PROGRESSION · RIDER COMPARISON · WOO 4

WHY DOES GRANT GO HIGHER?

A small-sample, real-rider comparison looking for the differences that repeat often enough to become useful training hypotheses.

CONTEXT

SAME HOME WATERS. A USEFUL LOCAL BENCHMARK.

Grant Clayton runs Kitesurf Scotland, is the current UK WOO Big Air Grand Master, and is a mate I regularly ride with at Troon and Barassie. That makes his WOO 4 data a useful comparison for me. Looking across a selection of our jump stats, there are some clear differences in Edge, Pop and Pop Velocity, and it also raises a bigger question around how much approach speed is influencing the final height.

The analysis uses a selected set of WOO 4 jump-detail statistics from the WOO application. It is observational rather than a controlled biomechanics study, and the purpose is to identify patterns worth testing — not to claim one universal formula for height.

EXECUTIVE READ

THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE IS NOT EDGE.

Grant is higher by roughly 4.6 m across these selected samples. The strongest consistent mechanical separation is Pop angle.

53.7°Andy Edge avg.
60.8°Grant Edge avg.
7.0°Andy Pop avg.
22.5°Grant Pop avg.
Working hypothesis: the missing metres look more like a conversion problem — preserving useful approach energy and converting it through a larger effective release — than a simple lack of edge.

AVERAGE MECHANICS

THE TWO JUMP SIGNATURES.

Edge angle
Andy
53.7°
Grant
60.8°
Pop angle
Andy
7.0°
Grant
22.5°
Pop velocity
Andy
31.7°/s
Grant
46.3°/s

WHAT STANDS OUT

FOUR FINDINGS THAT MATTER.

01

Pop angle is the clearest separation.

Andy averages 7.0°. Grant averages 22.5°. Even Grant's lower Pop readings sit well above much of Andy's sample.

02

Edge alone does not explain the height gap.

The average Edge gap is only 7.1°. Andy also records individual Edge values close to Grant's high-jump values, so simply chasing a bigger Edge number is unlikely to be the whole answer.

03

Fast Pop is not the same as a big Pop.

Andy Jump 36 records 60.8° Edge and 77.0°/s Pop Velocity, but only 7.7° Pop. Grant Jump 16 records 62.7° Edge, a slightly lower 61.3°/s Pop Velocity, but a much larger 24.5° Pop. That is one of the clearest contrasts in the dataset.

04

Takeoff speed is the key missing like-for-like metric.

Grant averages 38.8 kph takeoff speed and his strongest complete jump reaches 49.3 kph. Equivalent Andy speed readings are not present in this sample, so speed remains a strong candidate rather than a proven rider-to-rider difference.

WITHIN ANDY'S SAMPLE

WHAT MOVES WITH HEIGHT?

POP

+0.54Moderate positive association.

EDGE

≈ 0.00No useful association here.

POP VELOCITY

−0.31Variable; not a standalone target.

WITHIN GRANT'S SAMPLE

SPEED IS A STRONG CANDIDATE.

TAKEOFF SPEED

+0.72Strong positive association in this five-jump sample.

JUMP DISTANCE

+0.73Also rises strongly with height.

Correlation describes association, not cause, and these are small samples.

GOOFY / TACK HYPOTHESIS

IS THE APPROACH LINE COSTING SPEED?

Possible, but not proven. Being goofy doesn’t automatically make you slower. But on a left-hand wind, if my preferred jumping tack puts me on a more upwind line, makes me edge earlier, or leaves me fighting the chop instead of carrying speed, I could be arriving at the take-off slower than I think.

The same applies the other way round for natural riders in a right-hand wind. If their preferred tack forces an earlier edge, a less comfortable bearing-off line or a worse angle through the chop, they could lose take-off speed in exactly the same way.

That hypothesis fits the current signature: strong Edge, relatively small Pop angle and variable Pop Velocity. The decisive next test is to record Andy's Takeoff Speed and Jump Distance on both tacks under comparable conditions.

AVERAGE DIFFERENCES

THE CURRENT NUMBERS.

MetricAndyGrantDifference
Approx. jump height12.1 m16.7 m+4.6 m
Edge53.7°60.8°+7.1°
Pop7.0°22.5°+15.5°
Pop Velocity31.7°/s46.3°/s+14.6°/s
Takeoff SpeedNot captured38.8 kphNeeds Andy data
Jump DistanceNot captured72.2 mNeeds Andy data

NEXT TECHNIQUE TEST

DON'T JUST EDGE HARDER.

Test preserving more board speed into the takeoff, delaying the hardest part of the edge, and allowing a larger effective release rather than simply increasing Edge angle.

NEXT DATA TEST

CAPTURE BOTH TACKS.

Record Height, Takeoff Speed, Edge, Pop, Pop Velocity and Jump Distance. Ten or more comparable jumps per tack would make the next analysis materially stronger.

Data note.

Grant's sample contains five selected WOO 4 jumps and Andy's sample contains nine selected WOO 4 jumps. Heights were estimated from the visible WOO traces where a numeric height field was not shown. Wind strength, kite size, board, water state, rider mass, tack and exact takeoff geometry are not controlled in this comparison.