I know it has been brought up before but why are there so many people wanting to get into the sport these days that just straight out refuse lessons? or even refuse to listen about why you should have a lesson.
I feel like beating my head against the wall every time i hear the reply "yeah but all my mates do it already and they are really good" or "i have surfed and been in the ocean all my life and i normally pick things up pretty fast" 
and just to make things worse i then have to put up with the abuse and attitude when they are storming out of the shop because i will not sell them any gear even if they are waving a hand full of cash literally in my face!
If people know that they know nothing about the sport where do they get the idea that they know enough about it to argue that they do not need a lesson??
Sorry everyone just needed to vent a little bit there.
The invincibility of youth with a double shot of egotism thrown in the mix.
An interesting conversation with those people might be about learning to drive a car or ride a motor bike in that one needs to get lessons before taking to the road.
Perhaps that's the way of encouraging lessons - or showing them photos of ppl with injuries sustained from inadequate instruction?
I grabbed a copy of the photo in the news story out of Brazil when that guy got killed a couple of years ago if anyone wants it. It was a photo of the bloke on a stretcher minutes before he died of his injuries. I look at it sometimes to remind myself to be safe. Will post it when I dig it up, it's at home.
yeah I agree... I am just a beginner myself and even though I've done 3 lessons and a clinic I still 'find myself in times of trouble'. The VERY least you need to know is safety for the things/people around you.
Not that your not right Damo, but how did you learn? I know I was more or less self taught? There's actually quite a few people on this forum that are basically self taught- and a lot of them are instructors/shop owners now.
I would still say the responsible thing to do is to have a lesson especially so there's no accidents leaning to bans more than anything else. Still it's easy for us to say as accomplished kiters we need to at least acknowledge their point of view.
And Ive kited three years nearly every windy day Perth's had to offer and I still get caught out! Lessons give you the knowledge of how to get out of a lot of situations that if you were untrained could end nastily!
Good point spacemonkey but it's a lot busier now and not so easy to find a beach where you will only hurt yourself. Mind you I have heard of a shop in perth that doesn't require lessons because west aussies are brought up on the water[}:)]
I must say props to u Damo for sticking to your guns and refusing a sale based on your principles. I dont think there would be 'many' other retailers out there prepared to make a stand like that in the face of a sale. Unfortunately for u these people are probably just going online to get their gear now. Not good for u or our sport.
Yes a lot of us were self taught back in the day however the sport has grown that fast if we dont start to self regulate these sorts of things there will be mass bans everywhere. All it takes is a few accidents (generally which could have been avoided if lessons had been taken in the first place) and we will all be spending a lot more time on here winging then out in the water riding.
Its exactly the same special logic that allows young hoon drivers to believe they can travel at 160km/h safely when everyone else is travelling at 80km.
I'm all for cutting people's lines these days. If they're too cheap for lessons, they'll probably be too cheap to replace their lines when someone walks up and cuts them meaning we don't have to worry about them endangering people on our beaches later.
I think money has something to do with it.
There are also those who think they are gifted and will pick it up easily.
Had a good laugh at the person who wanted to get on the board in one lesson..ha ha not going to happen for him or anyone.
How many of your mates say this...
'I been surfing 100 years, so I'm sure I'll pick it up easy and be ripping pretty soon."
Ah ha, can you fly a kite?
'Can't be that hard can it.'
Ignorance.
There should be a simple set of rules for all new kiters:
A) you have lessons
or
B) you learn by yourself at a location which is not near any city centre and has no beach users
I'm quite happy for the darwin candidates to head off to a remote beach where they won't injure other kiters, other beach users, wildlife or power lines.
What sort of lesson programs and packages do you guys offer? How much does it cost?
I can see people being a bit freaked out at the thought of spending several hundred dollars to learn to go kiting. Even $100 is a bit of an ask when you didn't know you need to spend that money.
When I started there were no lessons. We got by fine. There was less crowding and the gear was crap. We knew everybody who kited. Everyone was accepted, even the kooks (because we all were). It was fun. I miss those days ... a bit.
$100 for an intro lesson gives you a taste for the sport and is an easy way to figure out if kiteboarding is for you.
And $100 isn't much if your prepared to spend 2-3k on gear.
LOL Damo,
Just sent a bloke and his girl packing for same reason, I'm guessing he'll be in your store in about 10 minutes. Have fun!
DM
We; and most other reputable shops/schools; offer 'packages' on kits purchased in conjunction with lessons.
The real cost of lessons that will get you through to being totally safe and skilled enough to confidently move on independently can be as little as $300 or $400.
