hi all
i don't have any claim to being an instructor or anything, but i do enjoy reading the salty sinus/lessons learned type threads every now and again to remind myself of the stoke of learning something new, and to get tips for helping my mates that are new to kiting. something i've been thinking about as i watch a lot of the newer kiters do downwinders and enter the surf zone for the first few times in WA, is that they seem to crash their kites a lot, with very slow or non-existent re-launch - which means they may not know a few key elements about kiting in the surf zone.
this is not a newbie bashing thread either, what i want to do is post my key tips for better surf zone kiting - and ask other experienced kiters or instructors to put some up too - so that if you are reading this and thinking "why am i trashing my kite all the time" or "why am i the only one of the group whose kite hits water regularly", we'll try to give you some key things to focus on for your next sessions.

1. overly slack lines are bad when riding - newb error is to stand or plane on the board or continue on wave almost directly at kite when they hit the slack line moment that they are probably starting to dread. slack lines can be awesome for riding waves without kite pull, but you walk a fine line of occasionally stalling versus drifting sweetly. i also think it is a result of constant down winder riding that some guys seem to solely do. i get asked by strangers occasionally how i recovered from pretty bad slack lines, kite stalling and starting to roll in the air etc, but never actually hitting water. the answer is simply to regain some tension by cutting hard up wind using your board speed or speed of being on a wave. cut REALLY hard up wind, and as soon as you see that tension regain, steer your kite up to 12, then dip again and continue on your way. don't just stare at it in surprise!!!

2. slack lines are even worse when crashing - newb error is to try to stay with board, and wash even faster with the current or wave towards the downed kite. first thing you should do if you crash if you're still on your board is as above, cut hard upwind til you sink into water, and get tension in those lines. then try to get that kite in the air. depending on the nature of the crash, the usual trick of pulling on the uppermost line of the shape of the kite at the time will work, but you need to keep tension, so make sure your body is not just cruising with the surf zone currents and waves. sometimes i'll even bodysurf with a wave and cut up wind a little in the white water so that i keep myself from drifting towards the kite. if you can keep tension on the crashed kite (forget about your board totally, unless peripherally it might hit you, then avoid it haha - it will be in on the shore eventually), then work on that one line, you'll relaunch 9 times out of 10 pretty quick.

3. don't just do constant downwinders. you'll be a better kiter eventually if you park yourself somewhere occasionally and constantly (at first) fall off riding your non-preferred and trying to learn to gybe. do it for a fortnight, and the next downwinder will be a totally new experience as you start trying to ride waves on non preferred side, hit air gybes and ride your stretch in 2 hours instead of a 45 minute speed line run.

in short: slack line as little as possible. forget about board (except safety of where it is) when you crash. relaunch asap. diversify your riding.

hopefully some other experienced guys can add to this thread with tips too. oh, i nearly forgot the most important ones. have fun, smile and be good to other ocean users as well!