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
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
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
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
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
Front Loop Transition
Before attempting to learn the front loop transition it is wise to first learn the air gybe. If you also know how to make a front loop, this should be a piece of cake for you. Here are the steps to complete a front loop transition.
- Approach as for a normal air gybe. Ditch some speed by carving hard into the wind and then immediately send the kite back aggressively, keeping the bar on the sweet spot. Keep your weight over your back foot, extend your front leg.
- As soon as you feel the kite lift, explode up your back leg and level the bar out by pulling both hands down towards your hips.
- Throw yourself into the front rotation by dropping your leading shoulder, turn your head and kick off the back foot.
- As you start to rotate redirect the kite with your front hand in order to get it back above you.
- Lift your knees, making yourself smaller to help the rotation and to keep your balance in the air. Keep the bar in so you can feel where the kite is and keep tension on the lines, which in turn keeps you up and floating.
- Look over your back shoulder and wait until you see a potential landing spot. With the bar still in you can feel where the kite is, and in this case it’s now above you so you level the bar out.
- Now at the apex of your jump keep the bar in so that the kite will be responsive once you need to dive it. Still look over your back shoulder, waiting to spot your landing.
Keystones:
- Carve then send
- Keep bar in
- Go early
- Redirect kite
- Dive kite really hard
