jimg said..
One thing tho, I thought with the kite high it would cause my harness to ride up? I already have slightly bruised ribs from this despite it being on tight.
Having the kite high makes it more difficult, however you CAN ride with your body perpendicular to the kite in almost any kite position and pull, it just requires balance, a good understanding of kite power, and edge control. Fortunately all these will become second nature with practice. It sounds like a cop out, but in about a year's time your harness riding up just won't be an issue even if you don't do any of the stuff below.
The harness riding up is caused by the kite pulling your harness hook up towards your head rather than directly out and away from your body. There are a few scenarios where this is likely to occur:
- Standing on the beach with the kite stationary above you (Beginners do more of this)
- Walking on the beach with the kite above you (Eg: Beginners walk-of-shame up the beach)
- Sitting upright in the water (beginners do more of these prepping for water starts)
- crouching while riding (beginners do this to provide more balance, Eg: the poostance)
- riding slow and upright (beginners do this more to control speed)
- upright transitions (beginners do almost all of these rather than laying back)
Even though there are lots of scenarios with different factors leading to them, the answer is still the same: to stop the harness riding up,
lean back so that the kite is pulling directly away from you. Sometimes the answer isn't so practical (like when walking on the beach), but the main thing to remember is to keep seeking ways to get your body into a T shape so the kite is perpendicular to your waist.
To practice, head out into knee deep water with heaps of space. With the kite flying directly above, lean back until you feel the kite is pulling the harness directly away from you. You will notice that you are lying almost on the surface of the water and have bent your legs so that your feet are beneath you to maintain balance (with smaller kites you might be almost doubled over onto your legs to maintain balance). This bending of the legs is important as it adjusts your center of balance to compensate for what your upper body is doing.
Start flying the kite slowly into different positions and attempt to maintain a 90 degree angle from your waist to the kite while keeping your feet in the same position. If you get pulled off balance and need to move your feet, stop, get yourself sorted and try again. Once you feel confident, speed up the kite to provide more power. This will make your shape different as you predict how much power is needed to lean back against, and at what angle the kite is now pulling at (likely lower so you need to be more upright). When you're getting pretty good at it, try with your feet together.
The eventual goal is to get comfortable in leaning back. If you can lean back with varying amounts of power and varying kite positions, then when out on the water it will be easier on your body (as you're naturally balanced in a moving system), easier on your harness (as it's working as designed with the power away from you), and you will be more able to control exactly where you want to put your body and board (eg: to smash a lip).
