KGB
The KGB is the next step on from a back to blind with an air pass. Much like the excitement of a Blind Judge 3, the add on is the final 180 of rotation so that you land heel side, therefore completing the move. It’ll have you laughing on the inside for weeks once you claim it, as that final float around to your heels is one mighty achievement. We will of course advise that you should already be stomping back to blind with air passes, as then it is more a matter of tweaking and polishing rather than learning something from scratch. If you did nail the Blind Judge Three it will help a lot, as you’ll already have built up some muscle memory to get the passing and kicking movement for the heel side landing.
- Approach and Carve Pic A.
In order to get the height, pop and slow enough rotation your entry into the KGB must be bang on. First off make sure you come in well off the wind, so bear away a lot before unhooking. Why? This will let you carve hard enough to get your rotation into the back loop without turning too far into wind, and therefore you’ll actually “do” more of the back loop in the air, and thus it will feel slower, giving you more chance to pass and turn. Secondly make sure you lean back towards the tail of the board as you bear away. You can see in the pit that the rider’s hips are leaning back over his back foot, and his shoulders are leaning back towards the tail of the board. This will help him invert, which in turn will make the pass both easier and closer so that he can pass later and therefore get all the way around to his heels. Finally don’t be afraid to have your kite a tad higher for learning this, as it’ll be more pleasant and confidence boosting knowing that there’s enough room to complete the manoeuvre.
- The Take Off Pic B.
Once you’ve got off the water with a right royal stamp against the back foot your aim is to get the board swinging up whilst you turn slowly through your rotation until you just about complete a back loop – but with the board up high and the bar in close. Here the rider has kept his hands in close to his waist from the off by locking his elbows in, and thus hopefully the bar will stay nice and close too and he won’t need superhuman strength to pass the bar. The rider’s head, although just about leading the rotation, is not looking over his front shoulder, but rather forward, perpendicular to his shoulders. This prevents him from spinning too quickly, thus helping him to turn the other way when needed and pass. Finally as his shoulders are still leaning back from the take off and his board rises the rider and brings his knees up and close, so that the board moves with him and doesn’t pull him down later in the move.
- The Inversion Pic C.
Getting the board up is what gives you time to pass the bar late and get your front foot through.
The timing and amount you turn can vary, but the more you complete the back rotation the better your KGB will look, much the same as a back to blind. The rider is coming around his back loop, not quite a full 360, but almost in relation to the angle he went off the wind to start, which gives him the most chance of landing comfortably downwind and not on an edge. Your aim is to get to this point with your board high and the bar still tucked in close to your hips. The further you come around the more your hips will come up towards the bar and save you having to pull your weight up to the bar, and this way you can rotate the opposite way for the pass without getting pulled backwards. Like many passes you will think you’ve left it too late, but this is your cue to go.
- Turn The Other Cheek Pk D.
Time to pull the trigger! Once you’ve completed the back loop you need to go for the pass before your board and legs drop and therefore pull you down and away from the bar. With two hands still holding the bar, The rider keeps his knees in and up whilst he turns his head to initiate the pass. The head should lead the entire move from here; if it does you can turn and claim the KGB. As you turn your head look up, not down at the water. The fact that the board and his feet have completed the back loop mean that the board is in front of him and therefore he won’t get pulled backwards away from the board but rather drop forwards towards it. This is not a bad time to give the kite a quick tweak down if you find that it keeps rising.
However if you keep your elbows in your kite will naturally dip once you release your back hand, as all your weight will transfer to the front. The MAIN DIFFERENCE here to a back to blind with air pass, is that your focus is not on passing the bar but rather on spinning your head, body and board so that you can see where you’ll land. If you just concentrate on the pass you’ll drop down without turning the full 360 to heel side.
- Forward Pass Pic E.
Looking forward to where you want to go will make you lead the rotation, so stretch your chin out in front of you and keep your eyes up. Normally you would turn your head down, and therefore pass but then drop down. In a KGB you must keep the head looking above the water, searching for where you’ll land. Here you can see the result – The rider is still turning as his head and body are leading the way. As the rider turns he rotates onto the bar and can therefore pass, but the priority is the rotation and therefore the pass from one hand to the other is late. Finally if you look at Christian’s front leg you can see that it is still bent. Keeping your landing foot close will guarantee that it comes with you and doesn’t get left behind. Once you get this far, prepare to scream and celebrate, as the KGB will be yours.
Top Tips
- The foundation for this move is a decent slow and inverted back loop, so repeat as many of these as you can, getting the board high and finishing your rotation at the apex.
- This will get you prepared and visually ready for the final 360. If your feet are dropping as you come around your back loop, you need more inversion, so more leaning back, more locked elbows and more knees up.
- We won’t be adding any common problems for this move, as it is a matter of concentrating on the relevant skills and putting them together – an inverted slow back loop, and a pass rotation lead by you head held high.
Keystones
- Massively off the wind
- Lean back towards the tail
- Hands in, knees up
- Full rotation to inverted position.
- Lead the pass with your head held high and front knee in.
Sent Back roll Nose Grab
This is very exciting and this is one of those many jumping moves that many of you learnt during your early steps and adding a glorious nose grab so that it doesn’t look in the slightest stale. In fact may get many of your peers back on the back roll bandwagon. Obviously all grabs are great but a nose grab really stands out as it forces you into a tweak, which just oozes style and smile. Only prerequisite for this is a sent back roll, but if you’ve already got the nose grab jump dialed, things will be very easier for you.
The Jump Pic A
To grab the nose whilst back rolling you’ll need time, and for time read slow back loop rotation. The only way to pull off a fancy slow roll is to get enough height, so the jump is everything. Approach wise you should be coming in on a good edge with the kite either at 11 or 1 o’clock, no higher. Extend your front leg to push your hips back on the board, essential for a controlled back rotation, and even though this will bend your back leg, keep it solid not soft; otherwise you won’t be able to hold the edge against the kite’s pull.
In Pic A the rider’s front leg is straight and her back leg is locked to maintain a solid edge and her derriere is low. With her kite moved into position and her but in the sweet spot she can now send the kite as for a jump and concentrate on resisting the resultant pull and lift with her back leg.
The Initiation Pic B
The way you start your back roll will dictate the entire rotation, so bearing that in mind let’s have a look at when and how the rider get’s things under way. Having resisted with a good edge whilst sending the kite quite hard from 11 o’clock the pull should come early, at about 12 or just after . 
As soon as the rider feels the pull she stamps up off her back leg in a popping motion and then pulls the bar in. By popping up into the back loop she can’t lean too far back or bend both legs and therefore can’t carve too hard into wind under the kite, so her rotation will be slower. This is because she is taking off upwind, not already into wind, so she has further to rotate in the air. And by pulling the bar in the rider can immediately freeze the kite above her, preventing it from continuing back as is often the way in sent back rolls. Note that although the rider has carved into this rotation she has not thrown her head over her front shoulder. You want slow and controlled so keep your head looking forward.
Go Early Pic C
It’s the same for pretty much every grab, you have to go for the grab straight off the bat, the longer you wait the less time you’ll have and the less likely you’ll think it’s a good idea, especially when it involves:: bit of stretching and twisting. You can clearly see another advantage of not throwing your head into the rotation. As the rider gets airborne, by looking forward she is actually staring right at the board. This way she can see where she will grab and can prepare for it. The rider lifts her front knee up and across her body, knee towards opposite shoulder and releases her back hand and reaches it down towards the nose – all the while keeping the bar in with her front hand.
The Nose Grab Pic D
This is a beauty, and by jove does it suit a back roll. Once you’ve got the nose or toe side edge up front, do actually grab it firmly as it’ll help you pull your front leg in and give you something to push against with the back leg, leading to a wonderful tweak, which you can hold for as long as you dare. Looking at the grab keeps your head between your shoulders, so will keep you rotating slowly.
This is probably a good moment to mention the advantage of giving the kite a decent send for the jump. It’s not just about getting height, but because you’ll spend a considerable amount of time keeping the bar pulled in with only your front hand, the kite will merely move from behind you to slightly in front of you. If you gingerly drift the kite up, by the time you come around your back roll the kite will be way too for forward and pulling you off balance.
The Finish Pic E
If your rotation is controlled and the kite is not too for forward you can hold the grab until just before touchdown. 
However looking at your grab and the front of the board will not encourage you to finish off the rotation. To make sure that you complete the 360° and get far enough around landing perfectly you will eventually need to turn your head over your front shoulder to see where you’re going, spot your landing and get the board pointing downwind. When you do release the grab, only release the grab – so keep your knees up and the bar in so that you can dive the kite for landing.
Top Tips
- Keeping in line with practicalities do start with some back rolls, concentrating on the send, upward take off and slow rotation.
- Then start to bring your front knee up and across whilst keeping your back leg bent. Once you’re happy with this release the front hand and go for the early grab, which you can hold or touch for just a fraction of a second. Finally build up to a long tweaked hold.
- Trim your bar and sweet spot in a touch, as it’ll make reaching the shoulder across for the grab more comfortable. And keep your harness tight!
Common Problems
- If you are over-rotating your back roll and either landing across the wind on an edge or starting another rotation make sure that you don’t carve up excessively during your take off.
- You should go from the edge that you’ve approached with, and then kick up and around. Also make sure you dive the kite for the landing as this will stop your rotation and pull you off down wind. If you can’t reach the grab, try a few without a back roll.
- The nose grab is more about bringing your knee up and across under your harness hook, rather than you reaching down for it.
- If you’re getting pulled forward and off balance by the kite in the air, either crashing or landing nose first. This is a result of the kite flying forward of
- 12 o’clock, so in the rider’s case towards 11, and can be due to a number of reasons. Firstly make sure your hands are centered on the bar, keep the bar in with one hand without yanking it forward. Make sure you send the kite, the further it goes back, the further it needs to return, so there is a perfect balance depending on your height and kite size.
Keystones
- Good solid edge with legs resisting
- Send kite positively
- Pop up into the back roll (not around)
- Pull front knee up for early grab
- Turn head to complete rotation
Unhooked Front To Blind Ole
There are a few takes on the front to blind, powered, unhooked, hooked, sent kite, you name it and it’s probably likely. We’re adding the unhooked Ole to the list as it serves a couple of purposes. Firstly it does allow you to go for and learn the blind with a slightly higher kite. Secondly on a big lefty kite in light winds, you will often need to have the kite a bit higher and with the resultant upward pull on the bar “Oleing” out is a health conscious option – oh yes and it does have a different look and feel to a standard bar pass ending. Before you attempt this we’d suggest you can pop front roll, and preferably relay to blind, but if you’ve got the hooked version down then this is a mere step away. Following are a few points worth more than a moment’s consideration.
- Take off, pause and rotate Pic A.
As with all things unhooked and popped we’ll assume that you’ll have the bar trimmed correctly, hands centered and approach with good speed before bearing off with your weight back to unhook, dropping low and edging hard into your pop, stamping hard to get the height without a cheeky kite send. If you use your kite you’ll lose forward momentum and the landing will be difficult to pull off.
For extra lift when learning you can have your kite positioned higher, just above 11 or 1 o’clock – but don’t move it up. Here the rider has her kite parked at 11 o’clock and has just popped hard to get up off the water. What’s clear to see is that the rider has not yet started her front rotation; she is still looking forward to where she’s going. You too must separate the movement, even if only by a fraction of a second, but you need to pop before throwing your head and shoulders down and around. As a result you’ll get the height, if not you’ll be diving yourself down into the water and onto your back.
- Front Hand Pic B.
Whilst rotating around, especially if you have the kite high, it will be very tempting to lean on the back hand, and also very natural to have pulled on it whilst edging to pop. Therefore as you spin around it is very good form to keep applying a bit of pressure onto your front hand as this will both stop the kite from floating up above you, and it will keep the kite moving forwards, which will make the landing easier as you’ll have momentum. The rider is only just into her rotation but she is already “leaning” on her front hand. This means that when she finishes her rotation she’ll be able to pull herself towards the bar to throw the blind – if you end up hanging under the bar you can only spin to blind, which won’t offer you any consistency.
- Look Pic C.
We’ve said this before but whether it be a hooked front to blind or an S-bend pass the principal is always the same, another very brief pause between finishing your rotation and throwing the blind. This prevents you from over rotating and you have much more chance of keeping the kite in the air, rather than releasing one arm and starting the mother of all down loops.
Here the rider has rotated the full 360° and is focused again on where she’ll land. This momentarily slows her down, almost pauses the rotation, enabling her to set up for the blind. If not she would be spinning under her kite. From here she can now pull on the bar hard with both hands and throw the blind. With her head, hands and bar leading the rider can throw the blind and swing her legs through to turn far enough for the landing.
- Landing Pic D.
Landing blind for an Ole or pass needs to be flat on the board, downwind, not on an edge across the wind. This way you’ll be moving toward the kite and therefore there won’t be any tension on the lines.
Sc bearing away into the move is important, as this leads to a more downwind landing, and pulling hard before committing to the blind will also help. In the photo the rider’s board is off downwind so her momentum will keep her moving towards the kite. Now what differentiates an Ole from a surface pass here are the position of the rider’s body and her bar. The rider is standing upright over the board with her head high, not bent over double, and she is holding her bar high above her on an outstretched arm. This position is the perfect set up to an Ole.
- The Ole Pic E.
Firstly let’s remember what an Ole is. You will be moving the hand that is holding the bar, across, upwind of your head and shoulders to the other side of your body, from where you’ll be able to continue riding, but now toe side rather than blind.
That’s all it is, you’re not trying to turn the board or slide it around to bedside. It’s an upper body movement to get the bar across to the direction of travel and no pass is required. You can see in the photo that because she is travelling towards the kite the rider can push the bar upwind of her and then simply move her hand across in front of her face – now the bar is the same side of her body as the kite and the natural order of things are restored.
- The Finale Pic F.
You have a few options to finish things off, and regardless of what you do it’s a good idea to get both hands back on the bar so that you get control of the kite. Continuing on toe side shows good control, and will certainly confuse a few onlookers. That said if you land with a lot of power and speed the chances are that you will carve onto your heels, so keep going and ride out in the other direction. Here the rider has pushed the bar across, finished her Ole and is reaching for her bar. She has a lot of weight on her heels and as a result will steer her kite across the window once she has her back hand on the bar and follow it by continuing to carve on her heels.
Top Tips
- Apart from making sure that your popped front rolls are working off pat, the secret is to land blind and yes you’ve guessed it, pause foss split second before attempting the Ole.
- If you rush the Ole you’ll fall backwards or if you really rush the Ole you’ll start to rotate into it before you’ve even landed. So first land, balance and then push the bar.
Common Problems
- Assuming that you can get to blind the main issue will be falling backwards. This is normally a result of leaning back to push the bar across your face, rather than keeping your weight balanced and physically pushing the bar up wind and past.
- If you land on your toes across the wind the lines will tighten and you won’t be able to push the bar without it pushing you back, or you leaning back.
Keystones
- Pop then rotate
- Look and pause
- Pull with both hands then throw
- Land downwind and flat – pause
- Then push the bar upwind and across
Popped Hooked Front Crail /Nose Grab
Making your move look good is an art and result of regular practice. The best key is whatever you do, do it with right way and follow instruction from professionals. Every professional kite rider has his experiences to share and valuable tips for new joiners. An amazing enthusiast this sport is and with that in mind here is our guide to a popped front roll with a Crail or Nose grab thrown into the mix for extra spice. The grab itself is done with the back hand reaching forward and touching, stroking or preferably holding either the nose of the board or as near as possible on the toe side way up near the fin. It goes without saying that you’ll already need a competent popped front to nail this beauty, as the more powered it is performed with, the better the axis of rotation will be and thus all the sweeter the grab will look. Let us remind you of a few vital key moments for a decent popped front whilst also sneaking in the grab.
