Speed Bar Technique — When and How to Use It Safely

The speed bar is one of the most underused tools in the recreational paragliding pilot's repertoire, and also one of the most misunderstood. Many pilots treat it like an emergency option — something to reach for only when they need to get down fast or fight a headwind. In reality, the speed bar is a performance tool that, used correctly in the right conditions, meaningfully improves XC efficiency and in some specific situations is the safer option, not the riskier one. This guide covers the mechanics, the numbers, the correct situations to use it, and how to build the skill progressively.

What the Speed Bar Does — the Mechanics

The speed bar (also called the accelerator) is a foot-operated stirrup connected by a pulley system to the A and B risers. When the pilot extends their legs and pushes the bar forward, the front risers are pulled down relative to the rear, which reduces the wing's angle of attack — the angle at which the leading edge meets the oncoming air.

Reducing angle of attack does several things simultaneously:

• Increases airspeed — the wing moves faster through the air
• Increases sink rate — the wing descends faster in still air
• Reduces glide ratio in still air — you cover slightly less horizontal distance per metre of altitude lost at trim speed
• Improves penetration in headwind — the extra airspeed more than compensates for the increased sink rate when flying into wind
• Reduces the margin to stall — the wing is operating at a lower angle of attack, meaning there is less buffer before it would stall if the brakes were applied

That last point is the critical safety consideration with speed bar use.

The Numbers — Trim, Half Bar, Full Bar

The exact figures vary by wing and size, but on a typical modern EN-B glider at the middle of its weight range:

Reading that table, it might seem counterproductive — why use the speed bar if it reduces your glide ratio? The answer lies in the polar curve: in a headwind, the speed bar allows you to achieve a better ground glide ratio (horizontal distance covered over the ground, not through the air) by moving faster than the wind is pushing you back. At trim speed in a 20 km/h headwind, your effective ground speed is only ~18 km/h. At full bar, it becomes ~34–38 km/h — dramatically better penetration despite the higher sink rate.

When to Use the Speed Bar

Gliding in headwinds

This is the primary XC application. Whenever you are gliding into a headwind to reach the next thermal, the speed bar improves your ground glide ratio. As a rough rule of thumb: in winds above about 10–12 km/h headwind, half bar improves your overall efficiency. In winds above 18–20 km/h, full bar is worth pushing.

Flying in sink between thermals

When your vario is showing persistent sink and you need to get through a dead zone to reach better air on the other side, the speed bar gets you there faster — you spend less time (and altitude) traversing the sink. This is a core XC skill: using the polar to time when to accelerate and when to slow down.

Flying low over rough terrain

This is the use case that surprises pilots: in turbulent, lively low-level air over rough terrain, a wing on speed bar is more penetrating through gusts and less prone to frontal collapses than a wing at trim or slow speed. The increased airspeed gives the wing more kinetic energy to absorb a perturbation. This does not mean speed bar is safe at very low altitude — it means it is appropriate at moderate height in turbulent glide transitions.

When NOT to Use the Speed Bar

Understanding when not to push the bar matters as much as knowing when to use it:

• While thermalling — you need maximum glide efficiency and turn radius control; speed bar reduces both
• At very low altitude — in the unlikely event of a wing incident on full bar, you need altitude to recover
• In extremely turbulent air — beyond a certain turbulence intensity, speed bar increases the wing's energy state to the point where a collapse recovery becomes more violent rather than less; there is a threshold beyond which releasing and flying with light brakes is preferable
• While pulling big ears — big ears and speed bar can be combined on some wings but must be introduced carefully; on many EN-A and B wings, combining both requires specific technique and familiarity with the wing's behaviour
• Without being familiar with the technique — pushing full bar for the first time in rough air is not the moment to find out how your wing behaves

Technique — Foot Position, Smooth Activation, Brake Input

Foot position: The speed bar loops should sit across the arch of your foot, not on your toes. Toes-only contact makes sustained pressure tiring and imprecise; arch contact lets you extend through your whole leg with significantly less fatigue on a long XC glide.

Smooth activation: Push the bar progressively, not in one abrupt motion. Allow the wing two to three seconds to settle at each new speed level before adding more pressure. An abrupt full-bar push in turbulent conditions can provoke a frontal tuck as the leading edge momentarily overshoots its new equilibrium angle.

Brake input on speed bar: When accelerated, you should hold the brake toggles in your hands but not apply any brake pressure. The brakes must remain unloaded. Applying brakes while on full speed bar simultaneously raises the rear risers and further lowers the angle of attack in an uncontrolled way, moving the wing dangerously close to stall. This is the most common dangerous error in speed bar technique. Hands light, on the toggles, not pulling.

Releasing the bar: To exit accelerated flight, simply relax your legs and let the footplate return to its rest position. The wing will pitch back to trim speed naturally. You do not need to actively pull the bar back — gravity and the riser tension return it.

Speed Bar vs. Big Ears — Choosing the Right Descent Tool

Both speed bar and big ears increase your descent rate. They are not interchangeable:

• Speed bar increases airspeed and penetration — use it to cover ground efficiently while descending, or to improve headwind glide. It does not significantly increase descent rate compared to big ears.
• Big ears dramatically increase descent rate (often 3–5 m/s vs. 1–2.2 m/s) with minimal increase in ground speed — use them to descend from cloudbase quickly without covering ground, or to break out of strong thermal climbs.

For XC glide transitions, speed bar. For coming down fast in a fixed location, big ears. The two serve different purposes, and experienced pilots use both as appropriate to the situation.

Progressive Practice — How to Build Confidence

1. First session: In calm, smooth air at comfortable height, push to half bar only. Hold it for 30 seconds. Note the pitch change, the sound difference (wind noise increases), the vario behaviour. Release smoothly. Repeat until it feels unremarkable.
2. Second session: Progress to three-quarters bar in smooth air. Same exercise — hold, observe, release. Focus specifically on keeping your hands neutral on the toggles.
3. Third session: Full bar in smooth air. You'll notice the wing pitches forward more noticeably. The leading edge is lower; the profile is flatter. Hold for 30 seconds, then release. The wing will pitch back slightly on release — this is normal and benign in smooth air.
4. First real application: Use half bar during a headwind glide between thermals on a moderate day. Compare the vario output and your ground speed to your normal trim-speed glide. The improvement is immediately legible.
5. Advanced: Practice combining bar use with route decisions — pushing through sink zones, releasing before entering thermals, using the polar curve consciously. This is the XC pilot's most valuable skill after thermal centering.