Learning by Yourself: Is It Worth It in 2023?
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- Опубликовано: 1 июл 2024
- In this video, I'm discussing the pros and cons of learning by yourself. Is it really worth it in 2023? Let's explore the benefits and drawbacks of learning on your own.
Might learning by yourself be the best way for you to achieve your goals? Or are there other, more efficient methods out there? Let's explore this question in depth in this video!
Is it worth it teaching yourself kitesurfing?
So is it all worth it? If your objective is to save money, probably not. You'll still have the cost of getting a trainer kite and the kitesurfing equipment you'll learn on, plus you will be making mistakes that can break the kite or yourself while trying to figure it out.
Of course, you may have some equipment available to you at little or no cost, for example, friends or cheap bargains on the internet. But even assuming it's in a good enough state to make it safe, chances are you're going to abuse it quite a bit while you're learning and may have to replace it for the person you borrowed it from.
On the other hand, if you choose the lesson's path, the school's equipment will be the one to take the beating instead, so that's savings right there.
But the highest potential cost of learning kitesurfing on your own is in hospital bills and possible lawsuits for injuring yourself or someone else - these could even last for a lifetime. If you learn through a kitesurfing school, you'll typically be covered by their insurance. If you go it alone, though, consider purchasing insurance yourself.
Another side consequence of causing an accident on yourself or someone else is that it may lead to authorities closing the beach to kitesurfing, something that will upset the local kitesurfers and get you banned for it!
Wrapping up
If like me, you're the self-learning type, my advice to you is to still start with a few lessons to cover the most critical aspects from a safety standpoint - even though you may only take classes for some essential parts of the full learning process.
When I started, i had to learn by myself as nobody could teach me. Still, i went to have some tips straight with the brand that sold me the kites. That was not enough, and i had to self-learn the rest. There were no youtube or other forms to get more knowledge at the time, so going to the beach and trying was all we had. I had some accidents that luckily weren't super bad. But they could have been. Internet was starting, so one of my primary sources for information was the kite forum. It was only 500 people at the time, but i got a lot of knowledge there. It is still an excellent source of information and tips.
Start by reading up on basic wind theory, check out some RUclips videos, then get your hands on a trainer kite, and get familiar with steering, window positioning, and traction without any risk.
Then, book a few lessons in the right kitesurf school to learn how to set up your power kite and lines without mistakes and launch and land the kite (this is the most dangerous moment in kiteboarding). Learn the safety aspect of how and when to use the quick release, what to do if your kite crashes, control your kite with one hand, how to body drag and relaunch, and how to water start.
If you're a smart learner, you should be able to get these steps down in 4 to 5 hours of private instruction and then freely move on to more self-learning. After the basics, I recommend you have spaced out lessons to practice the skills you learn in between.
00:00 Learning by yourself
0:08 Who am I
0:33 Is it worth it to self-learn to kitesurf?
1:15 If you take lessons
2:03 my recommendations
2:27 What happened to me
3:05 Sources of Information
3:20 Where to start gathering info
4:24 how many lessons on average
4:55 hope it has been helpful
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My own experience about this: I am 50y, when I was 17y I finished 3rd at the U18 windsurfing world championship = I know how to windsurf. I also loved kite's and for 2y when fare for the sea I played with a kite and could do some cool stuff. With these two skills, I thought kitesurfing was going to be easy, so I started by getting a kite, a Twintip board, and was looking at youtube tutorials. = EASY for me let's go and have a try on the beach. After getting my kite up in the air, a few left, right turns, a little loop, and boom!!!!!, 50m drag on the beach until my kite stopped on the trees. I was pulling in the bar and basically did not know what to do and what to not do. The next day I was with a kite teacher for a 7-day course. After that I was ok and since (1,5 years) I have been safe and can foil, strapless and TwinTip with little jumps and basic transition. And I have a lot of fun and I try to stay safe. YES YOU NEED AT LEAST 7 DAYS WITH A TEACHER, This sport is not dangerous if you know what to do, and it is very dangerous if you do not. I still see myself as a beginner, and see so many people, not beginners, doing stupid things and putting themself in danger. But this is an other topic.
couldn't agree more. We are all beginners when we try new things. Anyone with more experience and dedication to teaching can help you progress, focus and achieve better results. In kitesurfing, this is imperative for basic skills. Kite should be viewed as paragliding. I don't think most people get a kite and jump off the cliff to try to figure out how it works. Kite should be taken with the same mindset.
@@KookProofActivityCenter And you know what I always have a helmet, not for when I am in the water kitesurfing, my helmet is for the launching and landing. I fell very safe in the water, but not safe on the ground with a kite 20m above me !! Also, I always check twice my lines and take my time before hooking on my harness.
Why don't you tell people the whole story not just the way you teach because of you conditions.
Only inflatables and only water is not the best and only way to enjoy our sport safely
@@kiteaust Why not? A lot of people only have water to play around with. I do teach on land before going to the water and I use foils for it.
more than 10 years ago I bought my first kitesurf set and started self learning with zero understanding of what kitesurfing was. Launching kite on the beach with gusty offshore wind close to the obstacles and people... Now I understand how lucky I was not to kill myself or the others. So my lessons learned: go to school, hire a coach and you'll have tons of happy sessions. Self learning is super risky and may totally discourage you from this amazing sport
I had the same luck. When I look back, it was a series of lucky coincidences that kept me out of harm's way. It also took me tons of time to learn how to ride as it was all trial and error.
Probably the most important point in getting lessons is that one learns WHAT NOT TO DO, which can save not only one's equipment but provides future SAFETY for you AND OTHERS around you.
