I've taken a few lessons so far in which I learned to handle the kite on land and body drag. One of the reasons I tried it was because I heard it was easier than regular surfing and wouldn't take as much time to be able to ride along the water. I stopped when I learned how to put on the board in the water

I'm not sure if I should continue with lessons or to quit the sport entirely. Although surfing looked fun, I didn't like how so much time was spent walking in and out of the water and walking away from the crowds. But I went at a beach that was busy with tourists

I also had a really bad pinched nerve around my neck a few years ago before trying kitesurfing and have had some neck stiffness since then. Looking up at the kite so much hurt my neck a bit, so I'm concerned that too much looking up could cause that pinched nerve again or further injure my neck. But nothing serious happened to my neck from my kitesurfing lessons

I heard that taking jetski-assisted lessons could help with saving time from walking out of the water, so maybe kitesurfing will be more fun if I try it at a better location with better winds and is less crowded?

Or maybe I'm better off sticking to jet-skiing or other water sports that don't require so much time before being able to ride along the water and have fun?

Definitely more fun if you can be at an uncrowded beach, and other kiters are more likely to 'connect' (not literally!) with you where there are fewer people. Progression (and fun) would be best with a friend or 2 at similar level, and ideally some more experienced kiters around who can help /advise when needed.
But the main thing would be to just enjoy the journey; have fun with doing what you can do at whatever level you're at, try advancing to new skills as you feel ready, seek help when needed, and laugh at yourself when opportunities arise!
As you get used to feeling where the kite is, and flying it lower in the window, you won't be kinking your neck. More likely to benefit from improved muscle tone in neck and everywhere else! (JetSki won't do that for you.)

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Sandee said..
But the main thing would be to just enjoy the journey; have fun with doing what you can do at whatever level you're at, try advancing to new skills as you feel ready

I didn't find it fun to handle the kite on land. Does it get alot more fun when getting on the board and attempting to ride upwind?

I had 3 x 2 hr lessons and at the end could waterstart and go a little way. I then had a week off and went kitesurfing every day. By the 3rd day I was waterstarting fine and doing transitions. By the end I was kiting upwind and felt confident.

this seems to be a good way to get going. Re the pinched nerve, when you are underway in the water the kite is lower, at 45 degrees. As a result you don't strain your neck when you get more used to it. Having said that now I'm learning to jump I got a bit ahead of myself, had a nasty crash, and now have a bulging disc in my c6. When I finally get going again I'm not concerned about the looking up for the reasons above.

having windsurfed, sailed and surfed extensively, I can say nothing I have done so far comes close to the Adrenalin of kitesurfing. It is definitely a sport that needs respect, hence the lessons, but nothing handles wild ocean as easily and effortlessly as a kite.

persevere and you will be rewarded!

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mke said..

Sandee said..
But the main thing would be to just enjoy the journey; have fun with doing what you can do at whatever level you're at, try advancing to new skills as you feel ready

I didn't find it fun to handle the kite on land. Does it get alot more fun when getting on the board and attempting to ride upwind?

True; not much fun on land. But messing about in safe shallow(ish) water where you can let loose and practice dragging in different directions and trying to launch yourself clear of the water, with minimal risk of injury. much more fun. And when you get on a board, if you can organise your session so that you're not trying to go upwind at first, you can have much fun for less effort while making your way downwind.
Who ever told you kitesurfing would be easy? A few rare gifted people might think that, but I'm pretty sure most of us mere mortals have to work at it a fair bit before we can ever be any good at it.
Aside from the pro lessons and practice, practice, practice, you can also find lots of good videos online that give great tips to help your progression.

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mke said..
I've taken a few lessons so far in which I learned to handle the kite on land and body drag. One of the reasons I tried it was because I heard it was easier than regular surfing and wouldn't take as much time to be able to ride along the water. I stopped when I learned how to put on the board in the water

I'm not sure if I should continue with lessons or to quit the sport entirely. Although surfing looked fun, I didn't like how so much time was spent walking in and out of the water and walking away from the crowds. But I went at a beach that was busy with tourists

I also had a really bad pinched nerve around my neck a few years ago before trying kitesurfing and have had some neck stiffness since then. Looking up at the kite so much hurt my neck a bit, so I'm concerned that too much looking up could cause that pinched nerve again or further injure my neck. But nothing serious happened to my neck from my kitesurfing lessons

I heard that taking jetski-assisted lessons could help with saving time from walking out of the water, so maybe kitesurfing will be more fun if I try it at a better location with better winds and is less crowded?

Or maybe I'm better off sticking to jet-skiing or other water sports that don't require so much time before being able to ride along the water and have fun?

Get a better instructor.
He should find a quieter beach,
He should have told you that you will be looking high in the first few skills with the kite up high. When you get better and riding, the kite will be lower and you will be comfortable not looking up at the kite and flying mainly by feel.
Putting the board on is one of the harder steps in the first lesson as you need adequate kite control at this stage.
Once you have your first 50m run you will most likely get the feeling of relaxing and not fighting the kite and going with it.
After trying a better instructor, you will know if you want to keep progressing or not.

