When it comes to progressing air tricks height is a huge factor in whether you can actually go for a trick. Today we will be discussing how you can achieve more height with a few simple changes!
Line Tension
Let's start off with the most important of all of the tips. Knowing how to create good line tension is absolutely essential to getting bigger air tricks. Have you ever seen those riders at the cable who just seem to be able to do a raley like it is no effort at all? This is because they have mastered the art of efficiently creating a lot of line tension. What does this mean exactly? You have to think of the cable system and rope as kind of a bungee. Basically, the harder you can pull on that bungee the more power there is going to be to lift you up in the air.
So how do we go about achieving this? It is important to know that simply "leaning back" is not the correct way. Learning how to build line tension comes with time and learning how to correctly use your edges of the board. To create good line tension you really need to make sure the board is sat deep in the water when edging for your air trick. A progressive edge is very important in building the line tension. Once the edge is set keep your arms in and strong and your hips up. Press your weight into the heelside (or toeside) edge of the board. If done correctly you will feel the energy being created ready to pop you out of the water!
Exercise: Play around with doing some hard progressive edges and see if you can feel the tension building
Maintaining a strong body
Trying to translate this feeling into words is quite difficult but what we mean by "maintaining a strong body" is to really be the one in control of the line tension which is being built. Keep your hips up and your buttocks squeezed, keep your arms strong and don't let the cable pull you off your edge. Keep your legs strong when edging to withstand the additional pressure created against the water surface by the line tension trying to pull you forward.
Play around with weight distribution
When it comes to air tricks you have to understand how shifting weight from one foot to another can affect the outcome. Finding the right balance between front and back foot is very important and it can seriously differ from trick to trick.
Try and play around with adjusting your weight distribution and see how it affects your air tricks!
Photos by Vadim Brocolis & Stefan Eigner
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