Forums > Kitesurfing General

recommendation for kiteboarding gear for an 8 year old.

Reply
Created by Tommygun > 9 months ago, 12 Feb 2019
Gateman
QLD, 409 posts
13 Feb 2019 9:08PM
Thumbs Up

Select to expand quote
AquaPlow said..

STELLA01 said..


ActionSportsWA said..



STELLA01 said..




ActionSportsWA said..
Hi Tommygun,

Best kite for the job is either an Ozone Uno 4m kite or an Ozone Alpha 6m. The bar is not a big deal, a 45cm Ozone bar will work fine as the depower throw on small kites like that is really short in any case. They fly well in very light winds.

The ION Ripper harness in XXS is excellent and very cheap. Finding a board with small enough footstraps will be the issue. Any of the 128cm Soliel North/Duotone boards with the SMall NTT straps will work a treat. The board is the easiest problem to get around initially.

The hard part is finding an instructor with the credentials and equipment to teach a child so small. Do your homework on that one. Anyone who blurts out "no worries, I can do it", should be treated with a healthy degree of scepticism. Anyone teaching children should have a working with children permit and more importantly should be hesitant and cautious about teaching your son without a thorough briefing with the parents first.

Problem is, little kids can easily learn to kitesurf, they naturally adapt very quickly and can bu up and kiting in just a couple of lessons. BUT! The reason IKO and most teaching standards the world over only teach people over 12 yo, is that young children do not have the emotional maturity to handle a stressful situation on their own. A crashed kite that has a rear line caught around a wingtip and starts death looping in choppy waters could easily be the end of your boy.

Choose carefully

DM







I found the problem with a std bar is the fact that short arms can not reach the bar after they let go and also short arms can not reach the depower.
If you control where and when your kids kite, surf, skateboard, mountain bike ride, MX ride, horse ride, cross the road, snowboard, snow ski etc you won't have a problem. Put them out in 25 knots open ocean unsupervised on inappropriate gear and you probably will.





Most bars we would sell someone short in stature would have either a sliding stopper or we would recommend a click bar. The trim is the least of their worries. The depower throw is so short, any stopper set at areach where they can grab it, will still completely depower the kite. I think you are missing the point of my post. I have two daughters myself and I wouldn't have taught them kiting until they reached at the very least 10 years of age. There is no shallow water where I am, so choppy deep water is an issue which creates stress if it goes anything but according to plan.

I'm not saying it can't be done, but as a professional school employing professional instructors, we would be in the firing line of any parent should an accident occur with little Johnnys lesson. We would speak with the parent making sure they completely understand the full extent of what can go wrong and the potential danger they are putting their child in, and would integrate them into the lesson too.

Teaching your own child is one thing, taking professional responsibility of someone elses child whilst teaching them an extreme sport is a completely different matter and a lawyers wet dream.

I know as an adult when being attached to a death looping kite, I have been rattled. Our excellent safety record is from not leaving things to chance or playing a rogues game.

DM




Nobody asked you to teach their kid this thread is not about the safety cridentials of your business it is about recieving advice from parents that have been there.



I normally would be 100% with DM's opinions but this time 100% with Stella01 Gateman and the others...
I used George to tidy up on lake Weyba.. but what was a real game changer from standard + youthful enthusiasm progression line - was a holiday program run by Mike at Kitethrills Caloundra called Gromfest.. so an intro'3 day learn to kite program with an advanced section too (run over a few years).. Fantastic..So any kite shop owners with training program ....think about it..3 days generating future clients g8 product..
Two of my kids went through on different programs. The first lucked out with Andy Yates - world champ recovering from surgery on his shoulder at the time - except.. he left boring old dad for dead

The take home from this is the kite control system = the bar and what it is meant to do is the key to a kid's safety and confidence.
Cheers
AP


This program sounds amazing AP, thanks. Will hit Mike up for his schedule and upcoming kids programs. I have purchased and supported at least 3 other kite shops on the coast and they have all been fabulous.

