I am ready to start learning tricks and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions. I want to start with non jumping and work my way up (pun intended)

I don't landboard but you could try riding toeside (jump 180 with only your board) and then carve around for your transition so you end up heelside again, or start heelside carve around for the transition so you end up toeside and then do a small 180 jump with the board to get back to heelside. I do that kitesurfing and it's fun.

There are a lot of boardslides you can do as well. Look for Carltb's videos. It also depends on the surface you kite on. Grass isn't slippery or consistent so boardslides are easier on packed sand. If you start doing boardslides on grass you might tear it up and get booted from the field.

manual--->2 wheels up, balance on the other.
switch 180's
unhooked riding, strapless riding popshuvit's just like skate board(if you are into tha
and alot of powerslides switches ...these are not really "tricks" like riding toeside is not a "trick" its a fundamental element of riding.

these are all fundamental elements of riding in general. and negotiating different surfaces is fundamental. as well as navigating to change position and POS . another example of basic stuff is powersilding -->its the brakes with style!
competent management of sail, board and controlled POS. the whole longboard trick palate is in there as well, its the just the no strap riding which is not a trick... just different fundamentals.

heres the heavy part ...mastery of these elements should be near reflex level , including mastery of kite handling. most guys i have helped gain even a little advantage in just the fundamentals takes considerable practice( like it was a job! kinda time). like predictable super smooth powered transitions, a typical session may contain hundreds! all smoothly stitched together. balance, blind kite control and effortless navigation is the non jumping"trick" and that is done by practice and taking session after session after session after session after session after session.... and after that you realize that speed control, kite control and balance are what make easy controlled jumps.

a small mountain of time on a "go to" kite is great start. what kite is that? (weight?)

i primarily fly on a field so i try to avoid slides so i dont tear up the grass. I primarily fly my 12 ranger and my 16 scorpion it just depends on the wind. I weigh about 195. i have toeside down, almost have heelside completely down. I have not started on 180 hops to heelside or toeside yet and vice versa, do i pod my leading or trailing foot first

slides are speed check elements so without them you will have alot of freewheeling and kite handling for speed control...very handicapping in early skill development ,,,BECAUSE the counter balancing mechanics against the kite will be too light and you are going to get thrown over alot ...and actually never get the kite firing for confident power esp. for airs( or unweighting the board for a switch). the balance component for riding at speed is 95% heelside. your head and torso have to weight back against the kite(here's the mountain of time) to "feel"the effect then have it become a reflex which can require considerable exposure like 40 hours for a few but reality for most is a couple hundred hours. really depends on origin of learning ,such as did u start unhooked or "attempted" to learn hooked which is dangerous and very frustrating.

static dry practice with the board for 180. stand on board, hop up(like with your knees and hips about a foot or < twist through hips and land with new front. arms and head are actually kinda static and steady in balance. light, fast and controlled.

to very different kites there..PL is gonna be more what u want . The FS pretty finicky difficult to master that unit AND try to master boardriding together. the scorp(finicky by PL stuff standards) will allow u to concentrate on the balance board stuff.

hope this helps

how do you do manuals. i am working on a new trick and need some advice

Quote: Originally posted by shortlineflyer

how do you do manuals. i am working on a new trick and need some advice

ATB,
Sam

There are actually quite a few tricks. Some are mentioned above. I recommend watching some movies on YouTube or Vimeo.
Riders you want to look for are Lewis Wilby and Olivier Garret.

My experiance with what I call flatland tricks is the kiteposition. If you manage a trick you want to keep on riding as smooth as possible. So when you start of your trick, make sure you redirect the kite in the direction you want to go.

Most of all, practice. Practise the 360 slides or turns, fall 30 times on your butt, stand up and repeat till you figure out where you go wrong.

C