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Indoor Rev: up and over by John Barresi

The up and over indoors: taking the kite over your head and deciding beforehand what you will do on the other side. You see how to land, exit in a turn or slow the descent.

From the series KiteLife indoor tutorials. Transcript by QuadKites.org.

Indoor Rev: up and over by John Barresi

Key takeaways from this video

  • Launch with taut lines and, just before the apex, bring the hands toward the body to fill the sail; pulling backward does nothing with the kite overhead.
  • Decide before you start what you will do on the other side, since the kite arrives with speed: land it or turn out, turning on the spot as it passes.
  • Slow the descent with even brake, or gain ground by walking toward the kite, then step back slightly to pressurize it before turning or landing.

Transcript

  1. What an up and over is

    0:00

    In this tutorial we are going to talk about up and overs. An up and over is where the kite essentially starts in front of you, goes directly up and over your head to the other side. That is one of the beautiful things about indoor flying: you are no longer restricted to a single direction.

  2. From the ground: pull down

    0:19

    To do an up and over, I am going to do it first from the ground. I do a consistent launch, and as I launch I keep pressure in my lines, so I need to keep taut lines. Just as the kite is almost reaching the apex, I start bringing my hands in toward my body. That gives it a little down pull to fill the sail and complete the motion over the top. I will do that once, and then explain it in a little more detail. I leave a little extension in my arms, because I want to be able to pull toward my body. So: a demonstration. Walk, and pull down as the kite goes over the top, and land, just like that.

    Traditionally, when you are watching, you might think I am just pulling backward. But when the kite is directly overhead, if you pull backward it has no pull on the kite, because the lines are just hanging. You actually have to pull downward to create any pressure in the sail. We will do that once more: walk straight, pull down as it goes over the top.

  3. Know what you will do on the other side

    1:37

    One of the tricks to the up and over is knowing exactly what you are going to do when you get to the other side, particularly the first few times you try it, because I imagine the kite will have quite a bit of speed, and it really pays to know what you are going to do when you get there.

  4. Landing after the up and over

    2:04

    The first one, as I was just doing, is the landing. We do our up and over, and already I turn the kite over and land it. The other thing helping that happen is that, right as the kite reaches the halfway point, I turn in place so that my face almost follows the kite as it moves. So: up and over, turning with it, and land. It is quite difficult to land when your hands are going over your back. So again: up and over, turning, and turn the kite to land.

  5. Turning out

    2:52

    The other way to execute the up and over is just a simple turn outward. I always recommend doing it somewhat slowly when you are learning. I will give you a demonstration: up and over, and start the turn. Again: up and over, and turn, just like that.

  6. Slowing the descent

    3:23

    The other detail I want to point out is slowing your descent. Once you have gone over the top, you can slow the kite down in one of two ways. One is simply to slow it down so you have time to consider what you are doing and to measure the amount of movement you put in for your landing or your turn. The other is that you can actually gain ground: once the kite has gone over the top, you do not have to keep backing up. You can walk forward toward the kite and have it glide away from you. I will give you those two examples. First, I simply slow the kite down, doing that with my brake lines evenly once it has gone over my head. Up and over, we turn, slow the kite down, and then I can turn out.

  7. Gaining ground

    3:58

    With the same technique, I use a little more brake, but I walk toward the kite once it has gone about three or four feet over the apex, over the top of that up and over. Lots of brake, and the kite glides away. You can see the angle of the kite changing as I do that. Lots of brake, walking forward, and the kite glides away. The key is that when you are gliding away, once you are ready to turn it or land it, you need to walk back slightly to pressurize the kite and get a solid landing or turn. So that is your basic introduction to up and overs. In some of our future tutorials, we will talk about how you can expand that into other movements and other arrangements. For now it is a great basic place to start, and I hope you enjoy it.

Keep going

In the series KiteLife indoor quad-line tutorials

  1. Indoor Rev: introduction
  2. Indoor Rev: assembly and disassembly
  3. Indoor Rev: launch and 360
  4. Indoor Rev: relaunch
  5. Indoor Rev: redirection
  6. Indoor Rev: slide and float
  7. Indoor Rev: up and over — you are here
  8. Indoor Rev: basic catch and throw

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