Read the spot
Read the spot.
- Look at what the wind is actually doing on the water, not only what an app says
- Notice current, launch room, hard objects, gust zones and exit options
- Watch better riders first when the spot is new to you
Rider Area — Rider Prep
Rider Prep.
Ride better. Stay ready.
Short guided sessions for kiters: balance and proprioception, legs, core, shoulders and elbows. Built around what you ride, your next trip and the time you really have.
Your training
Your week, built around your riding.
Say what you ride, what's coming up and how much time you have. You get a weekly plan, every exercise as a short looping clip with a timer, and a dashboard that keeps score.
The trainer runs in your browser. If nothing shows up, the full exercise list is just below.
Every exercise
55 exercises, all short clips.
Every clip starts on the exercise and loops for a few seconds to under a minute. Filter by pillar, body zone or what you have at home, then tap a card to train it with a timer.
- Arm circles · Warm-up · 30 s
- Band pull-apart · Warm-up · 2 × 12 reps
- Thread the needle · Warm-up · 8 reps each side
- Cat-cow · Warm-up · 40 s
- Leg swings · Warm-up · 10 reps each side
- Single-leg balance · Balance & proprioception · 2 × 30 s each side
- Balance with head turns · Balance & proprioception · 2 × 30 s each side
- Single-leg balance, eyes closed · Balance & proprioception · 2 × 20 s each side
- 3-way reach · Balance & proprioception · 2 × 5 reps each side
- Single-leg deadlift · Balance & proprioception · 2 × 8 reps each side
- Balance on a soft surface · Balance & proprioception · 2 × 30 s each side
- Lateral bound & stick · Balance & proprioception · 2 × 6 reps each side
- Single-leg wall toss · Balance & proprioception · 2 × 30 s each side
- Single-leg hop & stick · Balance & proprioception · 2 × 5 reps each side
- Bodyweight squat · Legs & pop · 2 × 12 reps
- Lateral lunge · Legs & pop · 2 × 8 reps each side
- Wall sit · Legs & pop · 2 × 40 s
- Single-leg calf raise · Legs & pop · 2 × 12 reps each side
- Jump squat · Legs & pop · 2 × 8 reps
- Broad jump · Legs & pop · 2 × 5 reps
- Bulgarian split squat · Legs & pop · 2 × 8 reps each side
- Single-leg squat, supported · Legs & pop · 2 × 6 reps each side
- Copenhagen plank (short) · Legs & pop · 2 × 20 s each side
- Skater hops · Legs & pop · 2 × 10 reps each side
- Split jump · Legs & pop · 2 × 6 reps each side
- Tuck jump · Legs & pop · 2 × 6 reps
- Dead bug · Core & back · 2 × 8 reps each side
- Bird dog · Core & back · 2 × 8 reps each side
- Plank · Core & back · 2 × 30 s
- Side plank · Core & back · 2 × 25 s each side
- Single-leg glute bridge · Core & back · 2 × 10 reps each side
- Superman hold · Core & back · 3 × 20 s
- Pallof press · Core & back · 2 × 10 reps each side
- Push-up · Shoulders & chest · 3 × 10 reps
- Band external rotation · Shoulders & chest · 2 × 12 reps each side
- Seated band row · Shoulders & chest · 2 × 12 reps
- Sleeper stretch · Shoulders & chest · 30 s each side
- Wrist extension, slow lowering · Grip, elbows & wrists · 2 × 15 reps each side
- Wrist flexion (band) · Grip, elbows & wrists · 2 × 15 reps each side
- Reverse curl (band) · Grip, elbows & wrists · 2 × 12 reps
- Finger extensions · Grip, elbows & wrists · 2 × 20 reps each side
- Tyler twist (FlexBar) · Grip, elbows & wrists · 3 × 15 reps each side
- Dead hang · Grip, elbows & wrists · 3 × 20 s
- Wrist extensor stretch · Grip, elbows & wrists · 30 s each side
- Jumping jacks · Engine · 2 × 40 s
- Mountain climbers · Engine · 3 × 30 s
- Bear crawl · Engine · 3 × 30 s
- Burpee · Engine · 3 × 30 s
- Child's pose · Cool-down · 45 s
- Knee to chest · Cool-down · 30 s each side
- Figure-4 stretch · Cool-down · 30 s each side
- Kneeling hip flexor stretch · Cool-down · 30 s each side
- Hamstring stretch · Cool-down · 30 s each side
- Supine twist · Cool-down · 30 s each side
- Doorway chest stretch · Cool-down · 30 s each side
Why it works
Two different things. Train both.
