This tutorial looks at the strapless pop or ollie.
We start with an overview of the trick, but then look at some of the challenges which
make this really difficult to learn.
Ride at medium speed, or more.
Raise the kite slightly higher than normal - but not all the way to 12.
Ride with minimal edging.
To begin, turn the nose of your board slightly upwind by twisting your body.
And, start switching from heel pressure to toe pressure.
Kick down with the back foot to sink the tail and lift the front leg so the nose
starts to climb.
Pop in the bar briefly to help lift your body.
To keep the board lifting, raise the front leg, and extend your toes.
As you descend, start turning the nose downwind.
Push the back leg upwind, and the front leg downwind.
Steer the kite down to maintain speed.
Let’s review that with a pop to the right.
Ride quickly with minimal edge.
Raise the kite to 1 o’clock.
Twist to turn the nose slightly upwind.
Start shifting from heelside to toeside pressure.
Bring in the bar to lift your body.
Stomp down on the back foot and lift the front leg.
Keep the front leg higher than the back leg and keep your toes pointed.
Turn the board downwind a little.
Dive the kite down to maintain speed.
You can probably see there’s a lot going on, in a short space of time.
A great way to start practising is to launch from a small wave. That way you can focus
on the skill of sticking the board to your feet.
There are basically 2 ways that you keep the board on your feet.
Since you’re moving crosswind quickly, you create a headwind in the opposite direction.
So when you lift your front foot, this lifts the board.
Of course, as you slow down this becomes less effective.
The second way is keeping your toes pointed.
If you can get the heelside rail higher than the toeside rail, then the true wind will
press on the underside of the board.
The stronger the wind the more lift this provides.
But if you don’t point your toes, the wind will press down on the top of the board.
That’s why it’s crucial during launch to switch from heelside edging
to toeside pressure.
Launching the board cleanly on flat water is a challenge.
Firstly, it’s a surprisingly athletic movement.
As you stomp down on the back foot, you must raise your front leg extremely quickly.
You need to raise it so quickly, in fact, that it starts to loose contact with the board.
Since, any front foot pressure at this stage would keep the nose down.
If you’re sluggish with your front foot the nose won’t lift.
It’s subtle, but it also helps if you can turn the nose slightly upwind.
This will help the wind get under the nose.
This is challeging, because you have to turn the nose upwind, at the same time you’re
coming off your heelside edge.
So you need to turn the board by twisting your hips and throwing your front arm back.
If you keep applying heelside pressure it’s likely to spoil your pop.
Too much pressure on the heelside rail will make it difficult for you to sink the tail
of the board.
And, of course, with the heelside edge engaged, the wind will be pushing down on the top of
the board.
As mention, the strapless pop is easier if you maintain some crosswind speed, thereby
increasing headwind.
If you loose momentum, you will struggle to lift the board very far.
Letting the kite climb too high, or drift behind you, can cause you to loose speed.
That’s why you don’t raise the kite all the way to 12, and must also dive
the kite down early.
Thanks very much for watching. Good luck learning to pop your directional or strapless board.