Clockwork troubles

[Fred Wagner]

Okay I have been practicing clockwork over and over and I have no trouble on the front side going from 12 to 2 to 3 to 4 and 6, but when I go from 6 to 7 I end up in a swoop up to 12. It also happens going the other direction. Always from the downward hover on 6. Any suggestions?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app

[makatakam]

Does it also happen when going counterclockwise? If so it's just your mind not wrapping itself around being inverted yet, assuming your lines are equalized and everything about the kite and bridle is symmetrical. If everything with the kite and lines is good, just give it a bit of time. It will just "click" by itself. Practice inverted hovers and doing figure eights as sloooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwllllllllllly as possible, especially vertically, and slow circles and tip circles/pivots in both directions. That should help. Add more brake to slow the jumpiness of the kite down to a manageable level.

[frob]

I had a similar issue. I couldn't get it, took video of it and shared asking for help. People watched the videos, looked at both my hands and the kite, and frustratingly replied like the one above: the only fix is inverted practice.

So I spent Saturday after Saturday on it, flying inverted. Climb up inverted, make shapes in reverse, do every pattern in reverse. It took maybe 20-30 hours but then I discovered it became easy, but still rough. Many hours of focused practice and now my spectators say I am amazing at it, but I'm still slow and shaky relative to the pros. 

Slow, deliberate, methodical, boring practice. Just like many hobbyist musicians hate doing scales slowly and precisely preferring to play fun songs fast and loud, many hobbyist kite fliers love to flying fast and furious rather than developing technique and finesse. Go slow, get each step perfect, then repeat. And repeat again. 

 

Remember the difference between an amateur and a professional: the amateur only practices until they can get it right; the professional practices until they cannot do it wrong. 

[John Barresi]

Slow down the increments between 4, 5, 6 and 7... Make it so slow that nothing hides, that you get more data from each attempt.

Part if what's happening is the kite's tendency to "run" in forward, point it down and that increases - so those points on the clock just require more inverted controls, particularly the transition from side facing or diagonal positions.

[DTill]

On 1/1/2020 at 7:29 PM, frob said:

Remember the difference between an amateur and a professional: the amateur only practices until they can get it right; the professional practices until they cannot do it wrong

I tend to do the travailing bicycle as a rotate tip stab, a rotate tip stab. Then a catch and throw . I"m rank amateur. But if you tap it down with authority you look like a pro. 

[makatakam]

12 hours ago, DTill said:

travailing bicycle

painful or laborious? I guess with two rotating tip stabs that possibility exists. 🤣