Jesus you mob.... Listen to yourselves....

It seems the better the conditions you have In your location inversely effects the level of " am I progressing ? "

We progress every day we wake up.

Approaching 55 ( waypast 30 something ! ) after 25 years windsurfing and 6 kiting. Windsurfing in south SA - plenty of wind and good waves

The kiting , living in the one of the most wind challenged places in Oz.
Wet season awesome fun by the way. . There is nothing like the unpredictable nature of a wet season monsoon , big tides, crocs and stingers.
Nature at its best.
Plus turtles , dugongs , flying fish ....other local antics.

Always wave oriented and not interested in tricks(What the f... Is a dark side Eppo? ) , just the watching the movement of the ocean and the landscape as it changes while I kite is progress
If I get a session , I am stoked

If not , I am with my mates having a yack

Sometimes we just look at the sea and chat ...as I did this arvo...and yesterday ...only water to drink ... came home stoked. Another good session.

I am a lucky dude.

Huh....must be progress

I reckon you are just missing the serious wind of WA Underoath.

I don't do a lot of kiting these days unless there is some good waves on offer but whilst I am downwind SUPing I see kiters going huge all the time

Ahhhhhh lads !!!!!

Why don't we have a whip around and get Jason back to wa for some stomper sessions. he sounds like he is gonna try neck himself again with his kite lines :-). I remember early last season having the same thought after getting the pebbles to do a kite loop on my new Vegas12m in 10/14 knots going home thinking yeah nailed that, there's not much to them I'm up there with Hadlow and the boys now..... But as eppo said are all your tricks fluent / fluid? Can u pull them off at the click of a finger and look as cool as Peter Andre in his mysterious girl video, That video all thriller no filler u made was epic sort ure life out and make some more IT INSPIRED ME to nail the dark slide ive landed 3 small ones so far!!!. A year an a half on now I'm confident pulling fish poles on a double elevator boost in 35knonts when no one else is out, thus realising no matter how good I think I am there is way more room for improvement. I've only of late started unhookin landed my first railey the other week and thought I was awesome probably looked crap but I'll have it by the end of this season it's all in the game plan. For the sake of us all don't hang up the kites yet.... Try teach someone as well to share the Stoke a bit, and for god sake don't be getting so down man. There's no better sport then kiting the possibility are endless. Come back for a holiday this season to show off ure nailed handle passes we can see who's looks most elegant.

Underoath said..
What have you done to win over the battle of the mind and get to a new level?

Ride a Wakeskate.

Yeh man im stuck in a kite rut too. I progressed pretty quick to start with and new tricks are so hard to get now. Or ill land one then cant get it again. Did an s 3 last year and was stokef but just cant get it again and its deflated me hahaha. Had a baby last year so i cant spend as much time on the water but i really dont care. I just get pissed off when i kite because if anything im getting worse hahahaha.
Had a few days hitting a mates kicker rail last year. I recon thats where its at. I had so much fun on that thing. Gonna make one the same as his. It was so quick n easy to set up too.

glendog said..
Had a baby last year so i cant spend as much time on the water but i really dont care. I just get pissed off when i kite because if anything im getting worse hahahaha.

Yeah that happens when you have young children. All of a sudden you just cant spend the same time to your fun activities. Also those activities become less important.

I was racing dh mountain bikes at a national level. Then babies. I had to pull pin on the racing as I couldn't spend enough time hitting the big lines and I lost my crazy eyethometer. The skill dropped off.

The semi good news is. In the future when the kids grow abit older and you can steel a bit more time back you van re-build yourself back up. And you get the progression stoke again.

Plummet said...

glendog said..
Had a baby last year so i cant spend as much time on the water but i really dont care. I just get pissed off when i kite because if anything im getting worse hahahaha.

Yeah that happens when you have young children. All of a sudden you just cant spend the same time to your fun activities. Also those activities become less important.

I was racing dh mountain bikes at a national level. Then babies. I had to pull pin on the racing as I couldn't spend enough time hitting the big lines and I lost my crazy eyethometer. The skill dropped off.

The semi good news is. In the future when the kids grow abit older and you can steel a bit more time back you van re-build yourself back up. And you get the progression stoke again.

Yeh i know. I been loving going for a surf with my wife n bub on the beach surfing never gets stale i am an average surfer and will never be any good but i always enjoy good waves. wife n bub dont like sitting in gail force wind hahaha. I still do get the chance to kite or surf a fair bit but alot of the time i choose to play at the park or something instead.
When your kiting alot and really pushing yourself like dreaming about new tricks and not going home untill you break a bone or land the trick it is awesome but for me now my mindset is so different than it was even last season.

bene313 said..

sir ROWDY said..
Ride a Wakeskate.

I was going to suggest this, although I don't ride one myself. Underoath do you skate?

Someone will have to release a clip entitled Never Kitebored.

For any wheelyboarders, Never Skatebored. This is the best I've seen this year:

Great vid and I agree, skaters are some of the most creative thinkers out there.

IMO this is a psychology issue. Most people who get stale in their sport need to go back to the child like mentality, or re-learn the joy of being the beginner, between the ages of 10 and 20 years old I spent hours in all conditions trying to nail various skate tricks with varying success. If I got bored I moved on, or tried a new variation of a trick I could do with a different slant. Mixing it up like skating a new spot, trying different equipment, and hanging out with new folk who inspired me.

