Playing hide and seek with my kitesurfing mojo - The end

by Emilie Marx
(Part 4/4)

I’ve learnt two things out this.

The first one is that sometimes too much kiting kills the kiting
-I know it sounds incredible for those who get to kite twice a month, but for those who are lucky enough to do it every day, sometimes saturation gets reached.

If the mojo’s gone, let it be.
- It’s not really gone any way, it’s only put to rest, don’t you worry!
But as nothing good comes without passion, if it’s not there, don’t fake it. Stay off the water, and return when you really feel like it.
You will do wonders then…

It is not a bad thing (at least not as bad as it seems at first) to change pace and slow down. Or just give it a miss and let your mind focus on something else.

I found out long ago with my students that information were assimilated a lot better overnight (their brain suddenly reaching saturation point past the third hour of lesson…).

I did notice as well that most of my improvement steps these past years took place after I was off the water for a little while.
It seems that the break refreshed the kitesurfer…

Sometimes kiting less allows one to kite better…

The second big lesson that came out of this is a bit of a paradox…

It’s one thing to need time for skills to build and give some time for assimilation, but on the other hand, they won’t if no work is put into it (basically, if you don’t try, you can’t succeed!).

I saw my first S-bend made by an excellent rider in Egypt, only few months after I started kiting.
I started considering trying the move some two years ago but I’ve actually had it in a corner of my mind for almost five...
Five years thinking of something that got through in five seconds and on my first try.

Had I been a little more daring, I bet I’d be doing back mob’s by now…-but who cares…

I’ve let my mind play with me for two years: I had convinced myself that my S-bend wouldn’t get through unless unhooking had become natural…
Rather than letting that “hesitation kills” syndrome of mine take over, may be I should just have tried.

Boosted by my landed S-bend, I decided it was about time to push my surfing skills to the next step.

I’ve been surfing for some two years and I can’t duck dive.
I’ve improved heaps since I’ve been here: my take offs are fine, I can turn, I can choose my peak, find my rip, relax underwater…
Still…I can’t get this bloody duck dive through.

I can get the board’s nose to go underwater, yes, that’s fine.
But then, the board goes underwater and I stay up to get the wave right in the face, it’s brilliant…

It really started bugging me as there were days with waves I could have ridden but I just couldn’t get through…
My friend kept on saying I had to try with a smaller board, but I was worried I wouldn’t be able to stand on something thinner and narrower (something looking like my hesitation kills syndrome again…)

I’ve had this small Fish sitting on my surfboard rack for months; I bought it for nothing (precisely why I bought it, thinking “may be one day…”).
I had tried it once six months ago; I couldn’t understand how it worked and stuck to my mini mal.

-…that did the job just fine for me …-

I decided to take the small board the next time I went surfing.
To my big surprise, I stood on my first take off –Oh, is that it? Well, that part wasn’t that hard…
After few hazardous tries and precious advices from fellow surfers around, I eventually managed to go down with the board and make it through the white wash…

Duck dive?
Tick.

Okay, okay, I kind of get one out of ten…
But Rome wasn’t built in a day, hey (and we all understand by now that I’m a slow improver….)

But the great news is that I was as stoked to succeed in my first duck dive as I was when I first stood up on a surfboard.
As stoked to land my S-bend as I was after my first successful water start…

How cool… Mojo’s do get renewed!

I’ve had almost two months to find all sorts of recipes to do it.

Travel. Go to that other spot five –or fifty- kilometres further down the road, just to change landscape.
Explore. It’s not all about waves, not all about tricks, not all about air. We are mobile objects. Let’s make the most out of it!

Give a full moon session a go (unreal)
Get a waterproof Ipod or an underwater camera (excellent way to renew the mojo!).

Grab a windsurfing board on a light wind day and fool around, try a skimboard (that one works very well too!), swap toys with a friend. I’ve always loved messing around with equipments (it can be a costly activity but it’s fun!).

One of my favourite remedy over here –with taking my dog body dragging- is to spot as many tortoises as possible (I have my secret spots for them!)
Kite with funky friends, boost each other, push each other, fool around, in two words:

have fun!

Alternatively, if none of the above works for you and staying off the water sits in, you still have two productive options:

The first one is to do some repair workshop during the kite/surf break (you know, all these little things you are meant to fix for ages but cant find the time to) in order to look forward trying the ex-new but almost new again toys few days later…

The second one is to do a kitesurfing blog, but losing your mojo just then might not be the greatest idea –plus it’s a lot more work than it seems …
:)

Ultimately, if your case is lost, go play golf for a week) -you will find your mojo back in no time!

I admit I did get lazy by being spoiled with incredible conditions.
I’ve just found on the island map a spot that must work and that I never got the curiosity to check before (and how long have I been here for?).
Actually, I spotted quite a lot of interesting things once I got a little curious…

Crazy me…
Such a wide playground and I’ve used so little of it….

I know by now every single corner of the Gallion, it’s a spot I adore and cherish, but it’s time to take a step outside!

My next mission is to play kitesurfing Robinson Crusoe…

To be continued….
;)

Em
March 30th 2009

PS: Big thanks to Thierry Dehove for the beautiful pictures he took of me riding at the Gallion last December…

Go back to Emilie's journal to read other of her adventures