We’ve already talked about safety equipment, and safety aspects when choosing a spot. But there are still some measures you need to keep in mind to minimize the chances of getting hurt:
Always jump off the dock at the end of the dock.
Even if you point the board outwards in the final jump, you’re just starting out, and the board could do something strange and bounce back to the dock. If you always jump at the end of the dock, you minimize the chances of hitting it.
Learning to fall
It may seem silly, but with foiling it’s important to learn how to fall. If you’re just starting out and you notice that you’re going to fall, the best thing to do is to let yourself go and throw yourself to the side that the board is taking you. If you try to correct yourself when the board starts to go to one side, you’ll throw your body to the other and end up falling on top of the foil.
In this video you can see an example where I noticed that the board was starting to go to the right and I tried to correct it by leaning my body to the left, which caused me to end up falling on the foil.
Another example where, trying to stay on, I end up doing what they call “the taco” and cutting my wetsuit with the foil.
Jumping with your hands on the board at speed
When you are going to jump on the board, always keep your hands on it until the last moment. You will see videos of people doing dropstart (dropping the board first and then jumping on it), and it seems easy but without experience the chances of landing badly on the board, and therefore the board turning, and taking the foil out of the water are great. Leave this technique for when you know what you are doing.
It is also important to give it speed when you are going to jump on it, if the board has speed it is more difficult for the board to turn quickly taking the foil out.
Special attention when the board loses speed
Even if you jump with speed, if you do not know how to pump well you will lose speed, so if you feel that you are going to stop, jump off the board before because the chances of the board turning over and the foil coming out are great.
Protect your face with your hands after falling
When you fall into the water, the danger is not over. The board may have stayed in the water, in which case it will be propelled upwards rapidly and you may be in its path. Other times, the board is still out of the water but when you fall you have given it speed and with the foil it will continue forward and you may be in its path. Therefore, when you feel that one of these two cases may occur, extend your arms as a shield before opening your eyes in case the board or foil is heading towards your face.
- In this video you have an example of the force with which the board can come out with the foil.
- In this video you can see how the board almost hit me in the face
- In this video I show how to place your hands to protect yourself from the foil after the fall
Be careful when you get on the dock
If you get on the dock and have your board next to you, you have to be careful because you could hit the wing or the stabilizer with your feet. Always remember to separate the board (or turn it over so that the tip is facing you) because the stabilizer goes further back than the board and can be very close to your feet.
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