VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

Came across this scholarly paper today at work.

Biomechanical and Physiological Demands of Kitesurfing and Epidemiology of Injury Among Kitesurfers
SPORTS MEDICINE, Volume: 44, Issue: 1, Pages: 55-66
DOI: 10.1007/s40279-013-0103-4

This link should work to download a pdf copy of the paper.

[Apparently the publisher, Springer, wants you to pay $50 for a copy. Outrageous. I am sure that the author would like the kiting community to read the paper and I will email you a copy if you ask me to (PM) but I cannot post it for copyright reasons.]


Abstract

Kitesurfing is a relatively new extreme water sport that is considered a high-risk sport and has rising popularity. Kitesurfing combines aspects of several water sports, including surfing, windsurfing, and wakeboarding. With a large controllable kite and a small board, kitesurfers travel over the water surface with speeds of up to 35 knots. The vertical lift of the kite makes it possible to perform jumps up to 15 m high and 30 m long, while doing different manoeuvres in the air. Few scientific data are available concerning the biomechanical and physiological demands of kitesurfing and the epidemiology of kitesurfing injury, and research methods used are often questionable. During kitesurfing, considerable stress is placed on the musculoskeletal and physiological systems, and the possibility of injury or fatality is an inherent part of participation. The lower back and thigh muscles are often perceived as being highly stressed, while abdominal muscles, knees, and feet are common sites of pain or discomfort. During kitesurfing, both aerobic and anaerobic metabolism contribute to energy delivery. It is reported in the literature that kitesurfing injuries are mainly acute, due to accidents or trauma. Non-competitive kitesurfing resulted in an overall injury rate of 5.9-7.0 injuries per 1,000 kitesurfing hours. It seems that the risk of injury increases dramatically in competitive kitesurfing. However, contradictory results have been found. Lower extremities were the most common major site of injuries, followed by upper extremities, trunk, and head. Most accidents during kitesurfing reported in the literature were attributed to the inability to detach the kite from the harness. Due to technical innovations, recent studies report uncontrolled actions and unsuccessful tricks and jumps with poor landings as the main mechanisms of injuries. The main purpose of the present paper is to critically analyse the current relevant scientific literature on the biomechanical and physiological demands of kitesurfing and the epidemiology of injury among kitesurfers, in order to obtain greater insights into (i) the stresses imposed on the musculoskeletal and physiological systems by kitesurfing, and (ii) the rate, pattern, and mechanisms of kitesurfing injuries.
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At work ?
Can't believe I read this too !

wow fascinating. I don't think kitesurfing has any aerobic component however. I wish it did!

thankgodiatepastafobreaky wrote:wow fascinating. I don't think kitesurfing has any aerobic component however. I wish it did!

body dragging upwind 20 minutes trying to retrieve your board in a strong cross current ... heart definitely beating at that point.

I'd be curious to read this study....but have to pay it looks like....not that curious. Creeping into middle age, I am noticing more and more nagging injuries that take way too long to heal. Kiting seems to be particularly hard on ankles (achilles and plantar fascia) and on hips.

If you can't download a copy and want to read it PM me and I will send a copy.

not sure if its from kiting or crabbing.
but can be sure some of those kiting impacts didn't help.
stay safe people.

It's not even possible...

I started kiting at 286 pounds. I had neglible muscle mass. I was a size 48 waist. I'm now a 33 waist, and am 13% body fat-in the top 90% of the population. I've never had a single injury. The ONLY flipping thing that has ever hurt has been the muscle that runs down the inside of my knee up and down the leg. Why I learned? Because I sit for work and prop my left foot up on my right knee. Sitting improperly. NOT kiting. Sure if you're a MartyD doing insanely cool, sick, impressive shit hot moves you are probably, likely to get injured. But I do throw up some pretty big jumps, and I have never ever so much as suffered any lower back pain.

I'd like to read the article, but I'm serious when I saw that I don't think kiting is injury provoking, and the flip side of staying away from such a great sport is that you may stay in shit shape.

Of course I have no money, but who cares, at least I'm not out of shape sitting on the couch. I've lived life the best way possible and I'd never regret it even if I did suffer a serious injury.

All depends on how you kite.

If you just want to cruise, and take your time learning safe stuff like hooked in backrolls, toeside, small to medium jumps then you can ride until you're 90.

