Foilstyle: Pushloop into Shaka – a new move? Three questions for Dudu Levi

​On the foil, familiar freestyle moves suddenly feel different – easier, higher, sometimes almost unreal. Dudu Levi made the most of precisely this effect when he pulled off a perfect pushloop into shaka in head-high Mediterranean waves and 15 to 18 knots. Whether it’s a brand-new creation or a foil-adapted version of an old Finnish trick, this manoeuvre shows just how much potential there is in foil-style windsurfing. In this interview, Dudu explains how the trick came about and why the foil has changed his windsurfing life.

• ​Foilstyle riding technique: The basics of freestyle on a foilboard

Dudu, how did you manage that perfect push loop into a Shaka on the foil?

Ever since I started foiling, the push loop has opened up a whole new world for me. It’s become my favourite trick – I do it every time the conditions are right, and when you’re foiling, that happens quite often. In bigger waves, I started approaching the trick more aggressively, which gave me the feeling that I might be able to pull off the Shaka turn afterwards. Once I had that feeling, I knew I’d keep working on it until I’d mastered the trick.

What were the conditions like on the day the move went off without a hitch?

In summer, we get some waves in the Mediterranean from winds blowing in from Greece and Italy, creating fantastic conditions for foiling; for normal freestyle, the wind is a bit too light. On the day the trick was filmed, the wind speed was 15 to 18 knots and the waves were about head-high.

Windfoiling has given you a whole new lease of enthusiasm. How has it changed your life, and how do you combine it with traditional fin freestyle?

In Israel, there’s a light breeze almost all year round; of course, there are strong winds too, but not that often. Foiling has given me the chance to spend three times as many days in the water – and to do so with high-quality, top-level training. Throughout my entire sporting career, I’ve always felt I didn’t have enough training days, and I had to travel all over the world to improve. Now I make the most of the local conditions to have more fun than ever and make progress. I always have all my kit in the car – as long as the wind is below 20 knots, I set up the foil; from 20 knots upwards, I screw the fin on. It’s as simple as that. Compared to before, I now always feel like I’m in the right place at the right time.