I wish there were wing foil lessons when I was learning to foil, would have saved me a lot of money and frustration. Once I figured out what gear and conditions I needed, success and progression came quickly. I made this Learn to Foil Video Course to help everyone put themselves in the right conditions on the right gear and have fun learning this amazing new adventure we call wing foiling. In person lessons are also available.
Catching a wing tip is a common occurrence when learning to wing foil, here is a quick tip to keep the wing tips up and out of the water, this video is from the Wing Handling tutorial page:
Often in my learn to foil journey I hit a wall of frustration, no progress, and confusion as to what I might do differently. I put this valuable knowledge in the Learn to Foil Video Course, as an example on this wing foil tutorial page I go over why I was flailing and the changes I made to have success early on when learning to wing foil. The right gear at the right spot was huge game changer for me, a night and day difference. I stopped fighting my equipment and the conditions, and instead was able to focus on learning the fundamentals and enjoying foiling.
Learn to Wing Foil and see more videos by becoming a member:
What is foiling? I often describe hydrofoiling as flying an underwater airplane, and the inflatable wing as a bird wing turned sideways. This tutorial on Wind Direction shows and explains how we orient the wing to the wind to pull ourselves forward. My first day wing foiling I was confused on where to launch, where the wind would take me, and learning or remembering how sails work sure helped me.
We foilers are flying above the water, and I found learning the basics of flight to be super helpful. Starting with the 3 axis of a hydrofoil, here is a quick pitch, roll, and yaw tutorial video from the How Foils Work page:
Once the basics of wing handling are dialed in it’s time to start flying. Safety is important here. After learning the basics of how foils work, a foiler needs to know where to put the feet, and to understand how correct foot placement minimizes roll falls. These skills are essential for foiling success.
Time and time again I hear people asking for tips on how to jibe. The best riders make it look so easy, and often a jibe is the move that will take us to the next level, so not getting it is really frustrating. Below is a Jibe tips and drills video, more Jibe videos on this page:
As I progressed, became proficient, and was able to turn I wanted to get radical and do really tight high speed turns. Like the turns I see Adam Bennetts and Kane De Wilde doing – fast and loose with the hydrofoil wing tip coming out of the water. There are tricks or techniques needed to do these turns without crashing or getting hurt, which I learned the hard way. Here is one technique for foiling wing tip out, this video is from the How to Ride Surface Piecing page:
The Learn to Foil Video Course has over 170 video tutorials, here is the membership sign up page.
Gear questions and recommendations are answered here on this page. If you already have your gear and want an in person wing foil lesson in the San Francisco bay area please contact us. A lesson is around 3-5 hours at a location near you. Essentially you will learn how to safely go out at a spot near you and practice the moves you need to progress. This one lesson is often all you need to become a foiler.
