Ride with Blake: Episode Three - How to Waterstart on a Kiteboard

So, you've taken a kiteboarding lesson or two and you're ready to try your first water start. That's awesome! Welcome to a new reality, my friend! I have five great tips for you to remember when you're first starting out.
Tip One
Learn to fly the kite in one hand. Kiteboarding is 80% flying the kite, so it's a no-brainer you should have some serious kite time under your belt. I recommend finding a clear area and just hanging out with a friend. Remember to keep your hand on the middle of the control bar and minimize kite movement. If you dive the kite too aggressively, you are likely to get pulled off your feet. If the kite is not responding, you might have to pull the bar in or even push it out a little. This is called sheeting in or sheeting out. The most important thing to remember is to try and keep a little bit of line tension at all times. That is the secret to kite control most beginners forget. f you do this, kite will respond accordingly.
Tip Two
Keep your knees close to your chest. When you're ready to do a board start, sit down in the shallows. You'll be flying the kite in one hand while you get your board on. Now, keep your knees close to your chest. The low center of gravity will prevent the kite and current from pulling you around. It will also make getting up on the board infinitely easier. One of the most common mistakes is leaning too far back or leaning too far forward. Another common mistake is letting the current twist you around before you can dive the kite. Bending your knees, and keeping the board close to your body, will prevent that from happening, too! Of course, if you do get twisted around, use your free arm to correct yourself. Remember, keeping a low center of gravity will keep you in control.
Tip Three
Ride slightly at the kite. As you dive the kite through the power zone, you want to point the nose of your board slightly at the kite. You don't want to point it too far downwind or you'll put slack in your lines and lose control. It's a mellow balance. Once you've picked up a little bit of board speed, you will want to gently lean back against the kite and feel the harness holding you up. Now is the time to use your hips to steer the nose of the board away from the kite. This is called edging against the kite. Doing this will allow you to generate power and continue to ride. Basically the kite wants to pull you forward and your board are resisting it. This energy has to go somewhere, so you end up moving the direction your nose is pointing.
Tip Four
Make use of the entire wind window. On common mistake I see beginners do is dive the kite through half the wind window. While that works in very strong conditions, it's not going to work when you are appropriately powered.
Simply bring the kite just past noon, opposite the direction you want to go. Now you can do a power stroke and stand up. The lighter the wind conditions, the more you will have to "prime the kite," as we call it. Simply move it further to the other side of the wind window to generate more pull. Be careful with this one! It's better to start small rather than go big and get lofted.
Tip Five
Keep your weight centered over your knees, especially your back knee. When you dive the kite, your knees are close to your chest. You're going to use the full wind window and ride slightly at the kite. Now, put pressure on your back knee and stand up while using your hips and front leg to point the nose of your board gently away from the kite.
Congratulations, you're riding! Welcome to kiteboarding. Nothing tops the feeling you get from your first board start. The good news is you get that same feeling every time you learn something new in kiteboarding! Now, remember you might only go a few feet but don't get discouraged. Falling is part of kiteboarding. In fact, there is a saying that if you're not crashing, you're not learning! Be diligent, be patient, and, above all, have fun out there!

[@cecilyridderhof185]

Wonderful step by step instructional videos, emphasis on patience and awareness.. Age appears to be no barrier,, i'm 69 and getting it together step by step. Thank you..

[@MisterSkeptic]

Of all the video lessons out there for the water start, this one is the best. Thanks Blake !

[@MACkiteboarding]

Thank you for sharing the stoke, my friend. 🤙🏽 Blake is one of the absolute best. Good winds! -Aaron

[@budyutube]

I've just bought gear after a couple lessons and been watching a ton of vids. This is one of the absolute best I've seen answering basics and little things I questioned. Thank you, super motivated now! Subscribed!

