Wing Life Show Episode #6 - Wing Handling Basics

[00:00:00] Welcome to The Wing Life Podcast, where we talk about Wing Foyling and the lifestyles of those who enjoy this great sport. What are we going to chat about today, fellas? Motor cycles. Can't rocket ships? Yeah. People are already have tuned out. What is that?

[00:00:28] Wing Handling, Wing Handling, what are we doing? How to fly the wing and the cool thing about the wing is it's something that is fairly safe if you compare it to a kite.

[00:00:49] You could get a really cheap wing and bring it with you when you go to the beach and give it to your kids to play with. It's not even something people are doing with the wing, it's kind of like being able

[00:01:07] to play with your wing on the beach is kind of unique to winging and partly why winging is so accessible because it's just like pre-save and simple. Literally have your wing that holds into a backpack, so pretty small.

[00:01:26] You get a pump and now you are ready to play with it. So in this manner, I feel like the wing is pretty convenient. Partly, the appeal of this new sport wing falling.

[00:01:41] And appealing to if it's snowing out back or if it's a lake and it's icy or if it's water you name it, ice gates, boards, SUVs, you know, foils. There's a lot of aparatuses, skateboards, things you can do with and learn and play with.

[00:02:03] So a lot of ways with the family, buy yourself. I know Gwen's been playing with like a longer skateboard SUV thing, what you give a shout out but just like, you know, just like it on pavement. Yeah, yeah, I mean,

[00:02:21] like learning how to handle your wing on land is often going to be easier than in the water. Just because once you add the water element, you don't have the same stability. You are, you know, drifting, moving. You have the wind drop.

[00:02:40] So spending as much time as you can on land. Now, if you are going to be moving at decent speed, let's say you're on a skateboard or something, you are going to want to protect yourself because you don't want to.

[00:02:55] The fall is going to hurt more than in the water. But yeah, the wing is super user friendly to use and if anything happens, you have a leash attached to your wing. You let go of everything and everything is going to be fine.

[00:03:12] Your wing is just going to fall right here and it's going to stay there. So the wing essentially, like when you are not, you know, using it or powering it, it's like a flag, you know? So super, like it has a really good, deep power range.

[00:03:30] It's from zero to like if you want, you can get 100 out of it. So the first step is kind of like seeing how when you hold the wing by the hand on high flies on its own because I think that's a really good indication of like

[00:03:49] baseline of where your wing should be. Often once we start grabbing it at the beginning, it starts something goes wrong, it flips and sometimes we want to have the wing in a certain position and we feel like we are fighting it.

[00:04:08] And always try to go back to that neutral position, let the back hand go fly your wing and adjust from there your position until you find the right position. If you start grabbing it, really have trying to force it in a position that it doesn't want to go.

[00:04:29] It's always going to feel like how they are. So to me, everything starts from that neutral position. Yeah, no, I was second that was saying another good help to tip is starting front to back.

[00:04:43] So I always start from the front where the handle is on the wing and work your way back to the back trailing edge of the wing because if I start with trailing edge first, everything flips and goes crazy.

[00:04:55] So just start with the front, the other thing you get with what when was saying is, if I just hold the front of the wing, you're going to understand where the wind's blowing, what direction, where it's oscillating. So wind is usually at a direction and it may oscillate

[00:05:07] left to right and just holding your wing there, you're going to kind of get a general idea of what the wind is doing, depending on where you are, there's a lot of factors there.

