Surfboard Strapless Lesson – Advanced Package
If you’re wondering whether to choose a twin tip or a directional kiteboard for kitesurfing, welcome to the club! This is a recurrent question among kiteboarders and one for which everyone has a different answer.
-
- Should you ride a surfboard or a twin tip kiteboard?
- How different is it riding one vs the other?
Kiteboarding on a directional board is very different from riding a twin tip. While a twin tip is great for flatwater and doing freestyle jumps, a directional board allows for soulful and relaxed carving in waves. Riding a surfboard means learning a new stance, toeside riding, and jibing. Riding strapless is generally easier on your body in our surfboard strapless lesson.
In this post, we’ll first go over the riding styles and conditions that are best suited for twin tip vs directional. We’ll also talk about the skills needed for riding a surfboard for kiteboarding, whether to go strapped or strapless as well as the health benefits of using a surfboard vs a twin tip in our surfboard strapless lesson.
Twin Tips are great for getting started
Most people (including me and probably you) learn to kitesurf on a twintip. Twin tips are wakeboard-like boards 125-150 cm long and 35-45cm wide, with straps to tuck your feet in – hardcore freestylers even have snowboard-style bindings for wearing boots.
Besides small size, a twin tip kiteboard’s main characteristic is that it’s symmetrical and so can be ridden in both directions without switching feet. When you learn to kiteboard, your first lesson is the waterstart, followed by getting up on your board and riding in one direction, then riding back in the opposite direction in our surfboard strapless lesson.
So as you ride out offshore, you have your right or left foot forward depending on wind direction, then when you ride back toward the shore, your other foot is the one in front. All you did when turning was to turn your hips and shoulders in the reverse direction, without ever having to take your feet out of the straps.
This makes it easier for most beginners to learn to change direction in our surfboard strapless lesson as they can just focus on controlling their kite to make it turn. A twintip also helps you learn to ride upwind.
Twin tip vs surfboard riding goals
In our surfboard strapless lesson besides learning, a twin tip works great for flat water kiteboarding and doing jumps and tricks. A twintip typically can ride fast, can pop really well, and is short and lightweight enough for easy moving in the air when doing freestyle.
Directional kitesurf boards, on the other hand, are primarily designed to ride waves – after all, they are surfboards. However, kiteboarders who start riding on a directional board quickly discover a very different riding style, even without waves.
Kitesurfing on a surfboard gives you a distinct feel from a twintip. It typically feels more relaxed, with more space for moving your feet. A surfboard generally has a bigger volume than a twintip and so has more buoyancy. You focus more on positioning your feet than on pushing hard on the board.
On similar wave/wind conditions, rider weight, and kite size, a directional board can go upwind much better than a twintip. A surfboard with the right shape can also cut through the chop more effectively – although some twintip boards perform better than others.
Because of drag, a directional board may not go as fast as a twintip kiteboard in flat water. You may also not feel as comfortable in high wind on a surfboard because of the greater board surface. Surfboards, however, are more stable and comfortable to ride on when strapped.
Finally, a directional board offers great carving, that is the ability to perform tight successive turns, including on the face of a wave. Although you can ride waves on a twintip board, you’ll be hindered by the square shape and short length and will not get that unique carving feeling.
Challenges of directional surfboard vs twin tip
Based on my experience surfboard strapless lesson, the main challenges of directional surfboard riding vs twin tip kiteboarding are the following :
- Stance & foot pressure
- Toeside riding
- Switching feet (jibing)
- Edging upwind (flat vs rail)
Need More Information About Our Surfboard Strapless Lesson send us a quick message here
For more resourses on surfboard strapless lessons there are lots of online communities with some great online tutorials on different instructions like this great link below
16 basic moves on strapless surfboard with Alby Rondina