Nice one Miss Jessie! you can add a "Dame" infront of your name if you want.

I think what isn't mentioned here is (regardless of the truth in it ) the sense of security felt by the beginner through being given it in the first place and wearing it - and the impact that has on your confidence when developing.

If you rock up to a lesson, and you're given a helmet and someone says, "i'll be able to give you instruction in case something goes wrong", that is very very reassuring. Beginning is about confidence as much as anything else. And if something does go wrong, you know you're going to end up a long way away from the guy standing on the beach yelling out something that you think might be along the lines of "push out the board.." or was that "push out the bar..?" "the bridle..?"

When i was learning and bodydragging away, further and further away from the instructor.. one of the hardest parts was getting my confidence up, and knowing how much i should push it.. so anything like this, that can make me feel more comfortable, is going to be a big bonus in my book.. and the added benefit of pushing me a bit harder real time, when the opportunity is there in my few hours of lesson time - even better.

Obviously instructor's shouldn't abuse them, and there will forever be, good and bad instructors.. but if used well.. it's a great aide from the learner's confidence level aspect, which ultimately will make a big difference in the speed of their development.

What's the maximum range of a walkie-talkie helmet ?

waveslave said...

What's the maximum range of a walkie-talkie helmet ?

I don't know, probably a couple of K's ...Any wind there yet

Speaking of the helmets working for particular locations, heard a story from a Danish who spent the season down here in Safety Bay. He said in Venzuela, there was a school who operated at this spot that was always directly offshore. He said the instructors would give the students a coaching helmet, then set them off on their way, and they would sit down in a beachchair with binoculars and a beer, and coach them through the helmet until they got too far away, then go and pick them up in a rescue boat and do it all again!

Now thats a great way to teach...probably not the best lessons, but it would be great being an instructor at that school!

Radio Helmet?

I have been teaching Kitesurfing Full Time for over 6 years now, when Im not running my school in Perth Im either instructing or managing a school over seas, I have worked in many schools around the world with different teaching methods.

It can be very demanding working as an instructor in extremely windy conditions, running sometimes.. sprinting down the beach, , freezing your ass off in some countries , , Frying your brain in others. Feeling awful for your students when they are having a bad time of it, It can sometimes be really frustrating, I guess the thing that bothered me the most was trying your best to yell loud enough for your student to hear you.

We have been using Headzone Radio Helmets in the school for two years now, Quality of lessons have improved big time as the students stay calm and relaxed without having an instructor yelling at them just to be heard over the wind, which can be taken the wrong way by some delicate individuals.
Gives students loads more confidence knowing someone is there for them every step of the way.
Instead of having to wait for the student to arrive back at the beach (sometimes is a very long wait and takes up too much time) We can instead give them instant instructions for correcting any problems calmly, therefore it speeds up the whole learning process providing them with heaps more instruction and progression in each lesson.
Everyones a winner!

Especially wonderful tool for teaching advanced moves, you can prompt while in progress then once landed give instant feedback! with out having to wait for them to return to the beach.

We start using the Helmets when the student enters the water for the first time, All Kite flying on the beach is done with the instructor holding onto the students harness.

I would find it really frustrating going back to the old ways now.
Love our Helmets, worth every cent!

Positive helmet experience for me too but...

Agree with a lot of the above posters.

Lesson / Learning is a chain of events:

If instructor can't

analyse the subtleties of what you're doing
and then come up with a better way
and get that across to you by expressing it in a form you can understand
and hear in real time (helmet, next to you, surfski, megaphone)
and end up doing
[Repeat the loop]

The links of the lesson (and your improvement) are broken.

So I'd second GetFunky's comments about trying to suss out their skills in doing all the above first before parting with your $hundreds - whether or not they use helmets and whether or not they say they do/don't 2c.

"Posted 29/09/2009, 1:16 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think what isn't mentioned here is (regardless of the truth in it ) the sense of security felt by the beginner through being given it in the first place and wearing it - and the impact that has on your confidence when developing.