Coming In
If you want pop you need to approach in the right way, as it will not only aid in getting up and off the water, but also the rotation and the landing.
In Pic A. the rider is perfectly set up for some hefty pop. With her kite parked just below 11 o’clock she pushes the nose of the board off the wind and flexes her back leg to flatten the board, increase speed and move towards the kite, allowing it to drop back a bit in the window. At the sometime she has all her weight, hips, head and shoulders dropped back over and behind the back foot. Her hands are centered and she has her bar trimmed in enough that she can get into this position without pulling too much tension onto the back lines. It is advisable to move your front hand over the middle of the bar, center line between your first two fingers if you can. This will allow you to keep the power on throughout the move without the kite diving down.
Take Off
Going into a popped front rotation it is all too tempting to drift the kite up and wait for something to happen, which will inevitably lead to a dangly and uncontrolled spin under a very high kite. It’s a most to keep the kite flying forward and get your height from a very aggressive pop. Breaking the pop and rotation apart, even just by a millisecond will make all the difference. If you concentrate on going up before throwing your head around and shoulders down you will get enough height. If you dive straight into the rotation you’ll not extend up and rather fire yourself down towards the water.
Pic B. shows the rider popping up hard. Having carved quickly back up onto her edge with her weight still back, she has now stamped down hard, pushing her back leg down against the edge of her board and extending her body upwards for maximum pop. She keeps her front elbow tucked in and bent to prevent the kite from drifting up and the bar is still angled towards the kite as if she were riding. The only give away showing a prospective front rotation is the bending and lifting of the front knee.
Rotate and Release
Once you know that you’re on the way up you need to get spinning and think about the grab. You won’t have long in the air so its chop chop. To initiate the rotation lean the head and shoulders forward, so that you are going with the pop. By lifting the front leg and allowing your body to be kicked up you will start to rotate from the back legs impetus. Turning your head to guarantee spin will help, but if you whip around too quickly it’ll be tricky to get the grab in early enough. As for the grab you need two actions, release the front hand and start to reach forwards, and you must bring the front knee up and across your body to bring the nose of the board within reach.
Pic C. the rider is just off the water and she already has her front knee up and across in front of her. She resists the temptation to pull her back leg up and keeps it straight – with it extended the nose of the board will tip even closer to her.
She allows her head and shoulders to tip down and forward into the rotation as she fully extends up and keeps the bar pulled in. Her back hand is reaching down towards the already well-positioned board.
The Grab Getting the grab in early has two advantages. The first is purely aesthetic, you’ll be able to hold it for longer and thus it’ll be more noticeable. The second however is more functional – once you have the grab you can pull the board in, making you small and then concentrate on getting around the rest of your front roll. Theoretically at least, if you get the take off right the grab should fall into place.
Pic D. As a result of all the hard work the rider has got a pleasantly satisfying pop, good height and controllable slow rotation. This allows her to get her hand onto the nose area before she has rotated 90°. Keeping the front knee up and releasing the back hand early were key.
Keeping the bar in and power on guarantee that she won’t just drop out of her rotation, but will continue to be pulled forward. The Money Shot Once you’ve got the grab, hold it. As stated before, this isn’t just for poseur status, massaging your ego or blatant show boating, but with a solid hold of your board you can pull it in and turn your head and therefore finish your rotation.
Pic E. With her grab held the rider turns her head to spot the landing. To speed up her rotation she has pulled both knees up whilst still holding the bar in, keeping the kite moving forward and pulling.
Touch Down
Aim to hold your grab for as long as possible, until you complete the rotation. You’ll find the timing quite natural, as you’ll need to let go to allow your board to drop under you as you start to drop. Assuming you went off the wind in your approach you should come around to a comfortable downwind landing towards the kite, which will kill the power in the kite and make tutu comfortable stomped landing.
Pic F. You can see that the rider has released the grab and lets her legs and the board drop down beneath her for a solid reception. She still has the pulled in so will land following the kite with her weight squarely over the board.
Top Tips
- A good pop and confident front roll are key, so before throwing yourself up into one of these get warmed and ready with a few two handed front rolls.
- When you’ve knocked out a few high and controlled ones you’ll be more confident to go for the grab.
Common Problems
- If you’re struggling to reach the grab there are two solutions. Firstly if you can already nose or nearly nose (troll) grab the board in sent jumps or front rolls try popping with the kite higher, or even drift it up a tad.
- With a higher kite and a more vertical rotation it will be easier to reach the board. Secondly if you’ve never tried a two grab before and you’re finding it tricky here, revert to getting the body movement right in a sent jump and then a sent front roll.
Keystones
- Bear away with weight back for god pop
- Extend up fully
- THEN release back hand and start rotation
- Bring front knee up and across
- Hold grab and turn head
Front Roll Hand Wash Transition
Yes another hand wash. These moves are always popular crowd pleasures and on clinics everyone wants to get involved in some water tickling. This is the front roll or front loop variant and it has its roots firmly placed in the more traditional popped front loop nose grab transition from yesteryear as featured in Issue 31! There is quite a lot going on in a short amount of time, so you’ll not have the luxury or hindrance to worry about flying the kite, it’s more pop and go and until you’ve nailed a few the kite will seemingly dictate when everything happens. This is another move that will be far easier to learn on a bigger kite and much trickier on a 7m.
The Approach Pic A.
Your approach into this is similar to that of a dark slide or back roll hand wash if you already have those nailed. If not fret not, your principal aim is to stay low whilst maintaining your edge. Normally to pop we explode upwards and naturally as you sit you will bend your knees and come up over the board. So get your cheeks down low whilst keeping your edge. This way you’ll have an edge to kick up and off, whilst being low enough to get your hand in the water.
You can see the rider approaching with his kite about 11 o’clock, bar trimmed out so that he can keep tension on the lines with an extended arm, plenty of speed and he is sitting low but still with plenty of edge. From here the rider takes his front hand off the bar, turns further into wind to check his speed and very gently pulls the bar in with his centered back hand.
Kick Edge Pic B.
Timing wise your moment to go is the same in all these pop trick transitions, you must go early, that is to say before you feel the kite lift. As long as you pre-empt the lift your kite is less likely to fly too far back in the window and you’ll be able to stay low.
In Pic B. The rider really kicking off and against his edge, not up. This fortunately is the standard kick off fees forward rotation but here you must exaggerate the action. The rider leans forward and stretches his free front arm out in front of him as he kicks. This will both initiate the front roll and plant his hand into the water. It is important to get your hand out in front as you’ll soon overtake it without the resistance and drag it’ll produce once buried in the water.
Hand Plant Front Roll Pic C
Not a delicious Ionian snack but your next port of call. If you get your hand down on a straight and stiff arm you will rotate no matter what, as your hand becomes the axis for your rotation. This means that you can try and concentrate your efforts on your kite or rather your other hand, the one holding the bar. You need to keep tension on the lines by holding the bar in on the sweet spot, whilst trying your best not to send the kite steaming off behind you. Three things will help: hand in the centre of the bar, sweet spot trimmed out and big kite…
Here in Pic C. you can see that the rider kite has still not reached 12 o’clock and he is already well into the move. He has his hand in the water and is making an effort to resist by keeping his arm locked out. Simultaneously the rider keeps the bar in and as such the kite will be slowly drifting back whist The rider pendulums underneath.
Upside Down Pic D.
As mentioned earlier there is an element of just going with this move as you learn it. However if you can you should try and invert yourself as much as possible to get some extra style points. You’ll see some folk banging these moves out totally straight and stiff. As your head is down it is a matter of getting your hips, feet and board up, and the simplest method is to keep your hand firmly planted and straighten your legs. With the drag from your hand they’ll be forced up! You can see that the rider pushing his feet up in an attempt to get inverted. Worth noting though is that his hand is only just in contact with the water so he is about to lose resistance and his opportunity to get fully upside down. Whilst trying to straighten up the rider has to keep the bar in and be ready for the moment that he gets lifted and his hand releases from the water.
Is Dive & Land Pic E.
Once you feel yourself lifted, this is your cue to finish your front rotation as the kite has passed through 12 and is effectively jumping you up off the water. If you can get yourself around, then you’ll be able to see where you’re likely to land and balance yourself against any awkward pull from the kite.
Looking at Pic E. you can see that the first two things that the rider has done are allow his legs to drop and get his free hand back on the bar, as both these movements will give him more control of the situation. By dropping his feet the rider has his undercarriage and landing gear down, and with two hands on the bar he can better control how quickly the kite is moving. The rider is also looking back and down wind, so that he can turn his body and board to where he should be landing. What he does now will depend on how far back the kite is and how far out the rider has pendulum. If the kite is still relatively high the rider will dive hard with his new front hand (the right one) to pull himself out of the move. If the kite is quite far behind the rider will have to dive it harder, aiming for a late kite loop, so that he’ll have the power to keep moving once he lands. Whilst learning this we recommend that you go for the first diving option, as it’s better to get wet and water start than get thrown around backwards.
Top Tips
- It’s a good idea to start off with some gentle popped front loop transitions with both hands on the bar to ease you into the kite timing and see how far back the kite goes.
- If it is going a long way back go earlier.
- Once you feel confident get low and give it a go, not much can go wrong as you shouldn’t be more than an arm’s length off the water.
Common Problems
- Main problem that you’ll have is the kite ending up too far behind you, so go early and keep your edge whilst you get low, and let the bar out a bit to stop the kite drifting too much.
- You may also have trouble getting the hand in and keeping it planted in the water. Really reach forward and throw yourself down into the water.
- Once it’s in resist the pull against it. This may take a few goes to get your head around.
Keystones
- Get low but keep your edge
- Release your front hand and kick forward early
- Reach your hand forward and down into the water
- Resist and try to straighten your legs up
- As you lift drop legs and turn to dive
Front Loop Grab
It was recently brought to our attention that we had yet to cover one of the first and potentially simpler of front loop (or front roll) variations – the grabbed sent front loop. We’ve talked you through the inversion, the one foot and all manner of transitions and pops, but this issue we’ll set the record straight and deliver an achievable and yet utterly stylish grab which you can add on to your much loved front loop. Adding a grab onto any move that you already have in the bag is a matter of both confidence and making sure that you have the basics right, so we’ll have a look at what is needed to secure a comfortable and safe front rotation whilst enabling the back hand to come off the bar and grab the board.
The set up and take off – Pit A.
To learn this, you’ll best keep everything as close to your standard default front as possible, so that you’re adding a grab, not learning a new move. However there are a few points in the set up that you’d do well to follow and we’ll look at the rider as an example. Firstly if you don’t already, you should centre your hands on the bar, so they are resting either side of the centre line. This will stop any unwanted movement of the kite when you grab. With your hands together, sending the kite may seem a little sluggish so be sure to use both hands in a push and pull movement.
Secondly don’t be afraid to send the kite as hard as you normally do. If the kite travels past and behind 12 o’clock, then pulling and supporting yourself on the bar with your front hand won’t result in an immediate diving of the kite. 
Thirdly do trim the bar at least down to half way, as this way you are less likely to stall the kite on takeoff and during flight, which hopefully means that you’ll execute an up and down jump rather than flying downwind at speed.
Finally, although you must complete your rotation, it will be easier to grab if you’re not spinning too quickly. So to slow your rotation down just a tad doesn’t use your head to turn you on takeoff but rather just your shoulders and the kick off. You can see the rider is still looking forward as she begins to throw her shoulders down towards the nose of the board and stamp away against her back foot edge.
Grab Prep – Pic B.
The secret to getting a grab in during the short time you have is to go for it early. Looking at the picture you can see that the rider is wasting no time in releasing her back hand and lifting the back of the board up towards her as soon as she takes off. You can also see that The rider is looking towards the tail of the board where she intends to grab it, so she can cirri her hand at the target and bring hand and board together. This would not be possible if she had thrown her head around to look over her back shoulder in order to get the rotation. Having released her back hand so early she can already pull on her front hand a little bit, so long as she did send the kite back past 12 O’clock. In this jump the rider is aiming for a boned out grab, hence she just lifts her back leg, but you’re quite welcome to lift both knees if it feels more stable.
The Grab – Pic C.
The moment of truth! Your easiest and most reachable options for the grab are either the heel side edge by the fin, or the tail itself. It’s a great idea to practice this on the beach without your kite to find out where is most natural for you. Holding a grab, rather than a little tickle is a good game plan, as you’ll have more balance with both hands occupied, so literally grab the board and pull it towards you. Once again to bone it out you can straighten the front leg by pushing your front foot away from you whilst holding the tail in close. In the picture you can see that The rider is still watching her grab, which keeps her rotation slow, and she has the bar held in, which keeps tension on the lines and the kite under control as it gently moves it above her.
Landing Prep – Pic D.
If you’ve held the grab and controlled your rotation speed from the take off you will need to initiate and prepare for the landing by completing your rotation. The first and most important ingredient is your head. The rider has turned her head to look around towards where she will land. The old adage of where you look is where you’ll go has never been more true. As your head turns your shoulders will follow, and as long as at least one of your knees is held up so will your hips and board. With your body turning towards the expected landing strip you need to maintain tension in the lines so that you have enough float to get around, and as you can see The rider still has her bar pulled is From this point onwards as you drop slowly down the harder you pull on your front hand, the more the kite will pull you downwind toward a soft landing. Our suggestion here would be to release the grab and get both hands on the bar so that you’re confident with the dive and can then control the power on landing. As you drop the grab, allow your legs to straighten underneath you so that your landing gear is down and that you have a platform to land on. If you keep your knees up, you’ll land with the board in front of you, not underneath you and you’ll be unlikely to smoothly sail off downwind. And if you have boned out the grab remember to lift the front leg slightly as a tail first landing will be a lot more pleasant than a nosedive.
Top Tips
- As already mentioned playing with the grab on land, whether rolling around on the beach, your lawn or in the lounge will train you to grab without too much thought.
- Once you’re on the water start off by throwing down a few front loops without the grab so grab as soon as you take off – if you wait you’ll miss Now check out the sequence and videos – good luck’ that you’re feeling confident.
- Your next step is to go the moment. For a quick tap of the board and then finally hold the grab.
Common Problems
- If you’re struggling to find the time to grab, your rotation is too fast.
- Practice some front loops, still using your rear leg to kick off and your shoulders to dip forward but keep your head perpendicular to your shoulders – this should help. Also go for the
Keystones
- Good edge and positive send
- Kick hard but don’t turn head
- Go for grab early, immediately after take off
- Tom head to complete rotation
- Drop legs and dive to land
Kite Loop Handle Pass
The KL3 is a genuine pleasure to tame. Having a bit of pull from the kite and chucking a pass in to boot should get you cheering yourself on even without witnesses. Best bet before trying this would be to get your shifty 3 down, as that way you’ll be used to the rotation and muscle memory should prevail when you pull the trigger. For the more cautious amongst you, the progression step before this is the kite loop to wrapped, which we covered in Issue 21. It goes without saying, we hope, that at the very least you can comfortably and confidently stomp your unhooked fish polled kite loops!?
Approach and Pop
Perhaps a slight recap is necessary as your parting with water moment should be bang on to give you maximum hope of adding a pass and landing. Firstly you’ll need some height and therefore some up pull from the kite, not just some mad demonic downwind tug. Starting with your kite high, near as damn it to 12 o’clock will make all the difference. Trimming your bar down is also essential as not only will this make unhooking with your kite high possible, but it will also encourage your kite to loop, rather than spin on its axis. In Pic A. The rider has already set his kite at 12, flattened the board off to unhook with his hips up.
Lift Off
As you get launched into the air you must be ready for the put as the kite starts to turn. Having popped up hard you will be extended, but in order to take the power and still be able to rotate you must brace and balance yourself.
