Basics to start wave riding
03 Sep 2014
Do you think wave riding is difficult? Wavy conditions are often a limiting factor for new kiteboarders. In fact, a little bit of knowledge and a progressive practice approach makes riding in waves attainable and exciting especially for your first time. Your gut feeling will tell you to go for it and to just try it! If you want to learn faster and in the best safety conditions, call any IKO Affiliated Center. The staff will give you the best help you can get that is tailored to your own personal riding needs.
What do you need to know before going for your first wave?
You must be able to ride up wind. This will give you the ability to point in all the needed directions and to come back to your starting point after surfing a wave.
You must also be able to either jibe or turn toe side. This will enable you to take the right position when taking off on a wave. It is also very useful in turning around, choosing to take a wave or staying in between waves.
Work on your kite water relaunching skills. In waves, the faster you relaunch, the better it is for your kite.
Which equipment should you use?
A kite and a board of course. You might ask, “Is it necessary to have specific equipment for wave riding?” The answer is, “No.” Let’s start with your kite. The most important thing is to choose a kite size that gives you a margin of power. When taking off on a wave, a rider accelerates. To keep control as speed increases, having less power is a must. Maneuvering a smaller kite is more of a tremendous help than using a bigger one when attempting to turn fast.
What about the board? Purist would say, “No way to riding without a directional board!” I say, “It is better but not mandatory.” You can use a twin-tip board but avoid using bindings in the following situations: while in waves; when starting off; when falling with the board attached to your feet as it could result in an accident; and when you need to have the freedom to move your heels on the footpad to directly influence the rest of your body movements. This also influences the knees, hip, back and shoulders providing movement amplitude.
RIDING TIPS:
Choose the right condition for your level to accelerate your progress:
Avoid learning at a location with a shore break. If you have no choice, a good shore break height to begin with is 50-70 cm.
Adapt your expectation to the wind direction. Ride for fun:
There are as many opportunities to learn as there are a mix of water and wind conditions. Therefore, base your learning on adapting to the conditions rather than on performing specific exercises. Wave riding is better with side off shore wind but I suggest practicing with cross shore wind. With a cross shore wind, you don’t need to have a safety boat. It is the safest and easiest wind condition to find. You can find this in most places around the world. Cross on and on shore winds are not attractive for wave riders. Yet, they are interesting when it comes to learning to pass the waves but are no fun to surf in. Remember, if you ride with on-shore winds, make sure there are no obstacles downwind.
Learn on small waves:
As mentioned and explained in more detail below, timing is everything. For instance, missing a turn in front of 80 cm waves is better than missing 3 meter waves that break over your head. Yet, small waves are good to practice your timing on turning and positioning. They provide the push during takeoff and behave somewhat like bigger waves do. This is a great way to build up confidence, muscle memory and to understand how waves behave.
Synchronize with the waves:
Wait for the right moment to go. Many riders fail to start because they don’t start at the right time. Take time to read the waves and observe their patterns. Often, there is a train of waves. Some are bigger and some are calmer. After observing the waves for a few minutes, you should recognize the pattern in the waves. Start when the wave is smaller. If there is a shore break, pass it by body dragging and keeping your board above the wave. Once you gain experience with passing waves, you will be able to experiment with passing the small shore break.
Avoid the combination of shore break and on shore wind. This would be a recipe for an accident.
Synchronize your kite flying and board edging with the waves. When passing a wave, edge up. This will give you less of an angle on the wave making it so that you will be able to bend your front and back leg to absorb some of the wave height. Keep your kite up or move it up before passing the wave.
As you reach the upper part of the wave, lower your kite and stop edging or else you will jump. Jumping is an option but for this topic we will focus only on passing the wave.
Once you have passed the wave, edge up again before gaining too much speed. Then, aim up wind or cross wind until the next wave.
Observe before taking a wave:
Just as it is easier to pass the first waves during the lower size series, it is better to pass the waves a bit away from the pick. The angle is less steep. Right after passing each wave, look at the next one to identify where the pick is. Then, aim toward the less steep side. Where you see the break and the way from the pick is where you should aim to turn around to take the wave.
What to do if I face a wave too big?
If you need a rest or time to observe how the wave is behaving before exploring it, stay in the “safe place.” In between the waves, is a “safe place.” You can stay there until the waves break or you are able to reach the shore. Either way, you are safe because the waves are so large that they create this harbor for rest in between each wave.
What to do when falling?
Falling should never be a problem. As a matter of fact, it is part of the fun. Pilot the kite toward the opposite direction of the wave to keep tension in the line. This will keep the line tension so you are able to pass the wave quickly. Conversely, moving the kite toward the shore will keep you on or under the wave, which may result in the kite falling in the water. This is to be avoided.
Recover your board and start between two waves.
Finally, to have good kiteboard practice, here are 3 tips: Have fun. Stay safe, and learn the right way to kiteboard with an IKO Instructor.
Written by Eric Beaudonnat, Co-Founder of the IKO and Training Director
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