[00:05:17] But 100% best way to start with it, just grabbing the handle, letting it weather vane out and kind of seeing, seeing the direction and then work the way from front to back. Mm-hmm, good points guys because I think your first kind of step is just learning how to walk

[00:05:31] around with this thing with that leading edge handle, which is the first one like handle zero. I guess if we want to call it and just practice walking to the beach, walking back, like because you will eventually have a board attached to this combination and then you

[00:05:46] go to figure out which handy you carry your wing. I'm coming out of the water. I'm going to which side is it going to be on? It might oscillate left and right so you don't want it because

[00:05:57] my first wing tear ever was I was coming to shore and then a weird gust came at a different angle and it popped my wing over top of my foil because my foil was coming to shore and so I think

[00:06:09] practicing that, just walking around with this thing and figuring out what it's going to do. What happens if you go left or right? Handle zero. What do you guys have techniques for for just

[00:06:19] because a lot of wings now are hard handled and they're just two handles so it is a lot easier to learn I guess and before when you had y handles and potentially five or six different material based

[00:06:30] handles. Well, the interesting part is just like you said I'm making your way from the front to the back so sometimes what can be challenging on some wings is if you have a bigger gap between

[00:06:50] your front and your back handle because now you are kind of like it's nice when you can make your way from the front to the back slowly like getting comfortable with like holding it closer to the

[00:07:04] leaning edge and then not having a huge gap between the front and the back handle because what I see sometime is like when that's the case people grab the back handle and it's such a

[00:07:16] big gap that all of a students have had time handling it because it's kind of like too much power or something because as soon as the more you go for the back of the wing, the more power

[00:07:27] you are going to have because you expose more of the wing into the wind. So like really getting used to sometimes I mean I even have people like practicing holding the leading edge handle and the front handle and using it like that because that prevents you

[00:07:49] from giving it too much power. And so now you are you can only give it a tiny bit of power and kind of like feel the wind. As soon as people go for that back handle especially if that back

[00:08:01] handle is pretty far then things start to go wrong because they didn't really get that time to get used to how much power you would go when you reach for the back. But another tip that I think

[00:08:14] is very helpful is to limit yourself to only using kind of like finger tip pressure on the wing and that's going to help you feel where the wing should be and not gripping it so hard and now

[00:08:32] crossing it where you think it should be but if you are fighting it that means it probably shouldn't be there. Yeah those are awesome points I would just lead into with that

[00:08:45] a visual that everybody should just kind of take a vision on is your first start and whether you're holding that front leading edge or front handle or front handle the reaction that I see a lot

[00:08:59] is everybody's reaching like reaching away from them and really try to get the back one because you're not feeling the wind like going to sing and I would say something to really think about when

[00:09:10] you do this is just take your front hand or front whatever handle you're grabbing onto left hand right hand whenever it is and pull the wing above your head and start playing with things above you

[00:09:22] more versus reaching for. I think you can see that changes a lot with your wing if I bring things to me so bring the wing here and I grab here versus the fun what? Originally yeah for everything

[00:09:36] it becomes harder you follow the board those I see happening I did it I see it as a struggle in the very beginning so you know whatever hand is holding kind of that front one the keeping your wing

[00:09:51] level and pull that up towards you to reach other things and it will make that struggle a little less I think and it's something for you to play with. Yeah that's a good point. Damon yeah and

[00:10:04] especially how I broke a down with some is I would just go vertical axis horizontal axis so your vertical axis so up and down was adding power and then your horizontal axis was how you

[00:10:15] would make your wing turn left and right and then I was only giving them two fingers two fingers on the front two fingers on the back and if anything happens just like oh your back hand just like

[00:10:24] or your back hand but I was trying to because I wanted it to make sense for myself like how do you get this thing to turn left and right and the vertical and horizontal seems to make sense it

[00:10:36] made sense to me but Gwen how do you describe that how to make just how to control your wing going left and right because like as soon as you get on the water that's your key. Yeah so to me

[00:10:48] it's like or it all starts from the neutral position when you fly your wing when you just hold the leading edge handle and your wing is just flying on its own to flat into the wing.

