Select to expand quote

NickCNoise said..

Hi guys so Iv been lurking the forums a while and had a odd post but anyway Iv been kiting a total maybe 20-30 sessions now and progressing pretty well, kiting upwind easily, jumps, back rolls, toe side to heel side carves etc but I keep having problems with catching water and crashing while riding. Now my right foot forward stance is pretty rough considering I surf and wakeboard natural rather than goofy if you put it that way but I will get going and build up speed edging upwind and every now n again catch the water below my heels somehow - possible problems I have thought of is the board maybe set up wrong, poor stance or just a general consequence of kiting in chop. Does anyone else have this problem ? had it and fixed it ? or simply knows the answer ?

Another problem Im having which maybe related to the above, is building up to much speed on my right foot forward side to the point where I loose control of it and wipe out. I have put this down to stance and have been trying to apply more heel pressure but maybe something else is going on.

Im 90kg riding an Airush Xpact 138 and 10m BWS. Woodies and PW.

Cheers Nick.

There are two things you can have probs with in my experience with chop and waves using a TT that might cause what you are talking about. The first one is adapting the board to what's coming from behind you, i.e. Coming into shore or with the chop. If you feel like someone just kicked the chair out from underneath you it could be due to too much edge as the wave passes you - try flattening the board or going with the wave for a second rather than across it as it passes.

The other is heading out into the chop or wave and usually is most obvious when the wind is coming from a different angle to what you are used to. Again if you present too much side of the board to the wave it will take you out. You can either: 1) edge upwind hard just before you hit it, 2) try to pop over the wave (even a little bunny hop can make a big diff). In reality you want to do a combination of both. Also have your kite higher as you crest and lower as soon as you're past the apex.

Another thing that used to annoy me with a TT in the waves was porpoising. You'd be cruising along and some swell might hit and the board would noseplant, throwing you off. That seemed to be related to too much foot pressure on either end of the board. Went away over time as the body figured it out. Besides that nice progress from that sounds of it!

Select to expand quote

StevenJG said..

Lessons learned: 1.seaweed is evil and wants to kill you and 2. Don't kite in onshore wind as a beginner

I haven't experienced seaweed as a major issue yet, but with my local beach being the entrance to a major river, we get a lot small twigs and branches on the beach. Self launching is occasionally interesting (as is punching holes in your kite).

We mainly get onshore winds, so my novice solution is to body drag 30/40 metres from the beach to give me room for launching in flukey winds.

Well I finally got my own gear and had another lesson

Lessons learned for the day
1. You guys make this look way too easy and I hate you haha
2. QR is a freaking god send
3. ALWAYS keep you bar at your sweet spot, not too far in you are getting pulled but not too far out that you can't feel where the kite is at or have sufficient steering control. Learnt this the hard way during my lesson, we were on the beach talking and going through some things to try, i turn around to realise my kite had dropped backwards down the window because i had the bar out too far, next thing I know I'm getting very intimate with the sand. Which leads me to my next point.
4. QR is a freaking god send
5. The moment you get up and plane for the first time is seriously freaking awesome. Such an amazing feeling, which also vanishes just as quickly when you catch the front edge of your board and get your sinuses forcefully cleaned out haha.
6. I am completely unco going goofey, boarding out I could get up a few times only for short distances but trying to come back in going goofey I really struggled, kept trying to push my left foot forward out of instinct. Obviously that doesn't end well.
7. Don't be afraid to let go of the bar if you get into trouble, if the kite hits the water, relaunching is too easy
8. I am completely unco when it comes to getting the board on my feet. If it looked as bizarre as it felt it must have been a hilariously funny site seeing my floundering around trying to keep the kite at 12 while fumbling to get the board on in the (very small) swell.
9. Did I mention QR is a freaking god send
10. Pretty sure I'm addicted

I can't wait to get out for my next session.

Select to expand quote

Warehouse13 said..

