Kiteboard learning process.
You often ask us how long it takes to learn to kiteboard from scratch to becoming independent. A lot depends on what sports you do besides kitesurfing and what your predispositions are. Below we have described the various stages, the key skills and the difficulties that may occur during each learning level.
Level 1: Steering the kite, generating power and body drags
A large percentage of students can naturally feel the way kitesurfing kites work and the role of the instructor is reduced to demonstrating the successive tasks and minor adjustments to the student’s movements, as well as taking care of safety on the water. The ability to follow the instructor’s instructions against one’s own reflexes, which is by no means so obvious, will play a large part here. The average person can learn to handle a kite at a basic level, i.e. the level required for kiting in optimum conditions, to generate power with it and to move around in the water with its help in 3 – 4 hours of lessons with an instructor.
Learning is much faster among people who:
1. trained a lot on small chamber kites – learning to steer is usually completed in 3 hours
2. have a lot of exposure to sailing, windsurfing – 2 hours of lessons
3. paraglide – up to 1 hour of learning
Level 2: Putting on the board, water starts with the board and controlled slides
The physical fitness of the student and his or her level of coordination play a very important role especially while learning to put on the board. The ability to put a board on efficiently speeds up further progress enormously. This is one of the breakpoints in the learning process and with this skill you will be able to take the next steps in your learning with ease. If you learn to put the board on quickly and efficiently then controlled starts, slides and stops are usually a piece of cake! This level usually takes about 2 – 3 hours of classes with an instructor. We know from experience that a very few people have significant trouble getting the board on smoothly, which can make this stage of learning much longer.
Learning is much faster among people who:
1. wakeboard a lot – 1 hour of learning
2. skateboard or snowboard well – up to 2 hours of learning
2. have very good coordination and sense of kite and wind
Level 3: Swimming upwind and full independence from the instructor
During this learning stage there are the biggest differences in learning time between students. The process of kiting upwind is a combination of speed control using body weight shifting on the board, leaning the body and changing the angle of the board relative to the water, kite movements, and controlling the angle of the kite relative to the wind using the body. There’s a bunch of little movements to coordinate here which make you move upwind and come back to the same place kiting versus going downwind and coming back on foot. Some people get it after just 2 hours, others need 4 – 6 hours, some need to invest a little more time to complete the learning.
Learning is much faster among people who:
1. windsurf well
2. have very good coordination and feel for the wind
In summary, the learning time we aim for is usually 10 hours with an instructor. Sometimes this time is shorter, but more often longer. Remember that from a certain point onwards you can train on your own. When that moment comes you will definitely be informed by your instructor!
If you need more advice before you go on your Sicilian holiday, feel free to contact us! We have been living on this beautiful island for years and we are happy to share our experiences.
✅ [email protected]
✅ +48 666 832 222
✅ www.kitedays.eu
