5 Most Common Mistakes Beginner Kitesurfers Make

Learning without an instructor, wrong kite size, ignoring safety systems — 5 mistakes that will slow your progress or put you at risk. And how to avoid them.

Lukáš has been teaching kitesurfing since 2009 as an IKO Head Instructor. Over that time, he’s seen thousands of beginners — and the same mistakes over and over again. Some only cost you time; others can cost you your health, or someone else’s.

This article isn’t meant to scare you. It’s an honest list of things that keep happening and that are easy to avoid.

1. Learning Without an Instructor

This is by far the most dangerous mistake, and unfortunately still surprisingly common. Every season, we see people who bought a kite online, watched a few YouTube videos, and headed out on the water.

Why It’s a Problem

A kite is a powerful tool. Even a small kite in moderate wind generates enough pull to drag you for tens of metres. If you don’t know how to control it — how to safely launch it, how to steer it, how to activate the safety system — you’re a danger to yourself and everyone around you.

A kite that spirals out of control can injure a bystander on the beach. A rider who can’t land safely can crash into another rider or an obstacle. This is exactly the kind of situation that proper instruction is built to prevent.

What Happens in Practice

A self-taught person typically:

• Can’t judge the right kite size for the conditions
• Doesn’t know how to safely launch and land the kite (you need an assistant who knows what they’re doing)
• Doesn’t understand the wind window — where the kite pulls and where the danger zone is
• Doesn’t know how to activate the quick release when something goes wrong
• Has no idea about right-of-way rules on the water

The result? In the best case, a damaged kite and some bruises. In the worst case, an injury to yourself or someone nearby.

How We Do It

In our courses, you go through full safety training before the kite even lifts off. Safety systems, emergency procedures, right-of-way rules. It’s not a formality — it’s the foundation everything else is built on. If you want the bigger picture first, our kitesurfing safety guide walks through how we keep beginners safe on the water.

2. Wrong Kite Size for the Conditions

Kites come in various sizes — we run everything from 3 m² up to 21 m². Each size is designed for different wind. A big kite in strong wind means uncontrollable pull. A small kite in light wind means nothing happens.

Why Beginners Get It Wrong

The most common scenario: a beginner buys one kite (because they’re expensive) and rides it in all conditions. Light wind? Rides a 9 m and barely moves. Strong wind? Rides the same 9 m and fights for their life.

Second scenario: someone borrows a kite from a friend who weighs 20 kilos more. What’s a comfortable 9 m kite in 20 knots for the friend is brutal overpowering for the lighter rider.

How to Avoid It

The right kite size depends on three things: your weight, the wind strength, and the kite type. It’s not something you estimate by eye — you need experience, or advice from someone who has it.

At a professional school, the instructor handles this with you. They check the forecast, measure the wind, factor in your weight and level, and choose from suitable available equipment. Our 250+ kites create broad matching options, but they do not guarantee a session when conditions are unsafe or unrideable. You don’t have that flexibility if you own two kites and have to guess.

If you already own your own equipment and want to ride independently, come talk to us. Through our rental, the team can recommend a suitable available alternative instead of you guessing with an unsuitable kite.

3. Ignoring Safety Systems

Modern kite equipment has several levels of safety systems. The quick release on the bar disconnects the kite from the bar and lets it flutter on the leash — the kite immediately loses most of its pull. A second quick release on the chicken loop disconnects the kite completely.

Why People Ignore Them

Some reasons:

• “That won’t happen to me” — the classic human error. It happens to everyone who rides long enough.
• “I’ve never tried the quick release and I’m afraid I’ll mess it up” — which is exactly why you practise it.
• “I don’t want to release the kite because then I have to go retrieve it” — would you rather risk injury than ten minutes of walking to fetch the kite?
• A corroded or neglected safety system that doesn’t work — that’s like driving a car without brakes.

What Every Kitesurfer Should Know

Before every session:

1. Check that the quick release works (try it on dry land)
2. Check that the leash is connected and undamaged
3. Check the lines — are they twisted, damaged, tangled?

