Beginner to Winner (2007)

Written by guchtere on September 27, 2012

What is it?

The second instalment of the Feed Your Soul Trilogy, this is an instruction DVD for beginners to freeride sailors from Free Your Mind Productions and Jem Hall. It has 21 chapters covering all technique for beginners & intermediates including beach and waterstart, harness and footstraps use and then it's into a comprehensive gybing section. Then we move on to Jumping and Basic Freestyle like the duck gybe and heli tack. The DVD finishes with a Fault Analysis section and a Live Coaching section on the Stance & Carve Gybe. It also contains two travel features on Tobago & Maui and a trailer for the upcoming wave movie.

Length 4 hours

Who edited it?

Free Your Mind Productions.

What we liked about it

We can just see sections of this DVD being played out at windsurfing centres across Europe as the instructors hope his/her clients will pick up the many top tips vital for success on the water after lunch! Each section is very comprehensive but easy to follow. Jem goes though all the actions time and time again giving plenty of top tips together with lots of different camera angles.

We liked the Live Coaching section and the Fault Analysis using ‘real’ windsurfers. This is very good as we see mistakes happen naturally from all sizes and abilities of sailor. We also see exactly what it is like to be coached from the sidelines!

What we didn’t like

Well, as Jem is our magazine 'technique guru', we felt more obliged than ever to pick out something negative, just to show that we aren't bigging it up just 'cos we are mates! But we are genuinely struggling! Yes, the big furry mic. is less than subtle and Jems choice of clothing could put Boy George to shame, but overall there really is nothing that we diss-liked about this DVD.

Chick action .v. Bloke action

Emma Ray, an RYA Instructor teaching out in Tobago, features heavily in the beginner section. The lovely Anick Violette is used in the Beach Start and Launch & Land Chapters.

Best bits

Jem Hall working the poor, Swedish guy pretty hard as he improves his carve gybe – very funny! Plus the out takes chapter with Jem not taking himself too seriously.

What is missing? Jem's sections on Fault Anaylsis & Live Coaching are very good and it's a shame they didn't do this more comprehensively and in a few other sections. However, at 4 hours long, maybe that's enough!

Music

You don’t really notice it, it just jingles away nicely in the background.

Source: http://www.boardseekermag.com/windsurfing_lifestyle/DVDs/dvd-review-beginner-to-winner-025.html