Technique Time

It’s time to embrace the fear and start your forward loop journey

The forward loop is not only probably still the most impressive looking stunt to your average bystander, but it’s an equally great way to impress your mates too. In terms of technique the forward is one of the easiest manoeuvres out there, but it presents a psychological barrier many fail to break through, however if you can summon up the courage you will soon be rewarded with not only the great feeling of landing your first forward loop, but also the perfect way to show off to everyone at the beach. Carrying on reading below to top up on some top tips ahead of your forward loop journey…

Ben Proffitt (Simmer):

“Just sheet in and look back!  If you look back, it is much less scary and the whole move just happens without you really having to do anything.”

Matt Pritchard (Tabou / GA Sails): 

“Focus on finding the right piece of chop, one big enough just to release the fin. Slide your backhand back on the boom and unhook from the harness. Now you need to punch your front arm forwards, whilst sheeting in as hard as you can with your backhand and tucking your bag leg under your bum. Don’t forget to throw your head back either. From here hold on and before you know it you’ll be progressing from landing on your back to landing bolt upright.”

John Skye (RRD / RRD / MFC):

“The main thing with the forward loop is just to get over the fear and go for it because at the end of the day it’s pretty easy! I think the main mistake people make is trying to throw the sail over the front, when you actually need to throw it out to the side and really sheet in with your backhand. If you do that you will rotate - probably onto your back to begin with. The hardest thing is going for your first ones. Try and think of it as a side loop rather than a forward loop to help you visualise what you need to do! Oh and however far your hand is down the boom, put it further! Other than that just go for it!”

Maciek Rutkowski (Patrik / Point-7):

“Besides the obvious things everybody says (hand as far back as possible, twist head, leg tucked in) my main tip which seems to help a lot of people is DO NOT throw your body into the rotation. If you initiate the movement correctly your body will follow the gear and rotation will be flatter allowing you to keep the pressure in the sail throughout the whole rotation. That leads to none of those uncontrollable vertical rotations. Once you get a feel for it you can move onto landing perfectly. To do that you have to rotate a little more than you'd think is necessary and gently sheet out once you're almost done rotating. Untuck your back leg gently to absorb the impact on the landing. Oh, and not to steep of a ramp helps for starters!”

Finally, good luck with your forward loop journey.