Feb
28
Posted under
Kite Surfing Lessons,
Kitesurfing Lessons
For those of you looking to take your first Kitesurfing Lessons you’ve come to the right place. Kitesurfing is about so much more than boosting massive airs off the lips of sweetly peeling waves, or rushing down the face of a 10 foot barrel with your heart pounding in your ears. Its a way of life, a means of connecting with nature of getting out and discovering the best this world has to offer in some of the most amazing places you can imagine. Its a community, and a friendly and welcoming one at that. Through the means of this website we’re going to show you exactly how you can become a member of the tribe. So grab a brew and let us take you through what you’ll need to know to take your first steps into a wider world.
Learning to Kitesurf can be challenging and your bound to take some hits along the way but at the end of the day its a relatively quick process, expect to be looking after yourself on the water after about a week and be up and riding shortly after that…so about the same time most people take to get the hang of snowboarding. From there its Caribbean turquoise waters, epic kitesurfing sessions on the water and relaxing with Brazilian Beach Volleyball teams (or Top Gun type Volley ball teams for the ladies!) all the way.
On this website we’re going to take you through everything you need to know to get into Kitesurfing as quickly and as smoothly as possible from fitness to flying your first Trainer Kite, to taking Kitesurfing Lessons, and what to look for while booking, to the kitesurfing equipment you’ll need and how much you can expect to spend. By the time you finish reading the website you’ll not only know exactly what you need to do to become a kitesurfer, but how much it’ll cost, and know enough to be able to talk to the guys who’ve been kitesurfing for ages without coming across like a total newbie.
One thing we stress throughout is the importance of taking kitesurfing lessons with a qualified instructor, sure you can learn to kitesurf from the internet or from a friend but statistically your risk of injury shoots up and your chances of ever actually making it to the level where you are an independent kitesurfer shoot down. Why? most people who try and teach themselves or learn kitesurfing from a friend end up giving up from frustration way before they ever get near to riding. If they do make it as far as actually riding they often find they’ve spent a lot more money buying kit that was no good for them and taking a lot more time to learn than it should have. I know, I taught myself and it took me a year to ride upwind and many painful and humiliating sessions that taught me nothing but how to look stupid being dragged around on the sand in front of chicks I was trying to impress!! You also run the risk of injuring others, a kite out of control is a dangerous thing to be near, and for some reason there’s always a helpless old lady standing right in the kites path! Please for your own sake and that of others users of the beach, find an Instructor and take some kitesurfing lessons.
So preamble over lets get into it, we’re going to start with the basics, things you can do right now to start preparing yourself for kitesurfing lessons. Then we’ll take a look at the kiteboarding lessons themselves, where to go, how much to pay, what to look for in a school and most importantly the safety standards
you need to be aware of while kitesurfing. Once your back from your lessons we’ll take a look at kitesurfing equipment, the various types of kites and their relative advantages and disadvantages and what you should be looking for (and what you should be paying) for your first set of kitesurfing equipment. We’ll go over boards, harnesses, wetsuits again looking at what they should cost you and what type is right for you. Next we’ll look at various different riding styles and a look at the various disciplines of kitesurfing, freestyle, wave riding and race. Finally we’ll take a look at the weather and how to interpret all those funny lines on the daily forecast. Through out the guide we’ll be providing links to useful kitesurfing resources and illustrating with pictures and diagrams. We are always looking to improve the site so if you have any comments, whether your a total beginner or a seasoned pro, please, please let us know either by sending an email or leaving a comment we will respond to any questions asked and it gives us a warm fuzzy feeling inside to know that people are actually reading the stuff we write and gaining value from it!
So to business:
![Kitesurfing Lessons The Beginners Guide]( "Kitesurfing Lessons The Beginners Guide")
Chances are as your taking the time to read this article that you probably have a fair few questions about kitesurfing and this one was the most obvious we could think of…
more on Kitesurfing LessonsProof that you don’t need to be an Olympic Athlete to take up kitesurfing and exercises you can do to prepare your body for the experience…
more on Kitesurfing LessonsFlying a trainer kite is the best way to decrease your learning time and boost your skill set before taking your first kitesurfing lessons, the best part is, its totally safe so you can do it before you go and take your kitesurfing lessons so reducing the time and money you spend learning…
more on Kitesurfing LessonsLandboarding while a separate sport in itself, can be combined with your new found trainer kite skills to introduce you to some important concepts of board control that will help you even more during your kitesurfing lessons…
more on Kitesurfing LessonsWhy to take kitesurfing lessons, where to take them, who to take them with and what to look for before you book…
more on Kitesurfing LessonsKites, boards, harnesses, wetsuits, prices and what you should be looking for when buying your kitesurfing equipment…
more on Kitesurfing LessonsWe take a look at the various kitesurfing disciplines to give you an insight into which one will suit you best…
more on Kitesurfing LessonsTechnorati Tags: how to kitesurf, kite lessons, kite surf lessons, kitesurf lessons, Kitesurfing Lessons, learn to kitesurf
Feb
18
Posted under
How to Kitesurf,
Kitesurfing Lessons,
Learn to Kitesurf
So you’ve decided where your going and with whom you’re going to take your kitesurfing lessons. What sort of equipment will you be using will you be using when you get there? Most (if not all) schools these days will teach on Bow kites. These new style of kite have swept the market over the last few years due to their increased safety, de-power and ease of relaunch compared to the older style C kites. Learning on a bow kit ensures you, the student, the fastest possible rate of progression with maximum safety and you should insist you are taught on a Bow style kite. There are several other names banded around for what is essentially the same thing, ‘Hybrid’ being foremost among them (a hybrid kite is a cross between a C and a bow kite, but for learning puposes serves just as well as a Bow kite).
