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
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
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
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
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
Indy Pop to Blind
Before trying Indy pop to blind trick you must be reading well below instructions and practice it with right way. You can have every possible trill which is there in kite surfing. By understanding what to do and how to do can make all the difference.
And as we have often said it’s a great way to freshen up and reignite your passion fats move that you already have in the bag – so it’ll not only look the puppy’s but also feel do booth! Here we have a hooked in pop to blind with a back hand grab on the toe side rail in between your feet. You should already have the ability to pop around to blind and ride and if you don’t then hopefully this will be the incentive you need to learn.
The Set Up- Pic A
When you search for your pop you will require two things, the obvious one being speed with a dose of power and the less obvious one is a good body position, which is always much required. Whilst learning you can afford yourself the luxury of a third one, which is lift from the kite. No need to have it down at 45° when a forgiving 1 or 11 o’clock will help you on your way. Here we can see in the image that the body position as the rider carves back up into her pop. Her front leg is extended, meaning that her hips, and weight are pushed back towards the tail of the board and her shoulders are also leaning back. Surfer adopted this position before she turned off the wind and has held it throughout her carves. This very sturdy position enables her to pop explosively off her back leg. Before we continue take note that your hands should be centered on the bar and your kite parked still.
The Explosion Pic B
From such a solid set up the pop should be easy and simple. As long as you turned off the wind before carving up both the kite and the board will behave, that is to say the kite will give you something to pop against and your board won’t slow down too much as you carve. To get maximum pop you must keep your shoulders back and upwind of the board, your bum low and close to the water and you must not soften your back knee as you carve up. The rider has stamped down hard against the board with her back foot, explosively kicking herself away from her edge, and with her weight back and she takes off nose first. In anticipation of not having much time to grab she is already releasing her back hand from the bar as she stamps.
Board Up Pic C
As with any pop you need to wait until you’ve extended your body to get full elevation up, but as soon as you have it’s chop-chop to get the grab in. In picture, having already released hand, her next job is to bring her knees up towards her so that the board is within grabbing distance. The rider looks down towards where she’ll grab as she lifts the board and keeps her knees apart so that there is room for her arm to reach down towards the edge of the board. Also as a result of popping hard the back of her board kicks around and out slightly which has the effect of turning the rider back and away from the kite. This is good as it pushes which in turn gives her more room to reach down with her back hand.
The Grab Pic D
With the board flicking around, roots for the back hand to reach down and the knees pulling everything up she can happily grab the board for a solid Indy. In this picture you can see the result of all that has gone before – the bar is in front of her and she has plenty of roots to reach and hold the grab without the need to be a contortionist. Whilst you have the grab sirs to keep the bar in on the sweet spot so that you’ll have a modicum of support from the kite, you’ll keep your forward momentum for the landing, and you’ll be able to dump the pull when you need to turn to blind.
Throw the Blind Pic E
A very good thing about the grab is that it naturally makes you stall your turn or throw to blind. Blind is always a last second movement, hence why we can do a by pop to blind. The higher you go, the longer you have to wait in order to keep your balance and control the landing. Once you feel that you’ve got the grab and you know that you’re coming data it’s time to turn. The action will come from your hips and your back leg whilst your free arm will balance you. The rider has released her grab and now commits to blind. To turn the board she twists her hips and pulls her back leg up towards her bottom and around towards the water. The board will naturally want to fall tail first so she focuses on pulling her back leg up. By doing this she will rotate around her harness hook and should make it all the way.
Landing Pic F
Landing this should be as per your pop to blind, though chances are as you’ve had more height you will have less momentum to keep you going once you plant the board. Make an effort to keep your back foot up so that you can plant the front of the board into the water for landing. This way as the nose catches the board will pivot off the wind more and you’re more likely to keep moving. If you land flat on your edge you’ll just stop. You can see that the rider has landed nose first with her front leg fairly straight, whilst her back leg is bent so that the board will turn further away from the wind on landing
She is already in her default blind position so that she will keep moving. If you have slowed too much pull the bar in to get some oomph from your kite.
Top Tips
- First of all you should practice the Indy if you never tried it before.
- Getting the board flicking you slightly around on take-off does make the movement of turning to blind in the air much easier as you have less far to turn and thus your body is in a better position.
- Try looking back at where you came from as you grab, this will help you turn during your Indy.
- Although we’ve said you don’t want your kite too low, don’t have it any higher than 11 or 1 o’clock. It still needs to be pulling forward to allow for some flick, an easy grab, and momentum on landing.
Common Problems
- If you can’t reach to the grab then ensure you’re popping hard enough. The pop will help you lift the board as the water will cork the board back up at you.
- Also make sure you turn to face slightly back to get the bar and your harness out of the way.