[00:11:05] The strut you know that the middle pan when your your handles are the strut is pointing straight into the wing and that strut like let's call that angle zero because it's straight line up with

[00:11:24] the with the wing as soon as you stand moving that angle of the strut that wing is starting to tip one way or the other. So like you said that you know vertical line would be in and out like

[00:11:43] more power less power and the forward and back or side to side would be your angle of your wing it's going to start tipping one way or the other. So when you start you know often people get like

[00:12:02] grab the wing and all of a sudden that wing tip is touching the ground wants to go down. It's just because you are changing that strut angle in relation to the wing too much and now it's it's

[00:12:17] flipping. One way to like reset is like you said let go of the back end and now naturally that wing is going to position itself again with the strut the strut pointing straight into the wing

[00:12:32] angle zero and then from there if you just put finger tip pressure you're going to be able to figure out if I put it slightly this way it's going to start tipping the right way or the other way.

[00:12:46] But the other thing we need to like kind of like understand is the wing unlike wind surfing is not attached to anything and so you like you can move both hands

[00:13:02] and technically your wing can be in the same position if you just move it around but if you move both hands at the same time that wing has not changed. So that's important to like understand

[00:13:15] because sometimes I see people that like only play with one hand but then they get like let's say they only drive with like the back end but then they find themselves at the end of the range of motion

[00:13:28] and that's not even enough but they forget that that front hand can change as well. So now you don't have to be in such an awkward position holding your wing if both of your hands are like

[00:13:40] behind your head because that's how the wing has a good position if you move both hands now your your wing could be in a much more comfortable position so again that kind of like

[00:13:52] comes with time but to me if you apply two things one really understand what is the neutral position that if you just hold the front handle the wing is going to fly itself pretty neutral and then from

[00:14:07] there only you use finger tip pressure to make slight changes from that then you're going to start like really filling it if it starts going wrong reset handle neutral start again very getting to it very gentle it's it's almost like the same process as like just wing for

[00:14:33] in general if you start rushing through the steps you start not understanding you know what it's doing and you can't fix it you know so you'll always have that like initial position neutral and then slightly make small changes from there and you're going to start filling how I

[00:14:54] want to be high yeah I would just add on one other thing that I think is a visual representation when you first show up in your beginning this you see all the wingers with their wings sideways

[00:15:07] to them and they're riding along so they you get this visual of my wing right out in front of me and that's what I do and and so I'm going to put my wing there and it's going to pull me

[00:15:19] and that's how I'm going to learn the sport and I would say when was breaking down was spot on but it's hard to visualize but picture I would say if you were to visualize it

[00:15:30] the wing is just an airplane wing above your head so if I can create that to lift me and fly very stable and very steady if I turn it right in front of me it's likely going to crash

[00:15:43] so if I can have that wing above me and use that that's going to help me go win it's going to help me lift me to stand up and get on my board but if I start putting in front of me

[00:15:54] or you know directly where the canopies like a wind surf sail likely I'm going to have more mistakes in the beginning there but so a visual I guess something that you should just think when you're first starting especially when you're on your knees especially when you're attacking

[00:16:12] and just learning how to to to to the basics keep that wing really really flatten high in the sky and do tiny little like bite into the wind and tiny little movements and you'll be surprised

[00:16:25] with how much it reacts but you'll learn a lot more because the wings vary stationary above you very easy to control but the second I start getting it more in front of me is when wing tips catch

[00:16:35] and more things happen and I would say that's a very helpful thing in the beginning is and a very big perception is even for myself when I started I was 100% wing right in front of me

[00:16:48] wing tips crash in like I was like what is going on you know like I couldn't put it together and if I would do go back now I would keep my wing much higher and and I would say larger wings

[00:16:59] even when you're first starting because there's not a lot of power there's really not a lot of power now if you live in Hawaii it's blowing like 50 it's a different story but likely if it's

[00:17:08] blown let's just say 29 it's not a lot of it's not a lot of wind I mean it is but it's not the wing doesn't generate tons and tons of power so it's a reason why we said at the very beginning

[00:17:20] of this conversation is it's great for the family it's great for your wife it's great for everybody you can give it any but you play with it because it's not tons of power it's you just let go

