Indoor axel by Spence Watson

Transcript

1. Today I'll teach you an axel on an indoor Rev. I'm flying a standard indoor Rev with outdoor over-the-rod end caps, 8-foot lines and stock B-series handles. There are several ways to enter an axel: from reverse, from an inverted slide, really any direction you want. The way I teach it, it doesn't matter which way you enter as long as you move your hands the same way.

   First, a view from far away, so you can see the kite and my hands, and how I pull on one side before the other. If I'm about to do an axel with my right hand, I give a small tug on my left and then a large tug on my right. This loosens up the kite and gets the air out of the sail, so it's ready to complete the full axel.

   Now a close-up of my hands during the axel. Coming forward from an up and over, I bring the kite down, give a small tug on the left, then a large tug on the right, let it spin and catch it back before it hits the ground.

   One more thing to keep in mind: take a big step forward right before the axel. That leaves less air in the sail, so it can complete the full spin. And remember to take a big step back once the kite has completed an entire spin; otherwise you won't be able to catch it in time and it will slam into the ground. The step back puts air back into the sail once you've finished the maneuver.