But here's a stat for you: all ...ALL of the pkra champions for the past 10 years have suffered a major injury requiring surgery. Mostly knees and a couple of shoulders. And what about len10, that guy has chronic ankle problems. These are young guys who cross train hard to even have a chance at surviving the beatings that hardcore freestyle kiting puts on you.

Those are just the high profile guys, and injuries. I don't think I've ever met a single kiter whose doing high level freestyle or monster kiteloops who hasn't been injured.

Personally, I've torn both shoulders, knees, groin, abs, broken pelvis, crushed ankle, separated ribs, and countless sprains and headaches. All kiteboarding, and like I've always said: I'd rather spend 3 months in rehab and know the answer, then waste a lifetime questioning my abilities.

Switched to a strapless surf now, cause I'm just too damn old. So far: all fun and no injuries.

So there's 2 sides to this coin, as usual. I believe it's possible to kite for an entire lifetime without even a single sprain if you rig for the wind, stay on the water and take your time. If that satisfies your cravings then I envy you.

smartang wrote:

If you just want to cruise, and take your time learning safe stuff ...then you can ride until you're 90.
... I believe it's possible to kite for an entire lifetime without even a single sprain if you rig for the wind, stay on the water and take your time. If that satisfies your cravings then I envy you.

Good, because that matches the info from Betty-Anne, Art, Nitinat-Bill, and others that have switched over to kiting from windsurfing because 'its so much easier on the body'. And now I'm past 60, I think the medium jumps will satisfy my cravings, and I'll be pretty happy to mow the lawn myself. Just have to get the right conditions to learn.....

From the paper (the [ ] are numbers that point to references):

"The overall injury rate in kitesurfing is comparable to that in snowboarding and recreational skiing (5.4 and 4.5 injuries/ 1,000 h respectively) [36, 37], and much higher than the injury rate seen with novice dinghy sailing (0.3 injuries/ 1,000 h of sailing) [38] and recreational boardsailing (0.2 injuries per 1,000 h of boardsailing) [39], but lower than professional rugby (69 injuries/1,000 h), college football (33 injuries/1,000 h), and men’s college soccer (18.8 injuries/1,000 h) [40].

Injury rate more than doubled during kitesurfing competition (16.6 injuries per 1,000 kitesurfing hours) [7], which was somewhat higher than competitive surfing (13 injuries per 1,000 h of competitive surfing) [12]. More injuries, but a lower injury rate found in less experienced kitesurfers, was explained by the larger amount of time they spent practicing [8, 21]. However, Wegner and Wegener [12] observed a significantly higher injury rate in beginners than in advanced and expert kitesurfers. An injury prevalence of around 40 % was estimated [6–8, 22]."

Recreational boardsailing is just 2/3 of the injury rate as for novice dinghy sailors something seems wrong with that. Too many people with various injuries windsurfing that I remember around here. Windsurfing 1/30 the rate of kitesurfing? Maybe 10 or 15 years ago but with all the safety improvements since that time?

more force 4 wrote:Recreational boardsailing is just 2/3 of the injury rate as for novice dinghy sailors something seems wrong with that. Too many people with various injuries windsurfing that I remember around here. Windsurfing 1/30 the rate of kitesurfing? Maybe 10 or 15 years ago but with all the safety improvements since that time?

recreational boardsailing... aka uncontrolled drifting....occurs at Shawnigan Lake on a waterskiing day

About the author of the paper. I wrote to him:

"I'm a kitesurfer, but also sailor and windsurfer. I'm doing already 47 years watersports (I'm 53 years old). Starting sailing at 9 years old, sailing a Withbread Round the World Race in 1981-1982 and some world championships, still sailing in the Finn class, starting windsurfing in 1976 with the first windsurfboard imported in Belgium, rowing in the national team in the 80's (I still remember the Canadian Rowing Teams I was competed against in different international regatta, wonderfull time). And I was started kitesurfing 5 years ago. Advantage of this is the time. I live near the Belgian Coast (North Sea), so, in 20 minutes I can be on the water which gives me real quality time. You see, a litte watersport addicted.

I was writing the article because of my passion for sports Medicine, exercise physiology, watersports, the ocean and the big governmental discussions here in Belgium about some kitesurf accidents and some new rules on watersports in general (also windsurf and sailing)."