 | Learning kite control a with a trainer You can accelerate the kiteboarding learning curve by working with a small trainer kite before or between your kiteboarding lessons. The skills you can develop with the trainer include learning to push and pull on the bar to create tension and slack in the lines to turn the kite. You will learn to anticipate the amount of lag time so the kite turns at the intended place in the sky and learn to fly power strokes through the sky to generate different amounts of power. Additional skills that can be developed include flying the kite with one hand and controlling the kite by feel instead of by looking at it.Equipment You need a two-line kite with a bar. The bar will need a harness line attached. You will also need a windsurfing or kitesurfing harness to hook to the line on the bar. I recommend a 2-meter kite. These come with the harness line and strong kite lines and sell for around $160. The $99. 1-meter kites come with weak lines and the fabric of the kite is not strong enough to fly with a harness in stronger winds. A safe place to fly. You need at least 100 yards of clear area down wind and to the sides to avoid injuring yourself or others. The surface should be soft enough to avoid scraping your skin if you are dragged across it at speed. Grass or sand is the preferred surface. No power lines, no trees, no rocks, no buildings, no posts, no innocent bystanders or dogs. A steady wind between 10 and 25 mph helps, gusty winds increase the danger and difficulty. Watch out for the effects of objects (trees, buildings, hills) which are upwind. Learning to turn the kite by pushing and pulling on the bar. Kites respond to a difference in tension on the lines. If the line on the right side of the kite is tighter than the line on the left, the kite will turn to the right. If the line on the left side of the kite is tighter than the line on the right, the kite will turn to the left. Most adults will attempt to turn the kite with a steering wheel motion (like turning a car). This almost works when the kite is above you, (because the line length is changed) but clearly does not work when the kite is low on the side (because the motion of the bar is not creating a difference in line length). The motion that is most effective is much more like steering a bicycle than a car. Your goal is to pull directly away from the kite with one hand as you push straight toward the kite with the other hand. This creates the maximum difference in tension in the lines and the kite responds by turning in a tight radius turn. Holding the bar. When the kite is to the side, hold the bar at a 45-degree angle to the ground, so that the line going from the top of the kite goes to the top of the bar. This allows you to keep your hands at shoulder width and helps you keep track of which line you need to pull to make the kite climb or dive. Pull the top of the bar to turn the kite into a climb and pull the bottom line to turn into a dive. Learning to anticipate the amount of lag time. The kite responds to the motion of the bar only after a significant time lag. For instance, when you roll the kite into a dive, you will need to pull one side of the bar for your bottom turn when the kite is only half way down, this will make the kite respond just before hitting the water (or the ground). If you wait until the kite is most of the way down, and then try to turn the kite, it will continue to dive for a second and end up hitting the water before starting to turn. You also need to straighten out the bar before you expect the kite to stop turning. If you hold tension in one line until the kite is pointed in the desired direction and then even out the bar, the kite will continue to turn for a moment, and end up heading off in the wrong direction. Learning to fly power strokes through the sky. The primary pattern used in kitesurfing is the power stroke. This is a vertical pattern to one side of the kiteboarder. The bottom turn is at 9:30 on a clock face half-buried in the ground and the top turn is at 11:00 on that clock face (15 feet above the ground and 60 feet off the ground respectively). The goal is to keep the kite at a constant distance from that place where the lines go completely slack (90 degrees from directly down wind). This plane where the kite lines go slack is called the edge and is your main reference. If you are facing directly down wind, the edge goes from the ground on your left, over above you, and continues to the ground on your right. This plane divides the sky between the area upwind of you (where you cannot fly the kite), from the area downwind of you (where you can fly the kite). The distance between the kite and the edge is referred to as the depth. The kite generates more power when it is deeper, and less power as it approaches the edge (until the lines go completely slack when the kite reaches the edge). Your goal is to generate steady power from the kite; this is accomplished by keeping the kite at the same depth from the edge as you move it up and down. Flying with one hand. You need to have a harness line attached to the bar and a windsurfing or kitesurfing harness on your body. Note that when you are hooked in to the bar, the kite can drag or lift you , even if you let go of the bar, so be prepared. Make sure that you have the kite under control and a large safety zone around you before hooking in. Once you are attached to the kite, your arms are used for steering instead of holding the kite's power. Now you can push instead of pull. The first exercise is to open your fingers and control the kite by pushing with your thumb or the heel of one hand at a time. After getting used to this sensation remove one hand from the bar then alternately push and pull the bar with the remaining hand to steer the kite in a power stroke. Use the top hand, the one used to turn the kite into a climb. Controlling the kite by feel. Start by moving the kite through a soft power stroke (a shorter power stroke closer to the edge gives you less power) and repeat the motion a few dozen times. Every stroke should be identical, with the top and bottom turns at the same depth from the edge (the turns are stacked vertically one above the other). This should give you steady power. You need to be able to fly the kite under control when watching it before there is any hope of looking away without loosing control. Once you have the kite moving up and down under control, start concentrating on the feel of the kite as it turns. You will feel an increase in power as the kite passes the half-way mark in each turn. As the direction the kite is pointed passes beyond the eye of the wind, the kite accelerates and the vibration in the lines increases in pitch. The increase in pull and the accompanying increase in vibration speed are the signals that you are finished with one turn and it is time to turn back in the other direction by pulling with the other hand. As you concentrate on the changing strength of the pull or the changing vibration in the lines, look away from the kite for a few moments. After a while, you should be able to look away for a long time and still maintain the soft power stroke. |
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