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kitcho207 said..

mke said..
I've taken a few lessons so far in which I learned to handle the kite on land and body drag. One of the reasons I tried it was because I heard it was easier than regular surfing and wouldn't take as much time to be able to ride along the water. I stopped when I learned how to put on the board in the water

I'm not sure if I should continue with lessons or to quit the sport entirely. Although surfing looked fun, I didn't like how so much time was spent walking in and out of the water and walking away from the crowds. But I went at a beach that was busy with tourists

I also had a really bad pinched nerve around my neck a few years ago before trying kitesurfing and have had some neck stiffness since then. Looking up at the kite so much hurt my neck a bit, so I'm concerned that too much looking up could cause that pinched nerve again or further injure my neck. But nothing serious happened to my neck from my kitesurfing lessons

I heard that taking jetski-assisted lessons could help with saving time from walking out of the water, so maybe kitesurfing will be more fun if I try it at a better location with better winds and is less crowded?

Or maybe I'm better off sticking to jet-skiing or other water sports that don't require so much time before being able to ride along the water and have fun?

Get a better instructor.
He should find a quieter beach,
He should have told you that you will be looking high in the first few skills with the kite up high. When you get better and riding, the kite will be lower and you will be comfortable not looking up at the kite and flying mainly by feel.
Putting the board on is one of the harder steps in the first lesson as you need adequate kite control at this stage.
Once you have your first 50m run you will most likely get the feeling of relaxing and not fighting the kite and going with it.
After trying a better instructor, you will know if you want to keep progressing or not.

Might be a bit simplistic to blame the instructor, as kite-schools don't usually have exclusive access to the best beaches! And many advanced kiteboarders will seek the same (calm & shallow) water conditions that are essential for beginners, sometimes with little regard for newbies!
We all should give plenty of room to newbies, with or without an instructor; expect the unexpected and don't expect them to observe right-of-way rules.
Kiteboarding is not for everyone. only you can decide whether the journey is worthwhile to you.

Hi,
Just my two cents, but I reckon it's worth keeping going with the lessons until you're waterstarting reasonably consistently.

I had a few lessons but also stopped once I felt pretty safe handling the kite and getting the board in the water, upwind body dragging etc. "Surely YouTube will be good enough from here?" Nup! For virtually a whole summer I was really struggling to get it together, so decided to get another lesson. The instructor told me one little thing, and boom, suddenly it started to come together.

The unfortunate truth is, until you're reasonably able to get up and get going it's just bloody hard work, lots of crashing and the "walk of shame". But once you're up you can work on going upwind and suddenly it becomes much more fun (and a lot less walking the kite back up the beach)

About the neck situation, once you're getting more comfortable you'll want to avoid the "kite-zombie" thing and be looking where you're going, so not so much staring at the sky

Good luck, perseverance is the key.

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mke said..
Or maybe I'm better off sticking to jet-skiing or other water sports that don't require so much time before being able to ride along the water and have fun?

I understand you completely here. I started with lessons on the water, like mostly everyone, but I too was put off by the effort of changing into a wetsuit, pumping the kite, doing the lines, walking it all over to the water's edge, get/find someone to launch, and then walk out again even further into weedy/slimy **** on the ocean floor and *then* try and water start. It is an effort I admit.
This is why I took up landkiting in those early days, and I have to admit, I learnt going both ways and transitions on land, rather than on the water as I was "forced" to keep the board in the same direction left or right. In water, because I had not developed muscle-memory yet, I kept turning myself over to toe-side when I went to my right (natural footer), which some dudes reckon that's a move in itself! Yeah... nah... I kept on land for a season and even learnt looping the kite on land. Just so much easier to just put on the harness, pump up the kite and go! No crocs, stingers or sharks to think about.
However, the obvious downside is the risk of serious injury on land, but meh... I hardly fell those days. The worst was a grass-rash on my arm when I fell forward diving the kite. (small trainer kite to begin with of course).
I am not saying go landkiting mate, just sharing my experience and opinions.
Stick with it mate. even on land or water, it's an effort like any other sport. There is a level of preparation we all have to do. It becomes second nature, and you even get faster at it with practice. But it sounds like your trainer is a douche bag. He/she I bet are IKO trained - ugh.. I hate their style of training. It just kills enthusiasm in some people, especially those that don't get it or are not that self-motivated.
I suggest find another trainer, and one that is in it for passion and love of the sport. Someone that talks a lot and wants to share the stoke. Not someone that stands behind you repeating - try again... try again... or worse, like I've seen.... "here let me show you how it's done"!
Kiting is a passion and it's addictive when you get it. And you will, but you need to give it more of a go. I promise you won't regret it.

ps: how to know when to stop paying for lessons? When the trainer starts doing what I said above. 4-6 lessons should be enough IMO.

