Brackie wrote:Sorry Paul,
But from the advice I was given .. It's up to us.
The system is the pilot, lines, bridle, kite and wind.
Every aspect is changeable.
Anticipation is only given from experience.
It just comes down to one thing... Time in the air.
I slept on this, before deciding to reply.
...We (my partner and I) too have been given this same advice many many times. So many times that it forces me to decide either to accept it, and conclude: air time = skill level, or to rebel against it. - I rebelled against it. - Why? Well imagine this applying in other spheres of life. - Teaching at school would be a waste of time, school teachers only acting as gate keepers and policemen. - Providing you kept the pupils from being distracted, they would teach themselves. Car driving instructors' only role would be to stop the pupil doing something really dangerous while they were teaching themselves vehicle control. Any student would have to retrace the self-learning steps of the pioneers in any field. e.g. Aircraft apprentices would learn by reinventing the first aircraft.
- OK. there is a fair amount of truth in that point of view.
Instead I fell on the side that thinks passing on skills, even physical skills, is possible. That if we can only find the right way to coach, people don't have to discover everything for themselves. In sport kite tricking, I don't think we are anywhere near there yet, but just maybe it will come.
A couple of stories to support my optimism. Back as a kid, one holiday at the beach, a couple of boys of the same age came up and offered a game of football. They quickly got fed up with my skills, and said I was always "toe punching" the ball, which was why it never went far or fast. They showed me how to hit the ball with top of my foot so that it rose into the air. In my 6-8 years of life, I had never self-discovered this, and in retrospect was very thankful for their advice.
Back in kiting, there have been numerous times when I have failed to teach a trick, even when demonstrating it very very slowly and correctly. But one successful incident stays in my mind. There was an indoor kite that we had seen flying elsewhere, and had remembered the flying style used. Some months later another owner was really struggling to keep his one in the air, as he was treating it like any other light kite. Just by remembering how gently it had been flown before, I could fly the kite over to him, and once he saw that it was a kite that needed gentler inputs than any other, he was fine with it also. - OK not exactly a kite trick, but there's some hope...
...Also back at the start of our kiting, an expert showed me how to axel into the window. I had self-taught how to axel out, but couldn't axel-in. Just seeing how he set up the kite before the axel gave the clue for what to do.
Sorry if I caused any offence, none intentional, just a Big Fury fan!
Mark
...With a bit of luck, one day we'll meet up and you can show us why you like them and what works for you