There is an interesting documentary about Gisela Pulido who started very young.
It doesnt paint the picture you may think, in fact, very far from it.
Kiteboarding is still the sport where over half of all fatalities are as a result of the kite flying the person and dropping them or pulling them into something.
A young rider was killed in Australia this year, so sad.
So many serious decisions involved, with many varying safety factors.
Knowledge is king.
Imo a mature 12/13yo learning in a safe setup far away from hazards at all time learning from an expert.
But yes you cant tell people what to do, just have an opinion. No idea in this case, making no judgement but see more and more instagram parents that seem to be more concerned about filming their kids trick attempts than spotting them when they are so sooooo sketchy ( skateboarding)!
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This is George Ibanez at age 2, in Paracas, Peru. At this age he would cry if I did not let him try steping on a surfboard with his trainer kite. In March 2020, at age 3, he was finally going a few meters, unhooked, on his surfboard, looping his kite. He is now 5 and beginning to use a twintip.
Georgie got to spend one hour standing on a surfboard, straight from his pack n play. Got him to get a feel for surfing prior to knowing what ground was. Now he loves kiteboarding and he is also got a perfect foilsurfing pumping motion on his surfboard. He'll be wakefoiling anytime soon.
Always playing safe. Got a kite leash attached to me in the picture. Nowadays he only practices unhooked with his trainer kite, wearing a helmet and impact vest.
You can find us in Villa Kite in Paracas.
That infant on water skis did not look to have fun..
Although all kids develop in different speed I think letting your 3 month old infant to sit in kayak and 6 month old to stand on his/her feet that long is not going to do any good in future (back tension, O-Legs and so on). Yeah it looks cool and super cute and as a parent you love to see your baby to do develop, but it's not a race.
Edit: I just came from fysiotheraphy with my 10 month old and showed that video to fysio and she just hold her head and kept saying how wrong this is.
Please, Luccas is smiling, looking right at the camera, riding one handed and throwing a hand sign. He’s already better and more in control than most of you giving his dad shit. Like everything in kiting it is individual so chill. Or not, whatever.
By the age of 4 they have learned a language, learned to run and jump and throw and pull and push,. Some learned to play violin or tennis. Or read. They are all much better then us in learning anything if they like it.
Imho, adults are very dumb compare with them
My son was skiing in the mountains age 3. It took him 1 day to be better than me from first ever time using skis and skiing downhill his first 5 ft to skiing 500 m non stop turning and in full control. Obviously a Green slope
I too am sceptical of introducing kids to kiting too early (my own daughter is only really getting going at age 23, way too late to become a world champion, haha), however I was hugely impressed with Sera Mason in Cape Town when I met her in January 2019. I had watched her dad, Brett Mason (currently leading the Woo World height category) take her riding at Bloubergstrand in lively conditions for the previous couple of years by having her stand on the board between his legs and holding on while he not only rode through the waves but even did small jumps. I had a bit of a run-in with her father without knowing much about him when I apparently got in the way of one of his jumps, but later got to chat with him and he seems a decent enough guy. Anyway, on this particular day I watched him show off his megaloops while she sat forlornly on the beach, and noticed she was crying. I cautiously approached her (you have to be careful these days when a 63-year-old male approaches a little girl on a beach!) and asked what was wrong. She answered "It's my turn to kite, I want to kite" or something to that effect. Eventually Brett came in and pumped a 3m kite for her and out she went. He kept a reasonably close rein on her, calling her to turn around after a few smaller waves before she got to the large ones outside, but it was really impressive how well she kited, even jumping a little, and in half an hour never dropped her kite. I've known adult kiters who have kited for years who still drop their kites periodically. Anyway, she is now sponsored by Duotone and ripping up a storm. Here's a recent interview. https://www.iksurfmag.com/features/up-c ... a-mason-9/