ActionSportsWA
WA, 950 posts
14 Feb 2019 10:12AM
Thumbs Up

Hi Stella, I answered this thread because I have taught young kids before, and sold them gear to get them riding. I recently sold my Airush Airforce board to a parent looking to teach a lil tacker. Why so hostile dude? My contributions to any thread or post are always to help.

DM

STELLA01
WA, 126 posts
14 Feb 2019 10:23AM
Thumbs Up

Select to expand quote
ActionSportsWA said..
Hi Stella, I answered this thread because I have taught young kids before, and sold them gear to get them riding. I recently sold my Airush Airforce board to a parent looking to teach a lil tacker. Why so hostile dude? My contributions to any thread or post are always to help.

DM


Sorry didn't think I was being hostile.

hilly
TAS, 7195 posts
14 Feb 2019 3:12PM
Thumbs Up

Select to expand quote
Gateman said..
I have taught mine the most important things: if you feel uncomfortable: pull your safety!
If you crash: Let go the bar!



Vital - My son at 12 or 13 went through Bombie on a 4M swell, he was meant to stay on the inside. Thought he was dead. Kited around looking for him and contemplating kiting off into the sunset to escape the sandwich makers wrath. Saw him on the beach sans gear. He pulled the pin and swam in.

eppo
WA, 9372 posts
14 Feb 2019 1:26PM
Thumbs Up

My son learnt on the usual trainer kites between the age of 4-5, then an ozone Uno with an epic junior bar, so the throw is short and the lines were 15m ish, from 5-6, then the best thing I ever did was get him a cheap ozone cat 2012 6m with normal length lines. I'm not all that convinced with the Uno, is behaves weirdly in my mind. That being said it was important to teach him throw control, so maybe its a good option.

The ozone Alpha mentioned by DM with an ozone wakestyle bar might be good option. This bar already has a small throw, use a small chicken loop then eventually replace it with a wakestyle loop when and if ready like for my son.

What you are looking for is a kite that will stay in the air when the wind is light. The rebel 6m was a disaster and put him of for a fair while lol. Wouldn't stay in the air in light winds.

As a parent (and most will probably agree) its a gruelling venture, Take hours and hours and can really stretch the relationship with your child. Wasn't until he was about 8/9 when he could actually follow and apply instructions. So your child is probably ready.

I took on Puertz's little game where I would suddenly yell "punch out!". if my son didn't immediately do the actions to release his safety he wouldn't kite that day...made for interesting times at the dinner table.

I still do it, but the other day he pulled the middle finger instead! Funny little bugger...

DutchRooster
NSW, 325 posts
14 Feb 2019 10:52PM
Thumbs Up

I've been teaching my kids initially on 2line 2m practice kites at age 8, then a 3.5m 4 line inflatable leading edge kite at age 9. Dry on the beach flying only until they could fly the kite blindly including water start exercises (having the kite pull them up from their arses in the sand) and flying the kite with 1 hand. LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF PUNCH-OUT EXERCISES. The eldest (now 10) is flying my old North Neo 6m kite with a stopper ball - she's tall for her age and can reach the bar. I've taken the 10yr old body dragging and plan to take them both to a wake boarding cable park next (on a small softlite surfboard). Then it will be weekends at shallow flat water places.

Spent a lot of time (and $) making sure they are strong swimmers and understand waves, rips etc. Both surf - the youngest is hooked on it.

Same harness others have mentioned (think its called Ripper XXS seat harness). I plan to put them straight on a mini small soft surfboard - not a twin tip.

One thing I would add to all of the above is: make sure they understand what they are working towards. I've taken my kids kiting on my back in shallow flat water areas, and standing up on an old minimal together so they get the feel for it.

Underoath
QLD, 2429 posts
15 Feb 2019 6:09AM
Thumbs Up

I'm thinking of teaching Xavier next Summer. Hes already skateboarding ect.

Anyone have a kite for a 3 year old?



Subscribe
Reply

Forums > Kitesurfing General


"recommendation for kiteboarding gear for an 8 year old." started by Tommygun