Kai Punching Overhead Whitewater Visual Tutorial

[Admin]

Kai was stunning the beach today with the piles that he was bounding.  In my mind, no one does this better.

Follow Kai as he sets up the approach and climbs the foam.  I did not get the end of this, but he made it.  I will follow up with the second half from another pile.

Kai eyes up this mess and looks for the easiest way through.



Deep full power strokes to meet it with speed.  Body weight way low, crouched with knees bent, preparing to spring.



Weights the board with body compression and paddle drive. Timing it so he can unweight the board just before impact so he can ride up the wall with as little weight on the board as possible.



Weight starts to shift back to lift the nose and he begins to spring.



The climb unfolds.









Begins shifting weight to the front foot to level out on top, shifts shoulders forward, oh wait, that is another post.

[Admin]

Continuing to level the board on top feet and upper body weight are shifted forward.



Kai is looking for a stroke to help drive the nose down and get forward momentum going.  Spin outs here ruin the show and forward motion help avoid free spinning.



He digs in and lowers his weight down to stabilize and to get a deep stoke through that airy foam to where his blade might get more bite.







Looking ahead now.  Stabilizing still but looking to get in some strong strokes before the next one.  PS:  Kai cleaned this one, the bigger one after and two more before he got out.  It may not look it, but the current in these shots was super strong.  Kai was getting pulled to the left as much as he was making headway out.

[mik911]

Awesome shots and commentary, only matched by Kai's 'performance'. 

[Jeroensurf]

Great pics and how-to.

[Reid SUP'd]

damn, id get my ass kicked out there, would probably bail out before the first one hit

[Weasels wake]

Stabbing deep to find real water (last pic), love it.

[Strand Leper]

VIP,

To all of you weekend warriors out there... (I am speaking to myself, primarily)... note that Kai is in a surf stance for this move...  if he misjudges the wave strength, or is unable to punch through and the nose of his board comes right back at him... it will be quite easy to just flick the board to either side as the nose is bounding back towards his head...  When in a paddling stance... this casual "flick" is more like a shove, put your paddle shaft in front of your face, and dive to the side for your life...

Be careful out there... IMHO, punching through (especially at a top to bottom spot) is the most dangerous thing that you can do on a standup... commit, use your thighs, and shove your board... but if it turns ugly you need to bail quickly... or risk breaking your nose or busting your scalp...

Have fun, be careful, and know where the nearest hospital is.

Tim

[whit]

And that is why he is all world

[PonoBill]

I'm sporting a little forehead divot right now. Makes me look kind of piratical.

Arrrgh.

[pdxmike]

I need a filling, and I asked my dentist if it would be cheaper if he made the filling with fool's gold instead of real gold, and he said it would, but my smile might look pyritical. 

[Admin]

Lots to be learned from the small ones too.  Check out how Kai uses an almost identical setup technique for this little one.  Watch for when he shifts his front foot forward (between 5 and 6) to level it out on top.  

[808]

I gave myself a mean case of whiplash Christmas Eve buy punching out though white water about that size. The board punched through the water then bucked back, I just  got my head out of the way and the board plowed me in the chest knocked all the air out of me.  Thought it broke my ribs but was lucky their. Although, I had a friend break 3 ribs and puncture a lung when the same thing happened to him. I am out of the water for who knows how long now. The problem was I stayed in the paddle stance the whole time just being lazy not moving my foot back the same with my friend also.  Learned my lesson no more of that I am going back to surf stance every time like Kai here.

[Acuático]

Deep surfing stance is the only way to punch through that. I surf in a place with no channel every day. I put the paddle deep but place my front arm at a defense angle in case the boards bounces back. By experience, it may hit you in the head, torso or even worse....your balls!!
It is such a fun thing though.
Cheers

[corran]

VIP,

To all of you weekend warriors out there... (I am speaking to myself, primarily)... note that Kai is in a surf stance for this move...  if he misjudges the wave strength, or is unable to punch through and the nose of his board comes right back at him... it will be quite easy to just flick the board to either side as the nose is bounding back towards his head...  When in a paddling stance... this casual "flick" is more like a shove, put your paddle shaft in front of your face, and dive to the side for your life...

Be careful out there... IMHO, punching through (especially at a top to bottom spot) is the most dangerous thing that you can do on a standup... commit, use your thighs, and shove your board... but if it turns ugly you need to bail quickly... or risk breaking your nose or busting your scalp...

Have fun, be careful, and know where the nearest hospital is.

Tim

I prefer to stand in a Kung Fu stance - same idea of gaining back and forward balance, but I still maintain side to side and I'm more "centered" on the board as my back foot is not so far back...

but each to their own

Corran

[PonoBill]

Me too. I stand with my front foot on one side and my back foot on the other so I can steer the damn thing. Sometimes it doesn't work, hence the divot.

I also pre-jump a little--Randy's contribution to my toolkit.