Kitesurfing Lessons – Kitesurfing Disciplines

Posted under Kitesurfing Lessons

 

At the IKA website (International Kitesurfing Association) we are informed there are 5 main disciplines that make up kitesurfing at a competition level. Wave, Freestyle, Course Racing, Slalom and Speed each of these has various subcategories such as high jump and hang time.  Which of these various disciplines you care to pursue after your kitesurfing lessons is a matter of personal preference and physical ability. Lets break them down and look at each one in a bit more detail, examining what each discipline is and what it demands from the rider, so once you’ve completed your kitesurfing lessons you’ll be perfectly poised to pursue your chosen path.

Wave – Possibly the most spectacular of the disciplines, find a big wave..ride it! With the explosion of wave boards into kitesurfing this is a discipline that is becoming more and more popular and accessible. Many people are now using their old surfboards without footsteps to catch whatever waves they can find, I regularly take out my 7’8″ mini mal on the lighter days. At the top level its a quest, an obsession that sees riders traveling the globe in search of the perfect break (think point break…but with kites and less fighting!) but it can be enjoyed at any level. Take out a big surf board and a little kite and you can be messing around on even the smallest of waves while you brush up your technique. Pursuing this discipline requires a fair amount of patience as you now have to look for waves as-well as wind but if you’ve got a surf board in your quiver it gives you a great light wind option.  at a basic level it doesn’t require a great amount of fitness, but as the waves get bigger and the boards shorter you can find yourself really working and your courage being put to the test more than once! Unless you ride on a lake I would really recommend you getting a surf board and having a go at this, its a great light wind option and will add a whole new dimension to your riding, if the school your learning at has any surf boards you should ask to try one during your kitesurfing lessons so you can feel the difference first hand…believe me you’ll never look back! 

Freestyle – Probably the most popular of the disciplines and the one that people most readily associate with kitesurfing.  Take out a twin tip board and jump, twist, rotate (and crash!) to your hearts content! Almost everybody who kitesurfs will be into freestyle in one way or the other, whether its simply pulling off big jumps or getting into the more advanced rotation and wake style tricks. This is a discipline that can be enjoyed by everyone. Again at its most basic level it can be pretty straightforward, jumping for example requires very little in the way of physical fitness or finesse to achieve, the more advanced powered up moves however can take their pound of flesh so if your going to go for these I would recommend that your fairly fit and prepared to take a bit of a beating initially at least.  You’ll probably get an intro into freestyle during your kitesurfing lessons with all the (unintentional) jumps you pull off…go with it and enjoy its part of the process!!

Course racing and Slalom are both about racing against a load of other riders around a course of buoys. Competitions are held either with all the riders launching together or competing against each other one at a time in time trials. With large fleets of up to 100 riders competing at any one time all hustling for that no 1 spot this can be hugely entertaining for any spectators and quite an adrenaline buzz for the riders themselves! Race boards are becoming more and more common in kitesurfing and many people own one as they make great light wind boards.  Realistically it’ll most likely be a couple of months after your kitesurfing lessons before your ready for one of these disciplines but they can provide a lot of fun. They do however require some organizing and as such are quite difficult to find, if your really interested why not talk to your local club/shop about hosting one in your local spot.

Speed – put up an unrealistically large kite in nuclear winds and try to hold on! Not for the faint hearted or the physically sluggish. Riders can reach speeds of over 50 knots so wipe outs are spectacular and generally painful. Definitely leave this one a while after completing your kitesurfing lessons.  For those interested many companies now do GPS units that will track your speed over a session nod give you detailed reports when you get back off the water.

 

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