I've programmed that color palette to be based both orientation and compass direction, so it would vary as they flew but be the same at each point in space.

Fractured Axel is still relatively active. In some ways the periodic vanishing of sites helps with vitality. Stale links that point to other long-dead sites go away and new descriptions are written. People ask old questions that had been removed and get new descriptions that are more current. Topics that were settled one way get an opportunity to be revisited. There are painful parts, there is information that gets lost forever. Some historically interesting bits will be lost. There are old technical details, such as knowing that such-and-such kite required some specific type of spar, or descriptions about rare and unique kites that will be lost which other people may someday want to know. As sites grow for years or decades, pruning out the deadwood gets harder. Even if you look through the oldest posts here on KiteLife -- back from when it was reset and migrated to the current system about 15 years ago -- there are a huge number of posts with links that no longer work. Those include images and videos that don't show, links to documents that don't exist, plans for events long past, and references to stores that are nothing but memories. It's nothing new to the web. I was going through some old books recently, including some paperback books and other materials from the 1940s, and several had ads in them that were long out of date. Many tried to cross-sell other books from the publisher, which I'm sure are long out of print. A few were possibly still relevant, like getting Time Magazine for a year for 25 cents, but just like links on the web, most refer to long-forgotten products and old business ventures. I considered hosting an archive, but decided against it. The site is/was mostly banter and casual chat. While there are some unique and irreplacable gems, they are so sparse that it isn't worth the storage and hosting cost.

I try to fly mine each week, it's a solid kite. I alternate between it and my indoor quad on T/Th mornings. If the person who wins the prize isn't interested in an indoor kite, I'd gladly accept a redirection to my address.

There are a bunch of people I watch, Paul is one of them. Some people post on facebook to groups like the Djinn owner's group, quad line kite groups, Rev's group, etc. Random people also post videos from kite festivals, I watch those as well. Plus there are years of videos here on the forum, many winning (and non-winning) routines spanning decades. People went through the effort to convert the old VHS videos over, they're good to watch for ideas. There are a lot of amazing demo fliers out there. I want to reach the point that when I go to events, I can be on the other side of the ropes. That's happened at a few casual events, but I'd like more.

I believe it is being discontinued. ITW is the manufacturer and wants to clear their stock. Other vendors bought for the full wholesale price and are used to keeping stock until sold. It is a great price, I picked up both the Kymera and Hydra when they halved the prices. When they announced that both were going on clearance a year ago, I half expected an announcement that KiteForge.com was launching a new dual line.

Being the inquisitive sort, I pulled out the kite bag and the digital scale. My modded Rev with 2-wrap spars weighs 205 grams. The 2 wrap frame alone weighs 65 grams, the race frame I usually use weighs 77 grams. My Djinn with Mystic 12 spars weighs 221 grams. The Mystic 12 frame alone weighs 66 grams. So switching to the Djinn would have added 16 grams to the weight. Not a significant amount, but probably enough to make it slightly more difficult.

That does indeed. I wanted to try to slow down through more gliding that works with the indoor kites, but it kept destabilizing and swooping down instead. I'm not sure how much more brake I could have applied. I'll try it next time. I didn't have it on the video clips, but I also spent part of the day trying the throw/catch. I can comfortably do that on 15 foot lines indoors, but I only managed to catch it once on the 30 feet but it was never very high when it started. None of my throw attempts were successful, every one ended up with grass clippings or weeds snagging the lines. This is progress, though. Having been trying to fly indoor at least once a week now for about a year, alternating days between the Kaiju and the indoor Rev, I've learned a lot about keeping a kite up. This gentle air was just strong enough that I couldn't make this outdoor kite do the indoor stuff, my 360' attempts ran out of motion at about 250' when it was blowing back toward me, and the air temperature was getting to me so running was not really an option. There was a heat index of 105'F, and despite setting up a little shade for my camera it ended up shutting off due to overheating. It's almost time to be done flying outdoor for the Texas summer. It would have been more tolerable if there had been a gentle breeze to cool things off. 😉 I also thought about swapping this one out with my Djinn later in the day. I was out of water, so I didn't try it. Do they handle well at the low winds with the Mystic 12's, or will I need to send an order in for the mystic 10's? And old post says the 2-wrap frame is about 75 grams, so I'm guessing they're somewhat similar weight.

Okay, I went ahead and tried to keep a kite up in spite of low wind today. The wind forecast was 2-3 mph, but there were some gusts that were maybe 5 mph. I was focused mostly on trying to keep the kite in the air, not on making the music pop. The music coming from my phone is quiet, barely above the chirping of the birds. I figured I'd not add music, avoiding the risk of blocks due to copyright grounds or hunting down tunes they allow. Anyway, here's 15 minutes of boring practice in very light wind, for those who want to critique. If @riffclown or anyone wants to split it off to a new topic, it's probably diverged enough for that. I went with a rev with 2-wrap, and 30-foot 50# line with 15 inch handles, rather than putting up the indoor rev or the kaiju. It went better than I expected, and the occasional slight gusts helped significantly. Even so, most of the time was spent just trying to keep the kite in the air, not so much trying to work on form or choreography.

