How do you start your kitesurfing learning process? Viewing some YouTube videos? Getting instruction from your brother-in-law? Get your own used gear and learn how to fly a large kite that is 12 square meters on your own? Oh no, that seems shady. To master the sport of kiteboarding confidently, how about scheduling some expert lessons with a certified instructor? I think it sounds better.
Kitesurfing is a Action Sports lessons that people of various ages and occupations adore, as we saw in the previous comprehensive guide. Numerous thousands of novices start this trip every year. However, if not properly studied and practiced, kitesurfing continues to be an adrenaline sport with considerable risks. Therefore, learning the sport properly is (literally) essential for everyone.
You are undoubtedly moving in the correct direction if you are reading this guide. By picking the best kite school and ensuring your instructor is qualified, we’ll explain how you can learn to kitesurf safely. Along with additional advice on safety and the best places to visit in the world for your upcoming trip, we will also provide you with insights into the time and money commitment, the structure of a normal class, and the difficulties of learning the sport.
For your information, this guide is set up so that it may be read from top to bottom or skipped around according to part. Please feel free to read, distribute, and use this guide however you like. Enjoy!
What lessons are needed to learn kitesurfing?
The most frequent query before beginning a kitesurfing lesson is whether or not private lessons are actually required. Let us dive in and compare kitesurfing with another well-known adrenaline sport: scuba diving, to assist clarify this subject and put it in context.
What images do you have in mind when you think of scuba diving? Finding Nemo, shipwrecks, and pirate loot What else? Do you consider purchasing the necessary gear and diving yourself to explore the deep waters, or do you think about perhaps receiving official instruction first?
When traveling underwater for an extended amount of time, anyone with common sense would think about taking training, especially if there is complicated equipment that needs to be used properly. Additionally, if you were considering taking classes, you would likely search for a dive shop with the proper certifications and skilled diving instructors.
If it is not evident by this point, let me be quite explicit: learning to kiteboard requires taking lessons from a certified instructor at a reputable kite school, just like learning to scuba dive (or any other action sport).
Due to the advanced gear and technical skills needed to practise the sport, kitesurfing has a high learning curve (more on that below). To introduce you to the activity in the most effective way (and to make you become addicted), you must have a qualified person.
Our list of kitesurfing basics is below for you to get insight and knowledge before beginning your journey.
Kitesurfing lessons with an instructor
It is real! Bicycling is an example of an activity that is typically easy to pick up and start doing after some trial and error and short tips. On the other side, kiteboarding is totally different.
Do not make the error of asking unqualified kiteboarding MacGyvers to teach you, whether they are family members, friends, or others. You can master this sport’s theoretical and practical components safely by working with a kite instructor.
There is no substitute for classroom instruction if you want to truly lay that firm foundation. In addition to being generally safer, several of the techniques are counterintuitive, so you will need someone with the right training to teach you how to use them.
You will advance more quickly and save money if you do this. A lot goes on when kitesurfing, which is a technical and “expensive” action sport. Your progress will undoubtedly be sped up by having access to the information, tools, and insights of a knowledgeable instructor.
Additionally, learning with a teacher is undoubtedly more enjoyable. No one is born with the innate ability to intuitively control and fly a 12 meter kite. Making errors is a necessary aspect of learning to kitesurf. Through these mistakes, your instructor will be there to encourage you, coach you, and most importantly, keep you safe.
As a result, using someone else’s equipment before buying your own will save you the investment of testing out the sport or making mistakes on your own equipment.
An instructor who is qualified to teach kitesurfing lessons
Taking a lesson with a kitesurfing instructor is one thing; taking a lesson with a certified kitesurfing instructor is quite another. Let’s elaborate on what we mean.
The term “qualified” first and foremost denotes that your instructor has undergone professional training recognised by a reputable organization and has been awarded a qualification that highlights both the instructor’s kiteboarding prowess and, more importantly, the instructor’s capacity to teach the sport in a safe and effective manner.
Why is it significant? Because the safety and quality criteria established by the organization sponsoring the qualification will be respected by your qualified instructor, who will instruct you in accordance with a specific and well accepted methodology.
Similar to how some businesses connect with this association, some schools likewise agree to adhere to certain quality standards for their operations. Learning at a school with which you are affiliated will ensure that you are kitesurfing properly overall. Both seasoned kiters and brand-new ones find comfort in this.
Despite being an extreme sport, kiteboarding may be conducted safely after the right techniques are understood, just like scuba diving or skydiving. All of this ultimately means that you can help guarantee a thorough course that will establish a firm basis for you to progress on by taking professional kitesurfing lessons with a trainer who is trained and a member of an internationally recognised organization.
To learn kitesurfing, what are the steps?
We have hopefully made it apparent that learning to kite surf with a pro is in your best interests. A competent instructor will follow a predetermined learning path that is tailored for a safe and effective advancement in addition to having the necessary teaching knowledge and abilities.
Although the growth process may vary from organization to organization, it generally follows the same initial steps that are essential to learning kitesurfing. Let us look at these procedures and get a broad overview of the abilities you will learn to perfect from your tutor.
Kite flying lessons
Prior to entering the water, your teacher will teach you a number of safety precautions and techniques as part of the sport’s introduction. For instance, you ought to be trained how to evaluate the wind and the actual place (the spot), as well as how to set up your kite and control it while it’s in the air, all while managing the equipment properly. You will be flying a real kite for the first time, which is an exciting step!
Getting dragged in the water
It is time to get wet once you’ve mastered kite control! To experience the full potential of the wind, you will go in the water to test your skills. It is important to learn techniques such as body-dragging in the water, relaunching your kite, self-rescue, recovering your board, etc. with your instructor. This is one of the more fun steps in the process: you will be able to “play” with the kite and drag it behind yourself (without the board at first). You should be able to attempt your first water-starts with your feet by the end of this progression step!
Let us ride
You will learn how to ride for longer periods of time and farther distances as you begin to ride the board more frequently. At least, this is the direction you want to go with your classes (providing you have enough time). At this level, your teacher should demonstrate to you how to regulate your speed, ride upwind, switch to toe-side, and assist you concentrate on crucial safety skills like self-launching and performing a self-rescue in deep water. You should be able to ride independently as an independent rider, and you should start considering purchasing your own equipment (if you have not already).
