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Re: New to Florida Kiteboaring. Confused and Frustrated!!

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 1:48 am
by PVITfrumBYRAM
I wrote something earlier but forgot to click send. Oh well. I agree with the others on this topic.

I'm an instructor and 4 hrs on a trainer is crazy, especially if it was windy enough for you to fly an inflatable. Well maybe it was a good thing in the long run.

Here's the good part, you spent a lot of time flying the kite. You flew different kites with an instructor and you have spent plenty of time with a small inflatable in 25 mph winds. The bad part is that in the 6 hrs with your instructor, you didn't attempt to water start or at least try to put the board on your feet to see how difficult it can be. At least you didn't say anything about water starts.

You owe it to yourself now to go back to some more instruction. You have a lot to bring to the table now. If you end up flying the kite some before taking another lesson, see if find yourself able to tell where the kite is without starting at it the whole time because your next hill to climb is flying the kite while trying to get your feet in the foot straps.

Your next instructor should be able to confidently have you flying the kite with one hand, board drag upwind in no time, and proceed to water starts very fast. In the long run you may have saved some money but taking just one lesson and flying yourself bored in your free time. Now you will be able to focus on primarily getting up to ride!

Contact Endless Windz, I think they are near Orlando. My buddy Mike who I coached in snowboarding and taught to kite and trained for teaching works for them. He's got a huge quiver to work with, all the way up to a 17meter. Send me a personal message on here if you want his contact info.

Sell the 2.5 to that other guy and put the money towards your lesson.
Have fun.

Re: New to Florida Kiteboaring. Confused and Frustrated!!

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 1:57 am
by Dan Glyaire
homer-simpson-deep-thoughts.jpg
homer-simpson-deep-thoughts.jpg (33.82 KiB) Viewed 2520 times
dont be a homer.!
:bye:

Re: New to Florida Kiteboaring. Confused and Frustrated!!

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:08 am
by tautologies
bahflorida wrote:Good afternoon all. I think Kiteboarding is a spectacular, beautiful and awesome sport, but some days I feel like throwing in the towel!!! Ever been there when learning?

Let me backup and explain. As of 2 months ago I began my kite boarding experience. I had seen kites on the beach, thought "that is awesome", lurked on the forums and finally took the plunge.

I started by taking lessons with an instructor:
-6 hours total.
-4 hours on a two line.
-learned about wind window, maneuvering the kite and body dragging.
-2 hours on a 4 line kite
-learned about kite setup, depowering, safety features, maneuvering the kite and body dragging

At this point I had gained a small amount of confidence but felt I definitally needed more practice. I purchased a 2m Ocean Rodeo 4 Line kite. Sometimes I feel I made a mistake. Here is why:

-If the wind stays 25+mph . I can fly the kite just fine. I have no issues walking up and down the beach, figure 8's, even some small jumps. Its fun!
-But if that wind dips below a certain threshold, I'm a sitting duck! Really, I mean REALLY sucks!
-I've logged about 7 hours GOOD flight time, and then about 10 hours sh!t time sitting on my butt on the beach cursing!
-The wind around here is usually 10-20mph
-I'm tempted to get a 10+m Best Kahoona (2011-12) but fear is getting the best of me. I'm worried about seriously injuring myself.

So who here has been in my shoes and persevered!? What is your experience?

I've never been a quitter, but I'm sick of wasting time and LOADS of $$ on something thats this frustrating. Agh!

Thanks guys!
people are different. I think practising 2 line kites are best down on your own.

Did the instructor go through the basics of setting up, launching, landing, self rescue? Have you been in the water body dragging?
Can ask you how much you've paid for these lessons?

Some times the progress depends on how confident the student is, and fast s/he learns. People are different. Don't worry so much. If you feel unsure about going with a big kite, then take another lesson. You have to be relatively confident you can do it before you do, otherewise it'll end badly.

Instructors should NEVER teach in shitty conditions. I cannot say how many people I've seen absolutely waste their money. Teaching in very light winds is a huge no no in my book. Every instructor I have told always say they need the money.

Either way, make sure you go in winds that give you some power. You'll get a lot more out of it.

Re: New to Florida Kiteboaring. Confused and Frustrated!!

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 4:16 am
by PVITfrumBYRAM
I hate teaching in light winds. I think there is some incredibly valuable skills to be taught in light winds but still tough to provide value in a long lesson. I'm pushing for our shop to have clinics instead on light wind days. Big groups of people can each pay a small fee, everyone learns a lot of good stuff, instructor gets paid, customer doesn't feel the dent of 180-300$ lesson.


