FIRST STEPS FLYING A KITE IN KITESURFING: 2 ESSENTIAL REFLEXES TO ACQUIRE

After a safety briefing and equipment preparation, it’s time to get on the water and practice your first ride.

Kitesurfing is largely about knowing how to control the kite, so this is the most important moment.

Learning how to fly a kite requires movements that are often unnatural and unintuitive. Indeed, students may be caught off guard the first few times and be shaken by the traction generated by the kite because they are too tense.

So the first step is to control the kite by exploring the edge of the window in the zenith area, so that it does not generate too much traction, but just enough to fly.
The goal is to become familiar with the smooth movement of “left and right”.

This exercise may seem boring, but this is normal because the goal is to feel as little pull as possible, in order to focus on safety. However, it is important to dedicate enough time to it.

Increasing the range of motion, and trying to keep the kite under control, without too much pressure, is the desired result at this stage.
The more the instructor feels that the movements are appropriate, the more he will be able to move away from the student and leave him alone.

For this to happen, two reflexes are crucial:

Every time you make a mistake, the kite may take up inappropriate positions that could generate a rough and unwanted pull.
In order to avoid this, the rider must be able to neutralize the kite by releasing the bar. In no case should you hang on to it or move it randomly.

Once this reflex is achieved the pilot will be safe.

The sweet spot, tension point, control point, whatever you want to call it, is the second most important aspect to focus on during the first flight, but also the most difficult to master.

A kite flies and responds to commands if all 4 (or 5) lines are under tension. Once under tension, the kite responds instantly to the command.

To find this point, we act on the movement of the bar along the depower line, by either “pulling” (towards us) or “releasing” (pushing up).
The more we pull the bar, the tighter the lines and the faster the kite will respond, the more we release the bar, the less the kite will respond to our commands.

Finding the right balance is the key to making sure the kite responds properly, without pivoting too radically on itself, which would make the kite uncontrollable (like in a car if you use the hand brake instead of the normal brake).

The stronger the wind, the easier it is to feel the pressure in the bar, the lighter the wind, the more difficult and technical the handling.
In principle, if you can fly a kite in a light wind (<10 knots), you will gain more control and be able to consider yourself a more complete pilot.

Learning to find the right balance to steer the kite correctly and to release the bar when necessary is the first crucial step to being able to fly the kite without the instructor having to stay by your side at all times.

Take the time to master this aspect, all your progress depends on it.

Have you already assimilated this aspect or have you taught it to someone else?
What are your impressions? Have you encountered any other difficulties besides those listed?
Tell me in the comments.

Good luck on your first try and fly safe.