Well I finally got my own gear and had another lesson

Lessons learned for the day
1. You guys make this look way too easy and I hate you haha
2. QR is a freaking god send
3. ALWAYS keep you bar at your sweet spot, not too far in you are getting pulled but not too far out that you can't feel where the kite is at or have sufficient steering control. Learnt this the hard way during my lesson, we were on the beach talking and going through some things to try, i turn around to realise my kite had dropped backwards down the window because i had the bar out too far, next thing I know I'm getting very intimate with the sand. Which leads me to my next point.
4. QR is a freaking god send
5. The moment you get up and plane for the first time is seriously freaking awesome. Such an amazing feeling, which also vanishes just as quickly when you catch the front edge of your board and get your sinuses forcefully cleaned out haha.
6. I am completely unco going goofey, boarding out I could get up a few times only for short distances but trying to come back in going goofey I really struggled, kept trying to push my left foot forward out of instinct. Obviously that doesn't end well.
7. Don't be afraid to let go of the bar if you get into trouble, if the kite hits the water, relaunching is too easy
8. I am completely unco when it comes to getting the board on my feet. If it looked as bizarre as it felt it must have been a hilariously funny site seeing my floundering around trying to keep the kite at 12 while fumbling to get the board on in the (very small) swell.
9. Did I mention QR is a freaking god send
10. Pretty sure I'm addicted

I can't wait to get out for my next session.

Sounds like your having fun.

I start my day at work looking at seabreeze and then consult it every other hour wondering if I get an hour in after work. Today is looking good, tomorrow is looking awesome!!!!!

Select to expand quote

bigtone667 said..

I start my day at work looking at seabreeze and then consult it every other hour wondering if I get an hour in after work.

This has now become my life, just waiting for the IT section to ban SB cause I'm spending too much time on it haha

Select to expand quote

Warehouse13 said..

bigtone667 said..

I start my day at work looking at seabreeze and then consult it every other hour wondering if I get an hour in after work.

This has now become my life, just waiting for the IT section to ban SB cause I'm spending too much time on it haha

Waiting for the same thing myself. I think my manager will recommend it.

So I joined! taken me a week in between tasks at work to read through all 15 pages and have to say, if it wasn't for this thread, i'd be miles back in my confidence and ultimate progression. Knowing you're not the only one making all the mistakes, taking a while to perfect the basics and feeling like you're too obsessed.. makes it normal, acceptable and gives you a boost.

Kudos to the crew in this thread particularly who are unbiased, fair and to be honest, bucking the forum trend of bickering I see across all other forums of interest. It's refreshing!

Having smashing out my lessons in October and braving the stupid cold water of a prolonged Melbourne winter meant I was better equipped with skill come the silly season (apparently I can expect 90+ kites on St Kilda beach in peak!) but the lack of peers this early on the beaches meant I was felt a bit sketchy trying new things.

Lessons I've learned and wanted to share for others like me on this forum:

1: gear counts! more than I thought. I'm the thriftiest bloke around but buying dated gear and struggling seriously just stopped my progression dead. invest wisely, don't go overboard and you'll be thanking yourself for shelling out every time you go out. It's one pursuit you can't really cut corners with.
2: don't ever feel crazy for not being able to think about anything else but getting out there again. I thought my friends at KR would be talking behind my back seeing me down there almost everyday after work. was I too obsessed? No, they were (like the rest of us kiters), super supportive and applauded my keen to learn attitude.
3: learning in the water is invaluable. Not to contradict anything on the forum, as this comes down to learning style, but sheer time in the water meant I just picked up stuff through trial and error. Theory is great, but muscle memory and "feeling" the combo of kite, bar, body, board, water and wind is the best and shouldn't be substituted. My mate who was afraid of the cold water but has watched every you tube video and progression DVD isn't quite where he thought he'd be. Get wet people!
4: Get into the culture of it. No wind? Go talk shop with your local shop, hang out with fellow kiters waiting for the wind on the beach, it's all good.
5: Do your bit for the sport. Fetching a board, landing and launching everyone on the beach, conducting yourself safely, will keep us self-regulated. As an ex-drifter I can tell you it's the few that ruin it for the masses. Looking after each other as well as respecting other beach users goes a long way.
6: Go out in everything you can (safely). choppy, wet, a bit gusty, whatever. I liken it to a Melbourne winter: a) surviving it makes the Summer so much sweeter! and b) kiting in it makes you a more adaptable rider if conditions go bad when you're out on your "perfect day" + you get to kiting more... perfect days are rare...
7: no one told me this but you can actually overtighten your harness! I went from a small to an extra small Ion thinking that was why my ribs bruised up and kept ending my sessions early. But after problems persisted, I tried it a bit looser (still firm) as a last resort and to ease some pain and it worked a treat. It didn't end up under my armpits as I feared (it sits where it should after I got my stance right). But no one told me that so I thought I'd share it here...

Sorry if that got a bit preachy, I'm still staggered by the amount of freedom we have here to pump and go almost anywhere, it's ace.

