Back Roll (Backloop)

The back roll, or backloop as it is also known, is another relatively easy trick to master. As with the jump, you want to have enough power and be riding upwind. Start to build up some decent speed and keep edging with your kite at 1 o’clock if you are riding right foot forward (11 o’clock if you have your left foot forward). Move your hands to the centre of the bar so that you don’t turn the kite while rotating. Stand up off your edge for a meter or two, then edge hard upwind to start the backward rotation and release the edge, throwing the nose of your board upwind and turning your head to look over your front shoulder (in this example your right shoulder).

Lift your knees towards your chest a little to help you stay balanced in the air and to make the rotation easier. Remember that your body will rotate around your head and shoulders so stay committed and keep looking over that shoulder until you come around and spot your landing. Spot your landing and straighten your legs for impact. Bend your knees slightly as you hit the water to absorb the impact and ride away. Your kite should have stayed pretty much in the same place throughout the move.

Back Roll Video Demonstration

Common Mistakes

• Once you’ve started the rotation backward you don’t throw your head around over your shoulder – this causes you to only turn half-way around and land backwards
  You must commit to the back roll and throw your head and shoulders around, and then your body will follow.
• You don’t pop off the water enough and turn too flat
  Try to pop a bit harder so you rotate with your body more vertical, not horizontal. You can also bring your kite back toward 12 to do a small jump as you go for the back roll – just remember to redirect your kite back down again so you don’t land with the kite behind you.
• You land with your kite going back toward or past 12 o’clock
  Keep your hands close to the centre of the bar, and when coming in to land, consciously pull a bit more on your front hand to bring kite down into the window again.

Back Roll | Image: kitesports.co.za

We love hearing from you, so if you have any questions, or back roll tips of your own, please share them in the comments below.

Written by

Calvin Da Silva (Kitesports)

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Kitesurfing Progression: Back Roll was published by inMotion Kitesurfing.

This tutorial continues from the first and second in our series of kitesurfing tutorials, Riding Upwind and learning How to Jump. If you missed these lessons, and you are learning to kitesurf, you might want to read them as well.

Board Grab

Now that you’ve mastered your jumps, start to throw a bit more style into it by getting a grab in. The easiest grabs to start with are the Tail Grab or Indy Grab.

Tail Grab

Keep your hands closer to the centre of the bar so that you don’t turn the kite once you take your one hand off. As soon as you are in the air and you have your kite in position above your head, take your back hand off the bar, bend your knees and grab the tail of your board. To start with just grab the part of the board that feels most comfortable to you.

Board Grab Sequence | Rider: Sinisa

Hold the grab for as long as you can and preferably through the highest point of your jump. Once you start coming down put both hands back on the bar, spot your landing and once you are close to the water, redirect your kite in the direction you want to ride away in.

Indy Grab

With the Indy Grab, you grab the board on the toeside edge (the side of your board your toes point to) directly between your feet.

Indy Grab | Rider: Stevo

Indy Grab Instructional Video

Once you master the Tail Grab and Indy Grab, start thinking about grabbing the board in other areas of your board (see diagram below), or extending one of your legs once you’ve grabbed the board to tweak it out and add more style.

Board Grab Positions

These grabs can be combined with any other aerial trick, taking your kitesurfing progression to new heights.

As always, we love hearing from you, so feel free to ask questions in the comments below and we will happily help you.

Written by

Calvin Da Silva (Kitesports)

PS: If you enjoyed this article, help spread the word by clicking the “Like”, “Tweet”, “+1” buttons, or sharing it using the share icons below. Want to read more articles like this? Subscribe to iMK, and get our articles directly to your inbox or RSS reader.

Kitesurfing Progression: Board Grab was published by inMotion Kitesurfing.

This tutorial continues from the first in our series of kitesurfing progression tutorials, Riding Upwind. If you missed that lesson, and you are learning to kitesurf, you might want to read it as well.

The Take Off

Firstly, you want to be powered and staying upwind. Keep the kite between 1 and 2 o’clock if you’re riding right foot forward, build up some decent speed and power, and keep edging hard.

Take Off | Edge Hard

Release Your Edge | Bend Your Knees

Throw the kite back quickly from 1 o’ clock to around 11 o’clock, pull in the bar and KEEP EDGING. You will get to the point where enough tension has been built up that you won’t be able to edge any more and the kite will launch you off the water. Bring your knees up toward your chest to help keep you stable and prevent you from swinging around under the kite.

Edging

Bring your Knees to your Chest

This is the key to getting your jumps sorted. If you release your edge too early you will get no height and land with speed downwind. Your goal is to go straight up and straight back down.

