The 5 KEYs to Kiting
When learning or practicing ground handling with a paraglider, there are five simple keys that make or break your success. Kiting can seem ultra-complicated during the first attempts.
When students learn to kite, it seems like there are a million things to focus on to have success kiting. Just before writing this article, I had gone over the points that are the keys to success. It occurred to me that almost all points to work on were just these five keys. Any one of these can limit how far someone can go with kiting. On the other hand, if a student gets all five working, they end up kiting well. Simplicity is a good solution.
Once you have awareness of these 5 keys, you can focus on perfecting and making each a habit. The feel of kiting gets enhanced when doing the keys correctly. Thinking about all 5 things is near impossible. Having each become a habit is a better approach. The rewards when this happens will perpetuate success.
The combination of these techniques will help any pilot become great at ground handling and kiting. The key to putting these together is to practice kiting and understand the importance of each. If you kite well, you can practice kiting and work on them, one at a time. Below are pointers, specific to each of the 5 keys. Now, let’s break each down and explain why it is so important and what problems happen when any individual component is not in place:
KEY 1 – Centered and Stabilized Lifts:
If you can get the wing overhead, centered and stable, your kiting will start on a good note. In other words, the lift is the primary key to kiting. The better your lifts are, the easier it will be to go directly into the launch or kiting. With good lifts, you will have far fewer aborts and have more chances to launch and or kite your wing during practice. The remaining keys to kiting are continuous after the lift. Wiuth the lift it is over and done with just once per session. If the lift is a good one, the session will usually have a chance to be fruitful. A bad lift to the right side or too far to the lift usually predicates an abort or short kiting attempt.The importance of a proper lift can make or break the kiting process. Pitch stability and direction are the keys to wing lift. This means you learn to get the wing up and overhead without it getting too far forward, but also have the wing mostly centered above you.
Stabilizing the wing is important for all launching methods; forward lifts, standard “A / Brake” launches or “A / C or A / D” launches.
Note: I teach students to turn to the left (if you turn to the right, please just reverse the below notes).
With a left turn, it is best to lift the wing slightly to the left of center. The benefit of a lift slightly to the left is that the risers get out of the way during the turn. In addition, as you pivot under the wing, you are moving to the left, which is under the wing. Moving under the wing helps it move back toward center. When I reference the clock times, if you picture standing inside a clock dial, your feet would be standing on 6 o’clock, and directly overhead would be 12 o’clock. . For left-turning launches (how I teach), 11:00 is a great target. Anywhere between 10:00 and 12:00 should work, so there is some margin. 1:00 or further to the right makes the turn difficult, as you have to duck under the risers, and this often results in a loss of balance. If the wing comes up right of 1:00, I recommend aborting the launch to avoid the balance and subsequent issues that can happen from this position. Since in this scenario, you are moving away from the wing when you turn, this makes the wing drift more to the side. There is no problem with a lift to 12:00. It is better to target 10:30 to 11, since a bit left of 11 will still work, and a bit right of 11 will work too. The precision of lifting the wing close to 11 instead of 12 will make you even better at the offset. makes for someone that can lift the wing they want most of the time. Never forget that aborting is always an option, and no matter how good your skills are, aborting while still facing the wing often prevents out-of-control situations.
The stabilized lift is not completed until the wing is stabilized overhead and centered enough to turn forward. If you release the brakes or C-risers after checking the wing and the wing surges, be ready to re-check the wing before you do anything else (do not turn forward).
A common issue with the stabilization/checking process is that pilots under-check the wing and turn too soon to keep up with the wing getting ahead of the pilot. This can be compounded by the pilot stopping when they begin the check. It is better to try to keep moving and stay low when the check is begun, and continue this while checking (I call this power checking). If a pilot stays low and keeps force on the wing while pulling the brakes or Cs for the wing stabilization, the wing will be less likely to over-check (pulling so much brake that the wing stops ascending and falls back). The added power will allow the pilot to be firmer with their check, and this will prevent the wing from sneaking ahead of the pilot at the end of the check.
Kiting the wing to a good position overhead (target 11:00) should be done after you make sure it is no longer trying to get in front of you. With great kiting skills, you can do a little of both simultaneously, but when you are learning, make the pitch stability your #1 goal. If the wing comes up too much to the side or so fast that the check will not work, aborting would be the best decision.
