Freestyle Windsurfing Tricks

Windsurfing is incomplete without its tricks. Popularly known as freestyle windsurfing, windsurfers have tried and survived various breathtaking stunts successfully. Freestyle windsurfing involves myriad ways of spinning, looping and turning your surfboard. Today, freestyle windsurfing has reached competitive heights and attracts a large number of awe filled audience. A swift turn or a loop isn't as simple as it may seem. Though exhilarating, it needs ample practice, patience and skill. Let us glance through the freestyle techniques that are popular among windsurfers.

Jump: Jumps are the basic steps towards freestyle windsurfing. Jumping is when you entirely raise your board in the air along with the fin. You just need to keep trying to get that jump and a perfect landing. Once you feel flexible enough to maneuver your jumps you can attempt the No Hand jump, Front Hand Rail Grab, Rear Hand Rail Grab and One-Footed jump.

Jibe: Turning your rig around and continuing to sail downwind without having to fall is called as Jibe (also spelt as 'gybe'). Learning a jibe is an achievement in itself, as it means you can enjoy sailing back and forth without the intermediate falls.

Tacks: Tacking is a technique where you turn your rig around and start sailing in the opposite direction by heading upwind. Tacking takes time to learn as you have to rotate the sail through the wind and needs balanced foot work. After you are comfortable performing the jumps, jibes and tacks, you can graduate to learning the following freestyle tricks that are commonly experimented and highly appreciated.

360: 360 involves rotating the board, the sail and sometimes also the body at 360 degrees. When you rotate just your body while sailing, it is called 'Pirouette'. Similarly, when only the sail is rotated, it is called Sail 360. And the combination of both, that is rotating the sail and the body is called Sail-Body-360. There are numerous variants of the 360 maneuvers such as Upwind 360, Downwind 360, and One-handed Downwind 360.

Body Drag: Body drag simply means getting off the board and dragging your body into the water. This freestyle technique is easy to learn and is risk free. Learn to drag on one foot first and then you can display your skills once you have mastered the art of dragging your whole body for 3-4 miles.

Skipper: Skipper is another move when you raise your board and turn it 180 degrees while in mid-air. You have to land with your feet out of the foot straps, on the deck with the board sliding in the backward direction.

Loops: Loops are of three kinds- Forward Loop, Backward Loop and Push Loop. Looping gives you an edge over other windsurfers since it is a tricky and risky move, and not many can succeed.

Spock, Flaka and Grubby are some other kinds of tricks that are attempted by expert windsurfers.

I'm sure you will be able to attempt all of these techniques successfully after extensive practice. Have fun learning!