This is biggest hurdle for most beginners. I can catch waves, turn, even carve and pump down the line, connect bumps going forward…but have not figured out how to pump for a 2 for 1. I’ve tried exiting the wave early with speed but can’t get more than 3-4 good pumps before the board touches. Tried short, quick pumps…long, deep pumps. When exiting the wave should I be turning hard out to sea or a more gentle turn? Or should I just continue to work on carving and turning and pumping down the line and it will come to me?
It depends what you want to learn. Just like learning any new maneuver you have to blow some perfectly good waves to learn To pump back out.
Tip #1 that unlocked 2-1 for my brother. Move your mast forward. 1/8th or 1/4 inch is all you need probably.
Exit with speed. Within the first five seconds of standing up. Gentle curve. Barely turn out to sea until the wave is gone and you feel the pump really locked in.
Don’t pump on the back of the wave. It’ll suck you to shore and steal your energy.
Every few pumps do a big pump to get back high in the mast. Suck your legs up don’t jump up.
For every 3-5 pump back out attempts reward yourself with riding an actual wave so you don’t get frustrated.
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Hey Hdip. Thanks for the advice. Had a great go out and got some great pumps back out. All the suggestions helped. Exiting with speed was helpful. Also on two waves I was able to trail a better Foiler and followed their line over the wave and back out. Very helpful to see how they approached the wave. Also after listening to foil wizard on the progression podcast I thought about “shaking water off my hands” as I pumped. Slowly getting there
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Sweet Yewwg. It’s just something that takes time to learn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diljo6EGDdQ There’s a blue planet video on it.
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Couple more videos. I sort of disagree with the skateboarding Ollie analogy but I’ve heard other people saying it too.
Mackite has good videos even if they’re mostly wind sports related.
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The advise that helped me most was that you should be thinking of pulling your legs up under you and letting the board rise on its own. Then stand up and glide a little before doing it again.
What I learned on my own was that the higher you are out of the water it gets exponentially easier. Work on riding as high out of the water as you can on the wave and exit the wave up as high as you can. You actually get some speed from gravity when turning down the backside of the wave! If you get low in the water, that’s where you have to really put in the pumping effort to get back up high on the mast. If you can stay up high it takes way less energy to keep going.
I will also say that you’ll have the easiest time in glassy conditions. Turbulence in the water makes it markedly harder. Even a bit of wind disturbs the surface enough to be noticeable. The other thing that will kill everything is junk in the water - cut up seaweed, bits of grass, etc.
If you really want to learn to pump, find a dock and put in the time learning to dockstart (frustrating learning curve). During the pandemic, our beaches were closed and I spent a few weeks of sessions working on flatwater pumping and it completely changed my wave riding in a good way.
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Ugh, I hate you. I assumed this might be true. I’m maybe 20 attempts into my “100 til you make it” quota.
About the Ollie thing, I think it confuses me more than helps. When I think of an ollie I’m thinking one foot then the other. If I’m correct about my pump attempts that isn’t the way to pump really right? Also with an ollie you are “pulling” the board with a foot drag so I’m saying that I’m with you Hdip.
My question to the guys who have it. Is there a 1-2 element like an ollie or is it more of a “both unweight, then drive with front”?
I’m not using any 1-2 motion at all. I think of it more like flat footed jumping up in place.
- bend your knees to lower your center of gravity and load up for a jump
- jump up, activating both quads - you should feel zero weight on your feet. The board has tremendous lift right now and no weight on it, so it follows you up.
- re-weight the board - a bit biased to the front and feel a boost of speed as it goes back downhill.
watch this video on .25 speed and focus on the legs. then watch it again focused on arms. You can practice this motion on dry land, and it helped me to do so.
ps. surfcowboy - something that worked for me in the middle of my 100 attempts - don’t try to pump - just focus on getting onto the board with your feet right and feel it glide into the water. You’ll be surprised that it glides a lot further than you think if you land your feet correctly. After you can do that smoothly, then start pumping a moment after you feel the glide.
or this one - I think Kane is the smoothest cleanest at foil pumping that I’ve seen
Jeebus! How does he get up on such a small board? Does he start from the beach or tow or is he that good where can catch a wave prone with that thing?
I’ve heard he starts from a rock in the harbor with that tiny board and pumps out to the break
Thx JD. And yeah the jump and glide is freaky. I made that a couple of times and it was cool.
Thx for the videos. I did a couple of feeble pumps at the end of a wing foil run today and I’ll bet that helps too.