Exercise 1: The “10, 11, 12, 1 game” Without the brakes in hand, try to lift the wing to specific locations overhead (A risers in the hands like an A and Brake lift). I use a clock that represents the wing’s position when it is overhead. The center of the wing is directly over the pilot at 12:00; 11:00 is slightly to the left of the pilot (1-2 feet); 10:00 is slightly further to the left (2-4 feet); and 1:00 is just to the right of the pilot (1-2 feet). The goal is to start with 10:00 and lift the wing through all 4 positions by using just the hand offsets (lifting one or the other more to steer the wing to the desired overhead position at the end of the lift). For each position, if you achieve the results correctly, you can move to the next one. The ultimate goal is to do all 4 positions in a row.
After each lift, kill the wing by reaching up to the “C” riser, and kill the wing with a sharp pull.
Exercise 2: The “power check” After success with Exercise 1, move on to this one. This exercise can be done with both “A and Brakes” or also with the “A/C” (lift and check) methods. In the following, you must stay low and power the hips while checking the wing. You can pull a lot more brakes during a check if you keep backing up with this power. With the brakes in hand, lift the wing to 11:00 or 12:00, and as you stabilize the wing, do a very firm check (with A/C, use the C-risers for the check/stabilization). With the check, try to find the maximum amount of brake or C riser you can pull without the wing falling back down, and then continue backing up for 5 or more steps. If your wing starts to fall during the backing up, you can release the Cs a bit (in A/C) or brakes (in A and Brakes).
KEY 2 – Low Hips:
If you get proficient at kiting and work your way up into moderate to strong winds, you will realize that squatting down and keeping the hips low will A) keep you in contact with the ground better, and B) help you feel more comfortable with kiting in these conditions. What is not quite as obvious is that it is just as important in light wind situations. For whatever reason, this tends to be one of the five that misses its importance for students. It takes a great force of habit to keep a low center of gravity in all situations. Staying low has a positive effect on each of the other 4 keys. Being low makes it easier to turn and move under the wing. The low position also helps keep separation from the risers and this removes anxiety and allows better feel to the hands (easier to release the other hand and quick movements are better). The separation also makes the turn to forward easier.
REVERSE POSITION WITH LOW HIPS: The correct position for reverse kiting mainly involves squatting down with the hips. Sometimes students lean their back forward (toward the risers) even though they are in a low stance. In this incorrect position, the face is too close to the risers, causing a crowded or blocked feeling. This can cause stiffness. The proper position is a “sitting in a chair” type of squat with the back straight and the weight on the balls of the feet. Make sure that your heels never touch the ground. If you ever feel your heel catch the ground as you back up, it means that you are leaning back. Keeping the balls of the feet on the ground helps you balance in the correct way. In this proper, low center of gravity posture, it is easier to turn to either side and also the feel of the brakes is enhanced. In a tall position, balance is compromised and the risers are closer to the face, which makes turning sideways and feeling the brakes more difficult.
Once facing forward, the squat should be continued both before and after the torpedo is begun. The low position allows the pilot to run with their thighs. If the hips are high, the pilot can only run in short strides, using the calves to run.
Exercise: The “Super Low” See how low you can squat and still kite. Do some kiting and during this, make it your goal to stay low for each position (reverse kiting, forward kiting, and during the turn from reverse to forward and visa-versa).
KEY 3 – Move under the wing and into the wind:
Kiting combines the correct pulling and releasing of the brakes while using your body to move under the wing and into the wind. When flying a paraglider, the wing, at trim, has close to 20 MPH airspeed all of the time, and the pilot will always swing back under the wing by itself. While kiting, the airspeed is much lower and the body must move under the wing by use of the legs and the pilot’s movements. This is why kiting is so much harder than flying. It is easier and smoother to walk forward than to sidestep. In stronger winds, it is possible to kite without any action from the lower body when the wing is close to the center. In all situations, the wing will react better if you turn your hips and feet toward the low wing. In stronger winds, the turn of the lower body will combine with the correct brake being pulled to get the wing back overhead. For example, if the wind is strong, and the wing is way over to the right side (the right side “as you face it”). Turning to the right with the feet and hips and walking to the right will help the wing come overhead quicker and more consistently. The low center of gravity keeps the wing loaded. This gives the pilot more feedback and awareness of where the wing is.
