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1. ## The (Cyclic) Horizontal Practice (3:35)

   Cyclic exercises rules – You build the repetitions and gradual improvements quickly. And as a spin off here you could *at the same time* practice the 180 degree team turn or (describing it better perhaps) the 180 degree downwards turn. Maintain the height when turning by doing a half bicycle rotation downwards.

   Footwork and kites, personally (but I just might be lucky), if something footwork related is not working I get into the mindset of racquet sports (be constantly ready to mover and 95% of the time not fully standing completely still). Kind of that at least slightly mobile feet will find their way.

   ## The Deadstop and Speeding up (Cycle) (4:23)

   When actually thinking of the deadstops I prefer to see them not as isolated events of pressing the thumbs forward *on the top of the handle*, but coordinated with the pushing and pulling if the handles. Consider the whole cycle of speeding up the kite by pulling the handles towards you and stopping by launching the handles forwards. The throwing of the handles forwards (i.e. the stopping part) should be done with some thumb pressure applied. As a mental shortcut I think of it as *launching my thumbs forwards* when deadstopping the kite. You could even think that you are hitting something with both your thumbs.

   ## Making Intense Side Slides/Vertical Ascents(/Descents) (5:07)

   To make the vertical side slides dramatic and not noticeably slower than the forwards flight of the kite, add pressure in the sail by pulling the lines and backing against the wind if necessary. This will curve the LE and the kite will no longer want to go in a straight (vertical) line. To do these crisp vertical slides you need to counteract this now curved trajectory with your brake lines (releasing one and pulling the other). The flexibility of the LE is what limits how fast you can *drive* the side slide both when going upwards and going downwards.

   ## Going Back and Fourth Also High up in the Wind Window (8:16)

   Excellent piece of advice. Laziness and just-out-of-habit has to be dealt with. It is very easy to get stuck in dong your figures/tricks in the same place in the wind window. One does not always need to be practising something new. Take something you know and vary it. New places in the wind window can be one such thing. Especially in low/no wind you learn that when speeding the kite up you also need to pull downwards when the kite is high up.

   ## An Excuse for Being Longwinded

   I took the liberty to write down (keywords) of everything related that came to mind while seeing the the video. I realise that the video is made in a beginner friendly way and much of the stuff I add in the comments is useful first when you can perform the jump in some basic way. However, the jump figure touches many aspects because of all the parts contained within it.

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   1. Cyclic exercises rules…

      Yeah, they do! …and they’re the entry to so many other cool things you can do with a QLK.
      And, as you mention, in this tutorial, there are a few other things you can practice improving your overall flying skills. But in order to keep the tutorial under 15 minutes, I opted not to go into details about that, we haven’t got all day you know! ?

      Footwork…

      Yeah, footwork and body mechanics in general, is vital to get the most out of the flying. I guess that your connection with racquet sports is a benefit for you!

      Deadstop and speeding up/ Making Intense Side Slides/Vertical Ascents(/Descents…

      Thanks for adding your thoughts! ?

      Going Back and Fourth Also High up in the Wind Window…

      Yes, I guess we’re all prone not to take full advantage of the wind window and do our stuff mainly in parts of it only. And there *is* a different feel to the horizontal trajectory high up there compared to down low, the size/shape of the wind window, the kite’s angle of attack, the angle of the flying lines, wind, and so on, that you must take into consideration.

      If you follow this link, you can check out a bunch of competition compulsory figures for both dual and quad lined kites. And even if you don’t compete, your flying skills will quantum leap if you start to practice them! ?

      An Excuse for Being Longwinded…

      No worries mate, keep ’em coming! ??

      /S.

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2. ## Making a cyclic jump figure

   Today I modified and extended the jump into a cyclic figure eight drill. One jump figure added to a mirrored one makes a wide cross. Now connect the ends with one 180 deg wing tip pivot downwards towards each side of the wind window. This means that the height of the jump here should only be one kite spanwidth so that it will correspond to the loss in height of the 180 deg wing tip pivot.

   ## Speeding up and Deadstopping

   To clarify my previous post, the speeding up and deadstopping cycle can be limited to just two movements of the arm/hand. Remember, the thumbs on the handle tops.
   How much “aggression” can you put into this cycle? Quite much I’d believe. I have never broken a non-defective QLK spar in the air.

   ### Speeding up (the first movement)

   Keep your arms rather extended. The lower arms should be close to being parallel to the ground. Now just pull the handles towards you rapidly to power the kite. I’m not aware of any changes from neutral handle angle here.

   ### Deadstopping (the second movement)

   Launch the handles forwards and a bit downwards by stretching out your arm in one movement. When your elbows becomes completely straight your thumbs should be pointing forwards. It is like hitting forwards with your thumbs.

   I reason there must be a hidden recovery step to complete the cycle that I never think of, but that is likely merged into step number one. Reason -When the thumbs are is extended the handle is clearly not in the neutral position at the start. Anyhow, to me it is only a two stroke arm cycle, yet my thoughts/focus are mainly where the kite is.

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