Passing the bar in the air is that moment many of us are still (possibly) searching for.
Is not easy, it needs quite a lot of dedication, lots of hours in the water and being very analytical with yourself (at least that’s how it worked for me).
If you’re looking to do your first passes I would love to help you achieve them by giving you 7 tips that helped me.
Julia Castro enjoying flat water in Brazil
1. Be able to do all the blinds
I think one of the things that helped me the most was to be able to do raleys, backrolls, sbends and shiftys to blind.
It gives you confidence and experience to be able to anticipate (your own moves and the kite’s moves) and in the end it probably means that you’ve spent more hours gaining experience and that’s always a good thing .
I’ve seen lots of people trying Blind Judge directly after doing some raleys to blind and, you just see hard crashes. Just get some more experience and be patience. Your body will thank you.
2. Wait for the pop more than for a railey to blind
When you do a raley to blind you can turn to blind before, after, later, sooner… You can play a lot with the ‘moment of turning’. You can also do a super big railey, a smaller one…
With the Blind Judge you need to do a mental railey (as high as you feel comfortable with). Then, you’ll see that there’s going to be a moment were the kite pulls a bit less (probably when you’re in the highest point) NOW! And only now is when you go for the pass.
Photo: BigRider Photosports by Renato Balbino
3. Don’t be afraid
Ok, going for a huge railey and then having to pass the bar sounds scary (it is!), but try it one time and see that nothing happens. Normally you just fall in water (please, be safe and do it far from the shore) and the crash isn’t so bad.
If you see that you’re afraid then it is better that you stop trying and go for another trick. Is like going backwards to be able to have more metres to run faster
4. Try to get it on film
This is one of the things that will help you the most. You probably know all about how to do a Blind Judge, all the movements are in your brain and a lot of people will tell you their opinion about how to do it.
However, if you can see yourself doing (or not doing) it, you’ll improve a lot.
5. Hold the bar close to your hips
Unless you’re super stretchy (I’m not) and you want to kill your shoulders, better keep the bar close to your hips. So, we’ve got:
1) Big raley
2) Pull the kite down (at the same time you go up)
3) When the kite stops pulling like mental GO for the pass.
4) Go for it with both hands to your right hip (if you’re right handed).
This is key for the blind judge, having the bar as close as you can from your body!
6. Put the kite down. It’s like a scale
In the balance, if one goes up, the other goes down, so you’ll need to do the same, when you go up (during the raley) you’ll need to pull the kite down, by doing this, it will be easier for you to pass the bar.
7. Go with the flow
I was trying really hard to do that first Blind Judge… There were times of my life where I was getting really upset because there was no way I could do it. Then I forgot about it and just went to the water to enjoy, suddenly, blind judge came. Without even thinking about it. So, just listen to your body and to your brain, maybe you’re not ready and you can just have patience about that.
Listen to yourself and go with the flow.
Written by Julia Castro
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