Other kit is less critical and more a case of personal preference. Harnesses can be either in the seat or waist style. A waist harness being like a big belt and a seat harness having straps to attach round your legs stopping it from riding up your chest (this can be very useful for those ladies amongst you with rather a lot of fruit on the balcony!!). Which you prefer will generally come down to personal preference. The same is true of boards and your instructor will be able to guide you on what size board is best for you during your kitesurfing lessons as it will depend on your size and how quickly you expect to progress. Use the opportunity while your with the school to test every different piece of kit they have so you can start to get an idea of what the different bits feels like and whether you like it or not.
![Kitesurfing Lessons Equipment you should be using during your Kitesurfing Lessons]( "Kitesurfing Lessons Equipment you should be using during your Kitesurfing Lessons")
I’ll take a deeper look at individual bits of kit (kites especially) in a later article but for the moment if you have any questions please let me know and I’ll get back to you straight away. To learn more about Kitesurfing equipment read the next article in the series Kitesurfing Lessons – buying you first kite
Technorati Tags: kite lessons, kite surf lessons, Kite surfing lessons, kitesurf lessons, Kitesurfing Equipment, Kitesurfing Lessons
Feb
12
Posted under
Kite Lessons,
Kite Surfing Lessons,
Kitesurfing Lessons
Why bother?
I get many people asking me “should I bother with kitesurfing lessons?” the answer I always scream is “YES, YES, YES”. I have to admit my reasons aren’t entirely selfless (mostly but not entirely!). Taking kitesurfing lessons with an official school and a qualified instructor will greatly decrease your learning time, increase your enjoyment and ensure that you are learning in a safe, professional environment. It will also mean that your not a liability to yourself and others on the water and the beach.
Kitesurfing, while a safe sport when practiced by someone who knows what they are doing, can be very dangerous when practiced by someone who has no idea what they are doing. Not only dangerous for the participants but also (and perhaps more importantly) any innocent bystanders, and as Murphy’s law would have it, those helpless (and often hapless) bystanders always happen to be some poor old lady or a woman with a baby.
The more accidents that occur the more difficult it is for kitesurfing organisations to convince the local councils that allowing kitesurfing on their beaches is a good idea and the more problems this causes for us all as kitersurfers get squeezed in one zone on the beach or even worse kitesurfing get banned all together. This is especially a problem in the summer months when sunbathers, kitesurfers, windsurfers, and all sorts of water/beach users descend upon the beaches and space is at a premium. In short please, please, please ensure you take your kitesurfing lessons with a qualified instructor, you’ll speed up your learning time, increase your enjoyment (though watching your mate get hurled 40m down the beach because he put up the wrong kite can be funny for you…he’s unlikely to agree!) and make it much more likely that one day soon you’ll be able to call yourself a fully fledged kitesurfer.
![Kitesurfing Lessons Why Bother?]( "Kitesurfing Lessons Why Bother?")
So how can you recognise a good instructor or school? The worldwide kitesurfing authority is the International Kitesurfing Organisation or IKO. You can rest assured if you see their name attached to any kiteschool that the school adhere’s to the latest teaching methodology and safety procedures. That said most countries have their own National Kitesurfing body aswell, for example the BKSA in Britain or FAV in Spain. Any instructor or school working to the standards laid down by these bodies will be equally as reputable. Make sure you ask your instructor by which organisation he or she has been accredited before paying any money for your course. If you have any doubts as to your instructor or the school thats teaching you why not drop me an email and I’ll be happy to guide you in the right direction.
Read the next chapter on Kitesurfing Lessons – what to look for in a learning location
Technorati Tags: kite lessons, Kite surfing lessons, kitesurf lessons, Kitesurfing Lessons
