My sense of balance and therefore technique goes down hill when I crash - each crash becomes incremental so it gets worse.

So vulnerable in the learning / caught out mode.

For example a few years back I did a santa down-winder on the sunny coast and sucked up the forecast too much went small.
With Topple Over (he used to kite!!) and Underoath.- (both better than me). About 30 minutes in, they both had zipped off finishing probably 30 Kms,,,
On a 4'6" pocket rocket and 8m kite in lower winds than 4cast after loosing a fin in a shallow water spin - I was splatting all over the place and lost it around the 20 Kms mark - waterlogged...

Today.. Same .. G8 fun but... Still in learning mode on my foil journey (=1 or 2 straps on board to start) and after loosing a foot strap on first run - Screw popped - I had trouble getting up and going.. (2 strap board = big buoyant board (I use this when going 1km plus offshore in lighter winds = being cautious if need to swim the kit back)..
After 90 minutes started loosing it, and the down-wind run was an ever shortening series of exhilarating runs ending in a splat or a massive splat..
Take home = while learning - likely to get water logging on the eardrum / sinus - What do you wear if this impacts you??
Cheers
AP

(I do wear head gear 4 foiling).. Does anyone totally block their ears and possibly wear nose clips (more crap to donate to Davey Jone's Locker)??

Yep, it's marvellous how that water finds its way into ears... I wear a close-fitting Gath helmet with vents taped over to reduce wind noise, and still need to tip the water out of ear canals after a good splat.

I've previously used Surf ears and Docs pro plugs with the Gath, now using waterproof ear buds wired to an MP3 player.
I've popped ear drums surfing before, so I'm making sure I don't do it kiting or kitefoiling.
If I popped an ear drum 1km out, the lack of balance might make a return to shore time consuming!

I've had 2 rounds of surfers ear surgery, and have tried every type of ear plug (silicone, surf-ears etc etc).
Best product to keep out wind noise, and fully seal your ears from seawater/sand ingress is definitely the freely available (from your local office stationary cupboard) blue-tac.
Don't stick it into your ear canal, just get a ball (sphere) about the diameter of your thumb nail, and squish it around your outer ear, covering the ear canal.I was surfing 8 foot Margs a few weeks ago with blue-tac in my ears, no dramas, no water in ears, happy days.
Hope this helps.

+1 for listening to tunes while kiting, it waaay better and protects you from perforating ear drums. Cheap water proof mp3 players are easy to find online

Get some moulded silicon air plugs made specifically for your ears, Use mine for swimming also. Was sick and tired of ear infections, water staying in ear canals. Get them made at your audiologist.

blu tac works (heaps of surfers use this) otherwise you can buy those expensive silicone plugs with a string that you can accessorise with your range rover. somehow blu tac does not affect balance only hearing.

Colder months more important to prevent "surfers ear" where bone starts growing over ear canal.

Post every session a squirt with swimmers ear/aqua ear to dry it out, so often I am driving home with my head tilted one way then the other.

Any loud music and earphones makes the problem worse as it builds wax in your ear making water get stuck in more, and any of those friggin earphone pods are just bacteria collecting pods and pushes it back into your ear

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Peahi said..
blu tac works (heaps of surfers use this) otherwise you can buy those expensive silicone plugs with a string that you can accessorise with your range rover. somehow blu tac does not affect balance only hearing.

Colder months more important to prevent "surfers ear" where bone starts growing over ear canal.

Post every session a squirt with swimmers ear/aqua ear to dry it out, so often I am driving home with my head tilted one way then the other.

Any loud music and earphones makes the problem worse as it builds wax in your ear making water get stuck in more, and any of those friggin earphone pods are just bacteria collecting pods and pushes it back into your ear

Solid advice.

May I also say it could just be that you are getting tired as well, after crashing you are losing energy and as time goes on your muscles will weaken and thus your ability to effectively balance yourself will drop. The more intuition you have from time on the water the less tiring riding becomes and the easier you are able to balance yourself with the least energy used.