Thanks to the community on this forum, I'm no longer afraid to try a directional (Great Ocean Road this weekend - nervous), fixed a lot of my "what the hell am I doing wrong" persisting issues and already made some rad new mates.

Keep this thread going guys. I owe this 'always open browser tab' a lot!

Cheers,

Sketchy

Select to expand quote

Warehouse13 said...
5. The moment you get up and plane for the first time is seriously freaking awesome. Such an amazing feeling, which also vanishes just as quickly when you catch the front edge of your board and get your sinuses forcefully cleaned out haha.
6. I am completely unco going goofey, boarding out I could get up a few times only for short distances but trying to come back in going goofey I really struggled, kept trying to push my left foot forward out of instinct. Obviously that doesn't end well.

Glad to see your enjoying it mate... Ull find your progression goes in leaps n bounds from here on in!

If you think the feeling of getting up and going is epic wait till you get your slidding turns perfected and when you get a big jump landed!!!
Not too mention not having to do that bloody walk!!

Regarding your goofy, I had the same problem when I started. Bit I a mind game like rubbing your tummy and patting your head. But if your like me you'll soon find the two stances indentical and may even prefer goofy!

Practise makes perfect!!!

Cheer guys I had a couple of good sessions last week and found that as long as I look where Im going I don't tend to lose it, riding right foot forward iv learnt to just edge harder to control my speed and line. As for hitting the water it hasn't happened since so I don't really know what Iv changed but its allgood !

I also had a kite at Leighton last weekend in the seaweed and big surf which was a first for me really in the big of a swell. Launched kite and started heading out, had the kite to low and it got swamped by a big wave which resulted in a seriously drowned kite and weed everywhere ! Cleared it and re launched this time keeping the kite high ! Managed to get going ok and made it over the first big set of white water but the 2nd one nailed me lucky I had the kite up high and could get going again. Cruised back n forth for awhile, up n over the big sets but when I decide to come back in I popped toe-side and tried a late carve in front of a 5ft wave and of course screwed it up. Now I surf a lot as well but having a kite attached is completely different !! anyway the wave smashed me, I crashed the kite which got swamped pretty quick and was obviously underwater. This is when it started pulling me down with it as the kite was lower than me so I pulled safety and swam back to shore whilst a nice man dragged my seaweed coated kite up the beach.

Lesson Learned: Keep Kite high when heading out, wait for sets to go past first, be confident in your turns (especially in front of waves), always be ready of your safety and enjoy the ride even if you look like a noob !

Select to expand quote

NickCNoise said..

....
Lesson Learned: Keep Kite high when heading out, wait for sets to go past first, be confident in your turns (especially in front of waves), always be ready of your safety and enjoy the ride even if you look like a noob !

A good tip there Mr. Noise.

Do you ride with a kite leash? I don't see many waves, but I know the experienced guys tend not to use them, for that very reason (being dragged or rolled by a big wave).

S

Select to expand quote

SaltySinus said..

NickCNoise said..

....
Lesson Learned: Keep Kite high when heading out, wait for sets to go past first, be confident in your turns (especially in front of waves), always be ready of your safety and enjoy the ride even if you look like a noob !

A good tip there Mr. Noise.

Do you ride with a kite leash? I don't see many waves, but I know the experienced guys tend not to use them, for that very reason (being dragged or rolled by a big wave).

S

Yea I ride with a kite leash but that was my first time out in solid waves, usually stick to flat water or chop due to safer wind direction however after pulling the first safety I also consider pulling the 2nd one as well. I wasn't to fair off the shore so didn't bother but I can see how it can be dangerous !

Select to expand quote

NickCNoise said..

SaltySinus said..

NickCNoise said..

....
Lesson Learned: Keep Kite high when heading out, wait for sets to go past first, be confident in your turns (especially in front of waves), always be ready of your safety and enjoy the ride even if you look like a noob !

A good tip there Mr. Noise.

Do you ride with a kite leash? I don't see many waves, but I know the experienced guys tend not to use them, for that very reason (being dragged or rolled by a big wave).

S

Yea I ride with a kite leash but that was my first time out in solid waves, usually stick to flat water or chop due to safer wind direction however after pulling the first safety I also consider pulling the 2nd one as well. I wasn't to fair off the shore so didn't bother but I can see how it can be dangerous !

Aye. I got rolled in a wave surfing/lying on a surfboard, and had that horrible '**, what if I had kitelines attached and that happened!' sensation.

