Snap Spin Details by Revolution Kites

Transcript

1. ›

   Snap spin from a side hover

   0:00

   Okay, the question is snap spins, or snap turns. The idea is that you take the kite from a spot like a hover, say a side hover. I like the side hover because it's very stable. From the side hover, you snap a 360 back to that spot and catch the hover again: snap, stop. The snap is really no different from any other turn or spin. You simply take your handles and rotate them in opposite directions. This thumb coming back gives you the right wing forward, and the left wing going the other way gives you reverse, so the wings fly forward and reverse and make a very quick turn: snap, stop. If you want to make it sharper than that, you can snap it, counter-snap quickly, and then catch the hover: snap, counter-snap, catch the hover.

2. ›

   Pulling in light winds

   0:57

   In light winds, I usually use a pulling motion because I'm floating the kite, so I have one handle back. In that case I usually force a spin, and I do that by accelerating the handle. The one I usually accelerate is the one that's out in front of me, because during the spin I want the handles together. So from a hover position, say I want to yank that wing forward: going forward, I pull it back, and now I've got that spin position set and my handles are even, which gives me a spin on center. If I start here and yank on the back handle, the forced spin becomes a slide spin, so you end up with an off-center turn or spin. That's why I usually pull the handle, extend it out, go forward with it, yank it back, bring the hands close, finish the spin, and then go back and catch the hover again. That's really the goal here.

3. ›

   Forcing the wings

   1:56

   You can spin the wings and you can jet them, and you can force them on either side. You can force the wing to fly forward, you can force the wing to fly in reverse, you can yank the wing in reverse, you can yank the wing forward, or you can do both at the same time. That's how you really jam it, and you'll see people do that. This pulling motion is just there to accelerate the spin and make it even faster. I'm in light wind, so I would probably accelerate in these conditions. If the wind picked up a couple of miles an hour, I would just rotate the handles: spin, catch it, spin, catch it.

4. ›

   Timing the stop

   2:31

   The real trick with this is the timing, because what you're trying to do is finish that spin and then stop it at the same side hover. So from the side hover: snap, spin, stop, and side hover. However, you don't want to go over it, you want to go under it. The timing takes a little bit of practice, but the real trick is to get set, throw your spin, and then catch it. Let's try it from the side hover. Here, on the bottom handle, I took the bottom wing and threw it into a forward position, which threw a forward turn and made the bottom wing fly up and around. I could have thrown it in reverse and made the bottom wing fly in reverse. Let's do that. The wind is almost zero, so the conditions are getting light, but that's the basic idea.

5. ›

   Choosing which wing to yank

   3:33

   There are a lot of possibilities here: you can throw one forward, you can throw one in reverse, you can yank it while you do that move, you can do them both. I usually yank the one that's extended, because it pulls that handle in and causes an on-center spin. If I pull the one that's back, it causes an even more off-center spin, so I usually pull the wing that's out. If I'm just hovering straight up and the handles are even, it doesn't matter what you do. If you want to force it from there, you yank it to force it, but then you want your hands back together during the spin so you get an on-center spin. Like I said, the main thing is the timing. Let's see.

6. ›

   Demonstration in reverse

   4:21

   I'm going to go to the bottom wing, because there's not much wind and it's easier: bottom wing in reverse, and then catch it. So I'm doing a very slow yank in reverse on that bottom wing, pulling it back, and then going back and catching the hover. Reverse that bottom wing, pull it, and then go back and catch the hover. Okay, now I'm going to go the other way, so let's go forward with the bottom wing. Now the other one is coming up, so I have to pull: bottom wing forward, top wing back; bottom wing forward, top wing reverse. I lost altitude there. Wait for it, give it a tug, boom, and then catch the hover. That's the trick: give it a little pop and you catch the hover. It's all in the timing. Give that a try and let me know how you do.