Riding Strapless is illogical

Surfers are strapless because the water is glassy.

No chop and strapless makes sense!

But when the sea is choppy it is illogical to be strapless.

Even surfers when the sea is only mildly bumpy know it makes sense to wear straps.

An example of this is big wave tow in surfing - they wear straps for a reason!

Being strapless on a surfboard in choppy conditions only means more time spent body dragging because one comes off their board more often and less time carving the waves up.

Spending more time body dragging reaches a whole new level when individuals need to get their bliss more from others watching them rather than them enjoying what they are doing - nothing highlights this fact more than by doing strapless tricks/airs.

The only time strapless kitesurfing in terms of wave riding really makes a lot of sense is in perfectly glassy
conditions - which means offshore wind - very rare in most parts of the world. And it is amusing that all the great wave riding videos of people hitting lips is always in offshore wind.

The other time one would be practicing strapless kitesurfing is when there is no waves in that person's area - so in order to overcome the boredom of not having waves, they try to challenge themselves by doing strapless tricks on flat water lakes or river mouths. I've never seen anyone yet choosing to do strapless tricks/airs on flat water over actually getting out and riding monster waves with their kites?

The only logical reason for one to be strapless while kitesurfing is it is easier to have one's feet anywhere on the board without the straps getting in the way. Also, being strapped into your surfboard can cause damage to one's knees - if one comes off the board with straps on - sometimes one's foot gets stuck in the straps and the board twists around causing the knee joint to twist - most likely causing damage to the knee joint.

Kitesurfing has made it so that an individual no longer needs to rely on having the energy and strength to
paddle themselves onto a wave - therefore one can use a significantly smaller surfboard - which means one does not really need to adjust their feet as much as they would have had to riding a standard sized surfboard. That way the straps can be put exactly where they need to be without really getting in the way of the riders feet as the feet never move out of their original position - except if the rider needs to ride switch (heel side in both directions).

Any good wave rider on a kite knows the secret to riding waves is to be proficient at riding toe side - when
the Kitesurfing wave rider is so proficient at toe side they never really have to switch their feet to go heel
side in both directions.

Being strapped in on a small surfboard for kiting allows one to really attack the waves without fearing coming off their board - they can really commit and extend themselves - hence the bottom turns and top turns are more radical - which is what true surfers are looking for..."radical wave riding".

Not wanting to take advantage of the extra features of being powered up and strapped in while kitesurfing is really quite illogical as such features only extend the possibilities of wave riding. Those strapless
kitesurfers who say they want to ride the wave as if they are actually surfing the wave without a kite
should just do that...stick to regular surfing! Because riding the waves with a kite is always going to be
"riding the waves with a kite" - it's different, it can't be otherwise!

Strapless kitesurfing more often than not makes as much sense as a twin tipper saying they want to twin tip without straps - Why? Because it makes it more difficult to twin tip hence I can spend more time body dragging! Makes sense doesn't it?

To not want to be able to improve on surfing a wave by having straps on and to be powered up by the kite does not make any sense to the person who gets their bliss from just wanting to ride the wave for the sake of just riding the wave.

When all of the above is taken into consideration, one has to wonder whether strapless kitesurfers are not
victims of their own insecurity. Often persisting in doing something that is illogical is usually a sign of
misplaced ego.

Some have suggested the reason strapless surfboard riders persist in their illogical behaviour is more about what others think of them.

In other words, instead of just wanting to ride waves as efficiently and as radically as possible - and getting pleasure directly from that intimate relationship with the wave solely - they are getting more pleasure from thinking someone else on the beach is watching them.

Their happiness seems to be geared towards getting a picture of themselves in a magazine spread than the pure enjoyment of riding a wave.

On the internet, one comes across sites that have titles like "Lose the straps..dedicated to the progression
and evolution of strapless kitesurfing". If one were to replace "strapless kitesurfing" in the phrase above with "people who need other people's attention to make them feel good about themselves" things would make a lot more sense.

One never sees web sites encouraging people to wear straps i.e. "Get into straps...dedicated to the
progression and evolution of Kitesurfers who just want to extend the possibilities of what one can do on a
wave". This is because the strapped Kitesurfer does not need to overstate the obvious...it's simply more logical to be wearing straps.

Strapless kitesurfers are always the first to make derogatory comments towards individuals who are logically using straps on their surfboards. They seem to have this continual need to put others down in order to big themselves up...this behaviour on its own should give the game away about what their real motives are behind their illogical perseverance with strapless kitesurfing - a deep insecurity based on a profound lack of self love?

