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360 on a Blast 2-4


SparkieRob

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I tend to try the 5 to 10 minute a session thing.. usually turns into longer ;) I work on 2 major things at a time until the basics are acheived. Right now my kick is 360s and up and overs...along with 4 line tension, like at the top of the window..sort of an indoor method I would presume... and power/speed kites for sure.

Then it is like John describes...free fly...but now you have 5 cards in your hand instead of 3.

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I've been mucking around on my indoor, and I can reliably get it to stall and float at the apex of an up and over. Instead of pulling down for drive, I push up just before it hits the apex. Beautiful floats. Time it right and is hits a point of no movement at all. Not even a little. You can wait for it to float down under its own gravity or a quick tug and your away again!

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JB just said it best, commit to it, and I don't even bother trying to walk backwards, I start off at steady backpedal. To keep up with sail pressure demands, it's much easier and smoother to vary your speed while backpedaling than it is to go from a backwards walk to a backpedal. When running backwards or backpedaling, it helps to keep a pace and a style, so you can work on it. I learned from, and like, JB's style shown in this vid:

He gets into it right away after a few seconds. Helped me to understand that I needed a style to my backpedal that would help me be smoother.

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JB just said it best, commit to it, and I don't even bother trying to walk backwards, I start off at steady backpedal. To keep up with sail pressure demands, it's much easier and smoother to vary your speed while backpedaling than it is to go from a backwards walk to a backpedal.

When running backwards or backpedaling, it helps to keep a pace and a style, so you can work on it. I learned from, and like, JB's style shown in this vid: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BlUQ1hrD8Yo

He gets into it right away after a few seconds. Helped me to understand that I needed a style to my backpedal that would help me be smoother.

JB moves backwards faster than me headed forward :cat_sick:

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A slide would be your sail loosing pressure and or traveling more parallel to the ground. You are shedding air off one direction or the other of the sail to make it go a different direction other than forward or reverse. You want the kite vertical with the leading edge left or right ...90 degrees to the ground (or close) and standing straight ...parallel to you.

Then the pace you commit to and keep..keeps pressure or air in the sail. Instead of slipping off the sail in a slide.

I am still a rookie at these. But here is a recent go at it..not on a power blast. You can see some good and some bad... edit:didnt see johns video....but he is on his toes committed to a steady pace. Of course he is doing alot of stuff..all those movements are losses of pressure in the sail ..one way or another. If he was just flying forward,his pace would probably be much tamer and slower due to constant pressure.

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A slide would be your sail loosing pressure and or traveling more parallel to the ground. You are shedding air off one direction or the other of the sail to make it go a different direction other than forward or reverse.
This is the difference between lateral flight and a slide. During a samurai slide, you sacrifice control, not pressure. It might not feel powered up to your hands, but the sail, laid flatter in reference to the ground is at its most efficient in this manner. During horizontal lateral flight, you sacrifice power in the left or right side of the sail to directly influence flight control, as you stated above. I use the slide in a 360, rather than lateral flight, as its much easier to let the kite be efficient rather than force it around the front side of the wind. Otherwise, fly around the 360 how you desire- forward, backwards, lateral, slide, cartwheel, etc etc.
didnt see johns video....but he is on his toes committed to a steady pace. Of course he is doing alot of stuff..all those movements are losses of pressure in the sail ..one way or another. If he was just flying forward,his pace would probably be much tamer and slower due to constant pressure.
Just flying forward?? JB would never be so boring ;) Keeping a tame and slow pace works against me in a 360, unless I just want to do a bunch of 360s. I'd rather always keep at a pace that will allow me to bust out at a moment's notice. Right out of the front (wind) side of a 360, I might want to go into a hover, or a cartwheel, and I better be moving to do it. But, to each their own. I'm a fan of aggressive non-stop tricking, so I suggested always using a backpedal because it's what works for me. As the saying goes, your mileage may vary ;)
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Considering these were my first completed 360s ..literally #1 #2 and so on..I figured it might be a good example..not technique but the 2 positions discussed. Most people are not going to match pr come close to JBs video. .and with all the movement. ...sort of hard to get the picture IMHO for someone trying to pick up on

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During a samurai slide, you sacrifice control, not pressure.

I beg to differ... Anytime the kite is not flat to the wind, you sacrifice both pressure AND control, which is why I favor a straight forward, "nose forward" flight path on my 360s... The caveat is that it also provides a higher profile on the back side of a 360, required you to hustle a little faster than when doing a samurai slide. :)
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During a samurai slide, you sacrifice control, not pressure.

I beg to differ... Anytime the kite is not flat to the wind, you sacrifice both pressure AND control, which is why I favor a straight forward, "nose forward" flight path on my 360s... The caveat is that it also provides a higher profile on the back side of a 360, required you to hustle a little faster than when doing a samurai slide. :)

I must admit, I'm not a physicist or an engineer. So this is all IMO.

I'll agree JB, I feel like I'm sacrificing feel and control pressure in a slide, but then I feel I'm adding to the pressure that keeps the kite flying. Because I can't pull more pressure into a slide, i can definitely have more pressure in a sail going nose forward. But while I feel like I'm sacrificing control pressure in a slide, I don't feel a loss in the pressure that keeps the kite aloft. I can slide a full vent through a 360 on shorter lines in no wind with relative ease, but if I go nose forward with the same setup, I'm sprinting!

The lack of hustle on the back end is why I like the slide better as a beginner ;) I guess I play to my strengths :)

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Check in... What's your top wind speed for doing a 360?

I can do 7-8mph pretty reliably, or if there's an audience and I'm rested, up to 9-10 mph winds. :kid_devlish:

Basic theory, you need to generate around 3 mph opposite, slightly more stronger breezes.

An average human walks around 3.2 to 3.7 mph (to the store)...

360 up to 6.7 mph.

Average jogging speed is around 6 mph (on a track)...

360 up to 7 mph.

Average running speed is around 9 mph (NY marathon)...

360 up to 9 mph.

Average sprint / dash is around 14 mph (100 yard dash)...

360 up to 12 mph.

Those are all loosely applicable, based on energy, technique, even line tension, continual inertia, etc, etc. :kid_cheerful:

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Line size would come into it too. I can pull a kite around in much higher winds on my 30's than I can any other length.

That and I'm pretty bad at guesstimating the actual speed.

I've done it on a Std when it was upper Mid. Closest I can say without a anemometer.

Challenge accepted though.

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JB throws down 360s in 7-8mph wind flying one handed!! (italicized, bolded). Serious bro, I'm giddy like a kid at Christmas every time I see it :)

Hmmmm. I usually only go for the 360 as a necessity- in too low wind, took the Rev to far to the edge of the window to turn back, for example. So i usually do it in less wind.

You've piqued my curiosity JB.

Damn. And my left knee just healed ;)

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One handed is easier, once you get the hang of it...

 

With all lines off one hand to the side, you're ergonomically free to run like the wind, only faster.  :kid_devlish:

 

Tutorial ahead, for sure - you have my word!

Just like towing a kid around on a tyre...

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 11 months later...

Been thinking about the "360 throw down" and if you ran so that the kite flew an ellipse (or even an egg shape) instead of a circle you could do it in a higher wind range as you spend less of the arc with the wind... Hmmm

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One handed is easier, once you get the hang of it...

With all lines off one hand to the side, you're ergonomically free to run like the wind, only faster. :kid_devlish:

Tutorial ahead, for sure - you have my word!

How about those of us that can't run at all??? I've done some with my SUL and Zen on 30' and 50', but all in super light wind!

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