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 Text and Rider:
Craig Gertenbach
The most important thing to remember when trying a back loop is that it is
a vertical jump - straight up and down, not a sideways, horizontal jump.
This is the biggest mistake that most people make, because when you do it
verticaly, you lose the forward momentum, therefore there is very little
pressure in the sail, also the angle of the wind is not as direct into the
sail when landing more verticaly, so this also makes landings easier. When
you do it more horizontaly/sideways, you keep a lot of the forward momentum
and therefore power/speed - this makes landing very difficult as the sail
is full of wind and also you have a lot of forward/sideways speed on the
landing, therefore too much pressure in the sail.
 Try to think of the back loop as a 2 part jump - jump straight up into the
wind, hold that position until the highest point, then as you begin to drop
downwards, begin turning the sail and board around and drop into part 2 ,
the landing....easy!
3 most important things to remember:
[1] Choose a very steep wave, this helps to jump more verticaly and
therefore reduces the forward momentum/power problems.
[2] Good speed is needed, to try a decent height, the lower you are the
more perfect the timing has to be, so rather start with a bit higher ones
first.....10-12m should be fine! Just kidding, more like 3m!
[3] Try to control the sail and board at all times during the rotation to
avoid over-rotation, this means using your head, as the body always follows
the head in all manouevers.
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[001]
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Look for a steep wave, best is one breaking either left or right, so you
can choose exactly the steepest point next to the breaking white water,
don´t try it off swell in the beginning, this is very hard! You can already
hook out at this point just before you hit the wave, to ensure you stay
safe and have full control of the sail.
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[002]
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Hit the wave going slightly upwind at the steepest possible point, this
will shoot you up verticaly and slightly into the wind!
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[003]
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Try to get the board almost above you and head into the wind slightly, as
vertical as possible. Keep the sail closed at this point, as though you
were doing a normal high jump. Keep both your legs bent, especialy the back
leg, so that the board is always fairly close to you. Your back hand should
be further back on the boom than usual, this so that you can control the
sail and the speed of the rotation by opening/closing the sail at various
moments. By now the sail should feel lighter in your hands as the angle to
the wind is much less than in normal jumps. |
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[004]
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The first critical moment, the top of the jump. Most important here is to
turn your head in the new direction - down! When you perfect this point,
you will already see your landing spot! Open the sail slightly, lift the
tail of the board so that it can start dropping down verticaly and nose
first.....stay calm...!
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[005]
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Keep opening the sail, bringing the tail of the board up more and always
trying to keep the head back and looking down, keep the legs bent and
fairly close to your body.
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[006]
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Well on the way down already, start already to slightly close the sail as
you will be now directly down wind - if you open it too much now, you will
get pulled around from the wind entering the sail, therefore a
over-rotation.....avoid this at all costs! |
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[007]
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Almost about to touchdown, sail is quite closed now, nose is dropping for a
"nose-first" landing.....don´t try to land tail first, way too much power
and you will hurt yourself!
You might like to just slide your back hand a bit further back now to
prepare for the big load in the sail upon landing. |
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[008]
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Touchdown! Lots of power in the sail as it comes around more towards a more
open angle to the wind - therefore at the moment you land, try to open the
sail to release this excessive power. Try to absorb some of this power
during landing with bending the legs. Try to land mostly directly downwind
in the beginning, it is easier as you can then muscle the last part around
- landing at 90° to the wind is pretty hard and the timing needs to be
perfect...always good to have a goal! |
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[009]
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Made it! Start sheeting in and lean a bit backwards as the nose comes up,
as there will for sure be plenty of power in the sail, no matter how you
land! Don´t get pulled over forward if the nose does want to come out of
the water, just lean far back, release the back hand if you have to and it
will come up eventualy! |
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[010]
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Sheet in, get some speed, congratulate yourself and look for the next ramp,
to go higher and maybe even one handed!!
Have fun learning the back loop, it is not the easiest jump, but after you
land your first one, it is a real feeling of achievement, plus one of the
most fun moves there is - you can control it at every point, you can look
down at the wave you just jumped, look back at the beach as you turn and
then look down....far down to the place you want (hope!) to land!!
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