Kiteforum.com

RickI wrote:Thanks for your input Westozzy and I think you aren't alone with cross-over injuries. Was Ian Young your kiting instructor? If so, he is a good guy from way back from the start of the sport. I recall him relating losing a finger to a kite line tangle back in the day. You are wise to pick and choose what you do and to what degree and as you say prevention really is key.

Westozzy wrote:Been at it since 2000. I would say most my complaints come from injuries sustained from competitive sport BEFORE kiting ( especially Aussie rules footy, if there is one sport to wreck your body than that's it!).

I have listened to a lot of guys tell me terrible stories re serious injuries from kitesurfing.

But touch wood I have had not one. I was trained by an X SAS soldier who was fastidious with safety almost over the top! I seemed to have taken that on board.

Check and double check gear. Know your limits and as you get older these have reluctantly become more obvious.

I also support a daily routine of core exercises. One thing footy has given me is a dickey back. Hence I strengthen the core and stretch every day and stretch every night. Even if for 10 minutes.

If I don't, which happens from time to time, you can be sure that a small ankle sprain, strained lower back or something will follow ...and it always does.

Prevention is key. Also as I get older I have had to take more and more out of my repertoire including most unhooked stuff.

But that's cool I'm glad to just get out there and enjoy myself and enjoy watching the younger crew smash it up!

Know your limits and kite forever.

Yeh it was Ian Young...damn he instructured like I was a soldier, used to freak me out. LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT RIGHT....shouting and spitting and losing it....scared me half to death. I mean I have had serious sprays from my footy coaches over the years (I was always one of those lethargic looking forward types...lol) but man he cranked it up a notch. Plus I was so shit at learning this sport, I crashed and smashed his foils and wipikas nearly to death. LOL.

That being said I still try and improve...still look at learning new stuff, with view of minimal impact...

and I will still go real big...but jumping 30 to 50 foot to me if done right is not a problem...its the hard landings at funny angles from unhooked stuff that kills me.

I have had kite sickness for 35 years now and find with the correct drug and alcohol regimen most forms of impacts can be assimilated, although I may be compacting, because my impact vest seems a lot harder to zip up each season.

The large apparatus using in the Joseph Pilates method are the perfect remedy for traction based sports like kiteboarding. As an ex football player, martial artist, database administrator, board sport enthusiast and religious movement manic, I've found the Pilates method to be extremely helpful in tractioning, conditioning and rehabilitating the #plethora of injuries I've sustained over the years. Hit your local Pilates studio and "hang" out on a Trapeze table for a session to decompress the spine, use a Ladder Barrel to stretch and strength the lateral torso, or grab a the Step Barrel to improve thoracic flexion, extension & rotation. Footwork on the Reformer doesn't hurt either, if you want those little digits to perform well on your next strapless downwinder. Check out my website to hear my story and grab some entertaining imagery of me relentlessly pursing #lightwind perfection, or should I say lightwind protection...

Cheers,
Donavan
trxdude.com

I've discovered that you can get a jolly good slapping just falling off a strapless directional. Having been smacked like that since I started jumping

Shame we can't do polls on here...

I don't know if I've responded to this topic before and I can't be bothered looking back through all the pages. Anyway ...

56 years old.

Been kiting since 1999. Get about 150 hours a year.

The short answer is a good skill base and pacing my sessions is the key to longevity.

I don't do any other form of training for kiting. I do ride my bike to and from work in the winter (3 hour round trip) just for something to do. I have the intention of playing with dumbbells on a weight bench but I rarely give it the consistency it deserves.

I have never been fitter. No sign of any degenerative disorders other than a bit of low back pain from sitting in front of a computer all day for the past 38 years. In fact, I think the twisting of riding toe side has flexed my lower back and loosened it up a bit.

What I am particularly good at is pacing myself and extending my sessions. I go a little quietly for the first few minutes, hard for the next while, then cruise for the end of the session. I never stop just because I feel a little tired. I can easily out ride much younger riders in terms of duration and quality of session. I can do all the big tricks (big airs, kite loops etc) but I do not do tricks as such.

I have no time for "magical" training regimes and super foods and fad diets and all that stuff. I think it's all a con. The only trick is to have an active life of doing what you love to do, eating quality basically healthy food with sufficient sleep and lots of sex.

Like ya take ozbungy. Cycling is the Best cross training you can do.

Plenty of sex hey. Wonder what my wife with a 5 and 6 yr old thinks about that.

OZ-
I tend to agree with your idea of what to do and not what to do, and I have basically done as you have.
But the number of times a body part takes a beating is finite and given enough of them, they do break down, and sometimes need repair or replacement.
Ask any athlete that has been boxing (and other related pugilism) , snowboarding, skiing, mountain biking, motocross/freestyle, jetski racing/freestyle, skateboarding/longboarding/road luge, football (any brand), BMX freestyle/jumping, etc. etc. etc.
There are a lot of old guys here who are in better shape than most people our age, but being a bit careful, and having some regard for our bodies when we were still young, would have been a great idea!

Kamikuza wrote:Shame we can't do polls on here...

You can do so in the poll section of the forum.
Or let me know which poll and I put it in the main forum.

Injuries can be prevented by this:

- lighter winds
- slower kites
- no kiteloops
- no handlepasses
- big straps to get out very quickly
- anticipation of any danger (distance is your friend)

Me and all my friends have fucked knees..(10 years plus riders.)

Half have been operated other half needs too.

I hate to jinx myself but I must be "unbreakable". Typical aches and pains, been riding 13 yrs. Very little cross training, stiff as a board,20lbs overweight. I ride very aggressively, will spend hours endlessly throwing kiteloops, dropping from crazy heights.(Sometimes head first) Get a little beat up but not enough to permanently scale back. I'm in my 50's. Hope I'm not back here asking for rehab advice!