Apart from all the good reasons lessons are worthwhile the one I find most reluctant customers respond to is the fact that the lessons will get them up & riding months sooner than going it alone. It seems time is more valued than safety and/or responsibility.
The quote I love is the oft repeated remark from the lesson avoiders - "Yer but Im not going anywhere near the water till I learn how to fly the thing" 
The 'thing' often being a really cheap but hardly ever used early century C kite from Gumtree.
It is strange to see that the problem is always the others
The others that don't take lessons while us we never did but we have a full list of obscur reasons 
Sorry if I am speaking too fast as I don't know well the situation here in Australia, but in Spain (Im not spanish) there are countless people who take lessons and never continue again.
I have seen examples like everybody of people starting completely by themselves, doing crap and putting everybody at risk, but it is far from the majority, no?
A lot of people only kite in club, paying for the full package lessons + renting
Some other just think it looks fun, pay for 3 days and will never touch a bar again.
So is the situation really so bad?
Or is it like for everything, there are some black sheeps?
Matt
I think ppl see kiting like surfing or wake boarding rather than sky diving. Just about anyone would not do sky diving without lessons but just about everyone would try surfing without a lesson.
If a video was made by the kiting association showing what a kite can do to a test dummy in different wind strengths by having it lofted into powerlines or rocks. Show the power of it draging a small car along the sand and then have that on youtube and every shop, you may get the message out there.
But then again maybe not, going past my local spot last weekend and seeing the madness on the water just makes you wonder how long we have before bans start to become common.
I was one of the lucky who started last century and was self taught. Those who had common sense, learnt quick and had luck survied on the equipment. I wish I had my 5.8 PL waterfoil to hand out to a few kiters who have learnt in the past 5 years so they could feel the power of a kite that just wants to kill you.
we have the opposite problem here in the naki. poeple want to get lessons locally but theres no kite school. the closest place is 300km away.
any of you guys who learned to kite yourself years ago, insist we all get lessons in triplicate from an "official" school and/or own kite shops ever read animal farm?
just sayin
on a more positive note at least all your whining raises awareness to be carefull but do any of you really believe that a few lessons prevent people from being dumb **s? if so your skills could be of great use in the wider community
you all raise good points and the idea of hundreds of crew buying kites on a whim and heading to a beach near us is scary but knowledge has many conduits and as in many other areas of life there are people with no formal training who you would trust with your life and people with a fist full of tickets and no idea
Now all details aside hats off to all the Dazzas/Damos for putting their idea of right before their wallet, right or wrong the world would be better with more of it
Lessons ? Times are tough guys.
For that money, people could buy some 7 year old kite with no depower and get some excitement getting dragged across the beach or into walls like in the good old days.
What's about throwing in some lessons in if people buy kite gear in your shops at RRP or last years gear? Win-Win.
Just sold an 8m RPM through seabreeze, it took a while. I just asked what kites are you flying at the moment. If I got a puzzled answer I asked them not to bother coming around. Yes I learnt in 2003 without lessons at beaches that were deserted, and by default you had a 50m exclusion zone. Thats with sailing experience, windsurfing, surfing, wakeboarding and a Degree in Physical education. I learnt the hard way and the long way. Discovery lessons take a long time, if someone shows you what to do you pick it up.
I cant believe how many times Ive taught someone a simple jump-back roll in 20 mins, see them stuff up, give some feedback and repeat, the Eureka moment. This is after they have been trying for 3 months are and intimidated. To learn any sport aqcuisition of motor skills required coaching, let alone a dangerous one to themselves and other people.
Bad habits are not easy to correct once the brain has automaticity, Its easier to coach when learning something. Imagine any junior sports coach that just said "do your own thing kids", tey dont know and would be the worst in the league. Good on you Damo
I changed over to kiteboarding after 10 years of windsurfing ,I didn't have any lessons as i didn't feel as though it was nessesary .I just bought the progression disc one and spent countless hours researching the net on sites like this one and you tube looking at all maner of kite related videos ,from crashes to what not to do, to how to do ect untill i was satisfied that i had all knowledge required.All the answers and information is out there free of charge.
I don't want to come across as anti lessons, but in my case i just didn't find it nessary with all the resources out there and still feel that way.I get tierd of hearing people make it out like it is so hard and the most dangerous thing in the world cause it's not and if you don't have lesson's from a such and such instructor you shouldn't be one the water .
Don't get me wrong i have no issues with people having lesson's for the majority of newbies it would be the best thing no arguement here.I am just saying in some cases it isn't required as long as you do your research.Still at the end of the day i quess either way you go lessons or self teaching there is no excuse for not knowing what your doing either pay someone to show you or do your homework and research your self it really isn't that hard.