Does anyone else find it easier to back roll goofy stance rather than normal?

Select to expand quote

glasstraxx said..

Does anyone else find it easier to back roll goofy stance rather than normal?

Not sure, but I am jealous that you can backroll.

Select to expand quote

glasstraxx posted on 27/10/2013, 6:58 pm

so i had a pretty decent session today on my 11m in 15knt winds at applex (my 3rd on my own so far), able to get up and ride on my normal stance ok, but always seem to go slow have low power and the lines go slack, my board is pointed 45 deg down wind, so diagonal downwind and i'm trying to keep my legs straight. i fly the kite up and down but i always go so slow, maybe i gotta focus more on my posture and fly the kite more aggressively and i'm too hunched over, arms to close in. focusing on pushing bar out on up and pull in on down stoke.. or.... could i be going to much down wind?

contrary to this, when i start on goofy i seem to be able to park the kite at 2, get a good edge and almost ride cross wind/upwind until i run out of water.. its really weird, guess it could be down to feeling more scared on goofy so i dig my heels in more and this help fly the kite better...

guess it just down to practice.. and not get frustrated..

yeh.. considering i only posted this 8 weeks ago. lol. truth is i have probably been out at least 30 times since then! practice practice practice!!!

Select to expand quote

glasstraxx said..

glasstraxx posted on 27/10/2013, 6:58 pm

so i had a pretty decent session today on my 11m in 15knt winds at applex (my 3rd on my own so far), able to get up and ride on my normal stance ok, but always seem to go slow have low power and the lines go slack, my board is pointed 45 deg down wind, so diagonal downwind and i'm trying to keep my legs straight. i fly the kite up and down but i always go so slow, maybe i gotta focus more on my posture and fly the kite more aggressively and i'm too hunched over, arms to close in. focusing on pushing bar out on up and pull in on down stoke.. or.... could i be going to much down wind?

contrary to this, when i start on goofy i seem to be able to park the kite at 2, get a good edge and almost ride cross wind/upwind until i run out of water.. its really weird, guess it could be down to feeling more scared on goofy so i dig my heels in more and this help fly the kite better...

guess it just down to practice.. and not get frustrated..

yeh.. considering i only posted this 8 weeks ago. lol. truth is i have probably been out at least 30 times since then! practice practice practice!!!

I originally found it easier to backroll normal stance but that's probably because I feel more confident that way and have "attempted" backrolls while wakeboarding but while recently working on big 180 pops with a tail grab to toeside on my goofy stance I accidently tried to hard and found myself backrolling and now it feels quite good. As for 180s to toeside on my natural side I cant do them ! it feels so weird trying to rotate to the left ! I would love to spend some time on a trampoline with a handle tied to a tree ! great practice for handle passes when I get there

Kick your kids off the tramp and get bouncing !!

Lesson Learned, getting instruction from a qualified, skilled and professional educator was worth every single last cent

Bonus, great gear, awesome local crew to help the learning process was "Priceless" and they seemed happy to hear what you'd like to achieve and then provide sound qualified advice. Also have an awesome local council get rid of the power line risks to the other side of the road, PURE Genius.

Lesson needed to be learned: Become an Orangutan so I don't choke the kite and totally frustrate the living c**p out of myself by crashing it into the water or stalling and back sliding it into the power zone. Less time one the foil trainer, may have helped more, don't know, total noob

Oh and Easterlies / ENE S**K in Sydney, so bad with a 5 m LEI, but hey take any chance you can to get on the water safely.

And, make sure I read every page of this thread again and understand that being a total noob "can" be ok for a little while.

Glad to hear you had a great session mate.
Get used to the NEs that's mostly what we get in Sydney mate.
Who did you get your lessons through?

Not Pimping (even though I could think of a million reasons to do so), Alliance Gear.

True it was an off shore instructor, but as far as I'm concerned as a former assistant master board sailor back in the poley days. Hot damn, totally impressed and blown away by the "Teaching" ability. Can't wipe the smile from my face, literally

Select to expand quote

MOWIT said...
Not Pimping (even though I could think of a million reasons to do so), Alliance Gear.

True it was an off shore instructor, but as far as I'm concerned as a former assistant master board sailor back in the poley days. Hot damn, totally impressed and blown away by the "Teaching" ability. Can't wipe the smile from my face, literally

If you keep kitting at Kernell, you will fall in love with NE and ENE breezes. Very consistent summer afternoon breeze that is almost cross shore.