A coach teaches technique: loading an edge, timing a pop, working the bar. Physical prep is what lets your body repeat it session after session without breaking down. Online coaching and camps handle the first. This page handles the second.
- BalanceStaying centred while the kite loads and unloads you.
- ProprioceptionKnowing where your body is without looking at it.
- ExplosivenessFiring fast for a pop, a jump or a loop.
- StrengthThe base the other five sit on.
- EnduranceStill riding well in hour two.
- MobilityRange to rotate, edge and land without your joints paying for it.
The structure
Borrowed from how Duotone trains its team.
The Duotone Academy app splits training by body focus: Balance is Key, Leg Explosion, ABS, Strong Lower Back, Chest and Shoulders and more. Rider Prep keeps that split and fills it with short clips you can follow at home. We added the thing kiters ask us about most: elbows and grip.
Not affiliated with Duotone. See the Academy workouts
Watch the Academy teaser, 1 min
- Upper Body Warm Up→Warm-up
- Balance is Key→Balance & proprio
- Leg Explosion · Plyometric→Legs & pop
- ABS · Strong Back→Core & back
- Chest and Shoulders→Shoulders & chest
- Fat Burning · Full Body→Engine
- Relieve Lower Back Tension→Cool-down
- Added by TKL→Grip, elbows & wrists
Proprioception
The sense you use most and train least.
It's how your body knows where it is without looking. On a kite your eyes are on the sky, the spot and the other riders, so your feet, ankles and trunk have to sort out the water by themselves.
- Landing on chopThe board touches moving water. Ankles and knees correct in a split second.
- Eyes on the kiteYou watch the kite through a turn while your feet keep the edge.
- Grabs and board-offsFinding the board and the handle again without looking, while the bar still needs the right input.
- GustsAn unexpected pull. Your trunk braces before you've had time to think.
- 1Still floorSingle-leg balance
- 2Eyes closedThe feet work alone
- 3Soft surfaceCushion or foam pad
- 4Busy head and handsHead turns, wall toss
- 5Hop and stickOne-leg landings
Every plan puts proprio work straight after the warm-up, while you're fresh, and the dashboard counts the minutes you give it.
What the research says
Where kiters get hurt, and what helps.
- 43%of injuries reported by 3,138 kitesurfers were to the legs and feet. The knee alone: 13%.Offerhaus et al., 2026
- Proprio + slow strengthThe same survey recommends proprioceptive and eccentric strength training for the knee and the rotator cuff.Offerhaus et al., 2026
- Less rotation54 kitesurfers had less shoulder rotation and less right-hip rotation than non-riders. The authors point to proprioception, core stability and joint mobility work.Turkish Journal of Sports Medicine, 2020
- ElbowsAdding an eccentric FlexBar exercise clearly improved chronic tennis elbow in a randomised trial. It's in the grip pillar.Tyler et al., 2010
General fitness guidance, not medical advice. Pain that sharpens or lingers means stop and see a physio. The same survey found beginners get hurt far more often than experienced riders, so lessons with a qualified school come before any of this.
Safety basics
Know the margin.
This is the foundation that keeps your sessions cleaner, calmer and more consistent over time.
Know your level
Match the day.
- Match the kite size, spot choice and trick choice to your real level that day
- Fatigue, travel, cold and overconfidence all cut into your margin
- One clean session is better than forcing the wrong progression step
Prepare the gear
Check the gear.
- Check lines, quick release, leash, inflation, fins and board condition
- Know your safety system before the stress arrives
- Keep enough margin in your gear instead of rigging on ego
Decision making
Know when to stay ashore.
- Respect priorities, traffic and the riders around you
- If the launch feels wrong, reset before it becomes an incident
- Backing off is part of the rider standard, not a failure
Bring it into the trip