So this week we’ll be covering a wide variety of hooked-in tricks, each with a different grab – the combinations are endless! You might want to check out this handy graphic of grab names that KiteWorld produced, it can all get a little confusing!

Anyway, lets kick things off with a simple sent jump and a roast beef grab (thats your back hand grabbing the toeside edge through your legs!)

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All of basics of all these tricks can be learnt on various Progression Kiteboarding Videos – available on DVD or through the Progression Player on iOS

So this week we’ve got 7 tricks which all end with that last backside 180 – this week definitely shows off all the small tweaks and variations that can mix up your tricks.

We’ll start with James Boulding (he’ll be a regular this week!) demonstrating a small twist on the classic – a Raley to blind with a pop out

Get each daily video on our Facebook Fan Page or Twitter Page

And if you want to learn to land tricks to blind then there’sno better way that with our Progression Kiteboarding Professional Video – available on DVD or through the Progression Player on iOS

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This is great for the regular youtuber or couch potato but for many, these videos are never seen.

So as of today we will be running themed weeks, where we will post one of our videos every day all along a particular theme – Transitions, Landing Blind, Mobes, Grabs, Next Steps for Beginners to name just a few.

The aim is to inspire you to go out and rip it up, maybe try a new trick or learn something about the kit you are riding.

This week we will be starting with Rider Interviews featuring some of the best talent from around the Globe – today we kick off with Wainman rider Niccolo Porcella.

So look for daily updates on facebook or twitter and learn something new this year!

Front Blind Mobe – Aaron Hadlow:

Double Back Roll One Footer – James Busse:

S-bend to Blind with an Airpass: James Busse:

Planning on hitting the water this weekend? What tricks are you gonna be trying?

Everyone has to turn around at some point, whatever level you’re at, the Progression Trick Wheel will highlight 9 different tricks all based around the fundamentals of edging, jumping and rotations. Take a look, get inspired and trying something new when you next hit the water:

Many of these tricks are available through The Progression Player iOS App or the Progression Intemediate Volume 2 & Advanced DVDs.

How many of these tricks do you do?

This month we’ve got some great prizes from X3 with their Kite Compression Kits – reduce the size of packed up kites by three times, a massive help when you are packing for a kite trip and need to squeeze everything into one board bag! Check out more on the kits at the Modern Fuel website.

Enter now!

Riders such as Steve Kelner, Jason Furness and Brian Kelner were the local hot shots at my beach, and at that time kitesurfing was about sending it hard and and getting that board off your feet.

It took a few years before I took the plunge and got on the water. When i came to learn my first tricks the spotlight was on nailing unhooked tricks and kiteloops. These took me a while to do, but  i managed to add raleys, s-bends, surface passes, krypts, f16s and dangle passes into my trick list, any urge to learn board offs had disappeared with the experience of unhooking.

Unfortunately last year I had a nasty accident and dislocated my shoulder quite badly. It took 12 months of physio and a full on operation to get things working again. However my arm no longer sits in its original place and i have found unhooking is putting too much stress on my joint.
The reason i love this sport is due to it’s versatility, and the fact i couldn’t unhook anymore was upsetting but I can still work on my hooked in style and wave-riding.
Now I really wanted to start trying some board offs, so with the new Progression Player app and a quick download, I headed down the beach ready to give it ago!

First Attempts: The One-Footer

The foot out was a simple starting point for me, the trick itself isn’t to hard. If you can jump and grab the tail of your board you can try these out with ease. We have a great video available that will show you the progressions that lead up to a board-off, including this important one-footer step:

My main struggle was the mentality barrier. I kept imagining getting my foot out and not being able to put it back in, thus ending in a knee jerking landing. The fact I had previously been off the water for a year didn’t help, but with a nice 20 knots hitting my 11m I sent the kite on my first tack and got the trick, and the stoke was back. A bit of confidence really does make a big difference!

Top Tips for one-footers

• Edge hard and boost big
• Use a larger kite for extra hang time and stability, you don’t want to be on your 7m worrying about its position in the window.
• Break the trick down.
• Get used to releasing your back hand off the bar and grabbing the tail of your board as quick as you can.
• Try holding the grab for as long as possible and redirect late and hard, to give you that extra bit of air time
• Try these on a down winder so if you need to kick your board off you can don’t have to worry about kiting back upwind.

After I’d started building confidence with the single foot out the time came around for a board off.

Both feet – The Board Off

Later that week I was blessed by the wind Gods with a 30 knot flat water session so out came my 9m and a big grin on my face!