Fast forward, I'm now the wrong side of 40 with family, full on job etc. limited on time like most, so now the stoke is just getting out there on anything, surf, kite, skate. Hell these days mainly I go so long between sessions that my progress is backwards, in everything! That's just my own busy life getting in the way!

Those that are good enough to be bored with their already impressive repertoire need to get creative. They are lucky to be that proficient, and don't concentrate on being robotic, think J.O.B doing step offs onto foamies at Pipe or riding an inflatable crocodile. Those guy's arent worried about nailing a technically perfect rotation for the judges, they're just having fun in between!

And if nailing it for the judges is your aim, give it a rest, get stoked on a new slant and come back to it with fresh eyes and a relaxed attitude, it'll come......

Think Rodney Mullen and his TED talk, prime example.....

www.ted.com/talks/rodney_mullen_pop_an_ollie_and_innovate#t-110422

So many interesting comments and all really valid.

Sugarcube! I do miss WA - However- I must admit, it''s flat water heaven here. Surf is also on to par with likes of Lanno/Wedge.

Check out the spot below. Mirror flat. There are another four kiting locations like this within 60kms, all work on different winds too!







Bene that vid was sick. I can skate, but have lost 90% of it from my youth. Now days its the dogs pulling me along on my cruiser.

I think what you said Grodad resonates, about needing to go "back to the child like mentality, or re-learn the joy of being the beginner". Ill be the first to admit, I'm probably taking my "downtime" a little to serious.

Overthinking and not chilling.

juandesooka said..
skateboarding for old guys? haha

At 40, I built 2 quarter pipes for my basement suite tenant's skater teen. Figured it would be great cross training for surfing. Relearning to drop in, did a top to bottom full body slam. Pain receptors flashing like 100 light bulbs going off at once. The sound of meat hitting concrete. I don't remember it hurting like that back when I was made of elastic bands, when i used to just bounce back up and keep going. That was the end of skateboarding.

Kiting is so much more forgiving. On a good day, I feel like I am back in the skatepark, just now with the help of the kite's power and the bar's balance beam, I can do all those tricks that gravity denied me.

That's why you should try a wakeskate, water is usually softer than concrete .

I didn't kite the pond for the reasons you mentioned. If I ever did make the trip, it was mid week.

Crowds are way down here, but the winds lighter, so i'm not going to kid myself and say this place trumps the Pond.

I have never kited the spot above with more than 3 riders.

Quiet a few crew are getting into foiling. It's not because foiling is so amazing (which it is ). It's because it is endlessly rewarding and challenging. Even after almost of year of foiling I can do it ok, but I still feel like a beginner.

There's also the feeling that when you're not doing it you can't quite remember what it feels like, and you're never quite sure that you can actually do it. You start a session, pop up and glide away and suddenly it's, "I can do this!".

I'm not suggesting that you go foiling, but definitely get your head in the space of looking for ways to get better and to have more fun.

I don't think learning more and harder tricks is the way. That way is doomed to failure because progress can never be continuous or exponential. If it was then everybody would be doing triple back blind mobe dead man board offs.

Rads said...

Underoath said..

Check out the spot below. Mirror flat. There are another four kiting locations like this within 60kms, all work on different winds too!

Holy moly dude..........that spot is sick......and no one out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is it not crowded over there?????

u get those conds at the pond but with anotha zillion guyz................. plus pros, ho's and touros............all burning everyone.....

its difficult to progress when theres no gaps to try new stuff..............its like....,,..suddnly theres a gap!!!.......quickly throw down a trcik while you can!!!.....no time to think about it so u just throw down the ones u alredy know.....,.....

Spots like this all up the qld coast

kemp90 said..

Rads said...

Underoath said..

Check out the spot below. Mirror flat. There are another four kiting locations like this within 60kms, all work on different winds too!

Holy moly dude..........that spot is sick......and no one out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is it not crowded over there?????

u get those conds at the pond but with anotha zillion guyz................. plus pros, ho's and touros............all burning everyone.....

its difficult to progress when theres no gaps to try new stuff..............its like....,,..suddnly theres a gap!!!.......quickly throw down a trcik while you can!!!.....no time to think about it so u just throw down the ones u alredy know.....,.....

Spots like this all up the qld coast

bugger....,.. i mite move there.... any work?

why dont all the pros n touros n that go to qld........can u pls take some....we need a break

too much pimpin ova here i reckon by those creepy old phtogs......

Rads said...

kemp90 said..

Rads said...

Underoath said..

Check out the spot below. Mirror flat. There are another four kiting locations like this within 60kms, all work on different winds too!

Holy moly dude..........that spot is sick......and no one out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is it not crowded over there?????

u get those conds at the pond but with anotha zillion guyz................. plus pros, ho's and touros............all burning everyone.....

its difficult to progress when theres no gaps to try new stuff..............its like....,,..suddnly theres a gap!!!.......quickly throw down a trcik while you can!!!.....no time to think about it so u just throw down the ones u alredy know.....,.....

Spots like this all up the qld coast

bugger....,.. i mite move there.... any work?

why dont all the pros n touros n that go to qld........can u pls take some....we need a break

too much pimpin ova here i reckon by those creepy old phtogs......

Check it. It's the pond on steroids. That bar stretches for another 100m.