Select to expand quote

bigtone667 said..

MOWIT said...
Not Pimping (even though I could think of a million reasons to do so), Alliance Gear.

True it was an off shore instructor, but as far as I'm concerned as a former assistant master board sailor back in the poley days. Hot damn, totally impressed and blown away by the "Teaching" ability. Can't wipe the smile from my face, literally

If you keep kitting at Kernell, you will fall in love with NE and ENE breezes. Very consistent summer afternoon breeze that is almost cross shore.

Really want to try kurnell one of these days, how good is it for complete newbs? I've heard lauch/land area can be a little small depending on tide. I like the idea of the flater water though

I was going to create a new topic on this, but I think it's fair to put it here, as it is something about "lessons learnt".

One of the crucial things with kiting and to get the best performance with your kite is to lean back. Avoid the "pooh" stance at all times.

[1] pooh stance is hard to tell if you're doing it actually, but take a quick look around your shoulder and make sure you're not doing it. Lean back so the kite lines are taught and let the kite fly. The kite will only properly fly if you lean back.

[2] and the other obvious reaoson not to pooh stance, is to edge! Edging the board against the kite especially in strong winds, is paramount to controlling your direction and going up wind (or at least staying edged). If you stand up too much and don't lean back the kite will stall, you will flounder like riding a skateboard on a tight-rope, and your balance will be all over the place.

Allow the power of the kite to control you and hence you control it. That can only be achieved by leaning back properly, front foot forward, back leg slightly bent. And use your feet to control edging via the toes (less edging) and heels (more edging).

Yeah I learnt that one quickly once I got past the water starts.

Select to expand quote

Warehouse13 said..

bigtone667 said..

MOWIT said...
Not Pimping (even though I could think of a million reasons to do so), Alliance Gear.

True it was an off shore instructor, but as far as I'm concerned as a former assistant master board sailor back in the poley days. Hot damn, totally impressed and blown away by the "Teaching" ability. Can't wipe the smile from my face, literally

If you keep kitting at Kernell, you will fall in love with NE and ENE breezes. Very consistent summer afternoon breeze that is almost cross shore.

Really want to try kurnell one of these days, how good is it for complete newbs? I've heard lauch/land area can be a little small depending on tide. I like the idea of the flater water though

Really great bunch of dudes there who will happily assist you launching and landing. It is no drama being a newb, and you will get plenty of welcome and timely advice from veterans.

Guess that's my newbie lesson learnt for the day then

Will have to check it out next time the wind is up

Select to expand quote

Kazan said..

I was going to create a new topic on this, but I think it's fair to put it here, as it is something about "lessons learnt".

One of the crucial things with kiting and to get the best performance with your kite is to lean back. Avoid the "pooh" stance at all times.

[1] pooh stance is hard to tell if you're doing it actually, but take a quick look around your shoulder and make sure you're not doing it. Lean back so the kite lines are taught and let the kite fly. The kite will only properly fly if you lean back.

[2] and the other obvious reaoson not to pooh stance, is to edge! Edging the board against the kite especially in strong winds, is paramount to controlling your direction and going up wind (or at least staying edged). If you stand up too much and don't lean back the kite will stall, you will flounder like riding a skateboard on a tight-rope, and your balance will be all over the place.

Allow the power of the kite to control you and hence you control it. That can only be achieved by leaning back properly, front foot forward, back leg slightly bent. And use your feet to control edging via the toes (less edging) and heels (more edging).

Yeah I learnt that one quickly once I got past the water starts.

That's good advice. Even now, I'm still refining my stance and getting used to leaning against the kite. A good stance def helps staying up wind. Plus it stops you getting pulled over when the wind is strong. It's like a tug of war, you'd lean your body away from the opposition, you would not stick your tush out in an 'expecting' stance.

Good luck with the progress guys.

Select to expand quote

SaltySinus said...
Thanks BoardGirl, yeah, damn happy. I managed to hold back going 'whooooooooo' (in an Archer kind of way) long enough to recall I needed to land and what to do.

It was a great, great feeling!

Never hold back the woooooohooooo. I've been kitesurfing 10 years and I still let at least 1 woooohoooo go each session!

Ahhh reading this thread takes me back to my newb days... I remember thinking "why am I the only one getting dragged to the other end of the beach, dropping the kite and walking back". Everyone else seemed to have mastered it much quicker than me. But in reality we all probably went through the same process.