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mke said..
I've taken a few lessons so far in which I learned to handle the kite on land and body drag. One of the reasons I tried it was because I heard it was easier than regular surfing and wouldn't take as much time to be able to ride along the water. I stopped when I learned how to put on the board in the water

I'm not sure if I should continue with lessons or to quit the sport entirely. Although surfing looked fun, I didn't like how so much time was spent walking in and out of the water and walking away from the crowds. But I went at a beach that was busy with tourists

I also had a really bad pinched nerve around my neck a few years ago before trying kitesurfing and have had some neck stiffness since then. Looking up at the kite so much hurt my neck a bit, so I'm concerned that too much looking up could cause that pinched nerve again or further injure my neck. But nothing serious happened to my neck from my kitesurfing lessons

I heard that taking jetski-assisted lessons could help with saving time from walking out of the water, so maybe kitesurfing will be more fun if I try it at a better location with better winds and is less crowded?

Or maybe I'm better off sticking to jet-skiing or other water sports that don't require so much time before being able to ride along the water and have fun?

Mate you really have to find a good teacher and there aren't many around. I went to 4 kite schools before I found a good teacher, I ended up taking 21 kite lessons before I could successfuly do a waterstart. But then I was hooked, that was 4 years ago now I am surfing waves and foiling, you can never have too many lessons, the more lessons you take the easier it will be as long as you have a good instructor.

I have been surfing waves for the last 2 years and I saw this guy kiting waves , he was awesome so I asked him to teach me luckily he also taught kitesurfing to beginners he changed the way I surfed waves and showed me techniques I could never learn from utube, we took gopro footage and I improved heaps and I a stil taking lessons on how to smack the lip of a wave correctly.

Invest in lessons, dont fall into the trap of thinking that a new kite or board will make you a better kiter, its how you use the kite - take more lessons, invest

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Or maybe I'm better off sticking to jet-skiing or other water sports that don't require so much time before being able to ride along the water and have fun?

Speaking from experience, Jetskiing can be just as much time to set up, pack up, wash down, etc, and to start in the sport will cost you more than a kiteboarding set up (I know, I have both). Also once you have a routine, it takes no more than about 10-15 mins to set up and get on the water with Kite gear. (Sometimes half the fun is having a chat on the shore with the other boarders as to what is happening and experiences, learning what size kite they are using, where the wind is coming from and learning a thing or two). Just enjoy the process for what it is, rather than thinking of it as time wasting.

If you are looking at towing behind a jetski, you will need a minimum of 3 people, the driver, a spotter, and the person being towed. Kiteboarding, you only need one person, you. Also skiing or wakeboarding, you are limited by your grip strength to hang onto the tow rope.

I had around 8 lessons before I was able to water start, I have now been practicing by myself and finally getting upwind. Let me tell you that it is worth it to keep at it. One thing that really helped me was to follow another kiteboarder (not too closely), and follow their line (upwind). This helped with understanding the upwind line I needed to take. Helped heaps.

Any kiteboarder will tell you that they remember that first moment they were able to get back to the point they started (getting upwind). It just keeps getting better and better. Keep at it, find a passionate kite instructor, and don't give up. These things take time to learn.

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PomInSA said..
Hi,
Just my two cents, but I reckon it's worth keeping going with the lessons until you're waterstarting reasonably consistently.

I had a few lessons but also stopped once I felt pretty safe handling the kite and getting the board in the water, upwind body dragging etc. "Surely YouTube will be good enough from here?" Nup! For virtually a whole summer I was really struggling to get it together, so decided to get another lesson. The instructor told me one little thing, and boom, suddenly it started to come together.

The unfortunate truth is, until you're reasonably able to get up and get going it's just bloody hard work, lots of crashing and the "walk of shame". But once you're up you can work on going upwind and suddenly it becomes much more fun (and a lot less walking the kite back up the beach)

About the neck situation, once you're getting more comfortable you'll want to avoid the "kite-zombie" thing and be looking where you're going, so not so much staring at the sky

Good luck, perseverance is the key.

I could not agree with this more. I heard that it would take 3 lessons until I could waterstart but that certainly wasn't my experience, partially because my first instructor pushed ahead with 2 lessons in really bad conditions (I have since switched to a school that will cancel lessons when conditions are bad for beginners) and partially because I was lacking in confidence and everyone learns at a different pace.

I tried to go out on my own after 3 lessons anyway, which was a bad move. I had a few near misses, which knocked my confidence even more, and just got frustrated. So I returned to lessons with a different school and improved very quickly. I got a boat lesson so I could just focus on waterstarts for 2 hours without worrying about other people and that's when the magic happened! I also had a really great instructor who was positive but constructive. Once I was pretty sure that I could waterstart more times than not I was much more confident going out without a lesson. Plus, all that waterstart practice incidentally gave me a lot of practice relaunching the kite, fetching the board, controlling the kite, etc. which has just made me a safer/more responsible rider. Still a long way to go though!

Good luck!

if you're the guy down at Dutchies this arvo that had his girlfriend hook in and stand there with the kite leading edge down down wind while he figured out the lines then hooked in and got his girlfriend to assist a hot launch then proceeded to move upwind of his girlfriend and fly his kite directly upwind of her at close proximity then flew his kite mainly at Zenith but sometimes over the dunes and approaching beachgoers before finally getting on the water then I would have to say get more lessons. If you're someone else then I dunno, probably go with the vibe.

jet skis are for the gays