G'day all,
Bit of a wierd one but whose learnt how to ride waves because of kiting? Am I alone here? I don't mean the basic stuff like paddling and jumping up on a board to wiggle around a bit, did that and couldn't see the fun in it, but carving a bottom turn and slashing along, cut backs 'n stuff?
It took kiting for me to sorta do that sort of stuff. I know the purist out there will pfffft at this and I know I don't do the proper stuff but still, I'm riding waves much better than I ever could manage just paddling and because of kiting and all its power gets me out and back quick smart. I've always been too lazy to paddle and never really saw the point to spending ages paddling out the back only to get a few waves when kiting I've had opportunities to grab millions,,, well you know what I mean, but many more anyway???
Just wondering if there is any one else out there same as me sorta done it arse about?
cheers,
Robbie 
So what you really mean is: Who learnt to ride waves kiting and likes it better than surfing???
I understand where you are coming from as kiting gives you a much easier platform to progress or give you the idea that you are progressing your surfing skills in a much shorter time frame than if you only paddled (as would tow-ins).
I think however that for the most part Kiting wrecks your paddle surfing style and teaches you bad technique and body position. Although Kiting gives you an idea of what some things feel like whilst paddle surfing the truth of it is mostly you aren't surfing at all and are instead flying along a curve supported and propelled by a kite (wave riding).
I'm fine with what anyone wants to do and I think you opinion that kiting is more fun is a valid one, however I wouldn't exactly say you are "surfing", or compare it as such (if you get my drift).
I agree with Rowdy, they're two completely different sports. They both appear very similar though. The satisfaction from surfing far exceeds that of kitesurfing. This is purely down to how rare it is practice the same move twice in surfing. When you kitesurf a wave, you get to try the move a ridiculous amount. When you surf though, you can not replicate the moves practiced whilst kitesurfing, as the conditions have altered - no pull from a kite to help balance you and no wind to lever board against in the air.
Personally, I see kitesurfing as something to do when I can not surf. It will never be able to replace the feeling of pulling an air reverse in surfing, or getting blown out of tube. Plus, when the surf is good, you get alot of spectators, when the wind is good you get an empty beach haha
So I was a very rubbish surfer. Then I started kiting, mainly into down winders on a strapped surfboard. Now my paddle surfing has improved to the point that I am only a pretty rubbish surfer. So, I think yes I have learned to surf from kiting. All down to time in the water and on the waves, and in Perth without a kite you just don't get the time.
Select to expand quotebronziebait said..
So I was a very rubbish surfer. Then I started kiting, mainly into down winders on a strapped surfboard. Now my paddle surfing has improved to the point that I am only a pretty rubbish surfer. So, I think yes I have learned to surf from kiting. All down to time in the water and on the waves, and in Perth without a kite you just don't get the time.
Yeah , for me that fits. Time on the water on the kite ( and windsurfing ) has given me additional surf skills. My time on the beach has been in very windy locations and so I guess it meant the surf was always chopped up and therefore I spent more time on a wind machine. Just my experience anyway.
Rubbish surfer x3. Yes kiting does help a bit here and there. What kiting doesn't do is help with taking the drop and the nuances and difficulties getting that right. Surfing is still king for me...
Select to expand quotesir ROWDY said..
So what you really mean is: Who learnt to ride waves kiting and likes it better .
I don't think that's what he is saying
For me maybe some improvement when on the wave but paddle fitness is way down
for me, it kinda went like this:
I got hooked onto kiting, but then there was no wind...so I bought a surfboard...
now I am addicted to both..
moral of the story: kiting has introduced me to water sports including surfing (and thus kind of learnt to ride waves because of my curiosity fuelled by kiting)....and that was the end of my bank account. lol
Select to expand quoteTurtleHunter said..sir ROWDY said..
So what you really mean is: Who learnt to ride waves kiting and likes it better .
I don't think that's what he is saying
So what is he saying? Although the title says different that's what the majority of his text read as.
For the record, I said that I agreed and that it can help you get an idea and feel for what to do once surfing on a wave, however once you really start surfing more you will soon feel the negative impact kiting has on technique and positioning. If you can separate the two in your head it's can be ok, but I would say that's quite a hard task.
rowdy is spot on. please read between the lines.
Surfing takes a long time to learn. and kitesurfing a wave can help only if you are not using the kite all the time. Neurophysiologically speaking, Surfing is a multidimensional skill requiring many different skills to progress.
Kite Surfing is a different sport, You cannot do a bottom turn to smack a lip unless you turn in the pocket of a wave without kite assistance, you cant race down the line with a kite unless you know how waves form unless youve spent LOTS of time in the water. I will give
lots of examples if necessary.
think about it,Surfers that kite, unhook and drift, the kite so the wave is where you get the power from.
