There is a lot to be said about jumping… but let’s forget the complicated stuff and keep it simple with a 5 step guide to boosting massive jumps, with the jumping machine Adam Lewis.

1. Speed.

Speed is actually your friend for almost everything in windsurfing, if you go in to something fast and committed you are much more likely to make it. The faster you go up a ramp, the higher you’re going to go in the air. Simples.

2. Hand position.

For most jumps it’s actually really useful to leave the water with your hands on the boom in your normal sailing position, i.e. a little wider than shoulder width apart. If you start jumping with your hands really wide apart on the boom you kill the power that you need to get you up and floating in the air.

3. Tuck up!

If you want to float up in the air you need to tuck everything up. Tuck your feet right up, it should feel like your back foot is almost touching your bum. You also want to squeeze the sail into your chest slightly, not to hard so you kill the power, but just a little… for that little extra lift.

4. Coming down.

How you come down has a lot to do with how you leave the water. If you jump really into the wind, you might get a little extra float but you’re going drop out of the air quicker and land without much forward speed. On the other hand, if you jump quite off the wind you won’t get as high but you’ll land with much more forward momentum. You want to find a happy medium between the both.

5. Landing with speed.

Once you’ve found the balance and your landing with some speed, you want to start cushioning the landing a little: let your knees give a little just as you touch the water. Once you’re getting a feeling for this you can even sheet in a little just as you land for some extra speed out of the jump.

Follow Adam Lewis on Facebook here and watch this space for more wave technique. Adam will also be running a wave clinic in Tenerife after the PWA competition with Dany Bruch and Boujmaa Guilloul, more info coming soon!