Add Style to Your Rev Flying by Revolution Kites

Transcript

1. ›

   Stylish launch

   0:00

   Hi, I'm Joe Hadzicki, inventor of the Revolution, and now that you have your basic Rev skills down, let's add some style. Here are five tips guaranteed to add style and boost your Rev skills. Tip number one: let's add some style to your launch. I like to teach the basic launch as thumbs up and back over your shoulders to launch, and forward and down to reverse and land. It's a very natural motion: you go up to go up, you go forward and down to go down. Once you have the basics down, we can add some style to your launch by doing a downward pulling launch, like this. This is what it looks like.

2. ›

   Downward pull launch grip

   0:45

   All right, let's look at the details of that launch. For the normal over-the-shoulder launch, you grip the handles normally and then pull back up and over. If you want to try the downward pull launch, we need to completely change our grip. Our normal grip is like this. We need to rotate that handle out, and then keep it rotated out like this during the pull. It's completely unnatural, but with a little practice it becomes second nature. Find the grip that works best for you; everyone has a different kind of grip. I like to put my pinky underneath the handle, and that keeps it pushed out like that.

3. ›

   The bow and arrow float

   1:36

   Tip number two: the float is a key advanced skill, especially useful when flying in light wind. Remember, it's much easier to do in light wind, and the float works with the Reflex design. I like to teach the basic float using a technique I call the bow and arrow technique. You pull your top wing back right to your chin, just like a bow and arrow. So when you launch, what I want you to do is take it up into a side hover and pull it back.

4. ›

   Handle rotation in the float

   2:08

   You have to be careful, though, about this handle rotation. The natural tendency, as you bring your hand back, is to rotate that handle. If you rotate the handle, it will cause your Rev to rotate. So pull it back, keeping it level. Let's do a launch, hover and float, and watch those handles and how that rotation affects the rotation of the kite.

5. ›

   Adding style to the float

   2:40

   All right, let's add some style to that float. Instead of pulling up and back to your cheek, let's pull low and down past your hip. How far can you go with that pull? Remember, we have to pay attention to the angle of those handles while we're doing that float. You can even take this one step further: you pull it back and actually wrap your arm around your back. This will extend the float even further because the lines are being wrapped around your hip. It looks like this.

6. ›

   Smooth, not jerky

   3:32

   Tip number three: keep your flying smooth and not jerky. The classic example of this is the reverse launch. People tend to yank down aggressively to launch their Rev. It looks like this. Instead, try a smooth, controlled pull. Depending on the wind conditions, if you have a lot of wind you won't need a lot of pull, just a short, smooth pull. If you have less wind, you might have to step back as you pull. It looks like this. This will not only make you look like you're in control, it will actually improve your sensitivity, because speed control is a true master skill.

7. ›

   Emotion and movement

   4:21

   Tip number four: fly with emotion. Try flying with music, whether the music is fast, slow, happy or sad. The precision control of your Revolution allows for infinite expression. Tip number five: move as you fly. It does two things for you. Number one, it helps you control the wind speed, and number two, it helps you control your space. All right, let's put it all together and watch for those moves. Wow, that's a lot of information. Get out there, practice, and develop your own style.