As soon as I was up on my board I spotted the perfect kicker and sent the kite hard, this time grabbing the tail and taking both feet out. It was an amazing feeling not being locked into straps, so good I actually forgot I needed to put the board back on to my feet!

Unfortunately a trend then started of me getting the board off and not back on. No matter how hard I tried or how high I jumped, I couldn’t get my board into the correct position to get it on to my feet.

Frustrated by my half completed or failed trick, I went back to the board off chapter on my Progression Player, and practised in front of the tv flicking the board on and of my feet by using my wrist to correctly position the board. This helped a lot!

It took a few more sessions on the water for me to nail the board off, I found the wind hitting the board itself made things tricky but i can proudly say I now have board offs down, and am excited in how i can progress in this style of kiting. Definitely a fun session when the wind is strong and you are hanging with too much power to try anything more technical.

Board off top tips

• As with one footers you need to be powered up, edge super hard, get a clean take off and get a big floaty jump
• Practice taking the board off sitting on a chair and then getting your feet back in.
• Always get your front foot back in first
• Making your foot straps ever so slightly larger can help when getting the board back on your feet
• First attempts; hold the board on the back, heelside edge, gripping the fin and rail, this will give you more control when positioning the board

There are lots of different ways to grab the board and make a board of a little more fun and interesting. Here are a couple of variations:

If you’re keen to learn to Board-offs then either install the Progression Player on to your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad or get the Progression Kiteboarding Advanced DVD.

Even though I am employed by Progression I have been using their products from the beginning, and continue to use them both for myself and with my students during the summer season. If you are interested in watching some great footage during the transitional stage of kiting where the handles passes became the top trick for comps, have a look at A.C. This was our first and only action kite movie and is free to watch online (all 45 minutes of it!). You might even spot a certain 5x World Champ back when he was just 14 years old and throwing down some massive board offs!

Thank to all the riders in the photos and videos:
Bas Koole – www.baskoole.com
Tom Hebert – www.tomhebert.com
James Busse
Christian Harris – www.ckperformanceclinics.co.uk

So its time to get the perfect kitesurfing Christmas present for your brother, sister, mother, father, niece, nephew, son, daughter, grandson or grandaughter – or maybe just get it on your own wish list, so you get something you want this year! Progression DVDs are the ideal gift for any kitesurfer from Beginner to Professional, with over 2 hours of detail instruction on each DVD, you’ll be giving your kitesurfing obsessed relative something that will make their next session a guaranteed win!

And we’ve got some great deals for the Christmas Holidays:

Whether its for the early beginner (Beginner & Intermediate Volume 1), the super keen novice (Beginner, Intermediate Volume 1 & 2), the go getting Intermediate (Intermediate Volume 1 & 2), aspiring advanced (Intermediate Volume 2 & Advanced)  or wannabe Pro (Advanced & Professional) – we’ve got you covered!

Buy them now from the Progression Online Store with worldwide shipping or you’ll find our DVDs in pretty much every kitesurfing store around the world!

“Totally got me off my intermediate plateau. Great job. Expensive but a lot cheaper than buying new gear in the hope that it will make me improve! Just choosing my next one now.”

So don’t hesitate to try a new trick this month by taking advantage of our 50% discount on selected tricks in the Progression Player. We’ve taken one trick or technique for each skill level, dropped the price to £1.49 / €1.59 /$1.99 – so there is no excuse to not tryout a Progression video and see why kiters are using Progression’s help to get more from their kiting!

Tricks & Techniques on Offer until November 14th 2011 for £1.49 / €1.59 /$1.99

• Beginner – Water Re-launch & Self-rescue
• Intermediate – Tuning your kite
• Advanced – Riding Blind
• Professional – KGB (including Back to blind & Back to blind with an Airpass!)

FREE Video Exclusive to Progression Player App

Also for all you intermediate riders – get some inspiration for your next session and add a little extra to your transitions with the Progression Trick Wheel.

The best kitesurfing progression comes for continually adding something new to a trick you’ve already got to grips with, whether that’s throwing in a grab, downloop or a rotation. The Progression Trick Wheel offers an easy way to get inspiration for that next trick, keep your sessions interesting!

For transitions we have the following:

• Surface
  • Heel Carve
  • Carving turn with a downloop
  • Darkslides
• Jumps
  • Aerial Transitions
  • Aerial transitions with a kiteloop
  • Aerial Transitions to toeside
• Rotations
  • Back roll transition
  • Front roll one footer transition
  • Back roll transition with a hand plant

EXCLUSIVE to the Progression Player in November – Download it now!