| If your interested in learning to kitesurf you're probably | | | | causing injuries through not knowing what they are |
| wondering whether to take a kite lesson or not. There | | | | doing. Rather than try to police the sport most councils |
| are plenty of instruction videos and manuals out there... | | | | are simply imposing a kitesurfing ban on the beach. DO |
| why don't you just teach yourself? Any good | | | | NOT become one of these people who gets |
| instructional video or manual will advise you that the | | | | kitesurfing banned on your local beach because your |
| safest and quickest way to learn kitesurfing is to take | | | | trying to teach yourself and clearly don't know what |
| a kite lessons. Sure a video is great for reminding you | | | | your doing. During your kite lesson your instructor will |
| of the things you've covered during your kite lesson | | | | keep you and those around you safe but more |
| but you should never attempt to learn solely from a | | | | importantly point out finer details of what can and can't |
| video or manual...Why? read on.... | | | | be done on your beach, kitesurfing etiquette and a few |
| Safety | | | | simple points for keeping you out of trouble ensuring |
| The single biggest issue here is safety, taking a kite | | | | you become a responsible kitesurfer and welcome |
| lesson will ensure that you learn the basics of flying a | | | | member of the community in the future. |
| kite safely and don't become a menace to yourself | | | | Money |
| and other users of the beach. There are really 2 | | | | Taking a kite lesson can actually save you money. A |
| different issues at stake here, the first and most | | | | kitesurf instructor will demonstrate a variety of |
| obvious is that you don't want to hurt yourself or | | | | equipment to you and give you advice on what to buy |
| anyone else. You are about to strap yourself into a | | | | when the time comes. Most kite schools also run a |
| wind powered high performance engine and if you | | | | system where they try and cycle out school and ex |
| don't know how to control it and don't have someone | | | | demo kit to students at a greatly reduced rate, this kit |
| to guide you through the finer aspects you can easily | | | | will generally be tailored towards beginners so you can |
| wind up doing yourself or some innocent bystanders | | | | often pick up a bargain straight after your kite lesson. |
| damage. Trust me, I tried to teach myself and still have | | | | Frustration |
| the scars to prove it! The second reason is slightly less | | | | The greatest emotional reason to take a kite lesson is |
| obvious but is become more and more important as | | | | to save yourself the frustration and humiliation of |
| kitesurfing grows. The "right to ride" that is the right to | | | | learning through trial and error. Most people who |
| turn up at a given beach pump up your kite and go | | | | attempt to teach themselves never actually learn to |
| kitesurfing is being threatened in more and more areas | | | | kitesurf, most give up halfway through out of |
| as local councils get fed up with accidents on the | | | | frustration. If your serious about learning to |
| beach caused by kitesurfers behaving recklessly or | | | | kitesurf....make sure you take a kite lesson. |