Our specialty is teaching, and Flysurfer kites help us do that the best.
Our specialty has always been teaching. We have taught thousands and thousands of people kiteboarding, efoiling and now winging. We sell all the gear you need to do these sports, but our first focus is making sure you know how to use it.
Short version: The methods we have developed over the last 27 years give you the fastest possible progress learning to kiteboard. Flysurfer Hybrid kites give us a huge advantage over all other teaching kites that have come before. A lesson with us on these kites lets you make progress about twice as fast as we could achieve before. Read on for details.
I'm Michael Percy, the founder of XLKITES, and I'm a teacher at heart. I love working with my team of instructors to refine the best methods for beginners to have fun and fast success. The instructional techniques are one part of the formula. The other part is finding the best equipment for the job. As kiteboarding has advanced over the years, it has become easier and easier to teach and learn. There have been several notable breakthroughs along the way:
- kites that don't sink when they hit the water
- transition from 2-line to 4-line kites
- 4-line kites that can reverse launch
- 4-line kites that can reverse launch AND depower significantly
- 4-line kites that can fly in barely any wind, easily reverse launch, and depower significantly
- water-relaunchable trainer kites
That's why we are so happy to be teaching with Flysurfer Hybrid kites. They have given an ease and efficiency to our kiteboarding training program that allows students to learn kiteboarding in one or two days to a level that used to take a solid three days. They range in size from 2.5 square meters to 11.5 square meters. This means we can skip the normal starting point, which is flying trainer kites on the beach, and get straight into the water, which is what everybody wants to do anyway.
The longstanding way of teaching kiteboarding is this:
1. Teach the student to fly a steerable kite. Using a smallish trainer kite, train the student until they can keep the kite in the air without crashing it all the time. This is usually done on the beach because most trainer kites are not water relaunchable, and those that are water launchable haven't flown well in light wind. Student learns to fly the kite around the sky making it go where they want it to, gaining experience on how to fly it to make more power, and how to reduce the power. It is not hard to learn, but it takes time for it to get instinctive and natural. Trainer kites like the Slingshot B2 and B3 are fast and responsive, so they do a great job of tuning your reflexes. When you move up to bigger kites, even though they pull harder, they are easier to keep up with than the zippy little trainer kites.
2. After basic kite control is mastered (step 1 above) we move up to bigger, more powerful 4-line kites. Since 4 lines gives you additional control, it again takes a bit of time to build up enough practice that flying the kite becomes automatic, like riding a bike or driving a car, where you don't have to think through everything you do, you just know what to do and do it.
3. As we move up into bigger more powerful kites, we go into the water to have lots of open space that may not be available on land. We get out in the water where there are no obstacles to run into like there may be on land. Since we have the water to cushion us when we crash, we can fly the kite aggressively to generate the most power. After learning to use the kite to pull you through the water downwind, and across the wind to the left and right, and learning to relaunch the kite when you crash it in the water, now you may be finally ready to ride the board. I say 'may' be ready because after putting in the effort to get good at flying the kite, you will likely be physically and mentally tired. Many times it is better to finish for the day, and let all that new skill and experience settle into your brain. It is amazing what a good sleep can do to help us sort through and lock in all the new knowledge. Flying the kite well is one thing. Flying the kite well while also riding the board takes things to the next level. It is often best to attempt that next level while rested and fresh.
Hopefully you've heard me that It doesn't make sense to try to ride the board until after you have good kite control. But after you have good kite control, the kite actually helps you ride the board. The kite's upward pull lifts you up onto the board and keeps lifting you up onto your feet as you ride.
Here's the problem. People think they can skip the part about learning how to fly the kite, or that the kite just flies itself while you hold on and ride the board. People commonly assume that since they are an awesome surfer/skater/skier/snowboarder/sailor/pilot etc and a 'really fast learner' that they should be able to skip the 'beginner trainer kite stuff' and get straight to the part where you 'hold on to the kite and ride the board'. I understand. When we see an experienced kiteboarder it looks like their kite is flying itself. It looks easy like when we see somebody ride by on a bicycle. It doesn't look like they are doing much of anything to balance. It looks effortless, and it is effortless after you know how to do it. But nobody, in 25 years of teaching, has intuitively known how to fly one of these kites without practicing it. You can be a fast learner, but you still have to take the time to learn it. Could you imagine somebody telling their flight instructor that they really don't need the first part of the training in the paraglider, hang glider, airplane or helicopter because they are great at board sports? One doesn't have anything to do with the other. Kiteboarding is 90% kite and 10% boarding, so learn how to fly the kite first.
Even though learning to fly the trainer kites on the beach is a solid, well-proven way to learn the fundamentals of kiteboarding, the advantage with the Flysurfer Hybrid kites is that we can start the process directly in the water.