ass kicked

[acctx]

I've played organized ice hockey my whole life, in travelling youth leagues, scholastic teams, adult leagees...kiting and hockey cannot be compared, in terms of the danger involved...it's just different ...trust me.

Before I started kiting I also windsurfed for over 20 years, sailed for almost 30 years, taught sailing, ...still I KNEW that taking a series of kitesurfing lessons was important...and now I have taught kitesurfing for 8+ years.

Trainer kite - definitiely much better idea for learning on land - and the size depends on your conditions, your weight, etc. For the average person (150-190 lbs) I prefer a 3m kite. If you are in a really windy place a smaller kite might be OK, but I still would rather use a 3m kite with shorter lines.

If the trainer kite is too small it will be too "nervous" , whereas the 3m kite will feel a little more like a small LEI. Probably 50% of my students bought or borrowed a trainer kite and learned some basics before lessons. They generally did a lot better than those who did not.

I know that there are several instructors in Ontario. Since it is getting cold now your may not get to the point of kiting on the water, so my suggestion is that you learn to fly a trainer kite on land , take a lesson on the snow (snowkiting) with an instructor - dear God I hope we have better snow this year - and this will accelerate your ability incredibly to get on the water next Spring/Summer.

Other than some basic kite control skills you should get a lot of good safety information out of any first lesson.. A lot of this will transfer directly to the water, but it is still a good idea to have a water lesson with the water safety protocols and water-starting fundamentals.

thanks man i appreciate that, oh I know they dont compare but the teaching aspect is similar such as someone asking me for a drill to improve on something specific, i'd give them the drill, obviously not a full lesson plan then if they want more information you recommend coming to a class..etc

but yeah anyways that was my plan, get a kite up first something small then as soon as the snow hits take a lesson to do some snowkiting, and by the time summer hits id be ready for something bigger on the water, but for a first kite now that i actually have it and attempted to fly it a 6m does not seem that small

All the generic doom and gloom is useless because no one new will believe it.

Here is something specific that you probably wont learn on your own: When you lay out your lines you need to be extremely careful that none of the lines get become looped and knotted thus shortening the line by a an inch or two, laying out your lines and walking them has a specific technique that you probably wont learn without a lesson. As a beginner without kite control if this happens there is a good chance that once you launch the kite the kite will slam into the ground and injure your launcher or just get completely destroyed.

Here is another one. When you launch, if it is really gusty you can easily get lofted. Your tendency will be to hang on to the bar, however this will cause the kite to power up more, instead drill into your brain to let go of the bar. If you get lofted even just 10 feet in the air, when you land you will probably break a bone.

These are two of maybe 30-40 things that can keep you from destroying your equipment or hurting yourself or others that you wont pick up unless you get a lesson. Being on the water is even more dangerous because it is so easy to drown.

Lessons typically cost 70-100/hour not 250. There is a large chance you will destroy your kite, that alone should be enough financial justification to take a lesson.

[big_d]

I've played organized ice hockey my whole life, in travelling youth leagues, scholastic teams, adult leagees...kiting and hockey cannot be compared, in terms of the danger involved...it's just different ...trust me.

Before I started kiting I also windsurfed for over 20 years, sailed for almost 30 years, taught sailing, ...still I KNEW that taking a series of kitesurfing lessons was important...and now I have taught kitesurfing for 8+ years.

Trainer kite - definitiely much better idea for learning on land - and the size depends on your conditions, your weight, etc. For the average person (150-190 lbs) I prefer a 3m kite. If you are in a really windy place a smaller kite might be OK, but I still would rather use a 3m kite with shorter lines.

If the trainer kite is too small it will be too "nervous" , whereas the 3m kite will feel a little more like a small LEI. Probably 50% of my students bought or borrowed a trainer kite and learned some basics before lessons. They generally did a lot better than those who did not.

I know that there are several instructors in Ontario. Since it is getting cold now your may not get to the point of kiting on the water, so my suggestion is that you learn to fly a trainer kite on land , take a lesson on the snow (snowkiting) with an instructor - dear God I hope we have better snow this year - and this will accelerate your ability incredibly to get on the water next Spring/Summer.

Other than some basic kite control skills you should get a lot of good safety information out of any first lesson.. A lot of this will transfer directly to the water, but it is still a good idea to have a water lesson with the water safety protocols and water-starting fundamentals.

thanks man i appreciate that, oh I know they dont compare but the teaching aspect is similar such as someone asking me for a drill to improve on something specific, i'd give them the drill, obviously not a full lesson plan then if they want more information you recommend coming to a class..etc

but yeah anyways that was my plan, get a kite up first something small then as soon as the snow hits take a lesson to do some snowkiting, and by the time summer hits id be ready for something bigger on the water, but for a first kite now that i actually have it and attempted to fly it a 6m does not seem that small

All the generic doom and gloom is useless because no one new will believe it.

Here is something specific that you probably wont learn on your own: When you lay out your lines you need to be extremely careful that none of the lines get become looped and knotted thus shortening the line by a an inch or two, laying out your lines and walking them has a specific technique that you probably wont learn without a lesson. As a beginner without kite control if this happens there is a good chance that once you launch the kite the kite will slam into the ground and injure your launcher or just get completely destroyed.

Here is another one. When you launch, if it is really gusty you can easily get lofted. Your tendency will be to hang on to the bar, however this will cause the kite to power up more, instead drill into your brain to let go of the bar. If you get lofted even just 10 feet in the air, when you land you will probably break a bone.

These are two of maybe 30-40 things that can keep you from destroying your equipment or hurting yourself or others that you wont pick up unless you get a lesson. Being on the water is even more dangerous because it is so easy to drown.

Lessons typically cost 70-100/hour not 250. There is a large chance you will destroy your kite, that alone should be enough financial justification to take a lesson.

thanks, actually I did pick those up on youtube videos , but yeah i realized the destroying the kite part when I took out the 6m for the first time, im going to buy a 3m, then after i get the hang of it, will probably go take a lesson