Alex4398 said...
So as a real life 17 year old Kiter from Sydney here's my two cents,
A lot of people really aren't far off with the money commitments comment, its really a lot for someone who isn't working to ask their parents for 1500 dollars to start kitesurfing, especially with the tendency for people my age not to commit to things. i'm always trying to get my mates into kiting and the biggest thing that holds them back is that you cant just give it a shot one day to see if you like it, you have to commit to a lesson which can be a couple of hundred dollars, and they haven't even got gear yet.
I myself love kitesurfing but the hardest part i found was just having the time to get to the beach. Having only just been able to get my drivers licence it was really difficult to get someone to give me a lift down to the beach and get a lift back. Because of this your progression really suffers making learning unhooked freestyle really hard, i have almost had more sessions in the last two months than i had before that since september, and have made major improvements in my kiting just because of the consistency. i have been kiting for a season now and really hope to push my riding to the unhooked freestyle stage in the next few months once i finish school.
The 14 year old sporting wonders only come from very fortunate circumstances, where talent, money, determination and parental support all come into one.
Coming from a skiff sailing background the competition thing is another big thing ive noticed. I was never really a front of the fleet sailor but there were always loads of regattas to go to even for the social aspect of just racing with new people, even if we got our arses kicked. But after every regatta we came away better than when we went in. The only Australian kiting event i've heard of was the one in Brighton in april. whilst i know that these things are a bitch to run both economically and physically, they are what push the level of kiting in your area. Not everyone can go from kiting their home spot to the PKRA or international events.
Well said Alex, and us old people on here should really take heed of what your saying because you are one of the young ones in the sport.
Also to add to that you'll notice that when a supportive dad posts a vid or pics of a young fella giving it a red hot go the narrow minded poor excuse for intellect people that do troll around these forums give it a red thumb!
Why? Perhaps tall poppy syndrome? Perhaps jealousy because they've never done anything noteworthy? Hard to imagine why but as a tiny bit of advice to you, be happy with your own progression and talents, and if you decide to share pics and vids etc on this forum, grow a nice thick skin and broad shoulders and disregard the negativity that comes from this place and put it down to narrow minded attitudes that can't stand you being better than them.
Me personally, I love seeing pics and vids of any abilities and can actually relate to a lot of the feelings that people have when kiting. I recently saw a video of myself kiting and thought was it even possible that I looked that bad when it felt so good!
Progress, have fun and stay safe!