Pic B. As the rider explodes up off his back foot he puts all his effort into 2 things. Firstly he keeps his elbows in as tight as possible, so that his arms won’t extend too much as the kite pulls, which in turn will keep his body closer to the bar and ready for the pass. Secondly he pulls his knees up, making himself small, so that his legs and board don’t get left behind, and therefore have a chance of coming through and under the bar when he rotates into the pass. In short the rider is trying not to let his body extend into a Raley position. Flick and Kick those of you familiar with the shifty 3 will be aware of the spin that your back leg can create as it comes towards the bar for the pass. The KL3 is no different in that you’ll spin more quickly if you can “involve” the back leg. In fact here it is almost easier as rather than having to kick it out behind you, the whip from the kite will tend to flick your back leg out, so just concentrate on keeping the front leg in and your back leg will be poised and ready to strike.
Pic C. At this point the rider is watching the kite as it goes through the bottom of its loop and starts its journey back up. Keeping his elbows and front knee in the whip of the kite pulls him towards it, which conveniently flicks his back leg out, ready for the pass.
0 – 60!
As well as physical effort the timing of the pass will make or break this move. Although feeling is generally preferred, watching the kite during its loop is no bad thing as you need t “go” before the kite climbs back up in the window, as this will be the moment of least pull and the bar will be light and not pulling away from you. Pic D. As the turbo drops off, the rider pulls the bar down and back towards his trailing hip hard with both hands, so that his upper body comes up towards the bar.
Simultaneously he pulls and swings his back leg up towards the bar, which not only helps him lift the board but also generates the momentum for the pass. You can see how close his body is to the bar now.
The Pass
No rock& science here, as all the usual rules apply. Assuming that you went early enough the kite will not be pulling the bar away from you, so the key is committing. Therefore as your back knee comes through you must release your front hand and turn your head and shoulders so that you don’t block the rotation. Also you must hold onto the bar with you back hand until you can reach it with your free hand behind you. By holding onto the bar you can rotate around it, making the pass more achievable.
Pic E. You can see that the rider has twisted the bar behind him, which allows his shoulder and therefore body to rotate further around, almost rolling around the bar. This makes the pass simpler as by rolling onto the bar, it places the bar easily within reach of the searching free hand. Hence the progression from wrapped, as realistically you are first wrapped in the air, before passing.
Claim it
Once you’ve passed the bar preparation for landing is key. You need the board underneath you and your head looking forward and held high, whilst keeping your arm in as close as possible so that you complete the rotation sufficiently to land with the board heading down wind. Pic F. The rider has dropped his under carriage so that he’ll land on the board. Chances are that this will not be the softest of landings, so he’s lifted his head so that he can stand up and take it, whilst his elbow holding the bar is bent so that his body will follow the kite downwind and complete the rotation.
Top Tips
- As is so often the way the fundamentals are key, so hammering out a few unhooked kite loops first will acclimatize you to the wind and more importantly the kites arc.
- Watch the kite and feel for the flick as the kite whips.
- This way you’ll be able to anticipate the dead point, where you’ll have the slack to pass. If you it for it you’ll miss the moment.
- It will make good sense to learn this with less power and build up from there. If you can nail a pass on a low fly by just before landing it counts and the consequences of it not working are just a splash.
- We won’t be adding any common problems for this move, as it is a matter of concentrating on the relevant skills and putting them together – a comfortable kite loop with an explosive rotation.
Keystones
- Pop early
- Elbows in, Knees up
- Pull bar and swing back leg immediately after whip
- Hold on with back hand to roll around bar
- Get upright for landing and hold in front arm
Inverted Grabbed Front Loop
Funnily enough some of the most pleasant to watch and pleasing on the eye kiters are not necessarily the most radical, but simply the most stylish. Obviously there are the golden few who combine both and have as a result forged a decent career out of kite surfing. So with that in mind here’s another way of adding the mustard onto a move that you can already do, the glorious front loop. For this very reason we won’t be delving into the finer details of the front loop, as we’ll assume that you have them dialed, but rather concentrate on the required aspects of pimping your FL, polishing and adding to the bits that matter.
The Take Off
Your approach and take off should be as normal. Coming into the front loop you’ll need to be thinking ahead so it’s best not to change the way you get off the water, but for one thing…
In Pic A. the rider has already committed to her forward rotation as per normal, she’s sent the kite and kicked off her back foot to push into the rotation and has the bar in with tension on the lines to control the kite throughout the move. The important exaggeration is in her head movement. In an effort to create a more inverted rotation the rider has really thrown her head forwards towards the nose of the board. This will rock her weight and centre of gravity forward of her harness hook and literally tip her upper body forwards, lifting the board behind her.
This is in preference to turning her head back and spinning under the kite and around her lines. Also note that her bar is close to her and her hands are not above her. If your arms are straight and the bar is above you, you won’t be able to throw your weight forwards. The resultant tipping from your head on your front shoulder will give a more horizontal body rotation, but not an inverted one – for that we need more. On the way up get the kite close to 12 o’clock so that it is in position for the rest of the move.
Arch de Triumph
Getting your feet up once again relies on some head work. This is potentially the most confusing and disorientating part of the move, as it is very different from what you will have done before.
Pic B. Once the rider feels that she is rotating and has brought her knees up towards her body she initiates phase two of the inversion, most likely just before the 180° mark. To get the extra purchase on the inversion the rider now throws her head back, as if she were trying to see the water underneath her, in a back arching type of movement. It’s very important at this time to keep the bar in and tension on the lines, as you will need to apply some pressure through your hands to help. With her head on the way back and down, the rider’s knees, feet and board will rise further.
It is at this point in a front loop that you would most likely turn your head further to see where you are going, and it will take some concentration to override your muscle memory! Also as you throw your head back don’t be tempted to correct the kite, as strangely once you’re upside down you may well get confused as to which is your front hand. Not to worry though as the grab will sort that bit out.
Show Your Board
Pic C. As soon as the rider threw her head back she released her back hand and went for the tail grab
. From this moment on you are committed. Holding the grab the rider has pushed and extended her legs to get the board up. By pushing her feet away whilst holding the grab with her back hand the rider is able to “bone” the grab out. You can see that the rider is looking up at her back foot, but with her head still back.
The good news is that because you throw your head back rather than look for your landing it should slow your rotation down so that you can hold the grab and inversion for longer. Do beware though that if you’re on a small kite, whilst you freeze in this pose the kite might well start to move forward and pull you downwind.
Coming Down
At first you’ll most likely prefer to come down the right way up, upright, and set up for your landing.
Pic D. To get the board down and her head up, the rider uses gravity.
Simply by lifting her head, moving her chin onto her chest, she rolls forward as the weight of the board pulls her feet down. With this new view the rider can focus on where she’s going to land and act accordingly. Here the rider holds her grab whilst diving the kite with her front hand for touchdown. However if you feel that you’ve already over cooked it on the front hand you may have to let the bar out to avoid a super fast reception.
Once you’ve got this nailed and your confidence up, you can hold the inversion and grab for as long as you like, suddenly releasing and turning in time to land.
Top Tips
- For your first attempts just site it all down, be gentle and don’t jump too high. Ideally we’d recommend leaving the grab out and just concentrate on getting the board up. It’s stunning how going upside down can and will disorientate you.
- If you get it wrong taking it easy there’ll be no consequence. However once you have the movements and develop some special awareness we’d recommend sending the kite well on takeoff for two reasons.
- With a front loop you are likely to release the edge early and therefore need the extra oomph to get the height. Secondly as you’ll be hanging off your front hand whilst you grab with the other, with the kite further back to start with you are less likely to overdo it and come in lit.
Following Sequence 1.
Pic 1. The rider approaches with her kite at 11 o’clock, good speed, hands centered on the bar, a fine edge and the sends the kite as per front loop.
Pic 2. The rider kicks up and into her front loop off her back leg, but really concentrates on throwing her head forward towards the nose of the board to tip her forward into a more horizontal rotation.
Pic 3. As she leaves the water the rider brings her knees up, and gets the kite back up, with the bar held in to keep tension on the lines and aid with the inversion.
Pics 4 & 5. Coming around towards the 180 mark with the board rising the rider throws her head back, arching her back in an effort to get her feet above her.
Pic 6. With her feet up the rider releases her back hand and reaches for the tail grab.
Pics 7 & 8. Grabbing the board the rider pushes her feet up, extending her front leg to bone out the grab and get her sumptuous new board on display.
Pic 9. As she comes around the loop the rider drops the board down by lifting her head, so that gravity can take over and looks towards where she’ll land.
Pics 10 & 11. Releasing the grab on the way down the rider reaches up to get her back hand back on the bar.
Pics 12 & 13. With two hands on the be the rider dives the kite, drops her legs and sets up for a down wind landing.
Common Problems
- If you’re not getting enough inversion don’t look for the grab with your head, but rather lift the board with your legs until you can see it once you’ve thrown your head back. Remember to keep your bar in as you throw your head forward.
- If you’re under rotating and not completing the front loop, drop the grab and board sooner, and then turn your head hard to bring your shoulders around.
- If you’re landing with too much speed and the kite diving hard. Make sure that you send the kite enough, that your front hand is butted up to the chicken loop and that you’re not trying to pull yourself around the site front loop on your hand.
Keystones
- Bar in on take-off
- Throw head and weight forward
- Lift knees
- Throw head back and arch
- Push feet up
Blind Judge 3
We’re expecting that you can already stomp the blind judge, and therefore we’ll tweak what you have to move you towards the full monty. In tech terms, considering that you should land a blind judge pretty much down wind, you’re only going to have to turn just over another 90° to claim this one, but that’s a bit like saying you only have to pass the bar in the air to convert the blind landing into a judge, only. It may not sound like much but it’s worth the effort, as it will quite literally feel stunning to land back on your heels – boom! We’ll walk you through the bits that we think make the difference and get you all the way around.
The Approach
Yes once again if you don’t start this right you’ll be emptying your bladder into the wind, whilst banging your head on the proverbial brick wall. First things first, where you start is where you’ll finish, so if you want to land heel side pointing downwind you better bear away so that you’re pointing very downwind before takeoff to help your chances. If not even if you rotate all the way you’ll land on an edge and butt check at best.
Finally and looking at Pic A. you’ll need to get your body and weight into the right position to control the speed and pop. This should be nothing new but you can see that the rider has his hips back over the back of the board, his front leg extended, his shoulders behind his hips and his elbows is This is only possible if you bear away in this position so don’t carve off the wind and bend your front knee!
The Carve
You need to be super aggressive here to get maximum pop, so fight for it if this was a close up you’d see the rider’s rather pained kite face, there’s some effort involved.
Pic B. From the good approach position the rider was able to quickly carve back onto his edge by turning the board back up wind. To resist sufficiently the rider does not allow his back leg to bend more than it was before he carved – you can only use the bend that you have to pop. At the same time the rider’s front leg remains fairly straight which keeps his hips back and low. The final battle is to keep his front elbow in to stop the kite rising as he carves against it
Pop and Flick
This is definitely one of the most influential moments in learning this move, the flick which follows your pop.
Pic C. By resisting hard, carving hard and popping hard but late, the rider’s board flicks around behind him, turning his waist and shoulders upwind, so that the board is more vertical than horizontal behind him.
To prevent him from rotating the rider keeps looking forward and keeps his arms in, but he doesn’t resist this movement as it is the coiling of the spring! In this position the rider’s legs are straight, he doesn’t let his knees bend and feet lift. If you’re used to letting your knees bend your feet up behind you, you need to work on this straight flick. From here you can use gravity to gain maximum speed to spin effectively. If the feet go up you only have your knees travelling a short distance, as opposed to the weight of the board coming from far behind and one side to the other.
Pull and Turn
The flick is only transient, because no sooner is your board behind you than you need to get a move on and throw the 3.
Pic D. As soon as the rider can, he pulls hard on the bar to get his head and shoulders above it and swings the board forward. With the board and his body coming from that turned upwind position, it starts to turn the rider as soon as he moves. Worth noting as well that as the rider pulls on the bar with both hands he is already twisting it around ready for the pass. In comparison to a blind judge the rider does throw himself into the rotation, committing to a full rotation from the off. Think of it as a full flat rotation as opposed to a blind judge with a heel side landing. The basic difference here is that if your board is horizontal it swings forward and down as you pull. From the flicked position, as soon as you pull you automatically start to turn and therefore build up momentum for a full 360°.
The Pass
Hopefully the extra pop and direction of spin created from your flick will allow you to keep two hands pulling on the bar for longer whilst still allowing you to turn. This should then allow you to pass the bar nearer to you, whilst you remain more upright with the board underneath you. If you’re comfortably landing blind judges, then concentrate on passing the bar later, allowing your body to turn further before reaching for the bar. Pic E. You can see in the picture that the rider’s hips are over the board, so he is rotating with the board. The rider achieves this by keeping his head more upright, so don’t tuck your chin into your chest. You can also see that at the moment of passing the rider’s head is turning to look forward, keeping the rotation alive. Finally the rider’s trailing leg is bent.
You must keep this leg, your front landing leg bent so that it doesn’t drop down away from you, preventing you from completing the full 3.
Getting it round Pic F.
The final hurdle. You can see that as the rider releases his front hand he keeps his back arm bent and the bar close. This will keep him moving towards the kite and prevents him from dropping down. The rider’s head is still turning to look for the landing, bringing his shoulders with if now whilst holding the bar in close the rider lifts his front knee through with the rotation and twists the bar around in front of him, so that the bar will lead him as he comes around, bingo.
Top Tips
- They’ve all been mentioned, but start well off the wind, go for the flick and pull early. Really spin into the rotation, committing for the full 360 and pass the bar late so that you turn further, leading with your head held high.
- Once you pass the bar keep your knees and board up, and the bar in close, so that you can roll your front shoulder towards the bar waiting in front of you…. To get yourself in the mood and your head around it, try to get the full 3 without passing the bar, so let go when you should pass but aim to get your body and board around.
- Don’t however practice this method too much as you don’t want muscle memory to remember the letting go.
- You will need time and height to land this, so as well as going early you can sneak the kite up a fraction as you pop, but don’t wait to see if it’s enough, as then you’ll be its late.
Keystones
- Flick from take off.
- Immediately pull and turn.
- Head and knees up.
- Pass later in your rotation.
- Keep bar in close and lift
Beach Start From Two Feet
Many moons ago we covered the beach start where you anchor the board by putting one foot in a strap to stop it misbehaving and running off whilst you fly the kite. As effective a method as that may be, the launch can often be preceded by a game of hop scotch as you hop around on one leg waiting for the moment. Enter stage left the solution to a hopefully more dynamic and picturesque entry into the blue yonder, the beach starts from 2 feet. All the principals are much the same, bar the hopping, so let’s look at the ingredients separately.
1 Preparation Pic A.
How deep you need to start will depend on wind direction and space. Ideally you don’t want to be any deeper than just below the knee, with half way up your shin giving you a good balance between a soft landing if you get it wrong and an easy enough spring onto the board. We’d highly recommend not learning this in onshore conditions unless you have a lot of space down wind, and avoid rocky bottoms, sea urchins, mussel beds etc. and a crashing shore-break, you get the picture. We can see that the rider is carrying the board in her back hand whilst controlling the kite with her front hand. This way she can position the kite just behind her, in this case around 12.30 to 1 o’clock before she drops or places the board down, so that the kite is primed and she has the bar in with tension on the lines – this is your ready position and if you adopt it as you enter the shallows you’ll avoid all sorts of fifing around, swapping hands, repositioning the kite, dropping the board and generally getting out of shape as you rush to get ready. Also if there are waves, with the board in your back hand you are not in danger of getting hit by the board as the waves push against it.