[00:17:29] of it not a big deal but again that's to a fault to where it doesn't have a ton of power like kite where you could dive and have you could go across like 15 beaches so um you know there's

[00:17:40] there's a difference here very good point guys because like getting used to walking around with it in both directions on land getting used to flying it on your knees is also super important

[00:17:54] but then this is just the basics this is just holding your wing in a certain position this isn't looking into pumping or trying to generate max power to get you up on foil in like

[00:18:04] light wind this is just learning how to walk around turn around try these different maneuvers try these different tricks I would say if you can just try to master turning around playing with it

[00:18:17] doing whatever it is that you can because then is more and more does that become more in grand into you than when you're on the water for the first time it's going to make at least you

[00:18:26] can forget about the wing a little bit more so good points guys what would be next on that what I tended to do is just made people go through the basic transitions on land when is that something

[00:18:37] that you would make people do as well um I would say I mean flipping the wing you know because that's gonna happen so like get used to like flipping your wing upside down on your feet but

[00:18:52] more importantly from your knees because that's the position you will be in the water and then and from there I mean usually I would say I make people like walk with it one way

[00:19:04] and then and get used to letting go of that back end switching your front hand turning around go the other way um getting used to moving with your wing is also like important because you you want to simulate

[00:19:22] that you are moving in one way you know one direction like you would on the water it's going to give you just that extra feedback of like you know are you holding it right or not so if you have

[00:19:34] how time working with it it's gonna be even more complicated to move with it on the water and so spending enough time so that you can go from all the sequence on the beach with your wing from

[00:19:50] among my knees I'm picking up my wing I'm putting one front foot forward I'm on my feet I start moving and then making sure that that feels very comfortable on the beach so that you know your

[00:20:04] wing handling is at least you know at the decent level to take it to the water I would add to have your wife or kids use a pump to pump up your wing it's a good thing to start with so that

[00:20:18] you don't have to do it just use people around you to do all the hard stuff yep good call good call and flying that's why your your wife doesn't want to get into winning now that's how you

[00:20:34] thought him I'm losing you guys internet's off I think flying the wing over your head as well and getting it used to being vertical above you is such a crucial skill because as soon as you start

[00:20:50] to ride and let's say you're standing up and you want to do some feet switches and you want to start doing certain things or transitions it's the easiest thing to do is to have that wing in a

[00:21:01] more less powered position above your head so good point guys like get used to all of these different so anything that you can dream up on the water try to master it on land first and don't

[00:21:10] worry about it everybody does it so you don't need to be a cool kid and skip it because I think it's just going to make your journey of not getting rescued a lot more fun so because it is just

[00:21:22] that much easier and how do you find the easiest way because the first thing when you get on on the water for example is learning because your board always tends to go downwind so

[00:21:33] how do you find like using the wing as a paddle in essence to make yourself go across the wind or to turn your board is there a simulation or something that you found that's been the most useful

[00:21:46] on land to help people with that because that's almost your first crucial thing to go 90 degrees to the wind so in my opinion there is a really good indication and pretty much works every time when you hold

[00:22:06] your wing and you are on the water you are on your burn if you hold your wing and you can see both of your hands so you are often you know let's say looking in between your hands and in

[00:22:22] your field of vision you see your hands you most likely going to go downwind but if you can't see your backhand so the position to try to like describe it would be that your front hand has 90 degree

[00:22:40] bend in your arm your backhand is extended and reaching which feels like behind you and you are looking over your front shoulder so your backhand is not at all in your field of vision

[00:22:53] you cannot see it you are looking over your your front shoulder that would be a position that's making you go upwind and the reason behind that is that just like if you have a sail

[00:23:10] you are like a pole and you can rotate and you put a sail in front of you when that wind hits it's going to bring that nose downwind if that sail is behind you and when hits it it's bringing

[00:23:24] that nose it I don't know if that makes sense but is that principle of like if you most of your sail is in front of you that wind is pushing your nose downwind if most of your sail is behind you

