How to fall correctly?

[edt]

ok there are several dangers to falling

1) have one foot in and one foot out of the straps

If you have the board one foot in and one foot off, kick the board off that's the most important thing to remember

2) landing feet first when you crash.

Don't do this. Even if the water is deep you never know if there's some log or obstacle under the water. don't land feet first. You want to ball up, not a complete ball just a little bit compact, hands in front of your chest, legs bent. You want to hit the water with your butt or body and allow your whole body to absorb the impact. Landing on your feet in shallow water can break an ankle.

3) Holding onto the bar with a death grip.

Don't do this. Let go of the bar entirely. It allows you to ball up a little bit and take a better impact. If you hold onto the bar with a death grip you are likely to loop the kite by accident. Just let go of the control bar and absorb the impact of the water.

Relax. Kick off the board. Ball up a little bit but not too hard (you want to be relaxed not tense when you hit the water). Don't fight it just allow the impact to happen.

I mean it's pretty much the same stuff that happens when you snowboard or skateboard. You don't want to be all arms and legs flailing around when you crash. It does look pretty awesome though on a video when someone is just flailing their arms and legs wildly so . . . yeah if you are taking a good crash video go out but if you want to crash safely just relax and absorb the impact with your body not your limbs.

Basically I'm saying the same thing everyone above me said. It's basically the same stuff you were taught while skiing with the one addition of make sure you don't land one foot in straps one foot out.

[Foil]

both hands on the bar, whilst steering the kite upwards and depowering it,
if one hand gets ripped off then let go with the other.unless your other hand is over the centre
lock feet into straps, or kick the board off if one foot is out(duff jumps only)
impact vest massively reduces the ouch factor
if you can, roll over as you fall (foil riding)
if you fall with the board out the back but both feet locked in then learn to power up the kite hard with hard upstroke to fly out of the water and then extend your legs in front to complete a stylish recovery, (not on a foil )

[FLandOBX]

I think a beginner should let go of the bar to let the kite depower and fall to the water. As others have said, this reduces the chance of an unwanted kiteloop or deathgrip-full-power. Once a kiter is more experienced with good kite control skills, it's usually preferable to keep both hands on the bar and turn the kite up to 12 o'clock in a fall. Particularly in waves or high wind, keeping the kite in the air will be safer and result in fewer problems for the experienced rider than letting the kite fall to the water. Obviously, keeping the kite in the air requires the ability to feel the position of the kite while under water or falling, a skill that can only be developed over time.

[Kamikuza]

As a mostly beginner

Keep your mouth closed

The main thing is to sheet out on the bar or let go of it completely to depower the kite so that you don't get dragged.

These two and relax, if it’s to late to do anything & it’s going to happen, let it. Don’t fight it and tighten up.

And keep flying the kite.

[pj sofine]

After 18 years the only thing I do as I crash is say "oh no" or "#@% * !@!There's zero time to react at the pace I kite at. So far so good. Oh I do think I close my eyes, never remember seeing anything afterwards.

[badgb21]

Sergei,
Good to read your posts, you must be loving it! But you've fallen 300 times just kiting along?
Something may be wrong in your set up. may be the 'formula' is out;) Seriously, you should be able to jog along without falling.
Good advice on here above, I would add don't let your head slam, or you'll be picking ear drum out of your nose!

Take it easy and enjoy the ride!

In many sports - like skiing - instructor would teach you how to fall safely before you can actually ski.
Have not had anyone explaining this to me in relation to kitesurfing.

Question:
What is safest way to fall in kitesurfing?

I just mean riding along - lost balance/wave/gust/floating obstruction - boom...
From beginner's point of view mostly - not talking jumps here.

I fell may be 300 times so far and only had 1 bad one (board pulled hard on the legs, back got over stretched - had back pain for months)...
How do I avoid this kind of scenario for example (and other bad cases I probably haven't experienced so far too)..
As I improve I will be probably going faster etc ... There are jumps too.

I guess main thing is not to loop your kite at full power when you fall

[sergei Scotland]

Sergei,
Good to read your posts, you must be loving it! But you've fallen 300 times just kiting along?
Something may be wrong in your set up. may be the 'formula' is out;) Seriously, you should be able to jog along without falling.
Good advice on here above, I would add don't let your head slam, or you'll be picking ear drum out of your nose!

