Any views on training kites as useful learning tool to get into sport.
I've had one body drag + safety intro lesson & wondered if time on a training kite would be next step - or go straight to board?
No surf/wake/kiting background at all.
Ta
G

I spent 15-20 hrs on a training kite. . . . Saved me time and money but more importantly I have a good understanding of kite control. . . . . Others will say differently. . . . . I fast tracked my progression

S

training kites are great. I used one.
but if you're already body dragging you've skipped that step
so just keep body dragging and practicing your self rescues
and when you can body drag upwind you'll be ready for the board.

There's a temptation to get on the board before you can body drag upwind by just using a board leash
Don't do it. Leashes are dangerous

learning is really slow in the beginning especially before you get on the board and going upwind
so be patient

Thanks - trainer suggested 1 to 1 lesson that would likely get me on the board.
But suspect might be booked up for few weeks with Xmas etc. getting in the way - so was thinking of not loosing feel for kite with a trainer.

That's a great reason to get one in my opinion. When I first started I struggled to find time to get out consistently due to other pressures after my first season I bought a trainer thinking it'd be great to get time on a kite between opportunities and the consistency really helped, before long I found myself spending lunch hours and any piece of open and unpopulated grass I could find when there was wind. So yes if you are not getting out regularly and are in the early stages then it'll help keep the skills you have developed, I still have my trainer and still fly it regularly and sometimes even with the kids as regardless they can be good fun.

IMHO a kite like the ozone uno is better than a foil trainer
As they have similar behaviour and especially set up and safety

One of my favorite topics

Un-supervised flying at the early stages of your progression almost always leads to developing or reinforcing bad habits. All the students I've had who told me they flown a foil trainer kites LOTS were simply constantly diving the kite forcefully through the power zone in figure of 8's. The only way to achieve this is to grab the bar very firmly (hammer style grip) and keep your hands wide on the bar.

Now you can imagine the problem once these students learn to fly a ''real' kite for the first time... it looks something like this:



Pretty scary stuff when you see a student flying an inflatable kite on the beach, oversheeting the kite with a grip like this and wanting to move the kite constantly in the power zone. Going from this to this:


Can take a long time...Some students will adapt quicker than others but for most, it simply takes more time to break those habits than it would for them to learn the correct one from scratch.

Even during most lessons I observe, there is too much emphasis on diving the kite aggressively in figure 8's (downwind body dragging). For a safe and easy progression, emphasis should be put on keeping the kite stable first, having a relaxed grip and centered hands. This allows for faster progression up to board recovery. Once the board recovery is done then it's a good time to introduce power strokes and figure of 8's and not the other way around!

When you think about it, how often do kiters dive the kite aggressively and repetitively in the power zone doing figure of 8's in their everyday riding ??

Flying a foil trainer kite for a few minutes is all you need to understand kite steering and the wind window which is helpful in preparing you for your first lessons! After that, everyone who spends more than a few minutes on a trainer kite, only wants to dive it in the power zone for many hours....

Remember that on foil trainer kites you can't adjust the power and you're not wearing a harness, which doesn't resemble much to the skills needed to fly a ''real kite".


Christian

It depends on what you are doing with your trainer kite and why you are doing it.

If it's basic kite flying then it is true you can pick that up in a few minutes.But the thing that everybody needs to learn is problem solving skills. You can do that fine on a trainer foil if you don't have access to a real kitesurf kite, and you can do it at almost any park or beach.

By far the most common question from inexperienced kiters is "... happened. How do I stop it? How do I fix it?" Experienced kiters deal with unusual situations every day. There's very few rote methods to fix those problems. You work it out in real time and move on.

For a start there's line management. Avoiding and dealing with tangles is an acquired skill. The more time you spend doing it the better you will get at it.

Then there's dealing with the problem of a kite being in a bunched up heap at the other end of the lines. You could walk all the way up and lay it out then walk back and launch. Or you could think it through and work out how to tension one line or the other so that the kite fills with air and rolls over and relaunches.

There's also the various ways of landing in strong winds. You're at one end and the kite is bucking around trying to fly. How do you kill the power and get yourself to the kite without letting it get away from you?

You're not trying to learn the relaunch or landing techniques, or specific kite flying drills. You're learning how to deal with an unfamiliar situation and apply your brain to it.

I once loaned a trainer kite to a guy I worked with. He returned it on Monday and said he had learned everything there was to learn. That confirmed what I thought, that the guy wasn't really cut out for kitesurfing. He just didn't have the imagination to deal with a fluid, changeable, dynamic situation.

N

cbulota is spot on. I flew trainer kites for a long time before kite boarding which gave me muscle memory to clutch onto the bar. Then one day out learning on my 'real kite' (15m that is) I was still clutching onto the bar when I lost control of the kite; it did two complete loops with me dragging behind. It was scary and I was lucky to not get hurt.

I converted my trainer kite with the middle of the bar tied to the a harness (similar to a real kite) so that the harness takes the load and using just the finger tips to steer the kite; you should not get used to clutching onto the bar.

Y

Yes.

Select to expand quote

3CPO said..
cbulota is spot on. I flew trainer kites for a long time before kite boarding which gave me muscle memory to clutch onto the bar. Then one day out learning on my 'real kite' (15m that is) I was still clutching onto the bar when I lost control of the kite; it did two complete loops with me dragging behind. It was scary and I was lucky to not get hurt.

I converted my trainer kite with the middle of the bar tied to the a harness (similar to a real kite) so that the harness takes the load and using just the finger tips to steer the kite; you should not get used to clutching onto the bar.

Let me guess--no leash on the trainer kite? Learning it's OK to let go is also something to practice.
Finger-tip grip and moving your hands can be learned from internet comments and practiced on the foil.

You can never have too much kite control and instincts

Ah OK - so trainer kites don't match the harness/safety system & rigging of a full power foil?
I figured they would - because "trainer".
Very good info - thanks loads.

Gav