2. Drop It Pic B.
Before dropping or placing the board on the water, make sure that you have your back into the wind, so that you know the wind is coming from directly behind you, as this will help get the board in the right place.
You can either drop or place the board in front of you. Dropping it has the benefit of being quicker and you can get the board further away from you. In the photo the rider has dropped the board in front of her so that it lands heel side edge first, which means that it’ll stay at the same angle whilst not stopping right in front of her. The board should lie across the wind, or ever so slightly up wind, but definitely not pointing off the wind. This means that you’ll have a solid platform to land on and the board will not be right next to you so that you’ll trip over it or fly past it whilst learning this if the board does skew off at the wrong angle you can push either the nose or tail to get it positioned correctly. However once you’ve got it sassed you’ll want this to be quick and dynamic.
Here the rider has already started to pull on the bar with her front hand to get the kite moving as soon as she has dropped the board. This way there is no time for the wind or is wave to move the board before she’s on it.
3. The Jump Pic C.
The idea is that you use the lift from the kite to float you up the few centimeters and support you whilst you slot your feet is You are not trying to launch yourself up and acrobatically land on the board from a great height. By moving the kite across the window from behind you, 1 o’clock to 11 o’clock, the principal is the same, but gentler than a water start – the kite will lift before pulling you forward. Now with two hands on the bar and tension on the lines, the rider keeps pulling forward and waits to feel the lift from her kite. As the kite lifts the rider pulls the bar in more and springs up with the emphasis being back foot up first, as this one should be the first to land on the board to keep the nose up. The whole time the rider is looking at her straps, so that she can aim her feet into them.
4. Contact Pic D.
When landing on the board, although the rider will get her back foot in first to stop the nose from sinking, she aims to keep her weigh central, as this way the kite will support her and keep her balanced. If she was to lean back against the kite or towards the back of the board she will slide the board away from her and dip her derriere in the water. You can clearly see that she has not gone for height, as she still needs to lift her knees to get her feet into the straps. As is result her feet, knees and board are in front of her and between her and the kite, so she can dive the kite with her front hand and use the pull to move forward and not get catapulted over the board.
5. Accelerate Pic E.
The final piece of the jigsaw is to casually ride away without sliding or tripping. For this you will need power, so as soon as you know/feel that your feet are in you will need to dive the kite harder from the previous lift stage. It’s almost two separate moves, the 1 to 11 movement to lift and support you, and then a dive from 1 to drive you out. To take this power you’ll need to drop your weight both upwind and back whilst pushing the board off the wind so that you can then carve onto your edge with power rather than sliding sideways with your weight on both feet.
You can see that the rider has dropped her weight low, moved her hips back over her back foot and pushed her front leg out so that the board can accelerate on is flat surface whilst her kite dives. Once she is balanced the rider will it’s her head, shoulders and hips to look Upwind and drive against her back foot to carve the board up onto its edge.
Top Tips
- The best way to learn this beach start is to break it into 2 parts, firstly the lift, spring and get your feet in. The emphasis here should be to land comfortably with both feet in the straps and the kite supporting you.
- Without the dive you’ll then drop slowly back into the water, and as you do you can dive the kite to pull you back up. Once you’re comfortable with this you can then anticipate the drop and dive the kite earlier and earlier until you exit dry and relatively powered.
Common Problems
- The most common mistake is to start with the kite too high. If you start with the kite at 12 o’clock, the power will not come on until the kite pulls low and forward. The result is to get pulled across the front of the board, whilst manically attempting to lean back against the power, so you’ll either catapult over the front or have the board tea tray out in front of you as you fly off the back.
- Remember you need the lift to support you getting on, and then the power to move off.
- If you are getting the lift but still seem to be sliding off the back of the board, it’s the result of the board pointing too far off the wind.
- And finally if you keep dropping back into the water, regardless of what you do, make a point of focusing on what your arms and harness do. Your arms are just for steering the kite, and your harness should be taking your weight. If you hold onto the power through the bar you’re both unable to steer the kite or sit back into the power.
Keystones
- Kite just behind you
- Bar in front hand, board in back hand
- Drop board across the wind, pull kite up and over
- Go up with lift, back foot first
- Once in dive hard
Twin Tip Duck Tack
A rather fun transition, the love child of two moves! You could look at it as the twin tip variant of the directional duck tack, but equally it is essentially an on-water, or un-aerial back loop transition. In its own right a smooth way of changing direction and a possible method of learning the key movements to the duck tack before venturing out on your surf or race board. Technically on a twin tip with straps, the mechanics of this move are not overly complicated, however the timing is crucial so once you get the movement, pasting it together piece by piece will deliver the goods. The end result should be a carve up and through the wind of almost 180° degrees, so that your board is across the wind with you facing upwind, followed by a pivot on the nose of the board to turn you and the board the remaining 180°, before you ride off back from whence you came – simples!
The Carve
You need to get the board a long way up into and through the wind so you’ll need some speed. However don’t come blotting into it like a bat out of hell, rather start on a good upwind edge, kite just above 11 or 1 and then momentarily sit down slightly so that your board flattens and picks up a little bit more. To be able to carve all that way you don’t need anything fighting you, whether it is the kite pulling you back downwind or the board dragging through the water. Therefore you need to get your weight, think hips and shoulders, more forward so that you use all the board to carve – the sitting slightly helps with this. If you’re low and have weight on both feet, the board won’t bog and drag, but instead whizz around. To go all the way you must get the kite up to 12 o’clock, so pull gently on your back hand as you approach. And finally to prevent the kite from holding you back you must let the bar out to get rid of the power as the kite moves up.
Pic A. The rider is carving into the wind whilst drifting the kite up to 12 o’clock with his back hand. He has taken his front hand off the bar, which allows him to twist his head and shoulders further upwind and let the bar out as the kite lifts. His front knee is slightly bent, and as he pushes his back foot away he breaks at the waist to keep his body upright. With weight on both feet you can see that his entire edge is in the water.
Half Way
Carving all the way until you are literally across the wind will place you in the perfect position to complete the move. As you can imagine once you’re here you won’t have any time to think before you gracefully sink back into the drink. The good news comes from 2 things. Firstly if you have got the kite up to 12 o’clock with the bar sheeted out, it will have flown all the way to the edge of the window, so therefore be right above you, waiting to support you. Secondly if you have carved hard, there will still be resistance against the board as it turns back towards you. This means that you can pull the bar in and push against both feet for support.
Pic B. You can see that the rider has carved all the way on the edge. With the board banked over and the kite high the tail does not slide, which would move him away from the kite. As Christian comes around past the 180° mark he pulls in on the bar and moves his weight forward, bending his front leg and pushing his hips towards the nose of the board.
Dig In
Assuming that you’ve got this far now is the time to get dynamic. Your sits is to dig the nose of the board into the water, throwing your weight over it and your front foot, whilst pulling in on the bar and turning your head and shoulders. As the power comes from the kite the resistance from the front of the board should be enough that the kite will pull you around.
Pic C. With the kite above him, the rider pulls down hard on his bar hand whilst throwing his weight forward onto his front foot. At the same time he turns his head down and around to sink the nose and lift the tail – the rest depends on the kite.
And Around
When the power from the kite arrives you need to be in the previous picture’s pivoting position. If so the kite will lift you up from the water and then pull you off downwind. If however you don’t get your weight forward and therefore have too much of the board in the water the kite will lift you off the water and you hopefully land a couple of feet downwind and sail away.
Pic D. With the bar held in tight, the kite has lifted the rider and he is now up and over the board. With all his weight pushed over what was his front foot, he leans back against the pull of the kite and allows it to pivot him around the sunken nose. To stoke sure that he doesn’t get pulled onto his face, the rider locks out his front leg, which will force the board to follow the pull from the kite.
Top Tips
- It’s worth trying to learn this in two stages. First work on getting your carve; as once this is in the bag you’ll be able to think ahead and throw yourself forward into the pivot.
- The carve must be just that, a carve any sliding and it’ll be goose over. So practice carving as far as you can, moving the kite up to 12 o’clock and letting the bar out as it drifts.
Common Problems
- Best start with the problem of sliding the tail out, as we’re all too proficient at this. If you are “loosing” the tail as you carve up it’s because you’re subconsciously going into slide turn mode.
- This means that as you carve you are bending your front knee so much that all your weight is over the front foot, which results in the tail sliding as you push the back foot away.
- Try to move your hips into a central position in between the foot straps, but no further forward. Also concentrate on edging the board so that you push through your back heel against the board, not your foot over the board. If you’re falling in downwind of the board, it will be because the kite is pulling you.
- Be sure to drift the kite up to 12 and let the bar out as you go. Also try to break at the waist as you turn so that your upper body stays upright. If you are falling onto your side as the kite pulls and board pivots around, make sure that you turn your head and shoulders to lead the pivot.
- Finally if you hop up and out of the pivot, it is because you have too much resistance, too much edge in the water. Make sure you get all your weight over the foot and roll back against the pull.
Keystones
- Drift kite up towards 12
- Release front hand
- Good solid carve off both feet
- Pull on bar, throw weight forward
- Lead pivot with head and shoulders
Double Back Roll Kite Loop
Hey guys! This week lets rock with double back roll kite loop and find all the possible way to complete this trick.
This one harks back a bit, watching some of the early adopters pulling the trigger on one of these back in the day was a sight to behold, large kite, no depower, heavy mutant strapped to their feet, and serious landings! Fortunately things have moved on and tricks like this are open to anyone and everyone, so certainly worth a bash and a lot of fun – possibly feels better than it looks.
As a prerequisite we would advise that you have a decent back loop, so that you can control your rotation and you know where your kite is, and some experience with looping the kite as you’ll be happier if it turns. Other than that as long as you’re not maxed it’s game on as this move is more about commitment and timing than finesse and technique
The Approach
Pic A. This is a sent back loop, so you’ll need to come in with good speed on a solid edge and your kite no higher than 1 or 11 o’clock. With a good edge you can confidently send the kite hard enough to get sufficient height, happy in the knowledge that it won’t drift too far behind you because the lift will come early. For this same reason you must keep the bar in on the sweet spot when you send the kite. If you let it out the kite will drift further back before taking you up, and the result will be a low and slow kite loop – not ideal.
You can see in image that the rider has speed and is low on as much edge as possible, driving through his back foot to resist the extra pull from his send. This will give plenty of up and keep tension on the lines during the back rotations – important for the moment you pull the bar to loop the kite. As for a normal back loop you should aim to take off with a bit of upward stamp off the back leg as this will also keep the kite above you.
The Rotation
Pic B. Although this is a double back loop, you don’t want to be throwing a super fast spinning rotation. For those of you who can already pull of a single back loop kite loop, it’s a similar theory. In the single version you only perform half a back loop and the kite does the rest.
Here for the double if we can get one and a half the kite will do the rest. Otherwise you run the risk of over rotating when the kite pulls, which won’t be the most comfortable of landings. Your aim is to rotate at a speed that will get you around 360° by the time you get to the apex of your jump, the higher you go the slower you need to spin. So give the take off a bit more than you would for your normal back loop. Even though you don’t want to overdo it, you do need to get yourself into a position from which you can rotate and maintain balance. Here the rider is already half way around his first rotation. He’s tucked up small, knees up, board close, so that he doesn’t stall or slow down. However his head is still looking through his arms, he’s not thrown it into the rotation. And he has the bar leveled and pulled into the sweet spot, to keep the kite from drifting back and also keep tension on the lines, so that the kite is primed.
Do It
Pic C. Assuming that your kite hasn’t drifted too far back you should still feel it supporting/floating you as you come around your first rotation. This is the moment to pull the trigger and loop the kite. If however you feel that the kite is way behind you and that you are already starting to fall, it’s best not to pull. The rider’s momentum is taking him into another rotation. He still has the bar in and is tucked up, so all he has to do is pull in hard on the back of the bar and push away with his front hand. As fun as it is to get as much power out of the • loop, when learning you want it to get around fast so be positive with your bar movement. You can see that the rider has his back hand slightly down the bar, whilst his front hand is near the centerline. This means he can pull easily on the back, and keep the bar on the sweet spot with the front.
Turbo
Pic D. Once you pull be ready for the kite’s power to pull you around. Here the rider has now turned his head to look over his front shoulder. This will help him “go with” the kite as it loops, meaning that he’ll turn slowly as the kite pulls him around. Once you’ve got here you are fully committed, so keep pulling and don’t let the kite pull the bar out and away from you.
Around to Land
Pic E. As the kite goes through its loop and starts to climb, keep the bar in and the kite turning. As long as you keep looking, keep the bar in and keep the kite moving you’ll come around. Once you can see your landing as the rider can here you know you’ve made it. Only thing left is to land downwind and then get back on your edge quickly to get tension on the lines and get the kite back under control.
Depending on your height and the speed of the loop, you may need to dive the kite hard to prevent it from overflying behind you!
Top Tips
Before bashing on with this, definitely bang out a few back loops to work out how hard you should send the kite and how fast you should rotate, then you can amp up the rotation a little bit and add the loop.
This move is all about timing. As long as you don’t let the kite drift too far back on takeoff, and pull for the kite loop as you start your second rotation it will work. We’d recommend not trying this too powered up to start with, work your way up in steps, both height and power, as you don’t want to be coming in on your side or back!
Common Problems
- Kite drifting too far back during first rotation. Chances are that you let the bar out as the kite started to lift, and/or you didn’t send the kite hard enough.
- If you want to tone it down it is better to give a hard but short yank on the bar than to slowly drift the kite.
- If you’re over rotating and starting a third back roll you are either pulling for the loop to late, or spinning yourself into the first rotation with too much energy. The quick his is to make sure you pull on your back hand as soon as you start the second rotation as the kite will pull you out of it foss down wind landing.
Keystones
- Approach as for a jump
- Good send with bar held in
- Make yourself small
- Pull hard as soon as you start 2nd rotation
- Keep pulling and turn head as power comes on
Dark Slide 1 Hand
The Dark Slide is definitely one of those tricks that appeals to a lot of folk, whether kids in boots or the more laid back lady and gent usually content with some boosting. Maybe there is an element of show boating that lies concealed in all of us, and who can argue that gliding effortlessly over the water with but a corner of your board resisting doesn’t look at least vaguely cool – rest assured a glimpse of a Dark Slide can bring out the exhibitionist in any of us.
We’re going to reach to the one handed variation here in this article. As you know already there are some pros and cons to executing any trick with all your weight potentially committed to one side of the bar. Concentrating on the positive, using one hand to grab can really help you get your body and board into the correct position. Hence although we’ll take you all the way through to the landing (and there are many, deliberate or otherwise), consider this article as much as how to learn the position and gain confidence without even sailing away and claiming it.
The Approach
Pic A. First off let’s consider kite position. We’ll opt for our usual 1 or 11 here. If your kite is too low you’ll plough straight into the water as you “flip” the board, if it’s too high you’ll get lifted either as you commit or as soon as you’ve got into position. So your best bet is a happy medium where you’ll have enough lift to stop you falling into the water, but enough pull that you can stay on your flipped edge and resist for longer. Next question is trim. You do need some power in the kite to less this, as it’ll support you better.
Hence we won’t be going straight into the looping part. You also want to be able to release your front hand without the kite sending back. For this having the sweet spot trimmed out away from you will help. If you have your sweet spot dose you’ll have to pull on your back hand to keep the lift and this will rooks the kite move quicker – not ideal. You need some speed on your approach so you don’t want to be hacking upwind on a huge edge, rather a relaxed across the wind. This will also allow you to turn up into the flip, without losing all your speed. So check again on picture number –A . On entry you can see that the rider has speed and has already taken his front hand off the bar, which is trimmed out and away from him. He has turned up onto his edge, hence the spray, with his front leg extended, so weight back over the tail of the board. His back hand is centered on the bar so as not to move the kite too quickly as he’s on a 9m.