[@MACkiteboarding]

budyutube I'm glad the videos are helping! Let us know if you you have any requests! - Rygo

[@jasonhale3274]

Thanks for the video... I was able to get on the board on the second lesson and I'm 53 years old.

[@MACkiteboarding]

Fantastic, Jason! Welcome to the addiction :)

[@olsenadventures]

Congratulations Jason, that is so cool. Enjoy :)

[@powerhouse884]

NOW THIS!!!! Is how you teach properly! So many bad KZbin tutorials on the basic start. THANK YOU MAN!

[@vlaaady]

I had 5 lessons and still learned from this video.

[@eddiedaengineer]

Excellent lesson!!! Best I've seen on you tube for sure! Thanks so much for putting this together :)

[@PaintedSoundRecords]

Thank you Blake now i understand how it works, i struggle along time but now with your easy explanation i got more trust in it.So i let you now next time how it was..Big THUMBS Up.

[@amerh85]

Thanks !!!!! Blake and MACKite. You guys are awesome, amazing great video from Blake ☺👍

[@MACkiteboarding]

You got it my friend! - Rygo

[@alejandrogancedo3942]

Great video, clear, simple and a basic tool to master the WS

[@skaniarbata]

Tank you!!! Best instructions, that I got from all the different videos watched. Tips that other guys did not mention. Keep up the good work!!!

[@MACkiteboarding]

We're glad it helped Tomas! Keep up the progression my friend! - Rygo

[@danielhayes1875]

This has been super helpful, I just started learning and have kite flying down but I can't get up on the board. Can't wait to try these tips

[@ronintraveller415]

Great stuff man! Gonna try get this cracked this weekend.

[@lovetofly32]

The reason the kite will move back up when you let the bar out is because it reduces the angle of attack which caused less drag. When you pull in on the bar you're increasing angle of attack, drag AND power. The drag can make it back stall in light wings so sometimes you have to release that drag and let her fly.

[@ToolManTaylor]

Thanks for the video, some really good tips.

[@MACkiteboarding]

You got it, Taylor! If you have any requests don't hesitate to let Blake know in the comment section here. - Rygo

[@ncnadav]

Great video !!! Thank you.

[@clemensqueiner849]

This is awesome. Because of this I actually managed to get out of the water on the board. Thank you !

[@MACkiteboarding]

Congratulations Clemens thats awesome to hear! If you have any trick requests just comment and Blake will get on it.

[@clemensqueiner849]

Thanks. I would totally love to see a follow-up on how to maintain speed, kite position and riding upwind. You guys rock!

[@olsenadventures]

So happy to hear you got your first starts Clemens! That's awesome, I'll film a video on the next steps you can work on tomorrow. Cheers!

[@clemensqueiner849]

Ride on Dude! Thanks, totally appreciate that!

[@mikejohn1202]

Great lesson, thanks much.

[@bertieharding6755]

Thank u so much for the video!

[@kentclark9616]

This was excellent!

[@MACkiteboarding]

Glad it helped Kent! Are you up and riding yet my friend? - Rygo

[@almeidaalmeida8559]

Very good job. Thank your

[@M9Diry]

No one told me it would be so difficult to put the board on my feet! I find that so tricky.

[@FirebirdLongboards]

Heading to Smathers beach today with Blake and the gang here in Key West!

[@MACkiteboarding]

Nice! I'll see you guys down there in April - Rygo

[@ahmedelbarawy9754]

Thanks 😊👍

[@RealtimeJapanMish]

You might be the coolest guy on the planet

[@robinsassin9298]

Shot bru🤙

[@MACkiteboarding]

Thank you for sharing the stoke with us, my friend! 🤙🏽 Good winds to you. -Aaron

[@Vara91391]

6'4 !! Man, you're a mountain !!!

[@puresilkys]

Awesome vid. Words of encouragement at the end mean a lot too. Where is this filmed? The cut scenes where you're riding in endless shallow water look so beautiful

[@olsenadventures]

Thank you! This video was filmed in Key West Florida!