- If you’re falling backwards as you land. If your body is further downwind than the board when you land you need to sheet the bar out as you throw the blind.
- If you’re landing and then falling chances are that you’re landing flat or tail first, so concentrate on keeping that back foot up and close to your bottom so that the board can pivot.
Keystones
- Turn up and pop hard
- Release back hand and look for grab
- Lift board and look back
- Throw to blind using hips and back leg
- Keep back leg up to land nose first
Toe Side Pop Out to Wrapped
Popping from a toe side and landing in a wrapped is a great start to wrapped if you haven’t tried it before, and if you can already manage a shifty or more to wrapped, then this should be a doodle and a surefire way of adding extra style points to any move you land in toe side.
For those of you who have never tried a wrapped, it is releasing the front hand and rotating away from the bar so that you can reach around behind you and land on heel side with your arm in a self-induced arm lock. If you can go blind one way, imagine going the other way but still releasing with the same hand and turning the exact same way.
LOW AND NEAR
In pic A, you can see that the surfer is almost carving 
downwind away from his toe side edge. This is very sudden change of direction that does two things. First, it allows you to keep your speed for a moment even without pulling the kite, which means your board will still be planning; therefore you will be able to pop without it sticking. Second, by suddenly turning towards your kite, the lines will slacken and the bar will be light in your hands so you can keep it low and close.
In pic B – Just as the surfer is about to pop, you can see that the bar is in close. With the slack in the lines the surfer can bend his arms and make sure the bar will close to him all the way around his 180 degree spin. You can also see that the kite is relatively low, say around the 45 degree mark. With the kite here it is less likely to pull the bar up and away from you. Also, ( as you’ll be releasing with your front hands) if the kite does move, it will go up, so starting with a lower tad is a good option. If you are popping off flat water, you will need to let go with your front hand as you heave up.
SPEED
As we have already mentioned, you can throw this pop whenever you come fast in your toes from another move. However, when you are trying this for the first time as a pop from toe side, your approach is pretty important because you will need speed. The simplest way to maintain speed is to unhook whilst riding heel side as you will have a better unhooked riding position. Then, you can slide the back of the board straight downwind and you are ready to pop from a very off the wind toe side. However, once you get the hang of it, you could unhook from toe side or just before you pop.
TIMING IN SEQUENCE
1 – Having approached with good speed and his kite positioned at about 10:30, the surfer has unhooked and the spun around to a very downwind toe side chasing the kite. Getting ready to pop the surfer has rocked his weight back over his trailing foot and flexed his back knee. The surfer got his bar in close to his body and is ready to spring.
2 – The surfer stamps down hard on his back foot and extends his body upwards. At the same time the surfer releases his front hand enabling him to stand over the board for a balanced spin.
3 – AS the board rises, the surfer lifts his legs and starts his rotation by turning his head and shoulders down and away from the kite.
4 – The surfer twists his wrist and turns his palm up behind his back, which helps him turn his shoulders further still. At the same time the surfer pushes his left foot through to get the board in front of him.
5 – On landing, the surfer makes sure that the bar is twisted all the way around and ready to be grabbed.
6 – The surfer reaches with this free left hand and grabs the bar.
7 – then releases his right hand.
8-9 – The surfer continues to turn his head and looks up towards the bar and gets both hands back on the bar.
10 – Sail away, hook back in and then try it from a railey to toe side.
KEYSTONES
- Speed
- Sudden chase kite
- Pop hard off back foot
- Turn head all the way
- Twist wrist and shoulders
Pop Back Loop
The pop backloop is often the first kite trick that kiters learn and once you master it you’ll be eager to learn more advanced tricks.
To perform this trick there are a few key points you must follow:
- Speed. You need speed or else the board will stop in the water when you edge hard upwind.
- To gain speed you’ll have to momentarily point your board downwind, just before you start edging upwind.
- You will be physically jumping up off a coiled back leg, whilst edging the board, corking yourself up and out of the water.
- You will not use the kite for a lift, so park your hands close together on the bar. This means that you’re sailing with kite at 11-11:30 or 12:30-13:00. Having the kite heigher will give you more lift.
So, you’re are mentally prepared and you’re ready to start the backloop pop. Now follow these steps.
- Ride upwind.
- Relax your legs, so that you’re not pushing the board away from you and kite downwind a few meters.
- Once you gained enough speed, start carving quick against the wind, up to almost 45 degrees across the wind.
- At this point push the board away from you with your legs and turn your shoulders back up the wind. This will initiate the rotation.
- Keep turning away from the kite and you’ll continue the rotation in the air and hopefully land nice after turning about 270 degrees (the first 45 degrees are performed with the board still in the water).
- That’s it.