The Sit & Hang
Pic B. This is where it starts to get more dynamic. You need to get your weight off your feet and hanging off the kite, fully committed into the harness. This is because you will flip and trip the board into the slide, you won’t be popping. When you do this you must get your hips back over or behind your back foot. The simplest way to commit is to suddenly bend your knees and sit into the harness. As you do this you must keep the power on in the kite, so now having your sweet spot trimmed away from you really helps. By un-weighting the board you will be able to move into the next stage without having to pop the board off the water which would make it difficult to resist against the edge when it digs in.
Toe Edge Trip
Pic C. The previous two stages allow you to get here – this is the moment that you’ll move across. Before thinking about what you must do, take note of the rider’s position in this image. His weight is way back, lifting the nose of the board into a wheely. His shoulders are leaning back over his back foot too. His bum is down low over the back of the board. And his knees are now across downwind of the board! At the moment however his body is still upwind of the board.
Your sits here is to trip over onto your toe side edge, but with the front of the board lifted so that only the rear toe side will be left in. This means that you’ll only have a bit of resistance, which is manageable to hold. If you don’t get your weight back, you’ll roll onto most off your toe side edge and come to a rather abrupt halt! Being fully supported in the harness here is key. The rider has dropped his weight lower and lifts his feet to completely un-weight the board, thus he can move his weight across the board by pushing his knees and hips across and literally tripping himself on his toe side edge. If he still had weight on the board, he would end up carving downwind – so if your board starts to carve take more weight onto the harness and if need be your back hand.
Flip & Grab
Pic D. You can see here how the back of the board digs in as the rider rolls across the tail and this trip the board onto the other side – the Dark Slide side! At the same time the rider pulls the front of the board up towards hiss with his front leg and grabs the heel side front fin. This will make it easier to hold the “slide” position as he is pulled by the kite. Once you’ve got the grab hold on tight and the rest should be fairly automated. It is worth noting here that he has not thrown himself forwards towards the kite. He is using the edge of the board to trip him, and from there the kite will pull him.
Hold and Pull
Pic E. This is the moment that the hand comes in handy, if you’ll excuse the pun. If you’ve got a good hold on the fin then you have two points of resistance. You’ll be stretched here, with the kite pulling you, whilst the board will be dragging behind you. Using your hand to keep the board pulled in close will keep the minimum of board in the water and make the whole trick simpler to control. On your first attempts it is quite likely that you may pull too much on your back hand and thus the kite will go up quickly and you’ll either loose power or get pulled up off the water. In both cases your best bet is to just let the bar out and drop softly into the drink.
You can of course loop the kite, but if it’s gone a long way back it may come through very slowly and with a lot of power. So bailing by letting the bar out until you know where you are is a good way to start.
Enjoy the Ride
Pic F. If however your kite hasn’t drifted too far up you now need to relax and go with it whilst supporting yourself on the bar. You can see that the rider has been pulled over and extended into the slide with just the tail of the board edging through the water. He’s pulled the bar in for support, which will speed the kite’s journey up and across the window. This will hold him up but there is a point when he’ll feel the support go. This then is the escape stage of the dark slide.
What to do next?
As we mentioned when you’re learning this there is no need to go straight for a loop, step by step will give you the feeling and timing, and with practice you’ll be balanced and ready to loop. So to start enjoy the slide and see how long you can make it last and as you feel the support go sheet the bar o. and drop. As you get more confident you can get the front hand back on the bar and redirect the kite forward, so that you get lifted out of the slide and land going in the same direction. Crikey with more practice you can even add a front or back rotation. However for the classic bona fide Dark Slide you’ll be gagging to add the kite loop I pull you up and out. It’s the timing and your wrist that will benefit you here. Timing wise it’s that moment you feel the support going. Too much after that and the kite will go a long way back and can lead to some fruity loops!
To get the kite looping a tight arc to reduce power you need nest only pull hard on your back hand, but also twist your wrist. Imagine that you’re trying to push down with the outside of your palm and push up with your palm – this way you’ll get some good leverage on the kite. If however you are very powered up it can be a good idea to get the front hand back on the bar to help. Whether you transition or keep going is up to you! To transition loop the kite a moment later and keep the kite looping for longer so that it pulls you back. To carry on stop pulling as the kite comes through the loop.
Top Tips
- It’s all been said but we’ll add flat water and space. This won’t work without speed so you need power in your kite, hence work on the first steps and forget the loop until later.
- Also work on the balance of where you start your kite, as if it’s too high you’ll be lifted too early and stop very quickly. Now have a good look at the Sequence and Videos.
Common Problems
- If you’re falling onto your chest, chances are that you’ve got all your edge catching in the water, pull that front foot up and get your weight back on the approach. If you net trip the board. You are standing on the board, so sit back into the harness.
- If you start to rotate into a back rotation, you’re either turning too far into wind or your looking upwind – look down to where you’ll be going. If you get pulled up into a large kite looping too early.
Keystones
- Speed across wind
- Sit back and edge up
- Drop into harness and se-sight board
- Push knees across board and trip tail
- Grab board and support weight on bar AND
- Either sheet out or loop
Nose Grab Pop Front Loop transition
It’s again wonderful feeling to have you guys again here. We are all set go for today’s trick, however have close look on video first and then follow below instructions carefully.
Here’s one for the purists among you, harking back to the days of no de-power, no leash, no donkey dick and the silkiness of riders like Mr. Shinn (although admittedly he’d probably spin the board around a few times for good measure). Pop transitions were all the rage – the pendulum feeling of swinging out under your kite and then floating bock in with enough speed to carve straight out was intoxicating.
These can’t be seen so often these days, and without wanting to get too sentimental here starts out campaign to get them back on the beaches, and our forthright apologies if you’re already an Swiftly let us consider what a pop transition is. The general idea is that contrary to the name you will use your kite, not a lot, to get some lift and float. However you’ll also use your back leg to get up off the water, way before the kite would normally I. you. The idea behind this combination is that you’ll take off whilst still carrying some forward speed way before the kite gets to 12, and therefore by the time you land the kite won’t be too far on the other side of the window and you’ll have plenty of momentum to plane out.
Compared to a normal transition where you send the kite sharply but for a short period of time, a .p transition requires a gentle drifting of the kite!
Pic A. is all about the take off the rider has her back hand very much centered on the bar to slow the movement of the kite down and this is on an 11 m! She approached with a bit of speed, carved up towards the wind and drifted the kite up by gently steering it. Timing wise, as soon as she feels the first sign of lift on her harness she pops into the move. It’s very tempting to wait and/or let the bar out a touch, but don’t. She’s holding the bar in on the sweet spot, to keep the lift throughout the move and prevent the kite from flying to the edge of the window and you can see that she’s popping pretty hard, extending her back leg completely to get as much height as possible because the kite is merely supporting her whilst lifting her front leg both in anticipation of the grab and the down and round movement of a slow front loop. If she rotates too quickly she’ll over rotate as the kite is pulling from behind.
Pic B. and the front rotation have started from the impulse of her .p and her shoulders going forward and down. To make sure she gets enough rotation the rider has added in the”Timotei Flick), throwing her head around, looking over her back shoulder. She’s grabbed the nose of the board and pulled it right up to her derriere, bending her front knee. This will help with her rotation as well as adding some style. Also note the position of the kite – because the rider popped early (before the kite got to 12 o’clock) the kite is now above her. She has also pulled the bar in with her much centered hand. Not only does this give her the Float and time to complete the move, but if the kite stalls/flares a little bit it will pull downwind, giving momentum for the landing and keeping it away from the powerless edge of the window.
Pic C. The rider stayed in the position of the previous picture until she rotated around enough to spot her landing. 
During that time she will have swung out under the kite a little bit, but with the bar pulled in and tension on the lines she has now started to swing back in. As she do. The rider focuses on her landing spot, releases her grab so that she can get her board down ready for landing, and pulls hard on the bar to dive the kite down for some extra power to pull her out of the move, complete the rotation, and forward onto the new tack.
Pic D. A blink of an eye before landing and you can see that the rider has extended her legs to get the under carriage down, she’s now got both hands on the bar and is diving the kite hard. Most importantly though she’s looking towards the kite and where the pull is coming from. Ono of the many great things about this move is that 
because of the pendulum effect you’ll be able to come out with speed and land on o carving edge, so following the kite and it’s pull is vital – don’t try and set up for your usual downwind landing.
Top Tips
We will keep it simple and just recap two points. Drift the kite up, keeping the bar on the sweet spot AND go early, as soon as you feel the kite pull on your harness.
Your aim is to land this moving the other way without having to loop the kite for power, so finding a balance between speed, drift and timing is the key.
Other than that we would recommend learning this on bigger slower kites, with the sweet spot trimmed further away from you.
This combo will be more forgiving than a rapid 7m trimmed for unhooking. For the sequences we won’t take you through each individual picture but rather focus on what’s important for take-off, in flight entertainment and landing!
Sequence 1
This group of picture demonstrates the drift, timing, pop, grab and front loop. Although the pictures are spread out you will actually keep moving forward as you swing out. This is not on up and down elevator transition. The rider drifts the kite from 11 o’clock and as soon as she feels the pressure in her harness pops up hard into her rotation and grab. From that moment onwards she holds her position and keeps the bar pulled in, watching over her shoulder -looking for where she’ll land once she’s facing the other way.
Sequence 2
Here is all about balance. To finish her rotation and land smoothly the rider needs to get the power on by pulling hard on her front hand. She needs to do this as soon as she can see bock the other way, otherwise she could over rotate and land facing upwind. This will feel strange at first, as you’ll be pulled back towards the kite whilst your body is still twisted away from it. However patience as the pull has will straighten you up and almost magically set you up for the landing.
Common Problems
- Dropping from your rotation into the water whilst you kite flutters down like a leaf to the side.
- Assuming You’re rotating but very low. Two key fadors her, one 2. pop ear, that you did edge and pop the two most likely being the pop
- Come in too slowly and even if you kick off hard, you’ll just slow down too flying back once you pop, and it will fly to the edge of much and get no reward, read as pop, for your efforts.
Keystones
- Drift kite
- Pop early
- Keep bar in
- Watch for landing
- Dive hard
NIS
It’s a game of grip, harder you grip smarter you perform. We really appreciate your love and affection for this sport, which indeed is a plus point for health and working environment. Benefits are many and space is short to write, just wanted to summarize all the thoughts in one line “keep yourself moving until and unless something strange won’t pack you in a BOX.
Let’s talk about today’s trick from very beginning. Even if you already have an inverted Slim Chance in the bag, adding the non-inverted variant to your repertoire will be both satisfying and worthwhile. It’s likely that many of you and in particular some of the “old timers”, went on to master the Slim as the next step after the long forgotten dangle pass. With the result you may have a habit of sending the kite a bit and having a somewhat dangly finish to what started as a powered pass.
Getting your teeth into the NIS is a great cure for this. If you don’t suffer this problem, well it’s still another trick to claim and if you’ve never tried any sort of Slim Chance, now is the time. What should you already be confident with to try this? The base for this is a powered unhooked popped front roll, preferably to toe side, as that’s the way you’ll be passing. If you can already Shifty to wrapped, or even better Shifty 3 then you’re almost there, and if you can Front to wrapped then you’re knocking on the door That said your front rotation may not need to be inverted, but you do need to get the knees and board high, so the more aggressively you can pop, the easier this will be.
The Important Bits
- Approach and Edge
Pic A
Your first pass would be easier if you get good pop on your take off, it will be more to do with timing than brute force. And to get good pop your approach and subsequent carve onto your edge needs to be dialed in. It’s really important to get speed in starting, if you’ve got enough power great, if not work that kite to get some pull and speed. Secondly park the kite where you want it to be, let’s take it around 11 or 1 o’clock, so that you know it won’t drive you down and therefore give you the confidence to pop hard and not lift the kite as you edge. Finally get your body back over the tail of the board as you bear away, so that once you unhook not only will the kite be in the correct place, but also you can turn back onto a solid edge with your weight low very quickly, which is the crux of good pop. You can see in the Pic A that as the rider carves onto his edge and away from the kite his front leg is extended, his back leg bent but locked and his bum is low – a result of the correct entry position. From this point he is ready to pop hard.
- The Take Off
Pic B
If you’ve got the approach right you’ll have so much edge and bite as you turn the board upwind, that as long as you commit you’ll get plenty enough pop to complete the move without lifting the kite. Your board, knees and hips will be thrown up high enough to make the pass. Even though you’re throwing a front roll, you need to be as low as for as for a raley, uber edge your aim is to get yourself as much height as you can, which will give you time, so as you stamp hard against the back of the board, explosively extending your back leg, concentrate on extending from your back leg all the way up into your back shoulder. This way even as your head goes down and around and your front knee lifts to initiate the rotation, you’re still on the way up. In Pic B you can see the spray that the rider has following him, a definite rooster tail. As he goes down into the front roll he’s still rising. Just as importantly by popping hard Christian is able to bend his arms and pull his hands towards him, keeping the bar in close. If you don’t get the bar in now, you’ll have an almighty task ahead of you. Finally with the bar in close it is more achievable to keep the kite parked with the bar angled forward – if the arms extend you’re likely to pull on the back hand.
- The Halfway Mark
Pic C
It should be looking like at the 180° mark if all is going well this is what. Please watch carefully, the board and knees high, swinging around with your shoulders, not dropping and pulling you down. You need to be leading with your head, even though you’ll be throwing the pass against the rotation, as you need to see where you’re going so that you can time the movement. The rider is coming around and he still has his hands in close, if he were to rotate another 90° he would find his front hip nearing the bar. You don’t want this, so once you can spot your landing you have two jobs. Pull the bar in towards your hips, and pull your old back knee, in this case the rider’s right, towards the bar. They don’t actually have to get very close but this will slow your rotation and lift that end of the board, giving you more chance to make the pass.
- Do It
Pic D
This is the make or break moment requiring full commitment and energy. Timing wise you should be just about to drop, that lovely floaty nanosecond before free fall. Most likely it will feel too late, and if it does that’s perfect! In short you pass as you drop out of your rotation. Whilst your knee and bar move towards each other you have to turn your back on proceedings. Give one last tug on the bar with both hands, a bit front hand heavy to stop the kite flying up when you release it and then throw you head and shoulders back around, down and away from where you’ve been looking. Assuming you’ve already been wrapped or passing the drill is the same, fast and deliberate, twisting the bar as you release your front hand to allow your shoulders to turn further. In the picture the tail of the rider board is high, his knee and hip are close to the bar and he’s leading his pass with his head. He also has his complete kite face on, as this is 100%. With the board high and his knees bent the board won’t drop and pull his away from the bar as he turns.
- The Pass [Pic E]
Now it’s hand to hand, which sounds obvious, however if you twist the bar fully and hold on tight your body will wrap around your arm, follow your head and the bar will present itself to your waiting hand. As long as it’s looking for the other hand and not scratching around in the small of your back. Here in this image the rider free hand finds the other one and grabs the bar. Now it’s just a matter of landing it, claiming it and riding away without looking too surprised.
- The Landing [Pic F]
This is a normal tendency that we don’t always think about the landings too much, but this one does require some anticipation, or else you’ll be passing, getting excited and then diving in. You need to be ready to ride as you land, hopefully downwind and maybe even further around. There are two things that really help. Firstly keep your head turning. It’s common to freeze the head whilst changing hands, and this often leads to a fall, so as you change hands keep turning the head to look towards where you’re going. Secondly untwist the hand, that is to say allow your wrist to turn palm down so that the bar is once again as it should be and the status quo is restored. By doing this your shoulder can turn up and forward and you’ll be better balanced to follow the kite. In the picture the rider’s hand is the right way up and his head is trying to look around, following his eyes.
