First time on eFoil: brief guide
In our previous article we’ve discovered some tricks and important things to learn before you get into the water for your first eFoil ride. This time we will move into the water and give you some helpful tips for your first e-foil training.
Climbing up
You are already in the water, holding your eFoil - let’s get started! First, when you climb up to your eFoil, always do that from the back of the board - try not to be moving around the eFoil, otherwise you’ll kick the wings or you’ll kick something else which is also sharp and you can get cut. Get acquainted with your eFoil on land beforehand, thus you will know what is below the board.
When you swim up to the board from behind - keep in mind that you will have a stabilizer (rear wing) around your legs so that you do not hit it - pull the board under you, under your stomach and then climb out onto it.
Riding on the knees
Whether you are riding the board lying down, standing on your knees or standing on your feet, your weight should always be directed forward. The eFoil functions as an airplane - if you tilt and put all your weight on the back of the board - it will fly. But if you move your weight forward, then the eFoil will stay down and you’ll be stable and safe.
When trying to get on your knees from a lying position, keep your weight over your arms and pull your body forward, so that most of your weight will be over the front of the board - if the nose of the eFoil goes under water, then you have clearly moved too far forward.
Standing up
Once you feel pretty confident and comfortable riding on your knees, then you can try to stand up.
First you’ll have to bring your front foot up keeping your weight forward, and you can move your back feet a bit more forward too. The key thing is not to hurry up - take your time, try not to stand up very fast. Imagine that you’re preparing to wrestle, the pose at the beginning is pretty similar. Get lower, then rotate your legs slightly, getting into a surfer-like stance.
Some people are afraid to stand up on the board because they think that when they fall down the board will run over them. Don’t worry about it - as soon as you fall down, the board will immediately stop.
Touch
If you manage to ride the board while standing, so that the nose of the board is down, level, and the eFoil is planing - then you can try to do “touch” - lift up the nose of the board and then put it down, touching the water.
First move your back foot back, gradually, smoothly, turning your foot a little, without lifting it off the board. Very slowly take your hips and move them back, so the front part of the board will lift up a bit - once it happens, shift your hips forward.
First your lift can last just 1 second, then, when you get used to it, you can lift your board for a bit longer period of time. Repite and practice this several times.
Making a turn
Remember: we are still riding the board, not yet trying to fly, but we’ll do it soon (check the next part)
Now put a little heel pressure and you can literally steer the board. It’s important to keep in your mind that when you make a turn your eFoil will tend to lift slightly, so shift your weight more forward and the eFoil is going to turn without going up. You can even bring your back foot a bit forward before you make a turn - it’ll help you to put your weight more forward, protecting you from lifting.
Trying to fly
Finally - it’s time to fly!
Shift your weight back a little, and once the eFoil starts to lift, releasing all that drug, you should counter balance your weight forward, trying to take the board and lift it up.
Then counter it flat and keep this level (just above the water). You should fly flat.
Training on "touch" and increasing its time will help you a lot in mastering this stage - flying.
A lot of people find it pretty difficult to master flying on eFoil, so take your time, be patient. It might take you a few days to learn that, but you’ll learn and it will be one of the most amazing things you’ve ever done.
Monitor your battery
You can always check the battery level on the remote control. Do not forget to do that, so you won’t end up with a 0% battery in the middle of a lake :) If there is about 10% battery left, it's time to go home and finish your ride!
Summing up, we would say that the most important things are - 1) to be thoroughly acquainted with your equipment; 2) to know water safety rules 3) to take your time and, of course, 4) to enjoy riding!
Climbing up
You are already in the water, holding your eFoil - let’s get started! First, when you climb up to your eFoil, always do that from the back of the board - try not to be moving around the eFoil, otherwise you’ll kick the wings or you’ll kick something else which is also sharp and you can get cut. Get acquainted with your eFoil on land beforehand, thus you will know what is below the board.
When you swim up to the board from behind - keep in mind that you will have a stabilizer (rear wing) around your legs so that you do not hit it - pull the board under you, under your stomach and then climb out onto it.
Riding on the knees
Whether you are riding the board lying down, standing on your knees or standing on your feet, your weight should always be directed forward. The eFoil functions as an airplane - if you tilt and put all your weight on the back of the board - it will fly. But if you move your weight forward, then the eFoil will stay down and you’ll be stable and safe.
When trying to get on your knees from a lying position, keep your weight over your arms and pull your body forward, so that most of your weight will be over the front of the board - if the nose of the eFoil goes under water, then you have clearly moved too far forward.
Standing up
Once you feel pretty confident and comfortable riding on your knees, then you can try to stand up.
First you’ll have to bring your front foot up keeping your weight forward, and you can move your back feet a bit more forward too. The key thing is not to hurry up - take your time, try not to stand up very fast. Imagine that you’re preparing to wrestle, the pose at the beginning is pretty similar. Get lower, then rotate your legs slightly, getting into a surfer-like stance.
Some people are afraid to stand up on the board because they think that when they fall down the board will run over them. Don’t worry about it - as soon as you fall down, the board will immediately stop.
Touch
If you manage to ride the board while standing, so that the nose of the board is down, level, and the eFoil is planing - then you can try to do “touch” - lift up the nose of the board and then put it down, touching the water.
First move your back foot back, gradually, smoothly, turning your foot a little, without lifting it off the board. Very slowly take your hips and move them back, so the front part of the board will lift up a bit - once it happens, shift your hips forward.
First your lift can last just 1 second, then, when you get used to it, you can lift your board for a bit longer period of time. Repite and practice this several times.
- Important: When you fall - let go of everything.
Making a turn
Remember: we are still riding the board, not yet trying to fly, but we’ll do it soon (check the next part)
Now put a little heel pressure and you can literally steer the board. It’s important to keep in your mind that when you make a turn your eFoil will tend to lift slightly, so shift your weight more forward and the eFoil is going to turn without going up. You can even bring your back foot a bit forward before you make a turn - it’ll help you to put your weight more forward, protecting you from lifting.
Trying to fly
Finally - it’s time to fly!
Shift your weight back a little, and once the eFoil starts to lift, releasing all that drug, you should counter balance your weight forward, trying to take the board and lift it up.
Then counter it flat and keep this level (just above the water). You should fly flat.
Training on "touch" and increasing its time will help you a lot in mastering this stage - flying.
A lot of people find it pretty difficult to master flying on eFoil, so take your time, be patient. It might take you a few days to learn that, but you’ll learn and it will be one of the most amazing things you’ve ever done.
Monitor your battery
You can always check the battery level on the remote control. Do not forget to do that, so you won’t end up with a 0% battery in the middle of a lake :) If there is about 10% battery left, it's time to go home and finish your ride!
Summing up, we would say that the most important things are - 1) to be thoroughly acquainted with your equipment; 2) to know water safety rules 3) to take your time and, of course, 4) to enjoy riding!
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