In a very light wind situation, you will need to turn the lower body to the side and then jog or run toward the direction of the low wing while at the same time, trying to go upwind as much as possible. The upwind component will help maintain airspeed. The wing loading enables feel and power. In light winds, the power and movement under the wing become much more necessary to kite.
Exercise: No Hand Kiting (At first, a minimum of about 5 MPH is recommended). I usually teach this exercise first when teaching someone how to kite. The key to kiting a wing with no hands is moving quickly with the body. To do this, turning the feet and lower body (no side stepping, you run sideways with the feet facing in the direction you are running) and moving under the wing and into the wind are necessary. You have to make sure the wing does not get too far ahead of you to the side, while at the same time, you maintain enough airspeed by moving at the correct vector into the wind as you run sideways. In stronger winds, you will not need to move as fast toward the wind. In lighter winds, you have to move at a steeper angle into the wind.
KEY 4 – Release the other hand:
The most common barrier to student success in kiting is not releasing the other hand while kiting. Proper kiting looks a little like boxing. The release hand would be the punches and the pull hand would be pulling the hand back to prepare for the next punch. The hands zig-zag back and forth, one pulling, the other releasing when kiting. If you do not release the other hand, the pull on it has enough power to block the wing from coming back overhead. For example, if the wing is on the left side (“as the pilot faces it”) and the pilot is pulling the left hand down 10 inches. If the right hand is pulled just 5 inches, the wing might not move back toward the center. This is because the right hand is pulling the brake on the low side of the wing, and gravity is already helping keep the wing on that side. Only 5 inches of pull on that side is hard for the wing to overcome. Instead of worrying about why this is so, just get in the habit of releasing the “other hand” all the way to the pulley. Get aware of it and you will instantly feel the difference of the full release. There are a few situations where a tiny bit of tension is needed on the “other” hand. But the tendency leans way more to the side of newer pilots not releasing this hand enough. If a full release is your default, with practice and time, you will know when to keep a little pull on this “other” hand.
Exercise: See the Release While kiting, simply look and be more aware of the release hand. So, if the wing is on your left, be aware of and visually make sure that the right hand releases all tension on the brake so that the brake handle goes all the way up to the pulley. When the wing is on the right, release the left hand all the way to its pulley.
Note: for pilots that turn to the left, as I teach, it is much more common to have pilots not release the left hand all the way when the wing is on the right side. This is because the inside hand must release on the inside of the risers because of the way the brakes unwind. This exercise will help make you aware of this if the inside hand is not releasing fully.
KEY 5 – Correction – quick and relaxed:
The combination of being relaxed and quick will help your kiting. Newer pilots often try to be relaxed by moving too slow with their hands. If you pull quicker and release quicker, you will learn better how long to hold each correction. If the wing is on your left and you are pulling your left hand 8 inches and holding it (the right hand is fully released), if the wing is slowly reacting, pull the left hand briefly 12 or 14 inches instead. With the added pull, instead of it taking 10 seconds to correct, the wing might come back in 2 seconds. You can play with timing, but the point is to be quicker and sharper in your pulls and releases.
Exercise: Rapid Fire With the wing centered while kiting, alternate, at a very rapid pace, pulling and releasing the brakes about 1 foot. Do this at first for bursts of about 3 seconds, then increase to 10 seconds. To do this, you must be relaxed and have your elbows hanging straight down from the brakes (if you kite with your elbows up, you will have a lot of wasted and stiff triceps muscles). While kiting this way, continue to move the body under the wing and into the wind and you will be surprised at how stable the wing will remain.
Combine all of the above: All of the above methods combine to make for really great kiting. If I watch any pilot that is having difficulties kiting, 99.9% of the time, it is one or two of the above techniques that are the culprit. After you get the wing overhead, there are only four of these to work on. If you are not lifting the wing to a stabilized position, you will know. Practice with these five methods in mind. Work on one at a time after you master the lifting part. Pay attention to the details and, before you know it, you will start to see how very simple good kiting is.
