If you are new to kitesurfing you will want to practice a couple of techniques that can get you onto a board ASAP. You may need to first take a couple of lessons and in the first day of learning you will learn how to launch a kite from both on land and in the water.
You may not be used to navigating the kite so you may want to practice a well-known technique that teaches you how to get the kite going and navigate without a board under you. This process is called “body dragging”. The only thing between you and the water is your feet! There is little chance of direct injury from the board itself.
Once you have kite air bound and down wind, you will soar through the water keeping both in and out of the water, should the wind remain at a constant. This technique will help you with using your feet and get used to action with a board underneath of you. It will have little impact on you except you will fly and crash in and out of the water like a seagull. You should remain as far from the shore as possible, depending on the wind currents you could be blown inland and dragged across the beach. This technique should be done in remote beaches or beaches that are free from swimmers and tourists.
If you think body dragging is for rookies, you are quite mistaken. What you accomplish is learning how to navigate upwind. Since there is really no wrong way to body drag, there are no worries about a board injuring you or getting away from you as well. Some advanced users enjoy the action they can get from free styling different techniques without the board beneath them.
Body dragging is a popular method you will have to learn to get the hang of using both a kite and a board simultaneously. This will give you the taste for big wind and a board to glide on. The pace of the action is fast and fun. If you are into extreme sports this one is for you.