[@A-fl1ln]

Thank you

[@MACkiteboarding]

You're welcome

[@BryanPike]

Awesome actually showing people fails so they can see the diff.

[@demian6916]

Hey man nice video! I have a question? Is it by everyone that there is one side better than the other? And what can you do to make your weakest side better?

[@MACkiteboarding]

DJdemian31 Everyone had a preferred stance. Left foot forward is called regular foot. Right foot forward is called goofy foot. It's not actually goofy. It's just skateboarding slang. There are great riders from both stances. The best thing you can do here is simply practice. If you have access to a cross over board sport you can practice there as well to speed up the process. Cheers! - Rygo

[@rrrjjj2474]

Blake is so nice to learn from, an expert but chill guy. I like that he reiterated that flying a kite with one hand (which sounds so simple) is a really important accomplishment, but one that I had dismissed to ‘focus on more important aspects’ of a waterstart. But even with all the great videos, it was difficult for me to put it all together until I used these huge fins from www.RideUpWind.com.

[@carolhaukebo9225]

I checked out the link - may need to give these a try!

[@ritat4972]

The huge fins look great - what a good idea!

[@rogerwilkie8555]

3:47 “I smack my balls”

[@fasteddiegr]

God, clear video BUT, like almost all waterstart videos I've seen, there is an almost complete lack of explanation of what to do with the kite immediately after getting up on the board, the frustrating state of my present struggle. If it doesn't come intuitively it's difficult to see what to do.

[@trexinvert]

Your last point caught my attention. Are you actually leaning back/planing? I've water-skied w/wakeboard and windsurfed, so I know the difference between riding flat, on edge, or planing(which is really like riding a wheelie on a skateboard). It is not easy to do at first, because it requires a lot of fore/aft balance and strength to hold/control constant knee bending. I'm currently "playing" with a 4M powerkite and am looking forward to land boarding and eventually going into the water.

[@barakarasta9505]

🇰🇪

[@janski30]

the music detracts from content ......

[@MACkiteboarding]

Thanks for the feedback! - Rygo

[@energymusic7641]

I like ur channel and watch all videos...You have a perfect video but the loud music during talks distracted a lot to understand specially fir beginners..keep the low music while talks...rest all awesome.

[@MichelMatthey]

Kite Control Question please: I was always told that we have better control over the kite the closer to the centre of the bar the hand(s) is/are. Is that really true though ? Mathematics would prove exactly the reverse: What I mean is this: if you draw a circle around the end of the bar around the red and blue ends, if you turn the bar up just a few degrees, say 5 degrees from very close to the centre, it will move Sin(5) * R up on the edge of the circle/bar, and the longer the bar the more drastic the effect will be, but a lot less near the centre. This means that it is easier to make bigger angle moves the closer to the centre of the circle the hand is (control bar) so one would think that in order to make smaller and more precise/controlled angle moves the further away from the centre the better ? Instead of using the angle the bar is turned, we can easily think of the distance it goes up/down, small changes near the centre but much bigger near the outside ? It's a bit like having a bicycle and saying don't put your hands on the handles but try to control your bike by putting your hands the closest possible to the centre, good luck with that one...And the higher the speed the more dangerous that proposition is ? I personally feel a lot more in control when my hand(s) are at least half way through the bar on each side of the centre ?

[@MACkiteboarding]

Michel Matthey for sure, you have more leverage the further out you hold the bar. Instructors have students hold in the center to prevent accidental movement. The same applies for tricks. A good default is the center of the bar. The exception being kiteloops. Sometimes you need the extra leverage. Or in light wind. If you are working the kite it’s good to hold further out. Cheers - Rygo

[@M9Diry]

Using your bike analogy , imagine you wanted to cycle dead straight but without looking ahead and instead looking at your peddles... you would actually be better having your hands closer to the middle as it’s easier to not make a sudden movement .