Hey Robbie,
I hated surfing back in the day but kiting has got me on a SUP.
Love those point and reef breaks but can't say the same for beachies. Still a noob but enjoy it expect for snake eyes
I can vouch for Lovelife, she is hook and goes hard. Trying to talk her into coming to Bali next year
I tried surfing for two years, found it incredibly frustrating and exhausting. All that work and waiting around for 5 - 10 seconds standing up just didnt do it for me. Especially in Sydney where even in winter the surf breaks are crowded. Then got into kiting and have never looked back, I can count on one hand how many times I've used my surfboard since.
My next aim in life is to combine the two and hit the surf with a kite. This summer fo sure!
Well I have surfed since I was 10. Kited for the last 14 seasons.
I would say surfing helped me kite in the waves, but not the other way around.
Very different sports.
I think for the purist wave riders though they surely would help each other.
I SUP now though as my dislocated shoulders and AC joints are catching up with me, and I cannot paddle in the surf I would be bothered going out in. Well I can but it is getting to the point I am putting myself in serious danger (my bro and I always did missions to isolated breaks south of our state).
Both awesome sports, just different. There is something special though about sitting in the water on a calm day with 4 to 6 foot waves crashing in, sun shining...mmm
Select to expand quotesir ROWDY said..
So what you really mean is: Who learnt to ride waves kiting and likes it better than surfing???
I understand where you are coming from as kiting gives you a much easier platform to progress or give you the idea that you are progressing your surfing skills in a much shorter time frame than if you only paddled (as would tow-ins).
I think however that for the most part Kiting wrecks your paddle surfing style and teaches you bad technique and body position. Although Kiting gives you an idea of what some things feel like whilst paddle surfing the truth of it is mostly you aren't surfing at all and are instead flying along a curve supported and propelled by a kite (wave riding).
I'm fine with what anyone wants to do and I think you opinion that kiting is more fun is a valid one, however I wouldn't exactly say you are "surfing", or compare it as such (if you get my drift).
... yes and sorta yes.
I know I wouldn't make a surfers a-hole but damn I do enjoy waves soooo much more now and it took kiting to get me there. I don't care if I have to fly and follow the kite, its heaps of fun, drifting or unhooked surfing is cool and all but who cares how you do it, your out in the waves and isn't that cool. Truth be know, I don't even have real waves but wind swells but in my head I'm slashing it up in waves.
I agree though, time on the water or rather time on waves, is teaching me techniques I would never have bothered to pursue had I just done the paddle thing. Not even windsurfing for 20 years did I even get close to what time on waves kiting has given me or even the wave riding skills (what little I have).
Anyway, I love kiting in waves even if it means I'm pretending to do it!
cheers,
Robbie 
Surfed from 13 years , stopped when i was around 40 started kiteing a few years after that ,flat water then back into surf , in my fifties now and have just returned to surfing and SUP after a long time away (bigger boards with more float now as cant paddle as good as i used to).
Would have to say kiting has learnt me to realise that once a surfer allways will be , kiting gives me the ease of riding waves and riding swell and small chop that would be impossible just surfing, it allows you to surf the bigger sets with out tow ins as well.
Kiting Surfing and SUP , how lucky are we in this country
Puetz ,Kiting the waves is not pretending man, its all part of it ,enjoy
agreed it is not pretending, it is another dimension of wave riding. Just like Supping and short board riding, very different.
Must admit though seeing shots by steely on that wave thread...man some crew are getting bloody close to actually surfing...amazing.
After kiting for about 3 years in the waves, 2 of those unhooked last being strapless unhooked I can easily say that I can surf now! first winter of surfing and riding proper waves have accelerated my learning, just had to get used to taking bigger and bigger drops but once your on your feet its easy as you have the balance from all the cross over sports. Personal opinion is that unhooking helped the most, from ankle biters to mast high, any unhooking will help the surfing out heaps as there are plenty of moments when there is virtually no pull from the kite.
Bonus empty waves at CoCos was mint
Select to expand quotePuetz said..sir ROWDY said..
So what you really mean is: Who learnt to ride waves kiting and likes it better than surfing???
I understand where you are coming from as kiting gives you a much easier platform to progress or give you the idea that you are progressing your surfing skills in a much shorter time frame than if you only paddled (as would tow-ins).
I think however that for the most part Kiting wrecks your paddle surfing style and teaches you bad technique and body position. Although Kiting gives you an idea of what some things feel like whilst paddle surfing the truth of it is mostly you aren't surfing at all and are instead flying along a curve supported and propelled by a kite (wave riding).
