QLD
796 posts
I was out for a session last week at a local beach in brisbane when three girls in there early twenties came for a lesson with a local shop. They went out on the sand with an instructor for about 15min with a trainer kite all excited and didn't have much of an idea on how to fly them but never the less all had a turn. The next thing i see is the three of them with a so called instructor in the water with a 10m kite ready to learn to kite surf. They stood there most of the time while one was getting thrown around with the kite. It was in the water more than in the air. There was no learning to body drag because they couldn't control the kite. By the time they came in they were bummed. one of them said they didn't learn anything in the 2 hrs and the three of them walked away fairly disheartened by the whole experience.
Learning to kite should be safe and exciting and even though you can get a little frustrated at the start you should always be able to walk away from a lesson having learnt something. Choose your instructors carefully and ask around before jumping in with the first guy you meet.
QLD
2057 posts
When I was teaching, my students didn't start body dragging until lesson 2 unless they were very quick learners.
It's more important to get them to understand the dynamics of the wind and the ever changing wind window, safety and set up.
They can still have fun on a large trainer kite but they won't learn about the wind window unsupervised.
There are plenty of kiters who have learned the mechanical skills of kiting but do not understand the theory of the energy behind it. You can tell these ones because they are still gumbies long after professionally taught students have advanced to competent kiters.
A good instructor will leave the student buzzed and smiling even if its only a session on a trainer kite.
WA
2119 posts
I used to refuse to teach in gusty conditions. Trainer kites are great and are essential to safety, however I liked teaching on a good 5m under 20 knots, with 15-8 m lines, delta kites happily launch regardless of their wind range.
Apparent wind theory is also an essential to understand what is going on, I thought pythagoras theorem would be left at school, WRONG.
It is also a good idea to get your students to run along the beach on a proper tack so they can feel the difference before touching a board, Students must have control flying one handed otherwise how are they going to put a board on. It is competency based training, and there is a certain procedure to follow, regardless of your IKO teaching method. I might be wrong as 2 daves dont make it right.
