Once or twice a session going out with speed to get over a wave before it pitches I find myself shooting vertically up and separating from my board. You know ,you think you will just make it but the lip lifts up and it shoots you up in those last couple of seconds. What do you guys do then? I suppose I shouldn't lean back too much ,grab the board with my front hand and turn the kite down a little with my back hand and throw the board in the right spot as i come down. Is it hard to do? These lip launches take me up 20 feet and I am landing on chicken legs unfortunately. Any tips? Thanks
For me the trick is to boost off the flats BEFORE the wave hits so that you're already in the air going over the breaking wave. Try practicing normal jumps in flat water and get used to the timing and clearance height available to you, then do the same thing when the wave approaches. Think of it as high-jumping the wave rather than riding over the wave. Ideally you want to land on the back of the wave and power away, but any clean clearance of the wave peak is a win.
It's all about timing. When you're on a strapless board and you see a wave coming either wait for it to break and then build up speed and charge into the wave or if the wave is just forming and about to curl over slow right down. What I do is I charge to get as close to the wave before it breaks and then slam on the breaks and have my kite at 12, so I'm basically standing still. This way when the wave goes under me I don't have to deal with the drop. I then just dive my kite hard and off I go.
If there's white wash go fast, if not go slow.