If you rock up to a lesson, and you're given a helmet and someone says, "i'll be able to give you instruction in case something goes wrong", that is very very reassuring. Beginning is about confidence as much as anything else.
"

Not sure I agree. If you look at learning Psychology it is all about getting a person to understand. and they go up in success from talking a person through something then showing them how to do it and then explaining the task while the student is performing it.

If your student is confident in what he is doing and has the concept in his / her head then you will have success. Purely talking too them will not teach them long term.

But like Darren said Helmets are just a teaching aid. and good intructors can progress a student with great technic. I think the value is in how much the intructor wants the student to learn and how much effort they put into keeping them safe.

Safety records help this.

My two cents

What would be the problem if walkie-talkie helmets had 2-way communication ?

stamp said...

sleek1 said...

.Although it would not have made any difference ,me not understanding French.

french? you can't even speak english sleek.........

Can Too!!!!

Hi peeps,

@ 'slave. The radio helmets have a range of around 4km although we ask for them to have the transmission power turned down so we have half power (2km) and double battery duration, this is still massive overkill as students with radios are rarely more than 50-100m away. Our instructors walk along the beach with the students so we can be there close enough to catch the subtle reasons for not succeeding in the given task in order to apply corrective instruction.

Headzone have a waterproof 2 way communication model in the testing phase at present for a contract deal with Yamaha jet ski's. They will be similar to Honda Goldwing motorcycles where they have a communication system so the pillion rider can chat with the rider through 2 way comms in the helmets. So will be the new 2 way system for water sports instruction, only wireless.

It would be great to have 2 way communication with the students rather than the one way current models, but difficulties are durability and reliability. Salt water is nasty around electronics [}:)] and students/instructors are rough on gear.

@some others: Interesting that some people who are not instructors and have neither seen nor used the radio helmets in a lesson situation are offering opinions on their effectiveness and worth in kitesurfing lessons.

Cheers,

KH

Kite-dragging schools who use walkie-talkie helmets charge more for lessons.

Hi Surflily,
Show me your charges. ^^

You know what's funny ?
Kite-dragging schools are funny.
And Surfing schools are even funnier.
Those stupid surfing-the-foam-on-a-big-spongeboard schools are hilarious.
Also the rivalry between kite-dragging schools is funny...
and bitchy.
*wink
And my town that I live in...
The town with the 4 surfshops but no kitestore...
Not even a lame poleshop...
(The dedicated bodyboard shop went bust)...
The town that's one of the fastest growth regions in Oz...
On a (growth) par with Hervey Bay, Qld...
One of the best spots in the World to learn to kite...
Acres of smooth, flatwater,
sideshore breeze, knee-deep and ridiculously easy,
stupidly safe...
Well, there's no kite-dragging school here.
None.
The crew teach each other like mates do.
It's like the good old days.
Funny, hey ?

waveslave said...

You know what's funny ?
Kite-dragging schools are funny.
And Surfing schools are even funnier.
Those stupid surfing-the-foam-on-a-big-spongeboard schools are hilarious.
Also the rivalry between kite-dragging schools is funny...
and bitchy.
*wink
And my town that I live in...
The town with the 4 surfshops but no kitestore...
Not even a lame poleshop...
(The dedicated bodyboard shop went bust)...
The town that's one of the fastest growth regions in Oz...
On a (growth) par with Hervey Bay, Qld...
One of the best spots in the World to learn to kite...
Acres of smooth, flatwater,
sideshore breeze, knee-deep and ridiculously easy,
stupidly safe...
Well, there's no kite-dragging school here.
None.
The crew teach each other like mates do.
It's like the good old days.
Funny, hey ?

true.I have sent people to well known schools,because i am not the teaching type, and all were taught was to come back for more lessons. $$$$$ ..so i teach them how to setup and they are on there way.