Common mistakes when starting pump foil

It’s time to review the common mistakes that beginners make at this stage:

Lack of speed in the initial jump. The foil needs speed to get going, and the more you give it, the more time you’ll stay on the board feeling essential sensations for learning.
Putting the front foot down first in the initial jump. This causes the tip of the board to drop and you lose height quickly.
Don’t put your hands on the board until you have your feet on it. If you let go of the board too quickly it will be harder to get your feet in the right place.
Being focused on pumping and other objectives in sight and forgetting the importance of placing your feet correctly in the initial jump. This causes us to miss 80% of the jumps without the possibility of trying to pump.
Leaning back. Beginners usually tend to lean back when pumping, remember to lean forward, especially when lowering the foil, and putting the front foot forward well.
Looking at your feet while pumping. Just like when we ride a bike or skate, especially when learning, our gaze has to go forward (or at least 3 meters ahead), because we will go where we look and if we look down we will go down.
Literally jump to pump. Although I call pumping “jumping”, remember that it is actually about releasing weight, the soles of the feet always in contact with the board.
Think of pumping as raising and lowering the tip of the board. You pump both up and down with your whole body. Whether the board points up or down should be a consequence of good pumping, not the main objective.
Pumping only by pressing the board. At the beginning we tend to pump only by pressing the board but we forget to “jump” to take weight off the board, something essential to gain height.
Check the foil screws mid-session to make sure nothing has loosened. I have lost sessions because the front wing was dancing.
Focus on the movement of your arms. Arm movement is something you will need to think about to optimize your pumping when your pumping is under control. Right now the goal of your arms is to help you balance. Let them move naturally and think about the goal that really matters now.
You lack aggressiveness. You pump well but with little force, and at a very slow pace, as if imitating the pros. Be aggressive, give it all your energy, now your goal is not to save energy to last longer, but to spend your energy to be more efficient and extend this jump for a few more seconds.
Fear of foiling. If you are afraid of foiling, you will not run enough on the jetty, you will not pump with enthusiasm, you will not look ahead, you will not push your body forward. Nobody says it is easy, I did not get over my fear until my third session but in the tutorial I have given you a few tips regarding safety equipment, safety on the spot and practical safety. Review them and if you take all the measures I mentioned there is no reason to be afraid. I had several scares from seeing the foil up close until my 16th session, but in the end I got two hits on my legs and one on my hip with the foil, and only one of them bothered me for a couple of days on one calf.
Follow advice from experts to optimize pumping when you don’t know how to do the basic pumping. Many of the tips in this guide don’t have to be followed once you’ve learned the basic pumping, but they are phases you have to go through to learn how to pump and then you can look for advice to optimize that pumping. Don’t skip steps, you may think you’ll go faster but you’ll go slower.