So now we have cut through the insecurities of strapless kitesurfing we can hopefully hear less insecure
comments about needing to become a strapless egotistical kitesurfer!

Peace and love!

PS Your title reminds me of this song.

Have you tried riding strapless?

I ride strapless because I don't like to feel locked in.

I'm able to move my feet slightly leading up to a wave or a big turn or change the position of my feet to ride up wind better.

When I see people riding a strapped board to me it's not taking full advantage of the board, it's just like riding a bigger twin tip.

Sure some conditions you might find it easier to ride with straps but what's the point?

It's like saying why do unhooked tricks on a twin tip when you can do it hooked in? It's because it looked better and it's harder to do.

When I see someone do a strapped in jump on a surfboard I don't look twice, if someone does one strapless I take more notice because it's harder.

I think it's a bit small minded to say riding strapless is illogical, when the decisions we make each day may seem illogical to some but makes perfect sense to you.

Sounds to me like you may be the one with insecurities?

Kudos to anyone that can shred a wave strapped or unstrapped though.

Imagine getting a foot stuck and rolled in a 4 foot close out.

Ouch.

Underoath,

Yes, I believe I spoke about the pro of being strapless in regard to knee injuries due to being strapped in.

Just so I'm not illogical, I'm going to put boots on my SB.

realitycorrodes said..
Any good wave rider on a kite knows the secret to riding waves is to be proficient at riding toe side

....off to to practice my toeside

Brohan said..
Have you tried riding strapless?

I ride strapless because I don't like to feel locked in.

I'm able to move my feet slightly leading up to a wave or a big turn or change the position of my feet to ride up wind better.

When I see people riding a strapped board to me it's not taking full advantage of the board, it's just like riding a bigger twin tip.

Sure some conditions you might find it easier to ride with straps but what's the point?

It's like saying why do unhooked tricks on a twin tip when you can do it hooked in? It's because it looked better and it's harder to do.

When I see someone do a strapped in jump on a surfboard I don't look twice, if someone does one strapless I take more notice because it's harder.

I think it's a bit small minded to say riding strapless is illogical, when the decisions we make each day may seem illogical to some but makes perfect sense to you.

Sounds to me like you may be the one with insecurities?

Kudos to anyone that can shred a wave strapped or unstrapped though.

I'm with Brohan on this. I don't wear straps because I prefer the feel especially riding toe side. I had a mate that snapped his leg cause he was strapped in on a surfboard.

Plus I get to hang ** on people that ride straps (even thought strapless has severely hampered my progress and I'm a husk of a kiter I could be (yes, husk)).

Cauncy and eppo take turns to ride the strap on

What happened? People used to agree if you posted something like this on SB...

p.s Wonder how long before the SB hordes understand why you'd want to un-hook.

I haven't posted in this forum for some time but that post would have to be one of the biggest loads of BS i have ever read on this forum -

You truly sound like you know nothing about the sport

Too long a rant to even read but I got the gist in the first couple of lines and WHO CARES ??

Heres how it goes in list of coolness

Gardening
Bushwalking
Rock climbing

Suping
Boogerboarding
Surfing

Strap twintips
Strap surfboard

Strapless surfboard
Wakeskate
Boots twinnys




Gardenings the bomb ??

DJMWA said..

Nutdip said..
Well, as a life long surfer I couldn't get around the thought of kiting strapped in the waves. So I've had about a 1/2 season gaining kite control on the twin tip, and about 1/4 of a season strapless (flat water upwind toeside). The other day I went out at Scarborough strapless and I was totally useless. Had a huge reality check. Now I'm looking at kite specific surfboards that I can put a front strap on because in 1m chop, strapless is quite a challenge. The guys who make it look easy have had a lot of exposure in such conditions.

I'm going to do the rest of this season strapped in the waves, but improve my strapless skills on the flat when I can.

Stick with the strapless if that's where you want to end up mate, it'll be like when you were learning to go upwind, one session it'll be like someone flicked a switch and all of a sudden you can do it. I found that you have to use your knees heeeeaps more than a twinny to help absorb the shock, (ie you can't just knife the board through it like a tt). Think of your knees as being the same as heavy duty shockies on a 4x4 going down a corrugated/washed out track.

But why would anyone want to travel on a corrugated/washed out track when they have a perfectly good tarred road for their 4x4?