How Taking Kitesurfing Lessons Will Change Your Life Forever

Kitesurfing Lessons - The Bodydrag

Kitesurfing is the latest water sports craze. With more and more people having kitesurfing lessons and taking up the sport every day. What is it that draws all these people, from all walks of life to this adrenaline packed, fun loving sport? What benefit will you get out of life by taking the plunge and taking your first tenuous steps in a new world and booking your first kitesurfing lessons?

The greatest danger associated with kite surfing is its ability to get under your skin and change your life forever. Such is the addiction that many people give up their 9 to 5 and head to find an alternative existence, an existence dominated by wind, water and an obsession with weather reports. Released from the pressures of the daily grind, life becomes a quest for ride time. These people are not the hippies and junkies that are stereotyped in films and novels but, instead, are people from all walks of life who have given it all up — exchanging flashy cars and expensive mortgages for quality of life, a beach, a board and often just enough money in their pocket to buy their next beer.

For a lot of people the greatest thing about kitesurfing is the fact that it draws you to lots of different and incredible locations all over the globe. Kitesurfing, being a relatively new sport, most of the top locations are still remote…or not even discovered yet! So you have some amazing opportunities to travel the world in search of your ultimate ride. The list of kitesurfing destinations reads like a Lonely Planet top ten list of places you must see before you die…Brazil, S Africa, Kenya, Thailand, Mauritius, Turkey, Ireland, Mexico….you get the picture!

So what are you waiting for get out there and book your first kitesurfing lessons…but be careful where this new lifestyle may take you!

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Kitesurfing Lessons – Equipment you should be using during your Kitesurfing Lessons

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.

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

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Kitesurfing Lessons – Why Bother?

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.

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

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