Top Tips
- Your first key of success is “Preparation”, hence make sure you’re in a dynamic stood, as you’ll need to rotate quickly for the pass, and bang out a few popped front rolls
- Be focused on bringing the knees and hands closer as you’re coming around. Beware though, as this will kill your front roll rotation so be ready to land toe side and off balance
- At time you have done enough fronts that time is slowing down, you’ll get an idea of when you can pass. If you are able to bang out a few Shifty to Wrapped,or Shifty 3s, even better. It’ll get your pass rotation well and truly warmed up.
Common Problems
- Pop issues are common with front rolls as by the very nature of the rotation it’s very tempting to throw yourself down before you’ve gone up.
- Also there is a tendency to stand more upright whilst edging to pre-empt the take off, but you must edge low and hard, then stretch up to get the necessary height
- The problem with all passes this way is that the kite loves to rise, either as you pull or once you release. The beauty in the NIS is that as you’re waiting for the moment to pass, you have time to sneakily steer the kite down before or whilst pulling. Do this and the pass will be noticeably easier as you’ll practically manufacture slack
- Getting the knees and board up can be a problem. For the inverted Slim you can throw your shoulder down and head back to get the legs up. Whereas here it’s all about pop. However keeping your hands in close with bent arms will mean that your balance point will be more around your waist and therefore you’re more likely to rotate around this axis
- If your arms are stretched out it’ll be much harder. Finally the landing. Passing like this does encourage you to look down at the water as you throw your head, which works wonders for the pass but doesn’t do jack for the landing. So make sure you try and move your head after passing and untwist your hand.
Keystones
- Good approach and solid pop
- Hands in close
- Bring hands and knees together
- Pass late, as you drop
- Keep looking
Toe side front Roll To blind with Ole
We hope you are grooming well with the aid of our articles and learning every trick carefully. With ever learning day, you are going to be perfectionist in this sport. We always emphasize on doing every trick with right way and right balance, so that your every step of learning should be placed on right path. The trick which we are going to learn today has a better name, but for the moment we’ll stick to the descriptive version. Fundamentally this is a pop trick, but a subtle drifting up of the kite is more than tolerable to get you easiness to learn this trick. For those of you confident with your toe side edge this is a great trick and an inspiring step on from the toe side pop to blind which is a good prerequisite as you need both a decent pop from your toes and the blind that very same side. If this will be doing it first time, let us advise again that it will be easier to pop from your strong toe side to a new and unvisited blind rather than try and pop from your weaker toe side. Popping well from your pinkies is the key here.
The Approach
We need two things in order to pop from your toes, first speed and then a good solid edge. With the board fizzing over the water it’ll be a doddle to get it up and you’ll have momentum when you get it around. Looking at Pic A. you can see that the rider pre pop. First off the rider has his bar trimmed in close so that he can get an aggressive edge and hold the power with two hands without being pulled up onto the board. This way he can turn his head and shoulders away from the kite and stand up onto his toes, hips forward, driving the board between him and the kite. The rider has shifted his weight back on the board ready to pop, as this will help him add tension to the lines by edging harder. However if you need more speed you must keep the front knee bent and the board trimmed flat before shifting your weight back.
The Pop
The assumption behind popping is much the same as from heel side – once you have enough speed, carve 
up hard and stamp off the back foot. Though bearing away and then carving up from toe side is no simple task, so for the same sort of effect shifting your weight back will dig the tail in and turn the board upwind on its rocker. The trick is to be quick, shift your weight back and stamp – wait and you’ll lose your speed and nothing will happen. In Pic B. the rider has leant his weight back and simultaneously drifts the kite up slightly from 11 o’clock to give him a bit more lift whilst stamping down hard by explosively straightening his back leg. As he pops up he turns his head and shoulders down and around, initiating the front roll.
The Rotation
The rotation will be very quick as with every front roll from toe side. This is handy, as you’ll need to spin quickly to allow for the extra twist to blind. Aim to keep two hands on the bar until you are coming around the first 360°, as this will keep you more upright and lead to a smoother landing. Looking at Pic C. as Christian reaches this point you can see that he is leading with the head. This is important; as he will know when to initiate the blind once he spots his landing. The rider here also has his knees bent and board up to help encourage a quick rotation and he keeps the bar in for that little bit of extra float. As he focuses on where he’ll land he releases his back hand, turning his head and shoulders down and around under the bar so that he can get his body around to blind whilst the board is leading. This way the board will be beneath him and ready for touchdown.
Throwing Blind
We can see in Pic D. that the rider has “thrown” the blind with the result of turning his head and shoulders down. As he drops his feet and board are leading the way. Whilst turning, he tweaks the kite down by pulling gently on his front hand. This will guarantee a bit more speed and forward momentum for the Ole, and is necessary if you sneak the kite up for takeoff.
Landing
As with all things Ole or pass you’ll need to land blind on a flat board heading at least a tiny bit downwind towards the kite. This way you’ll have no tension on the lines and so the Ole should be a walk in the park. Pic E. the rider lands upright over his flat board, having thrown the blind enough to land slightly off the wind. Try to keep your head up, as this will prevent you from breaking too much at the waist, which can in turn force weight onto your toes and put tension on the lines! If anything you want to be leaning on your heels. Landing this way the lines will be slack and therefore the bar will be close to you, not twisted around leading the way and pulling you over.
Ole
Landing upright on a flat board heading towards your kite sets you up perfectly for the grand finale, the Ole. Pic F. Standing over his board the rider can now push the bar upwind and around in front of him, so that the blind miraculously transforms back into toe side. Once the bar is across get both hands back on it, sheet in and ride off with a hefty grin on your face.
Common Problems
- If you’re not getting enough pop from toe side try sailing more across the wind before dropping your weight back and popping.
- If the kite is falling out of the sky as you land make sure that you are both popping hard into the front roll and that you give the bar a tweak forward to keep the kite from drifting too far up.
- If you slide under the kite on landing try throwing your blind more aggressively by turning your head and throwing your free hand around.
- If you’re getting pulled over & catching your heel side edge, you’re not landing enough downwind.
- If you can’t Ole and the kite pulls you over you’re edging on your toes whilst blind, so make sure your weight is on both your feet, biased towards your heels.
Keystones
- Speed on your toe side edge
- Change weight to back of board and quick pop into fast rotation
- Release back hand after 360’to throw blind
- Tweak kite forward
- Land flat and downwind
Nose Grab Front
In today’s world we have made it very easy for everyone to be more skilled in kitesuring. Now information is easily accessible on internet and people paste their experiences in the form of blogs, articles and share the best way to enjoy this sport.
So in continue to that here is our guide to a popped front roll with a Crail or Nose grab thrown into the mix for extra spice. The grab itself is done with the back hand reaching forward and touching, stroking or preferably holding either the nose of the board or as near as possible on the toe side way up near the fin. It goes without saying that you’ll already need a competent popped front to nail this beauty, as the more powered it is performed with, the better the axis of rotation will be and thus all the sweeter the grab will look. Let us remind you of a few vital key moments for a decent popped front whilst also sneaking in the grab.
Coming In
You need to approach in the right way if you want pop, as it will not only help in getting up and off the water, but also the rotation and the landing.
Image A. the rider is perfectly set up for some hefty pop. With her kite parked just below 11 o’clock she pushes the nose of the board off the wind and flexes her back leg to flatten the board, increase speed and move towards the kite, allowing it to drop back a bit in the window. At the sometime she has all her weight, hips, head and shoulders dropped back over and behind the back foot. Her hands are centered and she has her bar trimmed in enough that she can get into this position without pulling too much tension onto the back lines. We always recommend moving your front hand over the middle of the bar, centre line between your first two fingers if you can. This will allow you to keep the power on throughout the move without the kite diving down.
Take Off
Going into a popped front rotation it is all too tempting to drift the kite up and wait for something to happen, which will inevitably lead to a dangly and uncontrolled spin under a very high kite. It’s a mast to keep the kite flying forward and get your height from a very aggressive pop. Breaking the pop and rotation apart, even just by a millisecond will make all the difference. If you concentrate on going up before throwing your head around and shoulders down you will get enough height. If you dive straight into the rotation you’ll not extend up and rather fire yourself down towards the water.
Image B. is showing the rider popping up hard. Having carved rapidly back up onto her edge with her weight still back, she has now stamped down hard, pushing her back leg down against the edge of her board and extending her body upwards for maximum pop. She keeps her front elbow tucked in and bent to prevent the kite from drifting up and the bar is still angled towards the kite as if she were riding. The only give away showing a prospective front rotation is the bending and lifting of the front knee.
Rotate and Release
When you relies that that you’re on the way up you need to get spinning and think about the grab. You won’t have long in the air so its chop chop. To start the rotation lean the head and shoulders forward, so that you are going with the pop. By lifting the front leg and allowing your body to be kicked up you will start to rotate from the back legs impetus. Turning your head to guarantee spin will help, but if you whip around too quickly it’ll be tricky to get the grab in early enough. As for the grab you need two actions, release the front hand and start to reach forwards, and you must bring the front knee up and across your body to bring the nose of the board within reach.
Image C. the rider is just off the water and she already has her front knee up and across in front of her. She resists the temptation to pull her back leg up and keeps it straight – with it extended the nose of the board will tip even closer to her. She allows her head and shoulders to tip down and forward into the rotation as she fully extends up and keeps the bar pulled in. Her back hand is reaching down towards the already well-positioned board.
The Grab
Early grab will give you two advantages.
- The first is purely aesthetic, you’ll be able to hold it for longer and thus it’ll be more noticeable.
- The second however is more functional – once you have the grab you can pull the board in, making you small and then concentrate on getting around the rest of your front roll.
Theoretically at least, if you get the take off right the grab should fall into place.
Image D. As a result of all the hard work the rider has got a pleasantly satisfying pop, good height and controllable slow rotation. This allows her to get her hand onto the nose area before she has rotated 90°. Keeping the front knee up and releasing the back hand early were key. Keeping the bar in and power on guarantee that she won’t just drop out of her rotation, but will continue to be pulled forward.
The Money Shot
Once you’ve got the grab, hold it. As stated before, this isn’t just for poseur status, massaging your ego or blatant show boating, but with a solid hold of your board you can pull it in and turn your head and therefore finish your rotation.
Image E. With her grab held the rider turns her head to spot the landing. To speed up her rotation she has pulled both knees up whilst still holding the bar in, keeping the kite moving forward and pulling.
Touch Down
Aim to hold your grab for as long as possible, until you complete the rotation. You’ll find the timing quite natural, as you’ll need to let go to allow your board to drop under you as you start to drop. Assuming you went off the wind in your approach you should come around to a comfortable downwind landing towards the kite, which will kill the power in the kite and make tutu comfortable stomped landing.
Image F. You can see that the rider has released the grab and lets her legs and the board drop down beneath her for a solid reception. She still has pulled in so will land following the kite with her weight squarely over the board.
Top Tips
- A good pop and confident front roll are key, so before throwing yourself up into one of these get warmed and ready with a few two handed front rolls. When you’ve knocked out a few high and controlled ones you’ll be more confident to go for the grab.
Common Problems
- If you’re struggling to reach the grab there are two solutions. Firstly if you can already nose or nearly nose (troll) grab the board in sent jumps or front rolls try popping with the kite higher, or even drift it up a tad
- With a higher kite and a more vertical rotation it will be easier to reach the board. Secondly if you’ve never tried a two grab before and you’re finding it tricky here, revert to getting the body movement right in a sent jump and then a sent front roll. Videos and Sequence for the entire visual path….
Keystones
- Bear away with weight back for god pop
- Extend up fully
- THEN release back hand and start rotation
- Bring front knee up and across
- Hold grab and turn head
One Foot Front Loop Transition
Our book of kite surfing is full of tricks and with every chapter we disclose something useful and new for you. This move is a bit of a classic from the archives. Please have a deep view on below sequence and picture steps, which will make it easier for you to do successfully.
- The Take Off.
Ideally your goal with a pop transition is to land it with a diving kite without the need to add a late kite loop, as the later is really just a way of saving a mistimed attempt. This means that you need to pop up off the water earlier than you think and pretty hard, as this is what’ll give you your height. You need to keep tension on the lines to support you and stop the kite drifting back too far, and you’ll need to keep the kite sat fairly still above you whilst you pendulum out and swing back to land.
Pic A.
For his take off the rider has checked his speed by edging hard upwind, as if he comes in too fast he will swing too much.
He has moved the kite up to twelve with his back hand centered on the bar and keeps the bar in to get the lift as early as possible before the kite gets to 12. As soon as the kite starts to pull the rider stamps down hard off his back foot and pops up and forward into his rotation, whilst already reaching forward for the grab (got to get the foot out early). Final point to note is that the rider does not yet turn his head for the rotation, as he doesn’t want to spin quickly as this will make the one-foot harder.
- Foot Oct
Taking your foot out quickly and effortlessly will help no end, so it may be worth loosening your strap slightly. It will also help if you’re accustomed to this action, so at least run through it numerous times on land, but better still have the one footed jump in the opposite direction nailed, as the movement is exactly the same as a tail grab one foot that way. Here it’s a nose grab, but realistically you should grab the heel side edge of the board somewhere between the strap and the fin. Hold the board up with your toes pointing skywards, and pull your foot out and down to avoid the foot sticking.
Pic B.
The rider is looking at his grab and the foot strap, which makes both taking the foot out and getting it back in quicker, and this is the main reason for not throwing your head around over your back shoulder on takeoff. If you feel confident try and push your foot down towards the water to straighten your leg for extra style points.
- The Rotation Pic C.
You can see in the photo that even though the rider is
focused on the strap he is still rotating, although slowly, from throwing his shoulder down towards the nose of the board on takeoff. As soon as he feels his back turning towards the water it’s time to get the foot back is Even though the kite gives some hang, as a pop trick you won’t have much time in the air, so as soon as you turn past 90 degrees you’ll need to speed things up if you intend to land facing the right way with two feet in the straps. In this image the rider holds the board away at arms length, which gives hiss enough room to lift his leg and get his foot above the board, whilst looking at the strap and keeping the bar in for support.
- Foot In Pic D.
There is no point in attempting to
land until your foot is in, and as you can see here even though the rider is swinging out under the kite as a result of keeping the bar in his concentration is focused on getting the foot is It will be tempting to look around as you feel the kite pulling gently from behind you, but don’t be put off, get the foot jammed in and then you’ll be ready.
- Landing Gear Down Pic E.
As soon as his foot is in the rider releases
his grab and turns his head and shoulders to look around towards downwind. At the same time he pulls on his hand to dive the kite, and as the power comes on it will pull his the rest of the way around his rotation and hopefully he’ll drop down into a perfect tail first landing.
As long as you he gets your head around and dive the kite the rest will be surprisingly automated. If the kite has drifted too far back in the window you will need to loop it as you land to stop you sinking!
Top Tips
- For your first attempts a bigger kite will make life considerably easier as it won’t move so quickly and it’ll give you a lot more float and therefore time to rotate slowly whilst you slide your foot quickly out and in.
- It will make a lot of sense to master the nose grab front loop transition first as then it is ‘just’ a matter of adding and timing the foot as opposed to learning a whole bunch of new skills at the same time
- We covered the grab variation in issue 31. Do make sure you give yourself plenty of space and some deep water, as at first it’s likely that you’ll let the kite drift too far, in which case you’ll get ceremoniously dropped into the water, which won’t hurt unless it’s only a few centimeters deep.
Common Problems
- The real issue on these pop transitions is kite positioning, and coming out with the kite high enough that you can dive it for power The opposite from perfect is the kite swinging back as you pendulum forward, resulting in you dropping in and the kite fluttering down at the edge of the window behind you.
