Kitesurfing Lessons – Landboarding

Posted under Kitesurfing Lessons, Trainer Kite

Once your happy with flying your trainer kite if you’ve still got a bit of time before your kitesurfing lessons you may want to introduce a board to spice things up somewhat.  Landboarding offers the easiest and most practical way into Kiteboarding with a kite for most people as it is fairly easy to pick up and you don’t have to live next to the coast to do it. Landboarding is significantly more forgiving to the beginner than kiteboarding as the ground doesn’t move under you, however the ground itself is much less forgiving…wear a helmet and pads and take care!

Prospective landboarders will need a kite, (obviously) kites do come in two line varieties, however it is more common for four lines to be used for control, these allow for easy stopping as well as forward control. ie the trainer kites we talked about earlier. Kitesurf LEI kites can be used but just be aware of what your going to be crashing them into, the last thing you want is your 1000€ kite being wrapped around a lamp-post (don’t laugh I’ve seen it…ok

, well actually, I laughed so hard at the time I nearly died…!).

The board is the other obvious bit of kit.  The boards used in landboarding are very similar to skateboards, although they are curved to allow for more control. The other main differences from skateboards is the binding that are built into the boards and they have bigger ‘all terrain’ (believe it when you see it!) wheels. These bindings are tightened around the landboarders feet to ensure that the board doesn’t separate from the landboarder, though you may want to experiment with this to start with. The size and shape of the board do vary and this difference is often dependent on what the landboarder wants to do with it. Some boards are specifically designed for speed, and some are designed for tricks.

The board itself should be strong enough that it won’t break when you land it after jumping, progression will likely be rapid and jumping at an early stage is a real possibility.  Cheap skate that I am I always used to buy cheap boards which would inevitably break on first contact with the ground and leave me looking very undignified, usually right in-front of a girl I was desperately trying to impress. Most boards these days come with a weight rating so get one that’s right for you, it will save you cash in the long run….and humiliation and lonely nights and endless wondering what if…but I digress!

Probably the most important bits of kit are the helmet and pad, these must be considered essential and I advise against practising without them. Also make sure you have a functioning safety system and you know how it works. Start small, you want to be out on the smallest kite that will get you moving to start with.

Favoured places to practise will normally be open areas that attract constant wind. Some of the favourite places are the areas near to the ocean, either large sandy beaches, or park areas nearby. Most landboarders are also conscientious enough to try and find areas where they will not disrupt others, as much for their safety as for the safety of others, giving yourself plenty of room will also increase your confidence as your not constantly worrying about landing the kite on top of old mother Biggins bobble hatted head!

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