Oh, and it speeds up the learning process exponentially 👍😎
Yes we learn with mistakes. If we can learn by other mistakes and have a controlled situation (lesson) to make them our progression is faster and safer.
for the ones who are going to learn on their own, i have kited for last 3 years, last year is where I have really progressed. Even now, and i have great kite control, i will make steering mistakes. The other day I jumped, crashed and the kite dove straight down b/c I misdirected the kite and should have redirected it or looped it when i still had time. By yourself is risky
Thanks for the feedback
could you post a video on kite and bar combinations? Like how to mix brands and what years work with other kite or bar... For example I just bought a 2012 Cabrinha switchblade but I need a bar to go with the kite... since it's such an old kite what option do I have?
Hi, mixing bars with kites needs a bit of knowledge to do this. You will need to adjust the lengths of the bar to trim it correctly. The critical thing is to make sure that with the bar all sheeted out, and de-power pulled, the kite doesn’t pass over your head and that with the bar full down and max power, the kite doesn’t back stall. Any bar will work but it will need adjustment. I’m not that comfortable in explaining this trimming technique as i think a lot of people might make wrong choices due to lack of knowledge. The biggest challenge is with the safety systems so they do not jam when you make the changes.
Not the easiest thing to do if you are not experienced and requires that you go to the beach and trim it. A kite that is already 8 years old is not great. The money you will spend in a decent bar might not be worth it and better to spend it on a pack with the correct bar.
On my spots the beaches are narrow, crowded of umbrellas , with shore break, deep water quickly, with many small boat parking there...🥴
So kite schools give leçons with boats far from shore. When the beginners are quite « ok » on the water, they sold them their own kites but real game starts!🥺
They never took off or landed on any beach, don’t master walking along a beach with light wind, don’t know how to body drag upwind through a good shore break, or to manage a beach return with big waves pushing you , a self rescue, a line length check and proper trim adjustment...
All these elementary skills are quite long to master and are often neglected by schools (mostly on customers push who want to navigate fast...)
It is at this point that lessons from experimented friend are mandatory if you want to have a chance to not damage someone or something 😎
The schools don’t have a system to get you guys out with the boat? Maybe like a membership deal or so? And they are missing on some advance lesson opportunities besides not doing a great service in teaching you things that are necessary and critical in your spot. For sure a experienced person will be a great help
@@KookProofActivityCenter on their adverts they say they will drop you upwind for small fee, but in reality they are always busy doing other things🥴
And even they would do, beginners have to manage to stay upwind , especially with light wind, shore break currents, sudden rainfall, wind shadows...and eventually finish far of civilization, with big waves, seeds, narrow shore, no one to help...somehow, good incentive to learn fast😜😎
@@nicolasboudet9302 That is definitely a good spot to learn 🤪.
@@KookProofActivityCenter I start from the out of civilization part of the spot (on shore, strong shore break, seeds...) with no one to bother me. But it is not made for beginners, or only those searching for adventurous experiences 😎
@@nicolasboudet9302 Your spot sure sound like and adventure.
If you have the ability to why not take a few lessons. It greatly increases the speed and safety of which you can learn.
I got dragged over a hard packed mud parking lot and ripped the leading edge of my new kite. My first lesson cost what the kite repair cost. Lessons are a better value than no lessons, and learning without injury will be a lot faster.
After learning to kite safely, there are always risks available to take.
glad you mande it. Hope others don’t try the same way and learn with other’s mistakes.
@@KookProofActivityCenter It took that one drag to get me to a kite school for 12 hours of lessons. Still kiteboarding 5 years later. No injuries other than muscle strain that kept me out for a couple weeks.
@@KookProofActivityCenter it's not mistakes .. it's been able to absorb the information.. by having different ways you have a better chance of getting the consept
Try land based kitesurfing first it will save you a year of hard knocks
Fallin in the water is way better than falling on ground
@@KookProofActivityCenter you obviously haven't taught any land based kitesurfing.. remember the ground is only a few meters from the water..but on land you need a lot less kite and wind. Remember over 25 years teaching all over the world. You think might know something.. ???
Iko only uses one type of kite. Why?
Iko still uses method that are 18 years old. No change no evolution.. I'm iko trained so I know
@@kiteaust Sorry but you don’t. IKO has changed a lot, and i also have 20 years of experience. This helps but doesn’t make me own the truth. Several IKO examiners craft the methods with several years of experience. We do not all agree on things. The foil you keep point out is not correct. I use foils and recommend foil usage. I do not have certainties as things change, but I’m not close-minded. You have too many assurances.
@@KookProofActivityCenter so why do you push only kitesurfing on water .. ?
Why don't you show how much fun and easier land based learning is. I get why you don't agree about foils. But all my students leave learning all types of kitesurfing and fun kites on the market as well as the opportunity to try buggy, mountain boards and skates ..
Your students know only inflatables and twintips. Maybe hydro later ..?
Right ??
I so don't agree. With the right trainer you can easily learn by yourself.. also if you cant kitesurf with your trainer it's not a trainer.. over 25 years teaching experience.. iko teaching methods are killing the sport and traumatizing everyone on the beach
How do you find the right trainer if you know nothing about kitesurfing?
@@KookProofActivityCenter learn to fly a kite first. It's so obvious
@@kiteaust the question is how to learn in a safe way.
@@KookProofActivityCenter I can show you ways to pass the information to your students that's fun and easy.. can't be done with only one type of kite and board.. open your mind ...;-)
@@kiteaust Why can't it be done with just one type of kite? What if I only have one kite? Does that mean I can't have fun?
You need to stop saying the words dangerous injury death etc .. your so negative .. it's not as bad as you say. This sport is no way as dangerous as you make out. It's like your pushing people to have lessons by scaring than ..there are better ways