I'm fine with what anyone wants to do and I think you opinion that kiting is more fun is a valid one, however I wouldn't exactly say you are "surfing", or compare it as such (if you get my drift).
... yes and sorta yes.
I know I wouldn't make a surfers a-hole but damn I do enjoy waves soooo much more now and it took kiting to get me there. I don't care if I have to fly and follow the kite, its heaps of fun, drifting or unhooked surfing is cool and all but who cares how you do it, your out in the waves and isn't that cool. Truth be know, I don't even have real waves but wind swells but in my head I'm slashing it up in waves.
I agree though, time on the water or rather time on waves, is teaching me techniques I would never have bothered to pursue had I just done the paddle thing. Not even windsurfing for 20 years did I even get close to what time on waves kiting has given me or even the wave riding skills (what little I have).
Anyway, I love kiting in waves even if it means I'm pretending to do it!
cheers,
Robbie
I actually wondered about this quite a bit, so tks for starting the thread.
I agree with most of the comments here, that they are 2 separate sports, different set of skills etc. But the truth for me is I can't surf because I can't paddle for long. I had my R shoulder Rotator Cuff reconstructed due to a tear over a decade ago. Before the OP I couldn't paddle for more than 2 minutes, I even gave up swimming long distance for it, and since then when I try to paddle for a session it then leaves me injured for 2 weeks, I can't kite - NO WAY I am compromising that :).
So, even though I start on a TT I then moved to GC so I would be 'forced' to face waves. Since I first bought a surfboard I have not returned to TT's and now I can hardly stand them - I have 2 mutants that I used for the transition. I am absolutely converted to my Surfboard and I push myself to progress everyday in waves. Sometimes I am definitely surfing as I often achieve 'slack lines' and even some tight turns..
Am I really 'surfing'?? perhaps not according to a purist - but really, who cares? I am having the time of my life and froth at the mouth every time the surf and wind are up, like today 
. It is true - I will perhaps never be a 'surfer' but I am proud to consider myself a kite-surfer . This season's challenge is strapless, I'm already getting 80-90% switches.. when otherwise would I get to do anything like that if it wasn't for kiting?
In my world I am doing OK, happy as anyone can be within my limitations. I know well what the 'stoke' is - for me!!!
There you go - proof
Cheers guys.. peace up and good winds
SirV
looking good, i personally think that it is so close to being the same sport ,as an older surfer that has found that yes you can ride waves with a kite ,i look at as just a tow in on the good sets and the bonus is you can ride the swells chop and get out to reefs without the jet ski or boat, how good is that.
Once you go strapless and that kite is just sitting in the window drifting its as close to surfing as you get ,surfers that dont kite will probably disagree , but as you as many others including myself know couldnt surf all the time without the kites assistance.
Is that a camera set up on your back
... nice one Sir V!
My left rotator cuff is buggered too, one of the main reasons I stopped unhooking back in 2007 so paddling is out for me too, even SUPing gives it sh!t so kiting in waves it is.
It might look boring as sh!t but I'm having a ball!
Whose learnt how to surf from kiting? - me and a lot of my friends.
Sup really helps too.
It really is a great combination.
Select to expand quotebearbusa said..
SirV
looking good, i personally think that it is so close to being the same sport ,as an older surfer that has found that yes you can ride waves with a kite ,i look at as just a tow in on the good sets and the bonus is you can ride the swells chop and get out to reefs without the jet ski or boat, how good is that.
Once you go strapless and that kite is just sitting in the window drifting its as close to surfing as you get ,surfers that dont kite will probably disagree , but as you as many others including myself know couldnt surf all the time without the kites assistance.
Is that a camera set up on your back
It is backpack set up for 'over the shoulder' shorts and video for the GoPro. I'm up to version 5 now, been improving on design and usability. This one has a curved frame to fit my shoulders properly (done with a heat-gun) and a second clipped chest strap. It stops the backpack pivoting slightly on the back curvature, so it has a snug fit now. After 2 minutes you don't know you've got it on, or so my mates who tried it have said. I really don't know I've got it on.
Here's a couple of shots from it..
Apologies for high-jacking the thread 
.. just keep the stoke
I am amused by the purists that state you are not surfing a wave if your kiting it. I say boolarks to that!.
If you on a wave face standing on a board you are surfing a wave. Its that's simple.
I learnt waves on a goatboat years ago in the 80's when goat boats were uncool indeed. Now they don't even exist. then surfed for a little bit. But hated the dicks in the line up and got bored waiting for the next set to come through. There's a whole lot of hurry up and wait in surfing that I don't like. effort to reward ratio is way to low for me.
I have no desire to try and emulate a surfer. I much prefer kiting.
Sir V nice pics man...any pic with that awesome wing in it makes me smile!