- To counter this you must keep the bar in whilst you drift the kite up. Start with the kite no higher than 1 or 11, give it to jab up and pop immediately. You can let the bar out slightly at the apex but there is already enough to think about
Keystones
– Kite not too high
– Pop Early
– 1 Foot immediately
– Foot In then turn head
– Dive and look down wind
Nose Grab Jump
Today we have this new trick which is Nose Grab Jump. Jump variations and grabs are always welcome as they add something to the most fundamental of moves without, hopefully, the need to hammer yourself too much in the process. It’s always a delight to see someone boosting and banging out numerous different grabs, making each jump different and the whole performance more pleasing to the eye. This time around it’s the nose grab, the most opposite of the most common but deservedly adored tail grab. This one is a great way to show off your board and any promotional stickers adhered to it as with the majority of jumped grabs you’ll be grabbing the nose with your back hand whilst keeping the kite flying and yourself hanging with your front hand. All that you need is a half decent take off and if you’re already comfortable grabbing anywhere else and freeing your back hand then you’re ready.
After Take Off Pic A.
Assuming that you can jump directly after take off check your balance and then casually grab the tail. To grab the nose from your big chill position with both knees up will be very difficult unless you’ve been hard at the yoga. 
As a result there are a couple of points worth your consideration.
No-1 is a good positive kite send, with a decent pull and push on the bar to get the kite moving back past 12. Going up with the kite behind you will rock you back and as a result bring the nose of the board up. Secondly bring your front knee up towards you. Thirdly leave your back leg straight. And finally aim to get the grab in on the way up, before you redirect the kite so that the bar is not in your way. In the photo straight away after takeoff, the rider’s kite is behind her and as a result her legs are penduluming up in front of her, much like those early days of trying to jump but forgetting to bring the kite forward. Her shoulders are leaning back and her front knee is lifted.
Go for it Pic B.
As mentioned, going for the grab early is key to reaching the nose of your board without being made of elastic
. In this image the rider extends her back arm towards the nose whilst bringing her front knee right up towards her chest and extending her back leg down and away from her. You can see that she is still leaning back and that the kite is still behind her, and therefore even though the bar is sheeted in, it’s not in her way. She reaches for the board by leaning back and twisting her back shoulder around behind the chicken loop, and not by leaning forward towards the nose.
Use Your Hands Pic C.
Once the job is done and you’ve reached your grab your hands will do the rest of the work. The rider has grabbed 
her board firmly and holds it, pulling it towards her, which helps her to keep this position for as long as possible. With the board held close she can now also redirect the kite to around 12 to get some support and hang. You can see that she has given the bar a hefty pull, and this is on a 7m, to get the kite back up and parked so that she stays up and floats.
In Flight Entertainment Pic D.
As with all grabs they’ll look better if you hold them on the way down. This does however mean
that you’ll have to get the preparations for landing set with one hand! Having sent the kite hard you have the advantage of being able to lean on your front hand throughout this move, once you’ve got the grab, without the kite diving aggressively. However as you come down if the kite drifts slowly around the edge of the window you will have trouble finding power to land, so you’ll need to get it moving through the window as you descend. In this picture the rider is holding her grab but has started to pull hard on her front hand to get the kite moving and ready to dive.
The Landing Pit E.
Now in final the landing should be as for any other jump. We can see that in anticipation the rider has dropped her grab and let her legs fall underneath her. With two hands on the bar she can dive the kite and keep the power on by keeping the bar in. As the kite pulls she goes with it aiming to land tail first with the board pointing quite downwind. Landing over the board she can then carve back onto her edge and set up for the next one.
Top Tips
- The best tip is to start off by trying some jumps with a decent push and pull, to find a comfortable equilibrium between leaning back and staying in control, as you don’t want to be swinging way up with your kite stuck down behind you.
- Now let’s talk about 2nd best tip, once you’re comfortable with this try bringing your front knee up and straightening your back leg. Finally once you’re confident get the back hand off soon after takeoff and twist round for the grab.
Common Problems
- If you’re penduluming up and crashing down onto your back your take off is catching you out. You can only send the kite hard if you keep your edge until you lift off. If you’re losing your edge or letting the bar out before lift off your kite will fly too far back. If this is the case calm the send down a notch or two.
- If you can’t reach the grab, you’re either going too late or reaching forward for the nose. Lean back and twist round. That said if your foot-straps are too tight, it can be difficult to lift the front knee and straighten the back leg, as your feet need to roll in the straps slightly.
Keystones
- Good edge and positive send back
- Lean slightly back and lift front knee
- Straighten back leg and twist around for grab
- Hold board in and redirect
- Release and dive hard for landing
Raley To Toe Side
This sport of kite boarding moves with different styles and ticks. The benefits of this sport can be measured by its refreshment and popularity worldwide. Today we all like a Raley, and funnily enough most of us learn on our preferred side, favorite foot forward, leading to a solid heel side touchdown. It looks like an embarrassment to overlook the other side and deny yourself the kudos of flicking your board both ways. Therefore the Raley to toe side, and just to prove it is a genuine move it even has its own name, the Krypt. With no trouble you can gladly learn these both hooked or unhooked. In this article, we will be going through the unhooked variant, but be assured that apart from the actual physical act of unhooking the rest remains pretty much the same for both, from approach to landing.
The Approach A.
As in every trick your approach will always determine how well things will turn out. Please have a look in the picture that the rider has her kite just below 1 o’clock, she has turned the board off the wind onto a very broad reach, whilst keeping her weight both upwind of the board and back towards the tail of the board. You can also see that her front leg is extended and both her elbows are tucked into her sides. Not only is this the perfect position from which to unhook, it is also the perfect set up for a Raley.
Now over here Kite height is very significant, too high and you’ll fly, but too low and you may not have the confidence to pop, so a happy medium is required, at a height just about where your kite is happily flying forward without creating lift, as a reference point this will be just below 1 or 11. Suddenly bearing off the wind allows you to lose tension from the lines and unhook, 
and it lets the kite drop back a touch so that it will pull you downwind, easier landing, once you pop. Weight upwind positions the board between you and the kite so you can pop without the kite pulling your shoulders prematurely over the board. Then weight back over the tail so that you can rapidly and professionally carve the board upwind to pop, the extended front leg helps this. Elbows are tucked in to stop the kite from pulling your arms out straight and you over the board. Now you are all set for the Raley part.
The Carve Pic B.
Your action carving up against the kite needs to be accurate and quick; or else the kite will win the tug of war. With your weight back over the tail of the board you only need to turn your shoulders and the board will carve spec the shape that some lovely board designer put there for such a purpose.
Please see picture B wherein the rider has turned her shoulders and the board carves upwind, putting tension on the lines and thus generating some resistance. This resistance is your platform to pop off. Though to make sure that you are in control you need to keep your position. The easier way to do this is not to let the kite drift up, which it will want to do as you pull against it.
The rider keeps both hands in, arms bent, but her focal point is on keeping the front hand close, as it’s natural to pull on the back one as she turns away from the kite. Also as the rider carves she resists the pull from the kite with her back leg, which combined with her arms allows her to keep her weight upwind, on that edge, turning the board towards the wind.
The Pop Pic C.
Raley is simply an extreme pop. If you’ve somehow managed to oppose on the aforementioned platform you will be in a position to, and have something from which to pop. 
As the board turns underneath you it’s the right time to stamp. The rider feels the board turning under her, and more significantly feels herself being pulled forwards by the kite. This is her cue to pop. She pops hard against the board with her back foot by stamping down and extending her back leg as explosively as possible. Her front leg has remained extended throughout. The amount of pop you get will depend on a few variables -speed, power, timing, aggression, but your aim is to extend, really focus on straightening your legs, uncoiling the spring which is you.
The Flick Pic D.
There are two possibilities in a Raley, to end up with the board horizontal and behind you, 
or flicked around vertically behind you. The second talked option will make all number of tricks more attainable and the Krypt is no exception. This flicking action is simply a continuation of the carve upwind and by extending and letting the board go you should end up here.
In this position you are airborne you also require to take stock of what is going on lest adjustments need be made. The rider has let her board flick around by carving hard to get the board into the wind and extending fully as she took off. She now wants to make ensure that she is in control, and here that means that the kite is doing what it should. If you’re well versed in Raleys, you know that once you have it nailed the kite doesn’t move, but if this side is new chances are the kite will have gone up. If it has, steer it down, the rider’s bar here is angled forward to keep the kite from rising. You’ll need to utilize both hands. The rider will also be spotting her landing, that is to say she’ll be working out where she’ll most likely land so that she can prepare for it.
Landing Gear Down Pic E.
Gravity always wins and your legs will naturally fall underneath you, 
which is the beauty with a Raley. That said if you start with your kite at 45° or below Newton may not be able to save you. You can see in the picture the advantage of the flick, the rider left foot is forward as her front foot was flicked around behind her. If you have a strong toe side preference, chances are that you’ll automatically keep this position, but just to make sure, try to bring your knees up towards you as the board falls. As your knees come up you can pull your toe side leading knee under the bar, much as you would for a gentle pop to toe side. Here in picture the rider pulls her left knee through underneath her.
The Result Pic F.
By pulling her left knee through and under the bar, the rider will now happily and happily 
land tail first for a toe side landing and a Krypt claimer. By keeping the bar in close she lands over the board and is not pulled forwards by the kite. Once you have landed, either bear away towards the kite and hook back in, or casually pop back to heel side and ponder what you’ll do next.
Top Tips
- The very first tip is to start off gently, you don’t need to be hounding along at Mach 10 with the intention of a full blown Raley.
- A decent extended pop will give you the feel, so concentrate on carving and extending your legs and body before landing.
- Also have a good look on images.
Common Problems
- If you find that you are landing very downwind and having to carve around onto your heels, the chances are that either your kite has drifted up, or your error have extended which means that the kite will pull you too far downwind. Keep your arms tucked in and don’t be afraid to dive the kite down to keep you going where you should be.
- If you are catching your toe side edge on landing you don’t have enough height, so either pop harder or try with your kite slightly higher in the window. These are the things to keep In mind.
Keystones
- Approach with weight upwind, back and front leg extended
- Carve hard upwind with arms in
- Explode against the edge with your back foot
- Extend and feel the flick
- Pull arms in and bring back knee through
Double Back Rool Transition
Adding together some extra rotation is a sure shot fire way of stepping up a move that you already have mastered, and the double back roll transition is definitely up there as one to learn, so here it is. Although some warning words are here, if you’ve been practicing the double back roll kite loop from last issue, you may require to rewire your brain and press default as these are two clearly different moves wherein you definitely don’t wish to be confusing. A very good base before starting this is a solid and controlled, BLT, or back roll transition if you’re from across the pond. From this point below is what you will be doing.
The Approach Pic A.
Vital 2 things to remember for any transition are; you have to kill some forward momentum and then you still need to send the kite for lift. You certainly require a good edge for both of these elements. From a good edge you can edge harder upwind to slow down, and with a good edge you can send the kite rapidly and sharply from either 11 or 1 to 12 o’clock because you maintain tension in the lines. If you think about this you won’t drift the kite up slowly whilst standing up on the board and your chances of success will be greatly increased. Please note and also see in Pic A that the rider has come in with good speed on a decent edge, kite at 11 o’clock, weight back and tension in his lines.
From this point the rider has sent the kite up whilst edging harder to both resist the pull, and also to slow down. Even though his back leg is bent it is not soft – it is pushing and therefore resisting.
The Rotation Pic B.
A certain element of trial and error with good amount of practice is what required for this part, depending on your standard BLT. In case if you are a recognized exponent of slow, casual-looking back roll transitions then speeding up the rotation to accommodate an extra 360° shouldn’t hold much of a problem. If however you’re guilty of the occasional foray into spinney quick low BLTs, then you’ll need to focus more on your approach and the take-off, in search of more height and float, which added to your spin speed should see you nicely round the full double.
We feel it extremely important to mention here that that you do want to help yourself into the second rotation, but you don’t want to force it as later in the move you can use your head, body and kite to help you finish. The rider I Pic B. has dropped his weight way back over the tail of the board. With his weight so far back the board will turn/carve much further into the wind as it is almost pivoting on its tail. This will efficiently speed up the rider’s rotation as he will carve further into wind before take-off than for his standard BLT.
The important tool here is timing, you must drop back as the kite starts to lift, a fraction before you take off. This way you’ll still edge and therefore be rewarded with some air and float. If you drop back too early you’ll be pulled back and the kite will fly further back in the window, offering you less time in the air to make it round the two times.
Take Off Pic C.
Here comes the key moment, though your approach will dictate how this goes. If you have edged and resisted and literally stabbed the kite back hard but face short time you will be able to pop up off your back leg as you pull the bar in whilst the kite is somewhere close to 12 o’clock.
The rider has pulled the bar right in after popping. The reasons for this are twofold. Firstly by pulling in hard with 2 hands the rider successfully stops the kite moving and keeps it centered above bias around 12 o’clock. Secondly he gets a cheeky bit of extra lift from the kite. However be cautioned if your sweet spot is trimmed miles away from you, your kite will flare/stall and you will not get the float or control that you’re expecting. As he takes off he keeps his head looking forward between his arms, which will stop him over cooking the rotation. Finally the rider in this image lifts his knees, making himself small, balanced and easier to rotate.
Half Way House Pic D.
By the time you reach to the peak of your transition, your aim is to complete your first rotation, so one on the way up and then one on the way down. That means unless you’re getting great height there won’t be much time to separate the move into two halves.
You are ready and primed to go into number two as you complete the first 360°, it’s the most important thing here. Check images number D. that the rider has lifted his feet above him and has his knees pulled in close. This a little inverted position will make it much simpler to finish the move, as with your feet high and knees in, your whole body, legs and board will follow your head and shoulders as you turn into the second rotation. It is absolutely possible to finish the move with the board down low, however you are far more likely to finish with your head and shoulders, but find that the board has been left somewhat behind – which will hinder your smooth landing. In picture you can see that the rider has started to pull, gently at first, on his left hand (old back hand, new front hand – whichever way you prefer to think). This gentle movement of bar and kite will encourage you to lean back into the second rotation
Turn and land pic- E
Your second rotation will come from a combination of your head and the kite. With your feet up look around and you’ll continue to turn and the rest will follow. You can see that the rider is attentive on where he will land, and as soon as he feels that he is rotating, he dives the kite down hard. The pull from the kite twists him around and powers him up for a down wind landing.
One thing which really important is Timing here in this trick , but if you pull too early the kite will end up low with little power and as such you’ll be forced into a late kite loop once you have landed to keep you dry. If you time the dive well, you’ll get the perfect dry landing without needing to loop the kite.
Top Tips
- Start with some single BLTs, focused on the edge, send, upward take off and keeping the kite above you at 12 o’clock throughout the move.
- Once you’re comfortable, confident and consistent bring your feet up and go for the second rotation whilst keeping the kite at 12.
- Once this is in the bag you can dive hard to add the perfect 10 landing! If you’re struggling with the slow rotation, concentrate on the up rather than the spin and approach with less speed and more edge, whilst sending more aggressively – but just for a short moment.
Common Problems
- The most common problem here is implementation the move but landing with the kite so for at the edge of the window that there is no way to get any power to get moving.
- There are two probable reasons for this. Firstly you’re drifting the kite up rather than sending, so you feel the lift late and the kite has already travelled too far behind you.
- Secondly as you take off your leaning back onto your back hand, so you don’t stop or even redirect the kite to 12. Concentrate on performing the move with the kite at 12 o’clock and then add the kite dive on at the end.
- The other famous problem is not having enough height to land cleanly, so you are completing the double but always landing on an edge across the wind with your burn in the water.
