Observations from a fairly recent student

[ricki]

Just saw this in another part of the site and thought it might be good for the membership to think over.

Some comments on teaching methods. I have been to a couple of excellent schools, but there are still some shortcomings. I have never been required to self rescue, self launch or land. I have been told about the procedures, but never practiced them with an instructor. Maybe it's because the areas where I learned were flats. I had to view these techniques via CD and try them on my own. I was never required to perform the various safety releases, probably because it takes time to re-rig. They were pointed out to me, but never executed. I also learned and practiced these on my own. I think that sometimes the instructors want to get you into the "meat" of the sport, that they assume that by pointing out things, that you will instinctively know how to do them when the need arises. When I learned to fly, I had to complete a ground school course before even stepping into an aircraft. I agree that this would be a little tedious for kiteboarding, but now some operators are doing just that. Watersports West in the Tampa Bay area has a groundschool in their shop and a CD that they give out as part of the course. Paul Menta and TheKiteHouse now has a course at the Keys Community College. The usual course scenario, as it exists in most teaching locations, usually begins with rigging and flying the kite, wind window etc on the first day. Body dragging and waterstarts on the second, etc. An instructor needs to be sure that the student can self rescue, can release the equipment, can assess the conditions by demonstrating then requiring the student to do so. The problem sometimes comes when the student has had a lesson or two, and the instructor asks if the student understands self rescue, rules of the road, safety releases, launching and landing, to which the student replies yes. Nobody wants to rehash old stuff. But does the student really know these areas? How many kiters actually practice self rescue? Was the first time you did it, was when you had to? You need to get it right at the beginning. All it would have taken for me would have been the instructor to actually land the kite in the water, secure the lines, and demonstrate the self rescue and then have me do it. One time would have been all that was needed. But it's like the flight attendant demonstrating the life vest and oxygen mask, they really don't want to put them on, so they just sort of show you how to do it. In aviation, we use check lists to make sure nothing is missed. Could this be used in initial teaching? When a student signs up for a lesson, it would be easy to give him a short course syllabus explaining what he is going to be taught and safety rules for the sport. He is made to sign his life away on the release form, why not give him an idea of what he is in for. I think most people would like this. People like to prepare. Would give them something to do the night before the first lesson.
http://fksa.org/showthread.php?p=33624

I believe we need to do more in instruction, for quite a few years actually. The need is there, hopefully the marketplace will financially support expanded instruction. If not, then how about offering it as an option at an additional fee given that most instruction is offered at an hourly rate anyway? Lack of interest or background in the instructors should not be a reason to leave these important instructional steps out.

Comments?

[conchxpress]

The guys at Watersports West could corroborate this; the groundschool IS actually the first lesson, and I think it costs $75.00. I think it's a great idea. Wish this had been an option for me. Speeds up the learning process and when the $300 lesson comes around, more time can be spent on new material after a quick review. Less time explaining theory, more time with the nuts and bolts. Should be required! Plus, from the business angle, you get more people in the shop exposed to your inventory, and the students would get to meet others in the sport.

[The Kite House]

I agree withthis post, but would like to point out some things.

Teaching self rescue before a person can fly the kite, activate the safety system or get up on a board i dont agree with. Classes are normaly set like building blocks and one leads into another. I dont feel people have the skill to self rescue until they are good with the safety systems, body draging up wind, water starts. I feel they then have a comfort level with the gear and can "absorb" more in the mussel memory when learning to self rescue. Also i belive follow up videos to look at after learning something from an instructor are a good idea. People always forget. I have actually got kite set up and self rescue on i tunes university now for ipods and just simple video to look at as a refresher. Instructors need to make people aware of what they can and cant do when they leave the lesson.

This is just my opion, but i believe a person learns steps, and you shouldnt learn step 12 when you cant do 1-11

Glad you are enjoying the sport, thats the main idea.

now i will do the same, back out for another session

[ricki]

I think a critical oversight in much instruction today is LACK of enough useful theory (weather planning, launch selection, risk management, emergency scenarios and more) with too much emphasis on nuts and bolts or basic operation. That is an aspect of Paul's KiteU that appeals to me in particular. The student doesn't have to spend much time with the instructor on this matter, most of it is self study with discussion.

I don't consider learning hands on how to self rescue basic nuts and bolts operation. I think emergency QR practice is a core component of any instruction and should be practiced several times in the course. Paul's point about the need to do things when reasonable skills are present is worth carefully considering. Not everyone is up for the demands of self-rescue until they have some time in with the kite. To avoid problems in the long term (or short term for the unlucky) you need grounding in adequate theory, nuts and bolts and more specialized procedures.

[DJ HiPPiE]

Another newbie here....About two months ago I was driving around and ended up out at Sunset beach in Tarpon and saw some people kiteboarding and needless to say I was hooked. The next day I took my girlfriend out there and after 5 minutes of watching she was hooked. My friend Eric wasn't too interested in it when I told him(he use to surf but thought it was silly when I explained it to him). About a month later there was a show on the weather channel about kitesurfing and that's all it took for him.

However we have decided to take our time getting into it....Mainly because we've hit the slow wind season....second is due to our recent move so we have to save up on the gear and lessons....But also due to the fact that after reading up on kiteboarding during the last month or so we came to the conclusion that just jumping into this would not just be stupid but dangerous.

We all went to Watersport west last week and Steve was a real help and even kept the store open past closing so we could watch the short intro video as well as explain some of the gear to us....Our next step is to take the $75 class as well as picking up a trainer to practice during the summer.

Well now that i've gotten that long winded intro out of the way I just wanted to thank the people here for a great site. This place is turning out to be real helpful and the info(such as this thread) here is really helping out in making the right decisions.

