Hang Gliding and Paragliding Volume 44 / Issue 1: January 2014 | Page 46

mance gain by minimizing drag and physical exertion.
The first step towards flying prone: Get loose! Your whole
body should be relaxed, with the harness supporting you. Of
course, that requires a proper-fitting harness, which is important beyond comfort. Once your body loosens, your shoulders,
elbows, wrists, and hands need to be loose as well. Obviously,
you use these muscles (as well as your core, as we’ll talk about
later), to weight shift but when you’re not weight shifting, you
should remain as loose as possible.
Loose hands are essential. It’s HANG gliding, not HOLD
ON gliding. If you’re death-gripping the base tube, you are
throwing out valuable information about your wing and the
air you are in. In fact, contact with the glider should be as light
as practical. I strongly prefer to fly with open palms, with just
my fingertips on top of the base tube. Fingertips are very sensitive; their light contact allows you to really feel out the wing
and air. Flying loose takes practice, but working on it pays
huge dividends in the quality and precision of your flying.
Once you’re loose and sensitive to your wing, it’s time to
focus on “conservation of motion.” What that means is not
making unnecessary inputs, or overdoing inputs that are
necessary. True conservation of motion is only possible when
you are really feeling the wing, so it’s important to go in order:
FIRST get loose, THEN you can get sensitive, and THEN
you can work on economy of motion. Some turbulence is just
turbulence, while other turbulence can turn the wing or re-

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HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

quire pitch input, and being loose and sensitive helps decipher
if any input is needed. When an input IS needed, try to shift
your weight slowly and smoothly. Big “stabs” of weight shift
are inefficient—with them comes more adverse yaw, which
can sometimes lead to requiring more input to correct bank
or course heading. Slower, smooth inputs also let you keep
lighter contact on the wing and better understand how much
input to give and how long to hold it.
When you shift your weight to the side, it’s important to
keep your body aligned with the airflow. The draggiest harness pointed straight into the airflow is still cleaner than a
slick race harness turned sideways! To get in the right position,
focus on steering with your hips. Don’t pull your shoulders
over, push your feet over, or bring your hips over. Use your
core to keep your body straight.
Do not, under any 6