hey guys noticed that people think wave riding is now the progressive side of the sport, is it really? i recall seeing the same riding of waves 5 years ago on awake.
Was that even worth saying!!
Obviously otherwise kite companys wouldn't bother spending money producing products specifically targeting the surfing aspect of the sport like surfing movies, boards and kites...
Seriously some of the topics being started in the forum are s*#, like "has anybody got some cool kiteboarding stories"....
So my opinion might not count and i am bored, at work.
yeah my opinion is that it looks way slower then actual surfing and heaps less dangerous, as you are holding on to a lifeline that will pull you up if you get dumped. i just dont think its anywhere near as hard as surfing, at all. so its not impressive
Amazing how three beers at lunch time distracts you from work and makes the forum so much more appealing.
More to the point, depends on what you into really, if you have been around for a while or are from a surfing background, than wakestyle becomes a little tedious.
I find tearing it up on a DIFFERENT wave really appealing and every section is different. And yes only 2mm of wax makes it all the more challenging.
Then after a few days I go back to trying to stick a mobe.
Surfing is more fun and wakestyle is more achieving. 
Flapjack Quote" yeah my opinion is that it looks way slower then actual surfing and heaps less dangerous, as you are holding on to a lifeline that will pull you up if you get dumped. i just dont think its anywhere near as hard as surfing, at all. so its not impressive "
Now you gonna feel the wrath of every kite SURFER.
I have surfed for 10 years and surfing is harder in some respects, but kitesurfing is sometimes really impossible when trying to set yourself up for a huge off the lip when keeping perfect control of your kite.
As for kitesurfing being slower, you obviously had more beers at lunch than me -
Flapjack Quote" yeah my opinion is that it looks way slower then actual surfing and heaps less dangerous...
What a joke!
kite SURFERS actually use a board with slightly thinner rails and less width to their regular surfing board to combat high speed turns and the boards tendency to cavitate or bounce out...
There really are no waves in Adelaide, is there..........
flapjack have you ever surfed before? have you noticed on a realy bad wipe out you only have to worry about drowning, the bottom(underwater hazards) and your surfboard and the odd person! Well add a kite ,80 odd meters of line and sometimes tangles , a downed kite thats been mangled by the surf then fight the surf with all this mess! Or you could just paddle in on your surfboard? Im impressed as hell as a surfer and a kiter! Maybe sometimes people should just sit back and have a think about bagging something before posting??
Blue skies and good winds
but hey thats my view each to there own!
Yea I am impressed,been surfing for 20 odd yrs an "kite surfing" for about 2 an seriously addicted just like when you first get your first barrell, only a surfer knows the feeling 
oh yeh ,Dont really give a stuff if no one is impressed cause I am lovin it
Wow - nice troll Flap......plenty of bites!
Although if you treat the inflammatory title as a hook and ignore the second post he spoiled it with, the initial question posed by Flap could be considered a reasonable one (even if it was still a troll). To paraphrase: Has wave riding progressed in the last 5 years? and is it currently the most progressive aspect of the sport?
I personally don't know as I have only decided to augment my very average but long standing surfing skills with a kite recently. I took up kiting to surf waves and am not overly interested in tricks (probably because I suck at them).
I won't get into the difficulty argument as anyone who has tried it knows it is not remotely as easy as it may look, and I have not had the temerity to even think I am ready to unhook and ditch the straps on the converse yet. (I also can't believe I used "temerity" in a sentence on this forum - I feel like Frazer Crane
)
I would imagine the recent improvements in kite performance and versatility has way improved the wave riding ability and attractiveness though. I have seen some unbelievable kitesurf video recently. But is that the case? Were they ripping it up just as good 5 years ago too?
