I really like the concept of learning the setup and ground stuff at a different time and different cost than when you are ready to actually start flying the kites.
One thing about my lessons were that I felt rushed to cram all the "on the beach" stuff out of the way so I could get out to the water..
Of course I didnt realize that today I use the "on the beach" stuff as much as I use the "on the water" stuff.
Its just that when you are paying for lessons at the price of lessons (not bitching about costs of lessons because they are worth every cent).. but to go over in detail on how to lay out lines, how to properly inflate the kite, how to check line lenghts.. all that stuff.. takes a good hour or more to go over in detail.. and if you are paying good money you are probably doing more time-watching than learning...
Thats at least how i felt.
A good system might be to learn all that off the beach, in a park.. so the student does not keep looking out to the water thinking "can we get going?? can we get out on the water????"
You charge less, the student is focused on the stuff they are learning and you teach them right up to the part where you are ready to launch a big kite...
maybe this is the norm for some instructors.. not sure..
only took one lesson..
wish I had taken more.
Myself and Dan took them together.. we didnt know a single kiter in the area so we were completely on our own for the first couple months and made NO progress really. Only until we met some folks who showed us what we needed to be doing did we get up and go.
More lessons would have cost a bit, but we would have been on the water MONTHS sooner.
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