Kiteboarding Camp- Do a Heelside Carve Transition
Author: Matt and Keegan Myers, with PASA Examiner Chris Moore
Published: Kiteboarding Magazine, www.kiteboardingmag.com
While riding heelside, hop a frontside 180 to toeside (rotate trailing foot forward) prior to your transition. If you aren’t already comfortable riding toeside, get that down first. Once you are ready to make your transition, bring the kite back toward neutral and into the opposite direction. As you make this transition with the kite, release the weight off your toes and steer the board downwind (as the kite reaches neutral). In one motion, put your weight on your heel edge and power the kite in the opposite direction, and you will be headed back with a clean transition.
Kiteboarding Lesson- Grab your Board
Author: Matt and Keegan Myers, with PASA Examiner Chris Moore
Published: Kiteboarding Magazine, www.kiteboardingmag.com
The key to any good grab is to know exactly where you’re going to grab before leaving the water. If you are sending the kite, focus on your pop and release to ensure height. Once you execute a proper take off you will have the time and balance to grab wherever you want. For no whip tricks be sure to load your edge and get as much pop as possible. As soon as you pop make your grab and quickly prepare for landing. Grabbing is the best way to make any of your jumps look smoother, add style, and impress all your fans on the beach.
Go Kite-Snowboarding
Author: Matt and Keegan Myers, with PASA Examiner Chris Moore
Published: Kiteboarding Magazine, www.kiteboardingmag.com
The key to riding in the snow is dressing properly. Be sure to dress plenty warmly for the conditions, and wear protective gear. Key clothing to have is a pair of bibs, thin yet warm gloves, a helmet, elbow pads and kneepads, and goggles. Take out a smaller kite than you would in the same wind on water. Launch the kite as usual and bring it to neutral. With the kite in neutral, quickly put on your board or skis and power-stroke the kite in the direction you want to go. Keep your weight back to avoid being pulled onto your front side. Start edging and you will be ripping upwind in no time!
Kiteboarding Camp- Get Better Fast
Author: Matt and Keegan Myers, with PASA Examiner Chris Moore
Published: Kiteboarding Magazine, www.kiteboardingmag.com
The best way to progress your riding fast is to travel to a location that has steady, consistent wind. Choose a place where you can get multiple days in a row of good riding. This way each day you can continue your progression. There are many kiteboarding camps all around the world. Taking part in a one-week camp in a premier location is sure to get you better fast! If a kiteboarding camp or travel are not options for you, then be sure to capitalize on every windy moment at your local spot. Getting time on the water is the single best way to progress.
Kiteboarding Lesson- Get a Knot Out of your Line
Author: Matt and Keegan Myers
Published: Kiteboarding Magazine, www.kiteboardingmag.com
Remember this wise saying, “Never cut what can be untied” This proves true with relationships as much as kiteboarding! If you have a stubborn know that won’t come loose, try soaking the knot in water for several hours to soften it up. Try using a pair of needle nose pliers to pull the knot apart.
Kiteboarding Camp- Do an F-16
Author: Matt and Keegan Myers, with PASA Examiner Chris Moore
Published: Kiteboarding Magazine, www.kiteboardingmag.com
The first step to an F-16 is to completely wipe out any concern for life or limb! Edging hard with your kite at about 45, slowly bring your kite up towards 12 o’clock. Move your lead hand under your trailing hand to one side of the bar and grip it like a baseball bat. With a firm grip on the bar, load up your edge and point your bar at the kite. As the kite starts to pivot, pop off of your edge and throw your back roll. As this is happening, hold on for dear life. If everything goes as planned you should complete your back roll as the kite is coming out of the kite loop. Bend your knees and prepare to land very hot!
Kiteboarding Lesson- Check you Line Length
Author: Matt and Keegan Myers, with PASA Examiner Chris Moore
Published: Kiteboarding Magazine, www.kiteboardingmag.com
Find a secure attachment point such as a nail in a tree, or tie a leader line off to your car bumper. Once your lines are all clearly laid out, attach the two outside lines to the same secure attachment point. Pick up your bar and pull the lines taut. If the two ends of the bar aren’t pulling evenly, adjust the lines accordingly. Follow the same method with your center lines; if one line sags while pulling them taut, adjust it accordingly. It is a good idea to make checking your line lengths a habit; check them after every other session. If you notice your kite pulling one way, and your lines are perfectly tuned, check the length of your pigtails. Use a ruler to make sure the front pigtail knot spacing is identical. Repeat this process with the back pigtails.
Avoid a Sausage Factory on your Beach
Author: Matt and Keegan Myers, with PASA Examiner Chris Moore
Published: Kiteboarding Magazine, www.kiteboardingmag.com
The best way to feel like your not at your local Costco meat section is to be sure all the local boys wear board shorts over their wetsuits. With a highly male populated sport, please respect others and wrap your package with a nice pair of boardies. Although this may had never hit the windsurfing beaches, let’s make the effort to keep it covered at the kite beaches. Could you imagine seeing a wake boarder wearing a full wetsuit with no boardies, it just wouldn’t look right!
Explain Kiteboarding to Someone
Author: Matt and Keegan Myers, with PASA Examiner Chris Moore
Published: Kiteboarding Magazine, www.kiteboardingmag.com
Have you ever had someone say to you “Oh, kiteboarding, isn’t that where the boat pulls you up in the air and you steer a parachute?” Instead of hanging your head in disgust, educate the clueless. Come back with something like “Picture wakeboarding, but replace the boat with a kite that the rider can control in every way, and effortlessly jump thirty feet in the air or catch hundreds of waves in a blown-out day.” Finish with “Today, kiteboarding can be a broad term that lends itself to landboarding, snow kiting, and kiteboarding on the water. Kiteboarding is simply using a kite to pull you on a board. Also, the kite is more of a lifting force as well as a pulling force which gives you a lighter sensation and allows you to launch huge aerial maneuvers never before associated with other water sports!” Add to this description that it can be easy for beginners to learn the sport with the proper instruction, yet extreme enough to make even the most seasoned athlete skip a heartbeat or two.