I really appreciate all the discussion so far. I could easily be the stereotypical nerd with a pocket protector and taped-up glasses, monotone speech, etc. I'm one of the people who is seldom invited to the fun parties, often I don't see what's funny about most 'blue collar jokes', and struggle to see what most people find fun even when it is right in front of my eyes. I suspect that's part of why I'm having a hard time with this. I think maybe an alternative title to the topic might have evolved to "How do I change the nerd into the popular kid?" Agreed. So many people have distinctive motions as they fly. People range from zen-like slow motions, to dance styles that would fit with disco lights, dances that could fit in a ballet or broadway show, to full-body contortions trying to tug on the lines performed either slowly like yoga or quickly like flailing. While it isn't part of a competition scoring, their personal flair certainly has potential to boost the 'wow' factor. I suspect some of that comes with either natural charisma or learning how to actually dance, but having not much of either I don't know for certain. Graceful, lithe motion certainly plays well to the crowds. Even when flying a great performance, those who stand mostly in position tend to have less of a wow, some is due to not changing the sail loading, but I think there is a strong personality factor. That's certainly something I need to work on. Maybe it would go under a label like showmanship, not of the kite but of the pilot. Good list, and I like your variations to them. You're right that the formations are scène à faire, they are standard across everyone who flies and they're what needs to be done, they've been included in the international compulsory books, and for me personally flying them seems like standard motions to me now. I struggled with bicycle turns and traveling bicycles for a while, but a bit of practice got those added to my collection. I still struggle with a few of the Master-level compulsories, but that isn't holding me back from the wow factor. I've seen people with less skill and less precision have more of those moments of delight. Thinking back I had not really noticed that before, but after seeing other pilots do them normally your backward variations add some excitement to the shows and demos. I like your thoughts on the throw/catch. I can do it indoors (it's an essential alternative to spending time resetting the kite) and outdoors on 30', but I cannot imagine actually doing it on 120's. Just thinking about it makes me cringe at the risk of loops/tangles in the lines. I've seen the catch done at some demos, but how on earth would you do that as a throw?! When I first saw it I thought it was gimmicky. My analytical brain still struggles to make the connection for it. Even though I struggle with the appeal for myself (my nerd side cringes as it chews up the endcaps on concrete) I've seen it charm and entertain so many people that I picked up kite walking and I use it when near people, especially kids. It is safe because you're not up over their heads, and it is quite easy to do. While I don't personally feel the fun behind it, I do get the joy of seeing the smiles and laughs from other people. The same thing with 'waving' at people, giving quick alternating tugs while inverted and either midair or parked on the ground. People like it, I don't intuitively feel the draw but I can see people enjoy it. I'm not familiar with that term. I know axels (but struggle with performing them), I know flick-flacks as a great way for me to do the walk of shame after the kite depowers and won't recover, but I don't know what you mean by clam-shell. This is something I'm already okay with. While I enjoy flying for myself, it's very zen-like and calming, I absolutely love having an audience to play with. I often struggle with keeping and holding that audience, but I love engaging with them while it lasts. I'm hoping these moments of delight and pop point ideas can help with that. In any event, I've got a list of ways to improve, you have all helped a bunch. My list so far, although it is probably more about personal improvement rather than generally applicable elements: Learn a small number of demo-able songs extremely well, so I can plan or predict 'pop points'. Right now I play a Pandora channel that goes through perhaps a hundred songs, I need to find one and say "THIS is my demo song". Continue to pay attention to general beats and flow of songs, to take stronger advantage of 'pop points'. Currently I count along with the beats like '1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, POP!', pushing this further will take some intentional efforts. Since I can fly the standard formations and patterns, look for opportunities to NOT do them. This is especially true if someone else also does them, such as doing them backwards or otherwise differently from how others do them. This doesn't take much additional intent or mindfulness. Become more mindful of my own body's showmanship and my personal dance, at least until I'm more comfortable with it. This one will require some more videos. Continue studies on tricks, things like flick-flacks, glides, and axels. I'm not really skilled with them, but they are popular and they can be used at pop points. Continue studies on difficult conditions, particularly low wind outdoors. (While watching people try to fly in the dead air at AKA Grand Nationals last year, JB quipped that flying in the calm air was perfect for grand nationals, it helped separate the men from the boys. Unlike everyone else, when he was out of ground during his compulsories due to very calm air, he ran a 360 on his long lines to recover ground, then continued.) This Saturday's forecast is for 1-3 mph most of the day so I removed kite flying from my calendar, maybe I need to put it back on and suffer through it. Find more opportunities for urban flying. My few attempts so far usually end with frustration due to cross-winds, having a breeze that completely reverses directions or dies without warning.