Take it easy and enjoy the ride!

Thanks for taking time to reply to them!

Well - this is 300 falls learning to waterstart and just beginning to ride in white foam waves over may be 10 sessions over 3 years. I can only do it on holiday ATM
I guess 300 is about right.

My problem is I never did any boarding before - only skiing. So had no balancing reflexes on a board.
My kids who snowboard were up and riding in about 3 hours.

This winter I did a couple of full days snowboarding - trying to learn board balance.
Discovered that I had wrong balancing reflexes (for snowboard that is)- took me about 10 attempts to be able to use a slow tow...
Once I learned to use the tow my learning curve efficiency improved.
I think I actually spent may be 6 hours actually riding the board - including time on the tow obviously.

On the other hand - my guess is trying to learn to waterstart I probably only spent 5 mins a day actually riding (in first 5 days).
You know - you take time to put board on, swing the kite, stand up, fall or board sinks - 2-3-4 attempts - walk back, repeat - so may be 10 attempts an hour etc. - so my balance was improving very slowly day on day because I was not actually riding board much

Really hope to do better this year - I can snowboard now and I think it is very similar - correct?

[Macster]

I grab the bar with both hands and steer to 12. Usually, I'll slide along my back or front or side to a gradual stop.

I do a lot of kiteloop tricks too and as hard as it may seem when you are halfway through a rotation going backwards and you know you're about to eat shit (sometimes upside down too), I always finish the kiteloop. At least the crash will be a lateral impact, not vertical!

It has taken me about 3 years to fight the reflex to stick an arm out when crashing. I did that two years ago and broke my hand in 7 places and needed screws and plates to repair it.

[badgb21]

Hi
You have a lot going on there and I hope the tips here help now or maybe later.
So long as you keep some pull in the kite, the board will follow. Point the tip of the board at the kite as you take off and then direct it across the wind fairly quickly to keep the lines tensioned.
I suspect it’s the lack of pull (timing of the kite strokes and board angle) that’s making you think of balancing on the board.
To get it cracked, I think you are going to need an instructor or experienced helper, with you in the water.
Keep the faith, as what I can tell you from my experience, once you have got it, it’s like riding a bike, you will wonder how you ever managed to fall off!
(Please tell me you can ride a bike….!)

I do believe it’s normally 90% about flying the kite and board bit is almost instinctive when first learning.
Stick with it and get some more help out on the water.

I have no idea about snowboarding or anything snow related. I spent 4 winters blowing it in New England and that was enough snow for a lifetime!
Good luck

Sergei,
Good to read your posts, you must be loving it! But you've fallen 300 times just kiting along?
Something may be wrong in your set up. may be the 'formula' is out;) Seriously, you should be able to jog along without falling.
Good advice on here above, I would add don't let your head slam, or you'll be picking ear drum out of your nose!

Take it easy and enjoy the ride!

Thanks for taking time to reply to them!

Well - this is 300 falls learning to waterstart and just beginning to ride in white foam waves over may be 10 sessions over 3 years. I can only do it on holiday ATM
I guess 300 is about right.

My problem is I never did any boarding before - only skiing. So had no balancing reflexes on a board.
My kids who snowboard were up and riding in about 3 hours.

This winter I did a couple of full days snowboarding - trying to learn board balance.
Discovered that I had wrong balancing reflexes (for snowboard that is)- took me about 10 attempts to be able to use a slow tow...
Once I learned to use the tow my learning curve efficiency improved.
I think I actually spent may be 6 hours actually riding the board - including time on the tow obviously.

On the other hand - my guess is trying to learn to waterstart I probably only spent 5 mins a day actually riding (in first 5 days).
You know - you take time to put board on, swing the kite, stand up, fall or board sinks - 2-3-4 attempts - walk back, repeat - so may be 10 attempts an hour etc. - so my balance was improving very slowly day on day because I was not actually riding board much

Really hope to do better this year - I can snowboard now and I think it is very similar - correct?

[edt]

Really hope to do better this year - I can snowboard now and I think it is very similar - correct?

Kiteboarding really is 90% the kite and only 10% the board. If you have problems look towards how you are flying the kite first and the board second.