- This can generally be linked with concentrating too much on the rotation and not launching yourself up into the move. Make an effort to pop up into the rotation, and not just carve around into the wind.
Some Keystones
- Good solid edge with legs resisting
- Send kite positively with confidence
- Pop up into the back roll and center bar
- Keep Kite at 12 o’clock and lift legs
- Turn head at apex and dive kite to complete number two
Toe Side Double Front Loop Downloop Transition
Your box of tricks should be always full with surplus of moves; however you have to ensure that you keep up with the transitions too. Having more ways to change direction is never a bad thing so here is another one which will have you flying out gracefully with plenty of beans. When you start doing this we will definitely recommend a controlled front loop from toe side and solid down loop. Let’s have a quick idea at a few pointers that will hopefully make the learning a tad simpler.
The Approach Pic 1.
A huge height is not required for this, however some forward momentum and plenty of float is obligatory,
so you’ll need to approach this more as a double front roll with speed and the kite parked at either 1 or 11 o’clock. You’ll be taking off from your toes and therefore trim is important, hence get your sweet spot down towards you. This way you will provide a decent committed edge and still have room to send the kite without stalling it. Your toe side stance needs to be solid in this position. In the image the rider has all of his body upwind of the board; both knees are bent and driving forward with all his weight firmly on both sets of toes, creating a decent rooster tail behind him. Once he gets sweet spot close in, he can get his shoulders and head committed upwind and the kite is not pulling him up onto the board.
Getting Airborne Pic 2.
Take-off is very important in order to get enough height and time from your toes. 
Get it wrong and you’ll fly down wind and pendulum under your kite! In order to initiate your front rotation you need to get your weight back so that you can kick off your back leg and in order to go up you need to send the kite with a good push and pull from both hands. The rider has sent the kite with a decent bar action, and also keeping it on the sweet spot. If he pulled it in any further the kite will pull him up onto the board and he’ll lose his edge. The order of play here is to send the kite with both knees bent and then drop your weight back ready to kick off. You will lose speed and the ability to edge hard if you drop back too early.
Roll With It Pic 3.
Starting the front roll and keeping the edge for as long as possible will help an awful lot. When the kite lifts you’ll be stamping hard
off your back foot, and extending up into your rotation with as much energy as you can muster. In image you can see why it is so vital to obtain the right weight onto the back foot. The rider in image is stamping hard against the edge to initiate the double roll whilst extending up. This keeps the tail of the board in contact with the water for as long as possible giving him added whip and height. The rider throws his head and shoulders down to add inertia and already centers the bar with both hands to stop the kite flying too far back
Moving Forward Pic 4.
Over here in this picture you can check that the rider only past the 360 degree mark. He has finished his first rotation whilst still on the way up and now starts his second. Having kept the kite close to 12 o’clock he has both float from the kite and he can feel where the kite is. You must commit to the second rotation so as soon as you come around the first continue to turn your head and go with the energy you created on take-off.
If the kite is above you or even a little in front of you, you are in right place to well place to start the down loop. We propose two reasons to initiate it now. Initially the pull from the kite will help pull you around the rest of the way. 
And then secondly the earlier we pull, the less aggressive, relatively speaking, we need to be on the bar. Your sits is for the kite to pull you out of the transition with speed and if the kite down loops too rapidly or from too far behind it will drop you down with no momentum.
You can see in the images that the rider has his knees up tight, bar in close and his head is turned to rotate, all this will rooks hits turn faster. Looking at the bar you can see that he is already initiating the down loop.
Clean Landing Pic 5.
The moment of truth and another insight into the reason you must down loop early, gradually and continually. Looking at the rider in image you can see that he is landing right foot forward downwind on the tail of his board, all set to carve out of the “turn” and back onto his edge.
Realistically he isn’t finishing 2 full rotations; it is more like one and three quarters. So not only does the down loop give you speed but it pulls you out of the rotation. If you initiate the down loop later you will effectively over rotate and land on your heel side edge, stopping all momentum and you in the process. In final stage the rider keeps pulling the kite through the down loop until it is back up at 1 o’clock in the right position to ride away.
Top Tips
- To start with aim to get the rotations and a finish down loop, as this will be better than under cooking it with the kite, so when you do pull on the front hand, pull hard. This will however often result in you stopping when you land.
- Once you’ve practiced that a bit and having read the previous pointers you can see that the aim of this move is not to perform a double rotation and a down loop in the air, but rather get your rotation and use the down loop to pull you out with speed.
- Essentially you will be finishing the down loop as you land, not before. To get your head around this try some air gybe down loops If you go early and hard the kite turns, goes back up to 12 o’clock and you sink.
- Your sits is to progressively turn the kite more gently so that it will go through the bottom of the down loop before you land but as it rises it will pull you through the landing and give you a good speedy landing.
Common Problems
- If you find that you cannot edge enough when sending the kite, and therefore get pulled too much downwind whilst in the air – trim. Even if you have gorilla-length arms you need that sweet spot and the bar in close.
- If you find that you land with no power, as discussed above, you need to get the kite just in front of 12 just after take-off and then down loop the kite more slowly.
- If you’re landing on your hip and can’t get the board underneath you, this is a sign that the kite is down looping too low, so make sure you haven’t redirected the kite too much after take-off, and be a bit more aggressive when you pull on the front hand to down loop it.
Keystones
- Fast toe side with both knees driving forward.
- Rock weight back and send hard
- Kick up off back leg, head and shoulders down
- Redirect kite above you and stay small
- Start down loop progressively once you go into your 2nd rotation
Kite control is important in this trick and you have to initiate the down loop in the right moment. If you´re start down looping to early you might end up crashing hard like this guy
The correct way to do it is like this
Back Loop One Foot
Kite surfing is an grand sport and also proven one of the best exercises for your body & your mind. Being a pleasurable, social sport, kitesurfing can increase your levels of health and fitness with no doubts.
Hopefully you did your boned back loop grab homework! Here is the natural progression, once again based on the humble sent back loop, grabbing the tail but adding a stylish one foot into the equation!
The Approach Pic A.
To have the time in the air to get a foot out and still land you’ll need to perform a dos, and floaty back rotation. Approach wise you need to be coming in on a good edge with the kite parked at either 11 or 1 o’clock. Get your weight back by extending your front leg and dropping your bum over the back foot, whilst still resisting. You can see that the rider is low to the water and edging hard upwind. From here she can send the kite aggressively with both hands for a decent floaty jump.
The take off Pic B
This part will really decide how much time you’ll have and how slowly you’ll rotate. Having sent the kite hard against a good edge the lift from the kite should come early, once the kite is around 12 o’clock. As soon as the rider feels the pull she stamps up off her back leg, extending her entire body up in a popping motion and simultaneously pulls the bar in, both for extra lift and to stop the kite moving any further back in the window. By popping up the rider is carving up into her rotation but she isn’t turning further into wind and therefore she won’t spin uncontrollably. All the while the rider keeps her head looking forward through the bar, again making sure that she doesn’t rotate quickly so that the grab and one foot will be simpler.
Go Early Pic C.
Just the same as the grab, you must go early, but only after you have extended up into the rotation.
As soon as she has left the water she is looking for the grab and already bringing her back foot up towards her extended back arm. The earlier she gets hold of the board, the more time she’ll have to grab and concentrate on getting around smoothly and landing softly! Go for the grab just as you have practiced so whether you grab the heel side edge of the board or the actual tail doesn’t matter, whatever feels comfy and natural.
Slip It Out Pic D.
It will be easier to get your foot out if you have the board edge up, as opposed to flat. 
This way gravity will help and with the smallest of encouragement you should be able to get your pinkies free. You can see that the rider is still looking at the board, she looked for the grab and then focused on the foot strap so that she can see what she is doing and this also has the added benefit of keeping her head from looking over her shoulder, and thus keeps her rotation slow, giving her plenty of time for the one foot. The rider can now hold the board up whilst she pulls her foot out and down, easily releasing it from the strap. If the board is held flat it will be harder as you will have to pull your foot out towards you, which requires more flexibility or longer arms. On your first attempts aim just to get your foot out onto the pad. Once you’re confident you can extend your leg, pushing your foot down towards the water for extra style and look at me points. Final point to ponder here is that even though the rider is flying the kite with one hand, she still has the bar pulled in. This gives her support and float, whilst keeping tension on the lines, meaning that the kite is ready for the eventual landing.
Back In Pic E.
At first keep your back foot close to the strap when you take it out. This way you can literally pull your foot out and leave it resting on the pad, so to get it back in you just need to push it. As you gain confidence start to extend your back leg once you have taken the foot out take the foot so that it is more obvious. You’ll need to keep your eyes on the prize, 
so watch the strap and aim your foot back in. Once your toes are in, use your grab and push your foot and/or pull the board to make sure that your foot is properly in.
This is not essential but it will make the landing considerably easier. If only your toes are in you’re more likely to trip over your toe side edge when you land.
The Grand Finale Pic F.
Once you have your foot safely back in the strap it’s all about preparing and conquering the landing. Your first job is to make sure that you finish the rotation, so turn your head and look towards your potential landing zone, which should be in front and downwind of you. Don’t be tempted to look too far around as this will encourage you to over mists. Job number two is to get two hands on the bar so that you can comfortably pull the bar in and dive the kite, which will both pull you out of the rotation and pull you downwind for your landing. You can see that the rider is looking downwind whilst reaching up for the bar. From here on in she’ll dive the kite and land with the board facing down wind, claiming the one foot.
Top Tips
- Assuming that you’re happy with your slow rotation the most important part to concentrate on is getting the grab early.
- If you do, then you will have more time to get the foot out and then back in.
- Do concentrate on looking at the foot strap to get your foot out; making sure the board is edge up.
- Finally do wiggle your back foot out of the strap a little before you take off, or even loosen the strap so that it is easy to slip in and out.
- Now have a good look at the Sequence and the get the grab early and don’t use your head. Videos for a full step by step guided tour.
Common Problems
- Most of the potential problems will be the same as for the grab, so over rotating or flying the kite forward too much when you grab.
- If it’s not working make sure that you take off up into your back rotation, If the kite pulls you forward in the air, causing you to lose balance, land nose heavy or crash, send it a bit more for the jump so that you’re flying with the kite just behind 12 o’clock.
Keystones
- Good solid edge with back leg resisting
- Send kite positively
- Pop up into the back roll
- Grab early and tilt the board edge up
- Look at strap to get foot out and in
Shifty 5
Everyday small progression in kiting is an important thing and also the most rewarding challenges. In freestyle the possibilities seem endless, moving from a blind landing with surface pass, to an air pass blind judge and then adding that extra bit tars blind judge three and then a five and then a seven – one can but dream or admire those that actually can.
Anyway the point is to those non-freestylers it all can look a tad uncontrolled with a lot of splashing, but if it’s your thing then every extra 90° or so means s00000 much. Taking your Shifty 3 and moving it on to a 5 is a highly rewarding yet achievable challenge – so here’s how.
To make that extra turn to toe side you’ll need more time. There are a few options available to you here. You could put your kite higher, which will help but the higher it is the more strength and effort you’ll need to pass, which may slow down your rotation.
You could go for the pass much earlier and therefore have more apparent time at the end to get around that extra bit although if you don’t kick the back leg it could make the pass trickier. And you could pop as hard as you’ve ever popped, although if you pop too hard you might get extended and pulled out which could also make the pass a tad more difficult. Realistically a subtle combination of all three is needed, with an awareness of how each will affect you. The one exception to all of the above is if you happen to be one of those people who can spin so quickly that you’re not sure what all the fuss is about
Getting Up There Pic 1
From the above you can check that rider is not coming into this with his kite at 45°, but as so often it won’t be above 11 o’clock as you must be able to edge against it, and any higher it’ll be lifting you – 10.30 is perfect.He’s come in with good speed and the kite parked still, with all his weight back over the tail of the board. He’s carved up hard and low and at this point has popped aggressively by stamping against the board, allowing his legs and body to fully extend upwards in an effort to get as much height as he can with this kite angle. His effort is focused ontwo things simultaneously, pop for height AND
keep the bar as close aspossible. You don’t want your arms getting pulled out straight.
The Leg Kick – Shifty Pic 2
As you’ll no doubt know from your Shifty 3s, kicking the back leg out is to help with your rotation and if you happen to have a stylish shifty it’ll look better too. As soon as he is free of the water the rider kicks his back leg out, winding up some energy for his rotation and pass whilst keeping his elbows and hands in. This way he’ll be able to pull harder and swing his leg further.
Swing and Pull Pic 3
This is a crucial step as the closer you get yourself to the bar, the earlier you’ll be able to pass it and more importantly the less it will pull away from you once you have passed it. Remember that your airs is to go a little earlier so as soon as you have kicked your leg back, pull and go. You need to pull yourself up and over the bar whilst swinging your front leg under your elbows to get you rotating. This is a kite face moment as the effort should be extreme maybe even allow yourself a little grunt!
You can see that in comparison with the last picture where the rider head was level with the bar, he now has the bar coming in and down below his chest. And even though he has swung his back leg through and has started to rotate he still has both hands on the bar as he is still pulling himself up to it.
The Pass Pic 4
The passing action will be similar to your 3, that is to say you’ll be leading with your head and shoulders, turning yourself down and around, away from the bar, releasing your front hand, twisting the bar and then immediately hunting for the bar on the other side. If you popped hard enough and pulled hard enough you should get some slack here from the kite, which will help as the bar won’t get pulled out from you.
That said the main difference here to the 3 is if you look at the rider, you’ll see that his back leg is lifted with his knee coming up towards his chest. This is the precursor to getting the toe side landing, you really have to commit to this during the handle 
pass, otherwise your feet and the board will drop away from you and you’ll have no chance to go that little bit further.
Head, Hand and Knee Pic 5
And here is the result of bringing that knee up. With the knee up the rider can then bring it through towards his hand. The action is similar to that of a back roll to toe side, even though your adding the toe side on at the end you have to finish the roll with your back knee high so that you can push it through. It’s also important to keep the bar close, by that we mean don’t let your front arm fully extend as then you’ll used to Shifty 3s the chances are your muscle memory will encourage you to just drop out of the pass. Here you must keep your head turning so that it’s looking forward as this will allow you to turn your shoulders further so that your legs and upper body are moving together.
Just think how you learnt the side by taking the front hand off so that your shoulders could twist around. Here you can’t let that hand go so you’ll need to turn your head.
Get the Back Hand on Pic 6
This is almost THE top tip as well as being the final thought to ponder, 
as once you get your head around what is going on, aiming for this from the moment you think about passing will help you get the 5.
If you fry your damnedest to land with both hands on the bar it will make you turn your shoulders even if it doesn’t get on until you splash down, as is the case with our rider here in image.
Top Tips
- You’re going to need power, pop and height, but don’t confuse this with having your kite trimmed too far out, or should we say powered up in old
- If you do the kite will pull all through the move and it’ll be twice as hard.
- If you can think of only two elements of this move, they are to lift that back knee as you pass and fry to land with two hands on the bar.
- Have a gander at the full Sequence and Videos and try to see the early pre-empting of the toe side turn during the pass
Common Problems
- If you’re dropping down out of the pass as per normal for a 3, take time to visualize what you’re aiming for.
- Then give it another 30% on your next try and think about bringing that knee up and landing with two hands.
- If you’re getting around but then fall on your back once you land. This means the kite is pulling you too much once you’ve passed, so either trim a little more or pull harder into the pass.
- If you don’t have time, go earlier and try to get some more height with help from the kite.
Keystones
- Come in with power and speed and pop super hard
- Shifty as soon as you’re off the water
- Then immediately pull up to bar and swing back leg through
- Lift back knee up and through as you pass
- Land with 2 hands on the bar