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Beach flying advice


TonyK
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Don't worry. You will crash less and less. You will also worry less about the crashes as you realise how much they can take. First day out can be a mixed bag of emotions. Just breathe and take it in. Glad you could sort out the ball of string.

Sent from a Galaxy 8 Far Far Down Under.

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Sounds like you did fine for a first time alone without any previous experience. The fact that you managed to keep it up and moving for long enough to worry about over starting is great.


The arc launch is most likely a result of dominance of one hand/body side over the other. It doesn't take much of a difference between hands to cause that.

Next time:
Always stake it when ya need to walk out. Top of handles against the stake (if it does self launch before you get to it it will be much more controlled).

Form a good habit - always put your stake on your body when you fly. If not you will quickly find yourself 20 feet from your stake in the ground and needing to park your kite.


Breath, relaxed erganomic body position. Small hand motions.

Glad you did so well. You may not see us out there next to you but we are rooting for you.

Sent from my [device_name] using http://KiteLife mobile app

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Yup, everything they said. Be very selective about the wind you learn in. A steady breeze at 6-12mph is what you want. I know you want to fly, but you won't learn anything if you are fighting the wind, except how hard it is to learn anything in lousy wind. Let the wind help you by choosing to fly in good steady wind. You will learn more quickly and form good muscle memory that way. 

Watch the video tutorials again, several times each until you are totally sick of watching them and never want to watch again, and then watch them a few more times. Everything JB tells and shows you in those videos is GOSPEL. They are tried and proven methods that work EVERY time. You can make changes to suit your own style later, once you have mastered the basics. For now, do exactly what he shows you. It will keep you from having "spaghetti" for lunch each time you fly. Take your time, go slowly. Make sure there are no wraps or tangles in the bridal. Use very small inputs and move your hands and your body towards the kite if you are about to crash. Take frequent breaks, fly for ten or twenty minutes and take a ten minute break. Give the muscle memory time to "sink in".

Things will get better each time you fly. The progress and problems you describe sound exactly like my first attempts as I also learned the basics alone. Once you can launch and hover motionless things will get much easier, so work on that as your primary goal. Don't get way up in the air. Stay under 20 feet to reduce crash damage. Practice going up without wobbling and coming down and landing gently. Go as slow as possible. It's all about balance. Go home and watch the videos several more times.

Relax -- remember, you're supposed to be having fun! Smile a lot and don't forget to breathe. Then watch the videos again. Really! It will suddenly just "click". 

P.S. -- Do check your lines and equalize if necessary.

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Yup, everything they said. Be very selective about the wind you learn in. A steady breeze at 6-12mph is what you want. I know you want to fly, but you won't learn anything if you are fighting the wind, except how hard it is to learn anything in lousy wind. Let the wind help you by choosing to fly in good steady wind. You will learn more quickly and form good muscle memory that way. 
Watch the video tutorials again, several times each until you are totally sick of watching them and never want to watch again, and then watch them a few more times. Everything JB tells and shows you in those videos is GOSPEL. They are tried and proven methods that work EVERY time. You can make changes to suit your own style later, once you have mastered the basics. For now, do exactly what he shows you. It will keep you from having "spaghetti" for lunch each time you fly. Take your time, go slowly. Make sure there are no wraps or tangles in the bridal. Use very small inputs and move your hands and your body towards the kite if you are about to crash. Take frequent breaks, fly for ten or twenty minutes and take a ten minute break. Give the muscle memory time to "sink in".
Things will get better each time you fly. The progress and problems you describe sound exactly like my first attempts as I also learned the basics alone. Once you can launch and hover motionless things will get much easier, so work on that as your primary goal. Don't get way up in the air. Stay under 20 feet to reduce crash damage. Practice going up without wobbling and coming down and landing gently. Go as slow as possible. It's all about balance. Go home and watch the videos several more times.
Relax -- remember, you're supposed to be having fun! Smile a lot and don't forget to breathe. Then watch the videos again. Really! It will suddenly just "click". 
P.S. -- Do check your lines and equalize if necessary.
Thanks for the tips. It was definitely a gusty day. I went from waiting for some wind to seeing trees flexing in the wind. I was going to try again today but it has been crazy windy with 35+ km winds all day. Maybe tomorrow.

Sent from my ONEPLUS 3 using KiteLife mobile app

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  • 1 year later...

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