I still tell people who are considering getting into the sport. ... "even the learning stage is heaps of fun, but it helps if you're the sort of person who doesn't mind getting a face full of seawater, like when you get dumped by a big wave in the surf". (Salty's username sums it up perfectly).

Now a tip... If you find yourself overpowered and heading back to the beach in on-shore or cross-on conditions, not confident that you could hold your ground on the beach without getting dragged through the sand, bring the kite down low and activate the quick release while the kite is still over shallow water, just short of the shore line. The water will catch the kite and eliminate any possibly of getting lofted into solid objects once you hit the beach.

So that was a safety lesson, now a progression tip...

I'm endorsing a tip that has already been said. Do as many downwinders as you can.
Not only do you get to spend more time on the water, but you get to practice riding fast on the board, plenty of little jumps and transitions, toeside and board recovery all without worrying about maintaining your ground or tacking slowly upwind.

I came to kitesurfing as an experienced power kite flyer, from kite buggying. Didn't need to look at the kite to know where it was and what I needed to do to steer it where it needed to be. The most difficult part for me was learning the board skills... how to use the board to control the awesome power of the kite, to move in the desired direction instead of being flung downwind at great speed. So although I haven't done it myself, I'm guessing any wake boarding experience, whether at a park or behind a boat, would be valuable.

A little bit of a lesson learnt yesterday, not exactly a massive lesson but something that tweaked with me - never be worried about trying new kiting locations. I had gotten comfortable at my regular spot and by default had always just gone there. I had been wanting to try another local spot for a while and due to lack of winds at my regular yesterday I finally made my way to the new spot and as a result had the best session I have had so far to the point that I finally got up on the board and by the end of the session was actually getting some pretty good length runs in both regular and goofey side.

Massive stoke

I actually now like the new spot more that where I had been going, the wind seems a lot more consistent and the gusts are as bad (spoke with locals and thats the norm there) and the water is much flater as well, great for when I'm still learning.

Ok had my third (and hopefully final) lesson with the Kite Power guys today. They have seriously been so awesome to learn through and so patient with such a newb like me lol. I am sitting here brain storming everything we went through and just thought I would post it here as a bit of a lesson learnt. On the positive side, I got my biggest ride today and was actually able to hold an edge for a few metres. I am super stoked and can't wait to get out there again.

My instructor showed me a slightly different technique to what I had been shown before which worked brilliant, took a bit of timing and practice but it was certainly effective. It kinda goes like this:
- Kite to 12
- Take your hands off the bar, it WILL sit there for a lot longer than you think (or I think as the case may be, once you realise the will actually behave quite well by itself it makes like so much easier) without needing any input from you.
- With both hands free you can now easily use both hands to get board on your feet.
- Leaving bar pushed out (depowered), swing kite slightly back to the opposite direction to what you want to travel then dive hard and fast across the other side. When I say fast I mean FAST, I was in basically 22-24 knots on my 11m today and I was diving from basically 1 o'clock to a bit below 10 o'clock.

This is where he changed things up from what I had been told previously and I found it so much easier to get power. Normally I had been shown to hold bar in with some power while diving the kite and let out as i brought the kite back to 12.

- Leave the bar all the way out as you dive. As you feel the kite start to pull you, you pull in the bar to give you the additional power boost to lift you up out of the water, feels almost like you are hitting the turbo button. This take a bit of practice as too much and you do the flying leap of awesomeness I did today lol (fyi, the flying leap of awesomeness hurts like feck when landing lol). It will take practice and will depend on the wind and conditions etc.
- As you roll up over your board, push your front foot down wind. Aim slightly across the back of your kite.
- As you start gaining speed you ease the bar out otherwise you will basically out run the kite with too much speed, your lines will go slack and then you'll slow down and have to start again. This is what I keep doing, but am getting better.
- Once you get speed and feed the bar out a little, time to lean back and edge the kite. I only actually edged a couple of times, I think I have trust issues with leaning back and just expecting the kite to hold me. Kind of like when you abseil for the first time, that first step over the edge when you lean back on the rope, the first time it feels fkn weird but once you do it a few times you just do it without thinking.
- From here it's just a matter of feeding the bar in and out to keep the kite in the sweet spot in relation to your speed, how much you edge etc. It purely comes down to the feeling of it.

Anyway hope that helps someone else.
Keep trying guys because it will all make sense eventually, and seriously - go and get lessons from a reputable school, you won't regret it.