[conchxpress]

points well taken. Agree, got to crawl before you can walk. Self rescue would be a lot to handle after a few days of lessons. Safety for yourself and others around you always takes precedence.

[DJ HiPPiE]

points well taken. Agree, got to crawl before you can walk. Self rescue would be a lot to handle after a few days of lessons. Safety for yourself and others around you always takes precedence.

After reading up on some of the serious kitemares that have happened I would much rather crawl than try to run, which would just end up endangering me as well as people around me. Yeah lessons are expensive....But can you really put a price on safety?

And to Scott....I have no problem in asking questions. I've found that the people out at sunset have been more than willing to offer advice which in turn has made getting into this alot easier....And even though I haven't started yet....I'm already spending night and day dreaming about getting out there....In fact i'm probably heading out in a few to Sunset to see if anyone is out there.....however the wind seems pretty dead out there today.

[ricki]

Neil is having some log in problems and asked me to post this on his behalf:

"Sorry I have not charmed in yet but have been crazy busy meeting with the city protecting this place. Here is my lesson plan that I believe works well. There are 4 stages and you can not advance from one stage to the next until you can successfully complete each point in the previous stage. I will not sell anyone a kite until they can perform all of these points.

Stage 1 using a 2m trainer kite
- Wind direction
- Surroundings and obstacles
- Steering of kite
- Wind window
- Hand/eye coordination


Stage 2 with small bow kite
- Advanced surroundings and obsticals
- Advanced wind direction and stre
Sorry I have not charmed in yet but have been crazy busy meeting with the city protecting this place. Here is my lesson plan that I beieve works well. There are 4 stages and you can not advance from one stage to the next untill you can successfully complete each point in the previous stage. I will not sell anyone a kite until they can perform all of these points.

Stage 1 using a 2m trainner kite
- Wind direction
- Sorrundings and obstycles
- Steering of kite
- Wind window
- Hand/eye coordination


Stage 2 with small bow kite
- Advanced sorroundings and obsticals
- Advanced wind direction and strength
- Rigging
- Depowering the kite and all safety releases
- Using a harness
- Launching and landing assisted
- Launching and landing un-assisted
- Weather
- Simulated water starts using the power zone

Stage 3 Body dragging
- Water re-launch shallow water and deep water
- Body dragging with two hands on the bar left, right and down wind
- Obtaining constant power
- One hand body dragging and board retreivel
- Self rescue

Stage 4 board riding
- Theory
- Getting the board on your feet
- Board direction
- Getting up on the board
- Cycling and parking the kite
- Edging

Cheers Neil Hutchinson, Tiki Beach Watersports, Fort lauderdale"

[b-rad]

All these guys are legit and all their programs are great...

One thing that makes it very hard to keep things progressing nicely:

The student might just be at your place for a day...in this case you are just another building block added to their learning experience...no time to go over things in proper order...so you are left with determining where they are in the learning cycle and trying to fit in... everyone's program is great (all the legit schools) but they are different...

Standardizing lessons (like with PASA for example) has benefits and problems...

For example, everyone agrees that ground school should come first...but what all should be considered "ground school"?

Picking a group (like PASA or IKO) and all agreeing to adhere to their programs (and together add to the constant improvement of the programs) has lots of obvious benefits for schools and students.

The biggest problem (and it might not be that big) is that you loose a little personal touch with the "system" imposing it's ideas on you... however... we do that plenty with things like: driving, airlines, skydiving... all for the common good... and a good teacher can modify any program to aid the learning process without sacrificing the key elements of each section...

I would say half our students at Seven have had some form of lesson somewhere else...and ours go on to other schools for continued training too...

The trend is obviously to standardize...it has been happening for years now and it can only help the sport...

[bigkite]

I agree with what Brad has to say.

Time and repetition is a key factor for instruction no matter where you come from and what standards you are applying.

Miguel

[Steve-O]

Our ground school at WSW I think is very innovative. I come from a background in education and have had a lot of experience with breaking down skills into steps, and then presenting them in a logical order.

Our 3 hour class includes the following topics.

-Short video called Upwind, showing the best of the best getting worked in the early days.
-A hands on session with a kite bar explaining QR, flagging lines, safety leashes, hooking up leashes wrong, different places to hook leashes and there results. I do this in the beginning because I feel it is the most important information for any kiter. (I also do this first thing in the water lesson after basic kite control is present, again most important part of the lesson IMO)
-also explain the rest of the bar as well, in theory of course!
-explain options of training with a focus on trainer kite and board lessons before taking a kite lesson. Break the skills down, and then put it all together.
-using the PASA handbook, take students through many topics that PASA has organized already. This curriculum should take 1.5 hours to cover alone.
-spend time on weather assessment, and weather patterns that occur throughout the year in Florida (this could be a course in itself....to be held one day soon)
-hand out many things to take home which include, Tampa Bay ride guide, Florida ride guide, tons of articles on things we just talked about, web links, weather links, and gear needed for kiting (no one thinks of booties)

The PASA handbook is the meat of this course and presents many excellent topics for discussion that a good instructor can elaborate on. The first statement in the handbook is "don't go out it winds to strong for your kiting level". That takes a good 10 minutes to elaborate on that statement. The use of a bar simulator in the shop really does a great job at explaining how the safety on these kites work. Extra handouts just hit home all the stuff we covered in those three hours for the student to read once they get home.

It really sets a great foundation for the water lesson and the sport itself. We recall info throughout the water lesson and don't waste time explaining info. With that said, we usually have success with a student riding in their 3rd hour of training. With limited teachable wind, I have found this teaching system to take most advantage of the time we have.

I understand every area is different and the situation is different. This setup works well for our area and our type of client. We adjust accordingly to the client when the need arises.

Maybe a meeting could be held at the surf expo for instructors to get together and share ideas.