Landing your Jump

Once you are in the air, get the kite straight up above you (12 o’clock) and keep holding the bar in to get some good lift and hang time. Once you are on the way down, spot your landing and straighten your legs to absorb the impact on landing. It is important that you don’t lock your knees when landing, as you might hurt them on impact. Keep your knees slightly bent to help absorb the impact. About a meter above the water dive the kite back down toward 1 or 2 o’clock where it was before you initiated the jump. This will give you forward momentum to make your landing softer and get you riding away smoothly after the landing. Remember to point your front leg downwind toward your kite so you ride away in the direction your kite is pulling you.

Key Tip

Don’t release that edge too early at the start of your jump. Wait for the kite to pull you off your edge and up into the air.

Common Mistakes:

• Not getting much height or lift
  You need to be going faster and EDGE hard to build up tension in the lines between you and your kite to pull you off the water.
• Not getting much height or lift
  You aren’t bringing the kite back quickly enough past 12 o’ clock and you might also not be pulling the bar in to generate more power and lift as the kite is sweeping back past 12.
• Losing balance in the air or swinging around under the kite
  Lift up your knees toward your chest so your legs are bent. Also, don’t push off the water too hard with your back leg because that can initiate a spin (like a back roll).
• Landing hard or falling out of the sky with kite going behind you
  You need to bring the kite back from 11 to 12 so it is above you while floating through the air. Then just before landing redirect it toward 1 or 2 o’ clock to pull you sideways and downwind a bit.
• Your legs skid out underneath you on landing
  Point your front leg toward the kite so you land riding downwind, otherwise you land with both feet square to the kite and the board slides out from under you.

Click on the thumbnails below to see a full jump sequence demonstrating the main steps, or watch the slideshow.

Here’s a great instructional video on jumping from our friends at Progression:

As always, we would love to hear from you… if you are battling with your jumping, feel free to ask questions in the comments below and we will be happy to help you.

Written by

Calvin Da Silva (Kitesports)

PS: If you enjoyed this article, help spread the word by clicking the “Like”, “Tweet”, “+1” buttons, or sharing it using the share icons below. Want to read more articles like this? Subscribe to iMK, and get our articles directly to your inbox or RSS reader.

Kitesurfing Progression: How to Jump was published by inMotion Kitesurfing.

‘Riding Upwind’ is the first in our new series of progression tutorials brought to you by Calvin Da Silva from Kitesports, a reputable kiteboarding shop based near Durban, South Africa.

Calvin is a qualified IKO Instructor at Kitesports and one of their most accomplished team riders.

BTW: If you haven’t started kitesurfing yet, but you are thinking about learning, may we suggest our Beginners Guide to Kitesurfing: Getting Started.

How to Ride Upwind

So you’re up and riding and addicted to kiteboarding! All that’s left is to ride upwind so you can forget about that walk of shame back up the beach to have another go. The key to staying upwind is to have enough power in the kite so that you can keep it in one position and ride. Keep the kite at 11 o’clock if you’re riding left foot forward and open your head, hips and shoulders to face the direction you want to ride in. Lean your shoulders back away from the bar, which automatically puts weight on your heels and sinks your board edge into the water.

Dean Bottcher

Correct Riding Stance

Your stance is also a key element here. Keep your hips more forward, not back as if you are sitting on the toilet. There’s a well known saying for this, but I will spare you the details for the sake of our younger more innocent readers… Also, keep your front leg pretty straight and bend your back leg – this will shift your weight back and help you to apply more pressure on the back edge of the board which will shoot you upwind. The key is to get a balance between board speed and amount of edging against the kite so you continue to go forward without stopping or having to go downwind toward your kite.

Say goodbye to those irritating walks back upwind!

Correct Stance – Dean Bottcher

Common Mistakes

• You keep sinking back down into the water
  Ride slightly downwind first to pick up some speed before you start edging against the kite. Also don’t put too much pressure on your back foot – this will turn the board upwind too much, effectively putting a brake on your forward momentum. You might also be ‘parking’ the kite too soon. ‘Work’ the kite in a wave-motion down and up to build up some more speed before you park it at around 45 degrees.
• You get pulled downwind at speed
  Straighten your front leg and bend your back leg to get more weight over your back foot. Think of your front foot as an accelerator and your back foot as a brake – the more you push on your front foot the faster you go, the more you push on your back foot the slower you go. You might also be ‘working’ the kite too much. Just park it at around 45 degrees and edge harder.

As always, we would love to hear from you… if you are struggling to stay upwind, feel free to ask questions in the comments below and we will be happy to help you.

Written by

Calvin Da Silva (Kitesports)

To learn more about Kitesports, visit their website at: www.kitesports.co.za

PS: If you enjoyed this article, help spread the word by clicking the “Like”, “Tweet”, “+1” buttons, or sharing it using the share icons below. Want to read more articles like this? Subscribe to iMK, and get our articles directly to your inbox or RSS reader.

Kitesurfing Progression: Riding Upwind was published by inMotion Kitesurfing.