ALESSIO STILLRICH: TWEAKED PUSH LOOP TIPS!
ALESSIO STILLRICH: TWEAKED PUSH LOOP TIPS!
ALESSIO STILLRICH: TWEAKED PUSH LOOP TIPS!
When it comes to tweaked push loops, few riders push the limits like Alessio Stillrich. Known for taking this aerial trick to new heights, Alessio has made the tweaked push loop his signature move. So, we caught up with the man himself to get the lowdown on how to master one of the most radical manoeuvres in windsurfing. Alessio shares the key ingredients that helped him crack the code on this move…and how you can start tweaking your loops like a pro.
Photos: PWA / Carter.
WINDSURF: The tweak pushy…that’s your specialty jump!
AS: “Yeah, definitely. I think it’s obviously the move I enjoy most and where I feel I stand out the most. You can see the biggest difference compared to others, probably…except maybe Miguel Chapuis and Takuma Sugi, who also do it really well in my opinion.
And tips for it…I would say the funny thing is, I spent like two or three months, one entire summer, trying to learn it back then, like ten years ago or something like that. I was always straightening my legs but not really tweaking it. I was just making normal push loops with my legs straight and I didn’t really know how to tweak it.
The tip that helped me a lot was when somebody told me, “Try with your front arm to touch the back ankle of your foot.” Once I had that in my mind, I suddenly started tweaking them properly and yeah, it was like a sick sensation. Since then, I’ve always loved to do it!”
WINDSURF: Obviously essential to learn the push loop first?
AS: “Yeah, I think so. Also, another tip which I think helps a lot is…obviously it helps a lot if you know how to do the push loop, but I think also doing really vertical back loops helps. At the beginning, the push tweak is maybe a little bit more like a really vertical back loop than a push loop. So, I think that helps a lot. Just get a steep ramp and try to go vertical with a backy, and then at the top of it just sheet in and do that thing…touching your back ankle with your front arm!”
WINDSURF: You like to go big with them?
AS: “Yeah, definitely. Definitely, the higher the better. Well, it’s more difficult when you go high I think, in some ways, because obviously you’re higher and stuff…but when you’re landing, there’s more pressure and everything. But on the other hand, you’ve got more time to do it. So in one sense, it’s maybe a little bit easier. But in general, I would still say it’s easier to do a small one than a big one.”
WINDSURF: So, as you leave the ramp, what are you doing?
AS: “I try to go as steep as possible, like at a 90-degree angle from the water…really vertical. Just keep in mind: when you’re close to the top of the jump, just kind of throw your sail down. In the end, it feels a little bit like a goiter…just super radical in the air.
So it’s more or less like doing a goiter upside down in the air, basically mid-jump.
Just before getting to the highest point, you kind of sheet in the sail and throw it down. Then you kind of push the sail. Once you’re tweaked, you’re getting the wind from underneath your sail, which then helps you again to finish the rotation and push you up again. So basically, it’s pretty important to keep your front arm pretty much into the wind to get into that position, and then the wind helps you again to flip the sail up and yourself around.”
WINDSURF: How do you know you’re in the right spot to come down?
AS: “Looking at the water, man. You look at the height, more or less and you calculate how much you still have left of the rotation and everything.”
WINDSURF: And when you’re at the top, you enjoy the moment?
AS: “It feels sick to be completely stretched out there…it’s amazing. Yeah, love it!”
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