There is something to be said about every student having a different learning curve. I'm sure that 2.5m turns fast in 25 mph so if you haven't hurt yourself yet, you probably have a good feel for it. But you gotta pony up for some more instruction, with a jetski optimally.

Re: New to Florida Kiteboaring. Confused and Frustrated!!

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 4:44 am
by coleman
you may need more lessons! for example, i was a decent snowboarder/wake boarder and had lots of experience flying traction and stunt kites when i decided to get into kiteboarding.

it wasn't till my 4th lesson that i was able to get up and get some riding in. so for me that was 15+hrs of lessons to get the pieces in place.

sounds like you haven't gotten out on a board yet. i would be bored flying a 2m kite on the beach too.

Re: New to Florida Kiteboaring. Confused and Frustrated!!

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 4:53 am
by pixelpedro
bahflorida wrote:Thanks again all. Keep the suggestions coming
Dude, stick with it, I also learned here in Florida, it was rough at first say the first 20 sesh (yup I marked them on my board), cause everyone said, about 40 times you'll be ridding, so I was impatient about it, so I wanted to know how far along I was, lol.

But what did it for me, was going to the keys. The local crew I now kite with, back when I started invited me to the keys, and that was the day I got up for the first time, and really experienced kiteboarding for the first time, everything clicked, all the videos made sense (progression DVD is killer), what the instructor said totally made sense, I couldn't go upwind for the first half of the day, but the time we left, I was ridding upwind, not gracefully, but I was able to come back where I started from.

That smooth flat water really helped me concentrate in putting it all together. Before that, well lets just say I was meeting my yearly sodium quota with every sesh! ;)

If I had to do it all over again, I'd definitely find a friendlier place to learn, current is a bitch in the ocean, and when not properly powered, really makes the experience sucks.

Good luck!

p.s. If you need an instructor, I hear Jeremy Lund, is awesome, very responsible, and very well equipped, I've met him a few times and he's a really cool dude. And I hear he has a secret spot thats killer for learning. When my wife decides if she wants to learn or not, I'm getting her lessons with him.

http://newwavekiteboarding.com/

Re: New to Florida Kiteboaring. Confused and Frustrated!!

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 7:18 am
by GungaDin
Quit

Re: New to Florida Kiteboaring. Confused and Frustrated!!

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 9:47 am
by Westozzy
I have serious doubts as to the validity of the instruction you have received. Half an hour max flying a small trainer kite in a lesson ( no probs with you buying one for more practise) then you should have been helmeted up with an internal mic and had a decent kite size with gears to wind speed and conditions.

Keep your 2m kite, great for other people you know to fly and maybe even ya kids one day.

Get some more lessons as described with a kite, in the water and in the same session with a board.

Now kiting has a steep learning curve at first to climb, but once you get near the summit the rate in which you earn exponentially increases until it levels off...but still increasing.

You cannot do what I see a lot of people do, play around with the sport. It is not Farqin weekend cycling for instance. You need to be focussed and organise your time for a heavily concentrate effort for a shortish period of time. Once you can plane, walk your kite up the beach ( including all the basics mentioned before) and sooner than later with a concentrated effort stay upwind, then the learning rises really quickly. But you gotta invest the time to get over the first hump.

See to many guys playing around, a day here, a day there, just on Saturdays..doesn't work.

Concentrated focus and go full on for a short time until the basics of staying upwind are in the bag. Then you can ease off a bit.

Re: New to Florida Kiteboaring. Confused and Frustrated!!

Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 10:09 pm
by bahflorida
Thanks again all. I took some advice from you all and contacted a local instructor for another 3 hour session. We're going to be out in the water on a full 4 line kite. How fast I progress is up to me. In the mean time, and hopefully after this session, I will look into purchasing a full 4 line kite.

I've invested too much time and $$ to just give up at this point. If I'm determined, I'll get there.

Thanks!!

Re: New to Florida Kiteboaring. Confused and Frustrated!!

Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 11:40 pm
by justbob
Been through similar frustrations myself, was able to get it together myself this past summer with some tips and encouragement from our local crew. I had almost two years of frustration, going out in too light conditions, getting skunked, equipment problems etc. After my lesson I started on the water myself with a 16m, turns slow, getting the confidence up to where I could body drag and control the kite with confidence, then started with the board, and so on..... Brother when you get the shit right and you start to ride and stay upwind, it is an amazing feeling!
Anyway, persevere man, the rewards are huge, great sport!!!!!