Well yes and no Plummett.
Through my late teens up to my early thirties my bro and I chased some real isolated spots and had some sessions that are up there, arguable better (maybe) to some epic kite sessions we have had.
There is something magic about pulling into a huge powerful wave and that's all ya got, no kite to help you long, you are really at mercy to the ocean. Warm sunny day, lno wind, crystal clear water, surf pounding across a point break in the middle of nowhere, you and a few mates having a laugh, then hitting some insane waves...
but for the majority of sessions in crowded spots full of farqwit kelly slater wannabes, yeh give me kiting anyday man.
I have been scared at times with kiting in monster swells, but nothing like paddling your ass over three 10 foot waves in a row knowing that if ya get taken down, you are gonna hurt like a bitch.
With good kite control you always have an out...
Yep I know the sensation. For me its not as magical as a my best kite sessions or my best mountain biking sessions.
I have been way more scared kiting than surfing and goat boating. That's because I have been out in significantly bigger seas and more dangerous and remote locations than I ever would have attempted surfing.
Select to expand quotePlummet said..
Yep I know the sensation. For me its not as magical as a my best kite sessions or my best mountain biking sessions.
I have been way more scared kiting than surfing and goat boating. That's because I have been out in significantly bigger seas and more dangerous and remote locations than I ever would have attempted surfing.
What he said :))))
Yeh don't know if I agree with that. On the west coast here, we have kites a long way off shore in very isolated spots in swell as you said much bigger than I'd normally surf, but with a kite in hand I (incorrectly probably) feel bullet proofish hey. Well not quite, but way more comfortable than staring a 12 foot margaret river main break wave in the face....or a guillotines where you know the hold down could actually drown you easily...or among the many break between Walpole and Albany further south where it is your mate/s and the white pointers only around, in big big swell.
Yeh been more frightened for my life many times on a SB in insane conditions than on a kite, and we invariably go remote.
can't say I feel the same as you fellas.
But that being said I rarely go surfing now, always prefer a kite, but I reckon that a function of my inability to paddle in the stuff I would have done earlier...can't be fagged in smaller stuff, what's the point.
Select to expand quotePlummet said..
Yep I know the sensation. For me its not as magical as a my best kite sessions or my best mountain biking sessions.
I have been way more scared kiting than surfing and goat boating. That's because I have been out in significantly bigger seas and more dangerous and remote locations than I ever would have attempted surfing.
I still goat boat occasionally and really enjoy it. The judgement and timing of slotting into a wave is so much more critical than kiting.
And getting out with a swell running somewhat more challenging.
I'm not sure I can pick best sessions, each one is unique whether kiting, surfing, goating, heli skiing or just on the piss with your mates!
Love them all...
Select to expand quotelovelife said..
for me, it kinda went like this:
I got hooked onto kiting, but then there was no wind...so I bought a surfboard...
now I am addicted to both..
moral of the story: kiting has introduced me to water sports including surfing (and thus kind of learnt to ride waves because of my curiosity fuelled by kiting)....and that was the end of my bank account. lol
Thats what happened to me.
I was so hooked on kiting waves, then bought a paddle board for the no wind days, then I got a mal and havent looked back! I love surfing so much more than anything else, nothing compares to it, or is more thrilling. I havent used my SUP in over 18 mths now, sometimes Im temped to use it but its just not the same!
I only sailed as a kid, so kiting definitely introduced me to the beach!
I like how people always have to put in the "who cares if I am or I'm not" argument (or similar) in every discussion ... Obviously no one "really" cares what you are doing, as no one "really" cares about most the useless topics on this forum! But for the sake of an internet forum with the topic being what you apparently "aren't caring" about the people posting in the topic obviously care enough to post about it! Including you... .
Really, if you think you're surfing a wave when you're holding a kite you're dreaming! Although I agree they do feel similar sometimes, they are still miles apart in the act. Sometimes you get a hint of surfing, usually when your kites luffing out of the sky or something similar, but for the most part the kite is aiding you much more than you think. It's like if you were to tow in with a Ski and just never let go, have the Ski pull you through the whole wave while you wiggle behind it... At some moments you will probably get some slack in the rope and a feel of Surfing, but in reality you would be far from the definition of Surfing a wave.
To me this situation is not dissimilar to "Wakestyle" kiting Vs Wakeboarding. Both have aspects and tricks that from the outside look almost identical, however neither are really that close to one another technique or riding wise. Thus the term "wakestyle" is actually pretty stupid whe you think about it... and to say you were "wakeboarding" behind a kite would be even stupider much like saying you are "surfing" behind one.
Pretty trivial nonsense I know! Just get out there and do sh!t .
