The partner as a kite instructor - good idea?

During our holiday in Egypt, Joscha taught me how to kitesurf. At first we were concerned as it can be a challenge to teach your partner something that takes up a lot of time. Ultimately, our experience turned out to be positive, but we would still recommend booking a professional kitesurfing course rather than relying solely on your partner.

In this blog post, we share our personal experiences and thoughts on this decision. Everyone learns in different ways and needs specific conditions to be successful, so we want to share our perspective without generalizing.

Why might it be problematic?

Learning to kitesurf can be difficult due to individual learning curves and personal challenges. Emotions, motivation, attention span, stress tolerance and interest play a big role in the learning process.

It's normal that things don't go as planned at first. Understanding and becoming friends with the kite requires patience and time. The learning environment can also be overwhelming: wind, cold, wetness and noise can be stressful and frustrating at first. It is therefore crucial to take advantage of the best conditions.

If your partner is also in the water, criticizing and making suggestions for improvement (which are of course well-intentioned), this can quickly lead to tension. The time that your partner has to spend teaching you how to kitesurf should not be underestimated. Because my learning process was time-consuming, Joscha was able to spend less time on the water. Even if he didn't mind, you should be aware that learning takes up a lot of time that you can't use yourself.

Another point is the use of personal equipment. At the beginning, it is normal for the kite to fall into the water frequently and thus wear out or, in the worst case, be damaged. If you use your own equipment for lessons, you should be prepared for it to suffer during the learning process.

Conclusion:

We recommend booking a professional kite course if you want to learn kitesurfing. Kite instructors are experienced professionals who are specially trained to teach beginners. The objective relationship with the kite instructor can facilitate the learning process.

Learning with your partner can lead to conflicts and put a strain on both the holiday and the relationship. Of course, this doesn't always have to be the case, but the risk is high and can be avoided by taking a kitesurfing course.

see you soon :-)

Mila.