G'day,
I was just after some tips for holding onto my board when I get nailed.
My problem is that being a beginner, I fall over alot and tend to go over forwards in the goofy direction. My board then gets ripped off behind me and I spend the rest of my time doing upwind body drags back to my board (which takes ages) .
I've resisted getting a leggy on the back of the advice from more experienced kiters but I'd appreciate some advice on holding onto my board (other than the very helpful advice of 'don't fall').

Thanks for that.

I agree, and dont be afraid to do a long tack, the old arm out the front trick pointing in the direction you want to go was one of the most usefull tips i was given. Also using a bike tube to keep your board visible was another great idea from the forum. Keep at it! Cheers Pete

pueter66 said...

I agree, and dont be afraid to do a long tack, the old arm out the front trick pointing in the direction you want to go was one of the most usefull tips i was given.

Agree one arm out front, also arch your back and straighten your legs to make your body into a banana shape up wind. I do one tack and count to ten, then change directions back towards the board. Nine times out of ten i'm back at the board or upwind of it.

Oh yeah ................. Keep your mouth closed

Thanks for your advice. Pueter I'm intrigued by the bike tube idea, how does that work?

hi guys... another noob here... Yesterday I was practising upwind bodydragging and I didn't find it that hard (we had good wind conditions at Largs bay). the hardest part is not swallowing heaps of water :P
I just followed people's advice and this webpage http://www.kiteboardingevolution.com/body-drag.html
the webpage was really helpful because is has a lot of graphics. the illustrations helped me a lot in understanding what to do...
Hope this helps...

cool idea, other thing is that it would increase wind resistance and the wind may blow it back in to shore as well

The only other suggestion that hasn't been mentioned yet is to learn to crash and keep your board in front of you and on your feet. It might sound like a stupid thing to say, but if you learn to butt-check when you're about to crash then the board stays down wind of you and most of the time won't come off.

Other than that, body dragging is the way to go. The more you practice the better you'll get, then you'll spend less time trying to get back to your board.

When you fall off you board and it is close to you you can bring your kite to 12 o,clock and swim backwards on your back back to the board works well but board has to be close to you . Just remember leaving your kite at 12 for too long you can be lofted by gusts etc . Like the others say if you body drag longer tacks you should get back to your board in 2 or 3 tacks

Practise crashing. Yeah may sound a bit odd but like was said before if you can crash with the board in front of you it's less likely to come off. Practise sliding the board out in front of you rather than crashing on your front. If you do crash on your front try curling your toes up to grip the board, some foot pads have toe rails for you to grip. Also if you are crashing on your front a lot you are probably leaning forward too much, try leaning on your back foot a bit more.

Hope this helps.