Who has used a balance board to help train?

[mikecim]

I was wondering how many people have used a balance board to help train to work on balance when you could not get to the water?

Thank you

[Roosterfish]

I was thinking about this too... But IMO kite skills are 100% more valuable. Go watch the guys boosting at 3rd ave by the parking lot and how they move the kite. Their kite control is amazing--board skills--nothing special. You can work basic edging & footwork drills with a trainer kite, and the skills are way more applicable. I'm new at this too so it's just an observation, but I'm spending all my off water time working the ozone 3m.

[Col.kiteman]

Agreed. However, the balance boards are fun and may be more beneficial as a training aid for directional riding. Timing is funny because i was pondering this idea last night. I bought an indo cushion (small one), and use a small piece of plywood with some wax on it. Fun to play with and watch the little ones on it too. My 7 year old is getting pretty good on a trainer kite but his critical thinking skills are definately not there to hook him into his xxxs ion harness and rip around in the water yet, so i was thinking of taking that cushion and board down to the park and have him fly the kite while balancing on the board. Learning to edge as the kite powers up. Check them out. The small is only 30 bucks. I just ordered a large one that is 24" in diameter and inflates up to 12" high. They say u can even throw a surfboard without fins on it and use that (not that id want to thrash anything but a beater on it). The large is like 75 bucks though. And also, i like the cushion much more for a couple reasons. 1. Its not just a lateral balance trainer; front back side side. 2. I find it easier, more forgiving, and safer for the kids. Just my crazy 2 cents. Hope this helps

[adamrod]

eh, I'd say you're better off buying a pullup bar and banging out 50 pullups a day. (and doing ab work)

it's hard to really train for board and kite skills, but improving strength and fitness means you won't tire as quickly and can practice harder when you do kite.

[kitecrazy]

made a balance board about 4 years ago...maybe used it a total of about 3 hours.
Adam's got the idea.

[adamrod]

the other thing that honestly helps a lot is a trampoline. learning body awareness, getting comfortable with being inverted, spinning, learning how to rotate and stop your rotations.

I guarantee a person who can do frontrolls and backrolls on a trampoline will nail them much faster behind a kite.

I took an acrobatics class one winter in SF on a trampoline. super fun, great exercise, and learned a ton.

[NCKite_Ryder]

I want to go to the house of air in SF to work on my handle passes.... does anyone know if they have a bar and board training lesson?

[adamrod]

i doubt they do. I did my training at acrosports. they have a boardsports class. I had to make my own bar setup and bring it though. They do have a board, but it's really designed more for snowboard training.

Honestly? the bar doesn't really help. (at least, it didn't for me) The way you do handlepasses behind a kite is really different than say, a wakeboard or cable (where the trampoline is actually more relevant). Don't bother with the bar, just work on spins and flips.

You can just hang a bar from your garage and work on danglepasses. It's actually really good practice to learn how to generate slack for inverted passes, but it's horrible for your shoulders, so expect to tear a few rotator cuffs in the process.

I was able to do KGBs and danglepasses on the trampoline, but it doesn't really transfer over to behind a kite. handlepasses behind a kite are all about generating slack in the lines. with a trampoline or behind a boat, the slack is there from the get-go.

If you want to learn handlepasses behind a kite, I'd recommend just working your way up to them. no short cuts, you gotta walk before you can run.

Raley based:
raley
raley to blind
blind judge

Kicker based:
surface pass
hop to surface pass
flat 3

again, best thing you can do in your spare time, is get a pullup bar and get really strong in your core and arms.