So you have reached the point in your kitesurfing where you want to learn to kite surf a surfboard in the waves? Kitesurfing in the waves is a thrilling way to take your kiteboarding to the next level. You will use a lot of the same skills as when kiteboarding on a twin-tip, but there are some subtle differences that I will point out. By following these 3 tips, you will learn to kiteboard on a surfboard in no time.
The first time you attempt to kite board on a surfboard, I recommend NOT doing it in the waves. You will feel that kite surfing on a surfboard is like learning to kiteboard all over again. The first few minutes, you will feel that the board is very bouncy and wants to move all over the place. This is why I recommend not heading immediately into the waves to kite surf. After a few sessions of kitesurfing on a directional board at your local kite beach, you will become comfortable with the feeling. From here you can head into the waves to start doing your basic kitesurfing turns and kitesurfing jibes or gybes.
The first tip involves the most common mistake kiteboarders make when first learning on a surfboard. This is to do a kiteboard waterstart with both feet in the foot-straps. But believe it or not, you only want your front foot in the strap and your back foot directly on the board in front of the rear strap. If you have both feet in the straps, you will have so much weight on the back of the board that you cannot generate enough power with the kite to do your water-start. In addition, as you ride with your back foot directly in front of the rear strap, you will kitesurf upwind much better. This is standard, but not intuitive advice for kiteboarders learning to kite surf on a directional kiteboard.
The second tip for learning to kite surf on a surfboard is to use a slightly smaller kite than you would normally kiteboard with. This is because surfboards have more volume, thus float more. On your first few days you will be so heavily focused on controlling the surfboard, that you do not want to have to worry about being overpowered.
The third tip involves how to turn. Before trying to turn on a surfboard, I recommend riding out as normal. Stopping, switching the board around, and riding back to the beach. Once you do this a few times, you will be able to determine which leg you are most strong with as your front leg. After you establish which direction will be your normal stance and which will be your toe-side stance, you can think about jibing. Jibing just takes practice. The easiest kite surf gybe is to go from toe-side back to your normal stance.
After you kitesurf jibe, simply take your back foot out of the strap and place almost near your front foot. From here, remove your front foot and place it near the back strap. When you are starting to do this, its best to have the kite at 11 o’clock or 1 o’clock. This is so you still have some forward power, yet the kite is always pulling you up out of the water.
Once you have mastered your kitesurf water starts and turns on a surfboard, you will probably want to start thinking about taking some kitesurfing holidays to find some waves to satisfy your new kitesurfing skill.