I'm having fun and doing what I enjoy. But when I see what I've done, either by being mindful of it or by recording videos, it doesn't have a "wow" factor. Again, it isn't that I'm not having fun. It is that I want to help others see a "wow" factor, and I want to have that myself. I'm a left-brained highly analytical engineer. I can describe a dozen different ways to sort things without even warming up, and I've forgotten more data structures and algorithms than most people have ever known. But when it comes to artistic things like dancing with the kite, I struggle. Anything "freestyle" is abysmal for me. Even with my daughters, crank up the tunes and while they're dancing to whatever it is that comes into their head, I can't dance (and they tell me so). I can play music, I'm a great pianist and organist. I can feel the music, I can replay the music and add my own emotion to it, but I cannot create something new. I struggle with the creating side. When I fly a kite I can count out the beat, and I can feel that I want to create something with it, but I don't have it in me right now. When I fly I do have fun, I have a blast. I can hear a beat, know that something is coming up, and do a box in time with the music. I know a rise is coming, so I can do a ladder or wingtip climb. I know a slow drawdown is coming so I can do a similar move. But they don't have a "wow" factor. I might have someone stop for a minute or two at the park, then walk on. I've had times when I play with people following actions I've seen others use. Particularly if I'm near a sidewalk and some kids are walking by, I can land the kite and do the little walk or hops, that draws a smile. Sometimes I can do a dive-stop, followed by a bicycle then back to the top, that gets a moment. But that's about it for 'wow', and it certainly isn't during actual flying. If asking about choreography isn't the right question, what is? How do I go from simple "washing the car" style flying, where it looks like I'm going through all the correct motions to get the job done yet it still isn't exciting, to demo-style flying full of "wow" moments? I don't have the artistic showmanship side in my personality, I'm not naturally charismatic nor dancing nor nimble. But I'm hoping I can get enough information and examples that I can still build up those moments of delight. Even if it means training myself to do them, I want to share those moments with others. That's the reason behind the question. What is it I need to do to generate those wow moments, the moments of delight, that show up in the shows?

Those are good, but they don't really address the art side. Flying at a fast tempo can mean lots of twists and turns, but even if those are performed well, the tempo alone doesn't make it beautiful. I think about this article. That "washing the car" description seems to fit for me. When I know music well I can do my own "soul flying" as was described, maybe matching wingtip turns to a beat, flying certain shapes at given times, but nothing that makes me think "wow!" I like the general guidance for showing off quad-specifics when flying quads, and not doing what others are doing. Those fit nicely in my engineering brain, remove X from the set, leaving Y and Z to choose from. But still trying to make the art side of choreography, what is going through your head when you choose them? What makes it a "wow"? That's good, and I look at shows like that. Living in central Texas there isn't much, but I attend whatever I can, and watch streams and videos that as best I can. I guess coming from you specifically, an example of the wow factors was this segment of yours at SPI from two years back. As always, those performances are better in person than in video. Great music selection, it's driving, dramatic, and hits strong emotions. A+ for that. When I look at "wow" moments during the performance, there were several where you interacted with the audience; several "wow" moments were over-the-audience glides, stopping and reversing over the crowd, or the long slides. A few other wow moments were a few series of fast tugs (where you were clearly getting a workout). Throwing the kite out of the arena toward the air vent that pulled it away from the audience at the end was also a wow moment for me. Were those just ad-hoc moments of dancing to the music, or more along the lines of "time to do another pattern, ... glide turn back, glide turn back, next wall, glide turn back, glide turn back, on to the next pattern..." ? Or did you have specific segments already in place fitted to the music, "this segment goes through four long glide/return pieces, that's followed by some rapid beats, and next comes this one really long slow draw ..." ? Or in the moment were you thinking more about trying to get up over the audience specifically, and because it was on your mind you repeatedly went over people during the segment? Basically, what went through your head as you chose those specific patterns? For others like Brett Marchel, many of his videos lately seem to be focused around axels, mixing them in effective ways with other motions. Is the thought process more like "I want to do ALL the axels! An axel here, and an axel here! Here an axel, there an axel, eveywhere an axel!"? Or is the thought more along the lines of "to the side, TURN, other side and TURN, back over and TURN?" Or more dancing to the beat, like "1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, flat, yank, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, flat, yank!" ? Or more about knowing the specific song and what patterns happen to work well for it? Why all the axels and not something else for those sharp turns? I guess written differently: Lots of y'all are are awesome performers. What are you thinking, how can I perform as awesome as you? In addition to a billion hours on the lines, what is going through your head for pattern selection that changes it from a meh to a wow?