I just watched the latest KITELIFE episode and they Samantha Wing and some other dude ( both pro wakeboarders doing a lesson and try kiting.
They both made it look really hard and their final comments were " Way harder than I thought it would be"
It would leave the average punter saying if a professional wakebaorder can't do then it will be way too hard for me.
I just saw this clip of Danny Wills Ex WCT pro surfer having a 2 hour lesson and he does really well.
i say thats a load of bull**** . I found from my wakeboarding experience that learning the basics was pretty easy . Refining those skills has taken a while but on a whole i would say picking up the basics to be able to get out of the water .
Depends on your style both have different board skills. Its all kite skills aswell wen you start out. If your not good on a stunt kite it will take time to incorporate the kite into basic tricks.
These wakeboarders mite have never flown a kite.
I do both but its the wakeboarding that helped the most from a edging and trick point of view. Wave selection and reading the surf has obviously been helped by surfing.
I come from the surfing history,
I learnt with a twin tip for a week, then got on a surfboard (no straps), up and riding 2nd attempt (easy as). Basically much easier on a surfboard as body knows intuitively what to do, then just concentrate on getting the kite where I want ti to be... Twintip is back in garage now,, gathering dust awaiting next newbie (aka the missus)
from teaching experience i fully agree with that!
people with a surfing background are the quickest learners when it comes to board lessons.
we had a surfer guy 2 weeks ago that got up first try, rode 300m then crashed and came back riding toeside 
WTF!!??
People who can do everything learn the fastest.
Or sometimes girls who can do nothing
.
It's waaaaaayyyyyyy too open to call it either way.
There are so many variables to consider in each, and all have an impact on the outcome.
I will say that in regards to Dean and Amber, well surprise surprise it was their second lesson.
First with trainer on the beach in 25+ knots, and the second on the water with again 25+ knots.
Yeah not ideal to be learning in, and on the day to their instructors credit, we only proceeded in getting them out there on a board, because we all (riders included) had assessed the conditions and were happy to proceed with trying the board after a few body drags.
We were in the middle of Botany Bay and the chop was quite severe, and yes they both got up and riding.... An excellent outcome, and quite an achievement.
I think that with something like sharing our sport, it's not a race as to how quickly you progress, or if you got up on a board quicker than someone else, then big f ing deal.
If you want a medal for being a hero, you are already on the wrong path.
At the end of the day no one, especially me, cares what type of style you ride, what colour your board is, or how long it took you to progress, as long as your having fun, sharing the sport and staying true to yourself that's all that matters!!!
"Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius."
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859 - 1930), (Sherlock Holmes) Valley of Fear, 1915
peace
It's way more kite skills than anything. Anyone can stay up on a board if it's pulling you on a 45 degree angle. Getting the kite in the right place and keeping it there in the initial stages is the hardest part.
it's the sailors (boats) who learn the fastest - that awareness of the wind and sheeting of the kite etc all helps massively... They know to be light and gentle with movements so as to not disturb the flow of air over the kite.
- Wakeboarders all pull too hard on the bar.
- Surfers don't usually have wind around while they're surfing - so they need to get their head around that first - then they're good.
- Windsurfers put too much weight on their toes and keep their legs too straight - and pull too hard on the bar. But their knowledge of planing/sub planing helps lots when they come to riding upwind.
- Snowboarders have similar problems to surfers - no wind awareness
Or like Rowdy said - sometimes is the people who've done nothing similar before that learn super fast...
no, the fastest learners are those who have done windsurfing, land boarding, kite jumping, snowboarding, wakeboarding, snow kiting, surfing and sailing... and who are generally quick learners, who have no fear but are also vigilant... only those can progress the fastest...
If you look at the question scientifically it's not possible to say who learns quickest from the available data. All the responces so far are based on personal observations and not on statistically valid data derived from from a controlled experiment.
Variables include
- statistically valid number of subjects
- skill of instructor (should be one instructor for all subjects)
- environmental conditions for learning
- past experience with kites
- age
- sex
- previous sports
- valid outcome (what constitutes an acceptable level of skill learned)
- cut off point for learning
If we control all these variables, and I'm sure there are more, then we can truely answer the question. "Who learns quickest - surfer or wakeboarder?"
Sorry for being a Smart A**e.
From years of experience teaching I can affirm that as a general rule:
Wakeboarders learn faster the surfers.
Then there are exceptions....
Bye Jankie
People who master the kite before even looking at a board learn the fastest. Surfers are generally quicker in getting upwind, but only one way. Wakeboarders suss "riding switch" and can therefore kite upwind quicker than surfers..... But as Jankie said, there are exceptions.
Regardless, too many learners try to get up and riding when their kite-skills are not good enough.
Surfers win hands down, only they have the arogance and drive to go in to a sport half ased and have no regard for rules or other water users. They fly there underdowered kites on there big floaty boards and think they are gods of the sport chasing a wave down wind and down the line followed by a walk of shame.
The person that spends the time and learns how the kite works, understands the wind, water and how it all works together plus putting time in to learning rules and safety and learns to ride in diferent styles in diferent conditions progresses and becomes the better kiter at the end of the day.
Just remember kiteboarders have been kiting in the surf for longer than surfers have been kiteboarding.
ive had a wakeboarder up and riding after his first 2 hour lesson, as soon as he could fly the kite he was riding..
but ive also had the same with a surfer, as soon as you got the flying and safety stuff down they could pretty much click within 3 attempts..
its just natural sport talent i guess
Wake boarders tend to be more aggressive when learning where as surfers tend to feel the board and kite a bit better. Which helps a bit when learing.
Wakeboarders once up and going tend to progress quicker as they are better at riding switch and far more comfortable with spins and rotations etc.......
After surfing and skating for almost 20 years I found it very very difficult to ride switch (it just felt wrong ) and for my first season I had to ride toeside instead of switch.
I've seen wakeboarders throwing S-Bends after 6 months of kiting because they can progress from one to the other quite easily, but they'd battle in waves. I've seen trick skiiers up and riding as soon as they can fly the kite and going upwind immediately.
Any water based board sport that will teach you edging will help, including trick skiing, surfing, wakeboarding, slalom etc, but at the end of the day, it depends on the riding style. Obviously a surfer will be 10x more competent in the surf and a wakeboarder will be 10x more competent unhooked because they can transfer their tricks from one to the other. It also depends on where they learn wakeboarding as well. I reckon a person who is a cable wakeboarder will learn unhooked tricks better than a boat rider because the load and pop principles are identical and they are used to not having a wake to pop off. I think someone like Nick Davies would probably be doing inverted handlepasses within a month of going upwind whereas the average surfer would battle 6 months into it.
Surfers learn quicker! and they're way cooler! As for KIT33R you dont sound smart, u sound like a douche.... learn to spell! WAXMAN obviously cant surf for sh!t.
Who cares if a surfer can learn quicker anyway... wow they can ride back and forward a day earlier than a wakeboarder hahaha, but then what? They can't do sh!t after that, except for a few lame bog rail/ butt check S-turns out in front of a wave... big****** woop.
I know what background I would rather come from if I wanted to make the most of kiteboarding.
Seriously it's not like a wakeboarder is going to have any problem hoping on a surfboard and letting the kite pull his arse through a lip, on the other hand I think a surfer would have a great deal of difficulty pulling a legit S-bend.
Your best bet is to do everything so you don't have to worry about these sort of stupid arguments.
Surfing envolves using more skills and fitness by far, when I want to take it easy I kite, I have surfed way before my teens and kite surfed for over 10 years. I love both but surfing is the core of water sports.
