\n\tLearn to carve on waves without falling<\/td> Avoid ankle injuries - e.g. if one foot stays in the strap while the board gets twisted<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\nStrapless riding:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\tStrapless makes it easier to ...<\/th> Strapless make it harder to ...<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n\n\tJibe, ride upwind<\/td> Do the waterstart, especially when far at sea (for beginners)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\tChange positions, find the board's sweet spot for each maneuver<\/td> Stay on the board in chop (for beginners)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\tFreeride waves like on a surfboard - doing smooth carves, bottom &\u00a0 top turns<\/td> Ride fast with the board flat on water<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t<\/td> Go over whitewater and bigger waves<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t<\/td> Jump - strapless airs are very technical and require a lot of skills<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t<\/td> Ride overpowered<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\nWhen riding strapless in chop and strong wind, the key is to always keep both your heels on the rail vs on the flat of your board and to maintain strong pressure under your feet by continuously digging the rail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By constantly pushing into the edge of your board with your feet, you keep the board under your soles even in the shakiest conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most directional riders will agree strapless riding gives you the ultimate feeling of surf carving and freedom. You develop an instinct for where your feet should be at any time and how much weight to put on each leg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With time you become a much more nimble and reactive rider, and your start relying less and less on your kite’s power and more on the wave for your riding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Tip #13: Learn toeside riding<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBesides waterstart and jibe, one of the keys to becoming a directional board kitesurfer is riding toeside smoothly and comfortably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Toeside means your weight is on your toes vs your heels, and you’re digging your toeside rail<\/strong> (vs heelside rail) by pressing with your toes and ball of your feet. In toeside position, you’re riding with your kite behind your back (vs facing it).<\/p>\n\n\n\nGetting toeside is easy if you know how to jibe, all you do is switch feet without changing direction. When riding heelside, you typically lean back and dig your heels in. When toeside, you lean forward<\/strong> and dig your toes in<\/strong>, with your kite lines on your side and out toward the back.<\/p>\n\n\n\nToeside riding is essential in directional kiteboarding because it allows you to quickly change direction without switching feet. Having to jibe over and over again with each turn would seriously limit your carving ability. Being comfortable toeside, you can stay in your natural stance through successive carves e.g. on a wave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Toeside is what allows me to ride waves like on a surfboard. It took me a bit of time to develop the muscle memory for toeside riding. I actually found it easier to learn it on a twintip before moving to a directional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The trick is to really lean forward hard to maintain a strong tension in your lines (which go out to your back). With practice, you’ll be able to ride upwind in toeside stance – although probably not as efficiently as heelside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Toeside riding will initially be hard on your back leg hamstring, calf muscles, and hip flexors. At first, you’ll be sore following a toeside session. Eventually though, these muscles will build up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Tip #14: Switch to a smaller board<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nAfter learning to waterstart, ride upwind, jibe and ride toeside comfortably, the next step for you as a directional kitesurfer will be learning to surf waves. For this, you’ll eventually need a smaller board, small enough that you can go rail to rail without changing your front foot’s position on the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A smaller board typically will have more rocker, allowing it to perform well in bigger, hollower waves. It will have less buoyancy than your beginner board, so you’ll need more kite power to ride it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A small board will be more sensitive to wind lulls as it needs more power to float – it will start sinking when your kite stalls. Jibing will also be harder on a narrower board, being much less stable when moving your feet around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In short, riding a smaller board requires more skills and experience. But that should probably be one of your end goals as it will allow you to reap the full potential and freedom of the surfing experience in kiteboarding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you’ve been riding on a twintip for a while, learning to kitesurf on a directional board is both an exciting and challenging new step that can take your kiteboarding to a new level. Although directional kiteboards\/surfboards are primarily designed for riding in waves, directional kitesurfing in flat water can be an awesome experience. Switching […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kitesurfist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1709"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kitesurfist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kitesurfist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kitesurfist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kitesurfist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1709"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.kitesurfist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2212,"href":"https:\/\/www.kitesurfist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1709\/revisions\/2212"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kitesurfist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kitesurfist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kitesurfist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kitesurfist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}