WindDoll » Trick Tips

Windsurfing Success in the Transition Surprises

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 05:21:04 +0000

Sometimes when you do a windsurfing move just right, you’re so surprised to be in that perfect place, you jump off the board and into the water!

I’m working on tacking faster—getting to the other side of the board while I’m still on a plane. Saturday, twice, I got onto the lee side, on a plane, I was on the board, holding the booms, the sail was in the right place. Everything was good, and I just jumped off. This happened twice!

Sunday’s graph looks good, but I had no success with any of my moves. The wind was skitzy and I was a little underpowered. Last time I rode the 4.6 Bash on the 94 liter FSW I was underpowered and able to do all kinds of things, so I had high hopes going out.

Much better success windsurfing on Monday.

Tuesday was windsurfing trick day—lots of light air moves. I had orchestra rehearsal, so I couldn’t stay late and catch the real wind after 5pm.

Windsurfing Berkeley: Trick Town September 21 to 25

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 03:47:25 +0000

Windsurfing on the Goya, a true trick board, requires a different stance. Hips forward instead of back! This is a little disconcerting, but it works well. I havn’t been tossed over the bars yet!

Serendipity! Monday the wind came up and there were nice big swells to ride. I came in to change my fin from the MFC 25 freestyle to a longer one I could turn on and use to ride the waves (Wahoo!). The wind suddenly quit while I was on shore. Whew! There were many swimmers.

I’m resorting to the Flipper 13.5 because it’s easier! It’s a little fin, so the board still spins. Great progress on Wednesday and even more on Thursday.

Wednesday I figured out what I was doing wrong on the port tack upwind 360, and Thursday, after two failures, I remembered and I did it!

Windsurfing Berkeley: Random Notes for Smooth Sailing

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:57:34 +0000

I wasn’t very happy windsurfing today. Even with my 6.2 and 14.4″ fin, I couldn’t get upwind. I spent most of my time with my back foot out of the strap trying not to spin out. When I got in, my buddies Maurice and Gordon worked on my sail, adjusting batten tension and experimenting with downhaul. I think I need a different mast! Another note: The 14.4″ fin is the size I used to use with a 5.0. Maybe a bigger fin is in order. Maybe I need a slalom board.

Astrid says she can’t tack the rrd 90 liter twintip, her new, awesome board, because the nose is so short. I’ve seen her tack since then. She figured it out. (No surprise that she figured it out. If I’ve tacked my 78 liter board, she can tack a 90 even if it is short.)

Sofy came back from winning 2nd in masters at the George Games. He said he learned not to bother to look at the water for a good ramp to do the trick. JUST GO.

Windsurfing Inspiration in the Canary Islands

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:03:04 +0000

Windsurf Extreme at PWA Lanzarote 2008 – video powered by Metacafe

Feeling Bad when You Mess Up Windsurfing? Get in the Flow

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:10:38 +0000

Yesterday at Berkeley darling girl Astrid was back windsurfing after three weeks cruising the Caribbean. Her first session 5.0 and 90 liter rrd freestyle twintip, she couldn’t land any of her tricks. She was overpowered in 23 mph average and bumming. She waited a bit and went out again, same stuff, and landed everything, including a Gecko!

One evening in the early 1990s at a Golden State Warriors basketball game, I watched Tim Hardaway run up and down the court and miss every shot. Afterwards a news commentator asked him how did he feel missing all those shots. He replied that he DIDN’T EVEN NOTICE. Now there’s a lesson in being in the Flow.

Hardaway was at the top of the NBA for average points and assists per game, but the other players were a head taller. (Hardaway is reported to be 6 feet tall, but I would have told you he was 5 foot 6, he looked so odd on the court.)

I get frustrated with myself when I blow tacks, but when I make them easily—sometimes in the gnarliest of conditions—I feel great. My brain feels light and clear.

I think we get bummed when we don’t make moves we think we should be able to make. We tell ourselves, I should be able to do this. Other people do this. If I can’t do this I’m stupid!

My yoga teacher Suraya says, “Don’t judge your insides by other people’s outsides.”

In order to be a happy athlete, you have to get into the Flow, like Hardaway.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi makes a study of happiness. In his book Flow, The Psychology of Optimal Experience, he says “The joy of surpassing the limits of the body is open to all.”

Even the simplest physical act becomes enjoyable when it is transformed so as to produce flow. The essential steps in this process are: (a) to set an overall goal, and as many subgoals as are realistically feasible; (b) to find ways of measuring progress in terms of the goals chosen; (c) to keep concentrating on what one is doing, and to keep making finer and finer distinctions in the challenges involved in the activity; (d) to develop the skills necessary to interact with the opportunities available; and (e) to keep raising the stakes if the activity becomes boring. (page 97 paper back edition)