Hurro guys,

for the last couple of times i have been out i have been really practicing and checking my stance whilst kiting. Im really trying to get the basics down pat before trying to move on any further.

I have been really really concentrating of straight front leg and tucked up back leg to carve / edge hard, putting all weight on my heels, all whilst not doing newby pooh stance.

I believe (without filming myself) that i am standing (fairly) correctly. Im able to go up wind and all that stuff fine and thats no dramas, however what im finding is the chop / swell when standing like this constantly knocks my back foot around. Its like the swell is hitting half way up my back leg's calf and knocking my foot out of the strap or making it move alot, resulting in shifting my weight and not making for a clean run back in.

I come from a wake boarding experience and when im wake boarding obviously you are strapped in pretty hard and it feels very secure. But in kiting you have guys running surf boards who are not strapped in at all. I feel like i need to tighten my foot straps up REALLY hard, but then its almost impossible to get my feet all the way in.

Whats the "best" tightness if thats even possible? Is it just whatever makes you comfortable or am i carving too much / leaving too far so im getting hit by the swell, or am i just a candiate for boots instead of straps?

ta

Davereid said...


I believe (without filming myself) that i am standing (fairly) correctly.

Well if you had told me you were going out I would have come and taking some awesome sauce pics of you and Eman

Just give me 45ish mins notice and I'll tag along with camera and trainer next time :-)

Comfy tight,but be able to kick it off with two flicks of ur foot. Ur knees are ur suspension in the chop - use'm

Hi David
I think the Key to the tight strap issue is getting the straps tight on the side of the foot not the top of the foot. You want to reduce the amount of back and forward movement of the foot
I do this by rotating the rectangular block that the foot strap bolt runs through so that it running the length of the board not the width (the way they normally are set up)
I start with the one on the arch side of my foot on both sides and if need be adjust the ones on the thin side of my foot.
As you get better this becomes less important. till you can ride without straps
Good Luck
Ps don't lock your front leg straight, allow slight bend so you can absorb the chop.
keeping the leg locked straight can damage the cartilage in your Knee

Dave Whettingsteel said...

i have straps on all my boards as loose as they can be

I loosened my surfboard straps and it felt good. However last week I had a high speed stacko and my back foot when right through the strap and ankle was on the wrong side too! I spent a very unpleasant 15 minutes drifting around in strong winds trying to get my leg, ankle and foot back through the strap. I couldnt loosen it off anymore with one hand.

If it had been impossible I would have had to dump the kite and protect my ankle from damage. A bit scary.

So my suggestion is if you do loosen off to the point where your foot could get jammed through, make sure they are loose enough to pull your foot back through the strap!

Nightmare... glad you've still got a foot, tiger.