You Just Gotta, “Assess Yourself!"
15 Apr 2015
Am I Ready To Ride: Self Assessment Questions
Welcome to our 2nd article featuring questions from the “Am I Ready to Ride” poster. The “Am I Ready to Ride” poster displays 8 questions that you can ask yourself at any given time to determine if you are ready to ride for that day.
Over the coming months, we will feature two of those questions in our newsletters. For those of you who missed our last newsletter, here is the first article of this serie.
Is my equipment right?
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Be your own best adviser! A waist harness can give you more freedom to move provided it doesn’t restrict breathing. Why not make it commonplace to use a helmet for all kiteboarding? You can even set a camera on it for cool footage!
Even with a helmet, a board leash can lead to serious injuries. Instead, body drag up wind to recover your board.
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Equipment doesn’t last forever. To be safe, check:
- Kite lines are connected correctly to the kite.
- Safety systems to ensure they are functional. You can check this by activating them once before each session.
- The kite to ensure it has no rips, the bladders are holding air pressure, and the board straps and fin screws are tightened.
- Kite leash to make sure it is connected to the correct line. This line slides through the bar.
What is my real level?
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Feeling good today?
That is part of what defines your abilities, but which kiteboarding skills have you mastered? You can self-launch a kite but it is preferred that you be assisted while launching a kite. If you want to learn to self-launch, do it with an instructor and only in light wind.
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Whether you water start or not, a little body dragging away from the shore can prevent many accidents. Can you self-rescue and pack down your equipment? Knowing and using the self-rescue procedure is the solution if your kite becomes damaged, the wind drops or turns too strong to go back to shore, or you want to stop in deep water. Train on this every now and then to keep it fresh in your mind. Ask an IKO Instructor to teach you or watch our free video.
That concludes our two questions from the “Am I Ready to Ride” poster. Look out for our next newsletter that will feature two more tips to help prepare you to kiteboard with confidence.
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