On the water:

• Know which hand activates the quick release
• Don’t hesitate to use it whenever you feel the situation getting beyond you
• Practise activating the safety every now and then

During the course, we practise this repeatedly. It’s not just about knowing where the quick release is — you need muscle memory to activate it automatically, without thinking, even under stress.

4. Moving to the Board Too Quickly

This is probably the most common mistake in terms of progression. Kite control simply isn’t automatic enough yet, and the student is already itching to stand up on the board.

Why It Doesn’t Work

Kitesurfing requires multitasking. You have to simultaneously:

• Steer the kite with one hand
• Maintain balance on the board
• Look where you’re going
• React to changes in wind and waves
• Hold the right direction

If you still have to think about how to steer the kite (which way to move the bar to reposition it), you don’t have the capacity for everything else. The result: repeated falls, frustration, and very slow progress.

The Right Approach

Kite control must be automatic. You need to feel the pull without looking at the kite, and to execute a power stroke (sweeping the kite through the power zone) consistently and with confidence.

This is why our Beginner (Zero to Hero) course builds in a clear progression rather than rushing the board. From day one you’re doing body-drag and working towards your first water starts in the first roughly 800 m knee-to-waist-deep teaching area; by day two you’re making your first metres; by days three to four you’re riding consistently and starting to ride upwind. The instructor only moves you to the next phase when your kite control is genuinely ready — that might be day three, it might be day five. It depends on each student. For the honest, hour-by-hour version, read how long it takes to learn kitesurfing.

And this is where our two-way coaching helps. Every student wears a two-way BB Talkin Bluetooth helmet, so the instructor can both talk to you and hear you in real time, right there on the water: “Focus on the kite, you’re forgetting to steer it.” Instant correction, instead of repeating the same mistake twenty times before someone tells you back on the beach.

5. Not Checking Conditions Before Riding

An experienced kitesurfer, before going out:

• Checks the wind forecast (strength, direction, gusts)
• Looks at the actual conditions at the spot
• Checks the tide (critical at some spots)
• Checks whether storms are on the horizon
• Assesses whether the spot suits their level

A beginner? Sees that it’s windy, grabs a kite, and goes. Doesn’t check the forecast, doesn’t know what gusts mean, doesn’t know the spot’s rules.

Why Conditions Matter So Much

Wind changes. A pleasant 15 knots in the morning can become a gusty 25 with gusts to 35 in the afternoon. If you’re on the water with too big a kite when the wind picks up, you have a problem.

Wind direction is also key. At some spots, offshore wind can carry a rider away from land. At our lagoon in El Gouna, the prevailing wind is N–NW and cross-onshore. The first roughly 800 m is a knee-to-waist-deep sandy teaching area; beyond it are separate riding and deeper foil zones. Depth changes with tide and conditions. See why El Gouna works for beginners.

Storms are a chapter of their own. A storm can arrive quickly and bring extremely strong wind. You do not want to be on the water with a kite during a storm under any circumstances.

How We Handle It

Every morning at our centre, we check conditions and decide whether it’s safe to teach. If conditions aren’t suitable, we don’t teach — even if that means rescheduling a lesson. Safety always comes first.

For students in a course, you don’t need to worry about any of this — the instructor decides. But once you start riding independently, you’ll need to learn to assess conditions yourself. And that’s a skill no YouTube video can teach.

How to Avoid These Mistakes

Most of these mistakes share one common solution: professional instruction. This isn’t an advertisement for our school (though of course we love teaching) — it’s a fact. Any certified IKO or VDWS school will take you through safety training, teach you the proper progression, and won’t let you skip steps.

Two-way helmet coaching, close instruction and rescue support available during operating hours all reduce risk. Rescue response and timing are not guaranteed, so self-rescue and the spot briefing still matter.

And after the course? Ride at spots where there’s rescue, where you know the conditions, and where other riders are present. Don’t buy your first kite based on a YouTube review — get advice from someone who’s seen you ride and knows your level.

Kitesurfing is an amazing sport. But like any sport involving natural elements — water and wind — it demands respect. The five mistakes above aren’t a scare list. They’re a list to help you enjoy kitesurfing safely, and for as long as possible.

Ready to learn the right way? Take a look at our kite courses or go straight to online booking — and if you have questions, get in touch.