Just wondering,

What sort of progression steps would people recommend with the aim to be able to ride comfortable on a directional?

I'm just able to ride toeside on my twintip in my preferred direction (regular), but often come to a halt when I drive the nose of the board under some small waves (chop) while trying to stay upwind.

I have no hope of staying upwind when riding on my toeside, so am making a few tacks to get some fair ground upwind then practising toeside back to the starting point.

1. Is there a trick to stay upwind whilst riding toeside, or it's merely the same principle as normal? What progression steps would you recommend toward achieving confidence on toeside? Is there any point focusing on switch riding as well?

2. Would I be better actually getting a directional and practising on that?

3. What's different from a kitesurfing directional board to a normal surfboard? I've seen guys on here mention that some board's struggle staying upwind etc. The reason I ask is the obvious preference would be buy a cheap old banged up surfboard and put some footstraps on it rather then have to spend hundreds on a kite-specific board. Can you improve the boards upwind ability with things like fin setup?Thanks.