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Old 08-20-2008, 11:35 PM
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Steve-O Steve-O is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: largo
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I wouldn't feel hopeless. One must first face the fact that you are not going to get through to everyone. There will always be someone like Kevin that has likely been warned 100 times but continues to push the limits. Some survive with that attitude in life, and some don't.

Three things come to mind as an instructor in the Tampa Bay area that will have a direct impact.

1. Focus efforts on your home turf. Promote and create safe riders. Team riders and instructors for a shop should be setting the highest example for safe riding practice. Failure to comply means no more benefit or no more job. Setting the highest example that you can will make an impact on others around you.

2. Increase training beyond the hands on skills. It seems that many schools focus on the water skills with theory as a suppliment. I feel it should be the other way around. Focus on the theory and enhance with water skills. For every 1 hour of on water training, 1 hour should be spent on theory training. So 3-4 hours of private water lessons should accompany 3-4 hours of lecture.

At our shop we spend 3 hours in lecture with our students before any water skills are taught. I am considering adding an addition 2 hours of lecture completely focused on weather planning and assessment.

For those of you that teach out there, I can first hand tell you that my students appreciate this lecture and builds a strong foundation in theory. After teaching this theory based class for over a year now, 3 hours is not nearly enough.

Rick has asked to share my curriculum, and I will do so in the near future. One might ask, what can I talk to my student about for 3-5 hours, and I assure you there is plenty to talk about and plenty of information to share. Not to mention it is a win win for the school and the student financially.

3. Create a voluntary buddy system. Ask seasoned riders to be mentors to new riders. A new rider armed with all this information and some skill always has tons of questions and still needs assistance on their road to self sufficiency. Private lessons are completed but a mentor might help fill that gap in learning. Instructors are mentors already, but maybe that student feels they are troubling them. With a mentor, a new kiter has someone they can always go to for advice until they truly start understanding all the concepts. This mentor would also make efforts to keep an eye on this person for awhile and keep them from harms way. Smart newbies find a mentor naturally, but setting up a system might encourage and connect new riders with seasoned riders. Not to mention, the seasoned rider might learn something from the whole experience. This would make them question there riding practice and look at the sport from a different point of view.

Kent, we both know that incidents like this will continue. But it's sometimes in our darkest hour that we grow.
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