Its funny reading the replies they are all defensive because most don’t actually answer the question but more argue the point it can be dangerous as well as difficult....
kite surfing the waves as a spectator I would say, no its not that impressive watching people ride onshore slop as most do, not knocking the discipline but from a viewers perspective its not that impressive - at least not comparable to say a big boost jingle jingo trick … but then the same can be said for wakestyle kite low tricks from a viewers perspective....
kite surfing in cross offshore winds with a style that is powerful in turns without straps is impressive to me but again it’s impressive because there is more risk in those conditions than the average session onshore that most kitesurfers are into (and rightly so for safety), it (offshore) also can be more difficult depending on what type of break your dealing with, if its just a head high dumper wave or you can get a couple of turns on it or for the chance of trying to get a barrel hooked into a kite….
what I believe is poor for the progression of kite surfing as a disipline is that surfers tend to have this rigid idea of whats expected and whats true to surfing, they then bring this expectation over into the kitesurfing scene and this only box's them into one style... the strapless depower your kite kind of thing .. the power of a kite offers a lot more than just the power of a wave or the power of a tow in with a jet ski (regarding straps).. Don’t put boundaries on the disipline, that’s just what the marketing companies want to further entice surfers into a box!
Kite surfing is not surfing… period!
There probably is very little difference from 5 years ago except the marketing angle and the gear used has changed.. from a wave riding perspective though it hasn’t changed to be any more impressionable , if you look at then and now.
I by far am not a good kite” surfer" but I know what’s impressionable and also what’s difficult. I like to think I also have a good imagination of what’s possible for dudes that do naturally rip to take the sport to a higher level than already being done – and with my imagination I am pretty sure its going to be impressive
I think you should do what makes you happy and also think this post originally is just someone fishing for attention ...I also see future replies along the lines o******o what makes you happy and along the lines of trolling fishing analogies...hindsight into the future is a marvelous thing
im going to have to agree with cwamit when surfers come across from surfing they restrict themselves saying this is how u kitesurf but kitesurfing is not surfing and i think that kitesurfing shouldnt be about how everyone else kitesurfs it should be about wat makes u happy and to finish your session being the happiness person alive
"is anyone actually impressed by wave riding" ?
Well,
I'm impressed by Mick Fanning's wave riding.
Wink.
Flapjack, if you are referring to wavekiting....
I'm impressed how wavekiting makes junksurf hell-fun.
It's magic how it makes it almost rip-able.
lol.
Sorry Flapjack, I really dont give a stuff what others think, I ride for my own amusement, not for that of others.
I challenge myself every wave I ride on, to get better so I can be more fluid and more skilled at riding even the sloppiest of surf.
Progressive or not, again, I don't really care, it does it for me, it makes me happy. And sometimes I get on a big kite in light winds and I ride a school board when no one else is out and I just go out and back, and again, it's just for me, because it makes me happy. 
Do what makes you happy
Good winds,
Geez, I got here too late, and its all been said.
South Australians, they're a funny bunch...
Does it matter
As long as you come in happy with a smile on your face who really cares.
Some might be into hanging from the bar looking like some monkey having an epileptic fit, others may enjoy cruising in and out the breakers and picking off a shoulder or two enjoying both the swells that travel thousands of kms whilst harnessing the winds power at the same time.
Personally I like the waves when theres swell and flat water the rest the time. What everyone else does I couldn't give a rats arse.[}:)]
Nice one Flapperjack.
Just goes to show your an expert. Im sure it all looks the same to you. Similar to how surfing hasnt cahnged either.
Lou was doing all the handlepass tricks you guys are trying to learn in the same movie, I guess freestyle hasnt progressed then.
Try and think of it in terms of when you take a long overdue dump flapjack.
It's one of those supremely satisfying moments, when everything is as it should be. A zen moment if you like.
May not be impressive to anyone else but that's not the point.
J-P
perth has had 2 classy days this year [while i was here] and on both of them i was the only kiter out [at cott].
there is always the extreme end to everything but the average kite on the beach is about as close to surfing as i am when scurfing.
if i was to head down south or somewhere and see a real rider going for it in over head then i would be impressed.
sparechange ect is impressive
Wavekiting is really just this;
bottom-turn......top-turn......bottom-turn......top-turn.......bottom-turn......top-turn.......bottom-turn.......top-turn >> to infinity.
Sounds repetitive hey ?
lol.
But it's so much fun; you just want to do that sh1t all day long.
The technical part of it is getting the rythmn dialled for each particular wave.
Every waveface is unique......
unlike those pretend waves the flatwater bandits play on......
those sliders and kickers that look so bad-arse with all their cool stickers.
lol.
