I can't get enough of youtube videos explaining how to jibe. I also like youtube video showing what not to do

But what I think would be even more valuable is having people explain what I (emphasis on the I) do wrong by commenting on videos of my failed jibes

Ady already gave me hints based on pictures Reid took. I will be more conscientious of my speed and my back foot in the future.

i have 2 videos of me attempting to jibe, the first one shows the best I have done so far on a jibe, yet the exit was without speed:
- what were the issues? I feel like I did enter with plenty of speed, but maybe I did sink the back of my board as well?




The 2nd video shows 3 jibes that all failed. The angle might not be the best to judge but if you see other issues you may want to point out, that would be cool



I thought it might be a good use of the forum to have experts and not so experts share feedback.

There is your speed killer! I told you already, you’re sitting on the tail trying to resist the pull of the sail when you have to go with it, leaning forward. To be able to do this you need speed, otherwise the sail will be hard to be sheeted in going downwind. Start working on your Jibe entrance, one step at a time, choose to do it in a gust and over as flat as possible area.
Look how far forward I am in contrast, a bit to close to the sail which is also a mistake, but not nearly as bad as yours.

Thanks Ady.

That feels like it will be hard to correct but I know what to work on

On the snapshot it looks like my back foot placement is not the issue, right? (That is what I assumed the issue was when you first said I sunk the tail)
The issue is that, even though my foot placement is fine, my body is not engaging, sinking the tail, killing the speed

Is there any tips to help with body engagement during a jibe, short of practicing over and over?

As boards have gotten shorter, they have less “glide” which makes smooth jibes even more challenging. The longer your waterline, the more “glide” you will get. You might try moving your universal forward a little more to help keep the nose down. As Ady said, you’re sinking the tail and that’s killing your speed.

In the picture, your butt is sticking out, which is almost never a good thing in Windsurfing. Your feet are in the right spot, but you want to get your weight on your toes not your heels. Keep arms extended and shoulders over your hips. My best flatwater jibes are the ones where it feels like my body stays mostly square to the wind, with my legs and arms doing most of the moving, with the exception of leaning your entire body into the turn. If you aren’t occasionally falling *into* the turn, you’re not leaning into it enough

In the video, it looks like you initiate you jibe when you are going across (90 degrees to) the wind. Bear off to build up speed before you start your jibe. If you don’t start with lots of speed, it’s impossible to finish with any!

And finally, you should ALWAYS be looking at the place you want to go. (Looking down at your feet is a great way to end up in the water!). This gets easier as your hands and feet go on “autopilot” and you don’t need to look at them.

Drew

Outstanding. I got it in my head now...
I like the comment: “ if you do not occasionally fall into the turn, you are not leaning enough”
Between your advice and Ady’s, I feel equipped

Thank you tons


Last question: what is the best camera angle to see what I do right or wrong in the jibe?

From a "non-expert" still trying to perfect things after 30+ years,
I always am willing to blame the wind when it doesn't work out. Conversely, it helps to choose the right wind to jibe in. You want to be comfortably powered up on a beam reach. When in lighter winds and bigger sails, this often means being slightly overpowered or waiting for a gust, because you'll often lose speed on a beam reach. In higher winds smaller sails, being comfortably powered is about right. Bearing off will provide some nice acceleration, but the sail pressure will lighten up, allowing you to lean forward and inward without being pulled over. Bearing off and sheeting in at about the same time can give you a nice shove downwind at speed.

Sylvain wrote:
Here's two options.

1. Overhead shows a lot. I put the my GoPro at second or third batten from the top.








2. On the end of the boom. I put my GoPro just at the curve of the back of the boom end

Sylvain wrote: There you go! You get it. You need to be confident to be able to commit fully and go with your kit instead against it and confidence is built with experience which is built with practice. Check the jibing pictures of Chris and Reid for example, the confidence and calm determination just pops up in them.
Knowledge also is a factor off course so here is link to a good jibing article by Peter Hart :
www.windsurf.co.uk/carve-gybing-the-power-and-the-glory/
Check out his stance in the head picture- body forward like in my picture but arms extended keeping distance from the rig unlike me.
Another important issue that you need to address is rig control . Again it is very dependent of the amount of speed you are entering the jibe with. The faster you are sailing the easier it will be to sheet it in to the extent that if you are doing a very fast and wide jibe/for wich you need room wich requires planning ahead of time/ the apparent wind shifts so much that your rig becomes almost weightless making it easy to flip and switch. On the other hand if you don’t have enough speed you’ll need to find another way to spill power from your rig by over-sheeting and/or laying it down. To be able to oversheet a powered rig you need leverage-meaning sliding your back hand way back on the boom /easier achieved if your front hand is close to the harness lines, which is how you should enter the jibe to keep the speed in the first place /. At this point you can use a trick that I like a lot and which is essential in some freestyle moves like the 360 and the Forward Loop. It is simple-all you have to do is turn your head back towards the clew or the tail of the board. This action has several benefits:
1. It automatically positions your body forward and sideways increasing mastfoot pressure and giving you more leverage to pull in/sheet in the rig with your back armand push forward with your front arm
2. It takes your mind away from the dangerous looking chop ahead which tends to relax you
3. It’s awesome to look back at the wake and the spray your board is throwing when carving
This trick can do miracles just remember that you have to wake up from the trance at some point
Btw I have an interesting idea! I challenge you to an experiment which if successful will cure your habit of sitting back and resisting and will make leaning forward and going with the flow natural. So I want to start laying down the rig and try to do the fun half of the Downwind 360 . Your goal will be to get to the point where your board stops and you drop the rig in the water while still standing. You start like a regular jibe bearing off from beam reach /sailing across/ while trying to accelerate as much as possible after wich you unhook, drop low , put your back foot on the rail to start carving and extend your arms to drop the rig as low over the water as you dare. Then turn your head back and lean the sail back leaning forward with your body at the same time . Hold like this until the board slows down and stops by itself. You can take out your front foot and place it in front of the mast if you want to retain balance and be able to still stand when the action comes to a stand still. Then just uphaul and repeat. Just remember not to try to lift the sail at any point before you drop it in the water, because it will get backwinded and will flip you over on your back with it on top of you. It sounds complicated and scary perhaps, but it’s absolutely not and it can be very beneficial to your carve jibing progress. Try it if you want and post how it went.

Awesome ideas...
I will post pics/videos next time so we can see if I m getting it
I remember people saying to turn your head toward the back, but now that I think of it... I am pretty sure I have never done it
I am also up for the challenge of laying the rig. That type of ideas is exactly what I was hoping for when starting the thread
can’t wait for next time!!!

Woohoo, that’s a spirit! Start clearing your calendar for the next week, it looks interesting. I also would advise you to sail close to Reid next time and watch him where, when and how he goes about the laydown. He’s very good at it, but I guess you’ve seen him already carving it hard like in the awesome picture below.

The looking back at the clew that I was telling you about .Ignore my bent front arm though

Ady
I really try to give it a shot.... Good mark for good effort
I do not think I need help seeing what is wrong on my latest try

On pic 1 I am like: this is crazy, no way


On pic 2 and 3, my brain tells my upper body to lean in, but my survival instinct tells my butt and my leg to hold back as much as can be




Ady, I did try to lean the sail low