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What do people like about kiting in waves?

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Windrider
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Re: What do people like about kiting in waves?

Postby Windrider » Mon Jun 10, 2013 7:52 am

geopeck wrote:
and perhaps park--though I guess everywhere is a bit like the park when you have a kite to lift you
it adds another dimension to the riding - so if you were riding the flat water the kite and your momentum would be your incline (if jumping) or decline (if carving). Once you get on even small waves you overlay the carve with the kite onto the shape of the wave or park the kite and ride the wave or both together on the same wave.

There are a hundred ways to do this - throw in downloops, catching the wave from behind, jumping etc - tons of possibilities.

The thing about waves that makes them great is that your riding environment is unfolding in front of you - you have this constant read on what's happening and you make snap decisions based on second to second changes. This wave is over/I'm going to fast to engage here/the next one is better do I need to jump over this one?/I'm too far off the face for another hit but I can still downloop into the shoulder of the last one.. - it's fully engaging.

And then when it gets good (I like short period waves) I get this sensation like the waves are trying to get me and I have to dodge and jump to get past the break, but at the same time I'm attacking them with the board - the old "it thought it was going to eat me up when I went in the pocket but I smacked it on it's lip and left my line on it" Does anyone else feel this way?

It isn't really that much harder, all the time a person spends learning about them is fun, and it might open your eyes to the limitations of some of your equipment.
Yeah! What he said!

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Re: What do people like about kiting in waves?

Postby plummet » Mon Jun 10, 2013 8:25 am

OzBungy wrote:There are waves and there are WAVES!!!!!!

Small waves (1-3') are fun as berms and bumps and ramps.

Big waves (5-6-7+'') are ... awe inspiring, terrifying, amazing. .
So.... 1-3" back of the wave or infront of it?

Also what about 4"..????

For ease of understanding for the non surfers lets talk in head heights

bellow head high small.
1-2 head medium
double head + big.

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Re: What do people like about kiting in waves?

Postby OzBungy » Mon Jun 10, 2013 8:41 am

I understand why you ask the question but ... the whole back of the wave thing is pointless and irrelevant. You ride the front of the wave. The front of the wave is what drops on your head when you f*** up.

Small waves are knee to waist high.
Medium waves are waist to shoulder high.
Big waves are overhead.

Of course, I'm over 6' so my waves are bigger than yours. Nah! :movingbutt: :movingbutt:

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Re: What do people like about kiting in waves?

Postby Peter_Frank » Mon Jun 10, 2013 9:26 am

Waves is like an endless living changing skate bowl park, halfpipemekka - just MUCH more fun !

And it even changes every day, sometimes every minute :thumb:

On a waveboard it is NOT the closest thing you can come to surfing.

It is sooo much better and more options and possibilities - the feel is just way better than surfing IMO 8)
Other times surfing is better - but they are two very different things in my eyes, and should not be compared...

If I wanted to surf (if good waves), I would take my surfboards instead of a kite :wink:

So to compare with surfing is to degrade kitesurfing in waves :roll:

As all the others have said - you got endless options, because the water is more flat between the waves than even flat water can offer, and you still got the dynamic "living" wave that can change instantly and always offer a challenge or simply "good feel".

Even knee high waves are a pleasure to "slash" when you hit the curl just perfect in sideshore wind and just before it breaks :rollgrin:

Other times in bigger waves, you just park the kite, let go of the bar, and enjoy the ride "down" for a moment 8)

When you have ridden many years and many waves, on waveboards - you will typically not jump much, only occasionally - because it IS fun, but not nearly the same feeling as when you nail a perfect timed bottom turn and horisontally going up in the curl when the wave is about to break - so you get "spit out" and maybe goes aerial, maybe not, and can make fluid powerful connected turns - this very "feel" is what we all seek again and again, and hardly never gets boring :thumb:

For the spectator, it is odd, as we all seem to do the same thing over and over - so I understand the question "What do people like about kiting in waves ?".

And we can try to express our feelings in text here, but you will only know what it is that we can not resist and why we chase waves all over the world, when you get "hooked" on waves yourself.

So the answer to your question could just as well be: You have to feel it yourself in order to know !

As it IS a truly very very different world, different gear (boards and kites are different) and different riding techniques.

:D Peter

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Re: What do people like about kiting in waves?

Postby Starsky » Mon Jun 10, 2013 11:48 am

Don't believe the hype, their wet and nasty and nobody really likes them.

Seriously? Just because youre new to a sport, how does that compromise your ability to see beyond your experience? Come on, watch a vid, or better yet go to a beach. If you can't see and understand the appeal in your existing understanding of waves and how people ride them, no answer on here can help you!

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Re: What do people like about kiting in waves?

Postby H53Driver » Mon Jun 10, 2013 12:11 pm

I'm gettin old and as much as I hate to admit it my shoulders don't like unhooked and my back and knees don't like hard landings. Learning to ride with the ocean's energy, and enjoying the constantly changing beauty of the ocean is how I plan to keep kiting well into old age.

Get a surfboard and go to the ocean!

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Re: What do people like about kiting in waves?

Postby jespin4845 » Mon Jun 10, 2013 2:29 pm

having to learn in waves is a pain,...one day it clicks thou, then you go to a flat water spot, its fun but i can't imagine always having just flat water....easier to learn tricks on but when you want to have fun riding like a hooligan u need waves, plus the jumps are better on waves

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Re: What do people like about kiting in waves?

Postby cleepa » Mon Jun 10, 2013 5:25 pm

Can't believe how little people are really talking about surfing! Kiting in waves is all about surfing for me! But, you have this extra dimension in the kite. It helps you get out quickly. helps you get over waves, it lets you power into the wave with a lot less effort... but it's all about riding the wave. Carving nice turns, hitting the lip of the wave, your movement flowing with that of the ocean. It's a pretty amazing feeling that other types of kiting don't have.

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Re: What do people like about kiting in waves?

Postby RDM » Mon Jun 10, 2013 5:42 pm

Linking up smooth powerful bottom and top turns.... one of the best things in kiting.. :thumb:

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Re: What do people like about kiting in waves?

Postby Metaphor_ » Mon Jun 10, 2013 11:54 pm

Thanks for the awesome insights, guys! Looking forward to getting near waves someday.
Starsky wrote:Seriously? Just because youre new to a sport, how does that compromise your ability to see beyond your experience? Come on, watch a vid, or better yet go to a beach. If you can't see and understand the appeal in your existing understanding of waves and how people ride them, no answer on here can help you!
Consider the following:

Everyone has a different set of life experiences and sensory experiences
Some people have never having been on or near a big wave before
Without having experienced a sensation or knowing the context of a situation, one may lack a frame of reference to "get it"

...as someone who's never even been near a big wave before, it's hard to "get" wave kiting--to my unrefined eye it just looks like people bobbing around and sometimes jumping off waves. Hence this entire thread has been helpful in giving me context for what's fun about wave riding. It sounds really cool and I'm looking forward to trying it out!

One last thought is that hindsight bias can lead us to believe people should know more than they do. What's obvious to you may be completely foreign to many people!

Keep on riding :)


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