[00:23:40] it's turning that nose into the wind so the goal and that's when you know it kind of like feels like we are kind of like doing a twist we are twisting the curve and that backhand is reaching

[00:23:52] as far back as we can so it's not at all in our field of vision that's you know but to put it simple I would say try to hold your wing with a 90 degree bend in your front hand backhand is

[00:24:06] extended and feels like it's reaching back now that's giving you some leverage to bring the nose upwind yeah I would say if I were to paint a picture of the best I could it would be helpful for somebody

[00:24:19] would be more like when you climb on whatever it is your SUP or board or whatever you try to angle your board into the wind and try to set your knees or how you kneel on it where you're maybe

[00:24:33] and this is many people teach differently but I would say instead of putting your knees straight into the wind more sideways on the board to where I can face my wing and I can actually use my knees

[00:24:45] to angle and push maybe that board in that upwind direction and it will help you be able to manage a wing easier and learn how to kind of go up when or ride sideways to the wind a little

[00:24:58] easier than if I just get my knees vertically straight in line with that board then I really have to twist my body and really have to have my wing at a better ability I would say than if I just

[00:25:12] kind of sit I guess it would be my knees are facing the sides of my board if that makes sense like your feet dangling off the side yeah exactly like you know some like to as a reference

[00:25:26] like almost everybody would naturally go in this position when you climb on your burn like your your climb on your burn your wing is in the water like almost naturally you would be your knees

[00:25:39] would be told the wing because that's how you would hold your wing and so if you don't you know move your knees from there then you will be a good in a good position to go upwind but yeah I agree with

[00:25:52] you they mean like if your knees are straight in line with your burn you can have extra twist and if your knees away from your wing so on the upwind rail now you're going to be like mega twisted to just

[00:26:08] go barely upwind so that's your your knee position or like you know how yeah how you position yourself on the burn is going to impact that as well and another thing you know if we are going to talk

[00:26:23] about like going upwind is just like a stand up pedal when you are on a stand up pedal with a pedal and you are standing in the middle of the stand up pedal if you try to turn you're going to take

[00:26:36] a really wide turn because you don't have much leverage if you take a step to under tail now you give one stroke with your pedal and that nose is turning really quickly same on the wing burn if you are

[00:26:50] in the middle of the burn you're not going to have much leverage to go upwind if you move few inches back now you're going to have much more leverage over that nose so to me those are like

[00:27:03] the two things that you can use to go upwind is using your wing to make sure that that wind is giving you that leverage to bring the nose up and then moving yourself on the burn like

[00:27:16] they may talk about with your knees no you know more point it toward your wing more toward the down downwind rail and then forward and back the the more back you're going to go

[00:27:28] without falling back of course but the more back you're going to go the more leverage you're going to have to have control over that nose. That was very well said. All right you go.

[00:27:43] So I guess you're task for this week if you're if you're tuning into this episode your task is to send us a video of you trying these basic things let us know what your winds, what your

[00:27:54] losses were and yeah all right guys we ready to wrap this up any other quick little points about flying your wing. How would you say put the time and I think when said at the best in the last

[00:28:05] episode but that's um man it's just put in the time and I think it's actually was said here I don't know if it was in this episode or one before but you know we mentioned some of the pros out there

[00:28:17] jumping people jumping off sand dunes and flying and soaring and you know those are kids that have put time and flying their wing a lot learning how to do things that are unthinkable

[00:28:29] and those kids are world champions right now and they just put mega time into playing with that wing so I would say one thing just from the roof from the roof of your house with your wing on

[00:28:42] your field this climber this climber let's maybe yeah like you start yeah this clear record yes why didn't you try that go ahead? No it's just something to think about it's the truth but

[00:28:58] the time and it'll make you better you know hopefully these little dips and tricks can help you. All right guys thanks for joining us we're gonna we'll chat you soon on the next one.