Sent Back roll Nose Grab
This is very exciting and this is one of those many jumping moves that many of you learnt during your early steps and adding a glorious nose grab so that it doesn’t look in the slightest stale. In fact may get many of your peers back on the back roll bandwagon. Obviously all grabs are great but a nose grab really stands out as it forces you into a tweak, which just oozes style and smile. Only prerequisite for this is a sent back roll, but if you’ve already got the nose grab jump dialed, things will be very easier for you.
The Jump Pic A
To grab the nose whilst back rolling you’ll need time, and for time read slow back loop rotation. The only way to pull off a fancy slow roll is to get enough height, so the jump is everything. Approach wise you should be coming in on a good edge with the kite either at 11 or 1 o’clock, no higher. Extend your front leg to push your hips back on the board, essential for a controlled back rotation, and even though this will bend your back leg, keep it solid not soft; otherwise you won’t be able to hold the edge against the kite’s pull.
In Pic A the rider’s front leg is straight and her back leg is locked to maintain a solid edge and her derriere is low. With her kite moved into position and her but in the sweet spot she can now send the kite as for a jump and concentrate on resisting the resultant pull and lift with her back leg.
The Initiation Pic B
The way you start your back roll will dictate the entire rotation, so bearing that in mind let’s have a look at when and how the rider get’s things under way. Having resisted with a good edge whilst sending the kite quite hard from 11 o’clock the pull should come early, at about 12 or just after . 
As soon as the rider feels the pull she stamps up off her back leg in a popping motion and then pulls the bar in. By popping up into the back loop she can’t lean too far back or bend both legs and therefore can’t carve too hard into wind under the kite, so her rotation will be slower. This is because she is taking off upwind, not already into wind, so she has further to rotate in the air. And by pulling the bar in the rider can immediately freeze the kite above her, preventing it from continuing back as is often the way in sent back rolls. Note that although the rider has carved into this rotation she has not thrown her head over her front shoulder. You want slow and controlled so keep your head looking forward.
Go Early Pic C
It’s the same for pretty much every grab, you have to go for the grab straight off the bat, the longer you wait the less time you’ll have and the less likely you’ll think it’s a good idea, especially when it involves:: bit of stretching and twisting. You can clearly see another advantage of not throwing your head into the rotation. As the rider gets airborne, by looking forward she is actually staring right at the board. This way she can see where she will grab and can prepare for it. The rider lifts her front knee up and across her body, knee towards opposite shoulder and releases her back hand and reaches it down towards the nose – all the while keeping the bar in with her front hand.
The Nose Grab Pic D
This is a beauty, and by jove does it suit a back roll. Once you’ve got the nose or toe side edge up front, do actually grab it firmly as it’ll help you pull your front leg in and give you something to push against with the back leg, leading to a wonderful tweak, which you can hold for as long as you dare. Looking at the grab keeps your head between your shoulders, so will keep you rotating slowly.
This is probably a good moment to mention the advantage of giving the kite a decent send for the jump. It’s not just about getting height, but because you’ll spend a considerable amount of time keeping the bar pulled in with only your front hand, the kite will merely move from behind you to slightly in front of you. If you gingerly drift the kite up, by the time you come around your back roll the kite will be way too for forward and pulling you off balance.
The Finish Pic E
If your rotation is controlled and the kite is not too for forward you can hold the grab until just before touchdown. 
However looking at your grab and the front of the board will not encourage you to finish off the rotation. To make sure that you complete the 360° and get far enough around landing perfectly you will eventually need to turn your head over your front shoulder to see where you’re going, spot your landing and get the board pointing downwind. When you do release the grab, only release the grab – so keep your knees up and the bar in so that you can dive the kite for landing.
Top Tips
- Keeping in line with practicalities do start with some back rolls, concentrating on the send, upward take off and slow rotation.
- Then start to bring your front knee up and across whilst keeping your back leg bent. Once you’re happy with this release the front hand and go for the early grab, which you can hold or touch for just a fraction of a second. Finally build up to a long tweaked hold.
- Trim your bar and sweet spot in a touch, as it’ll make reaching the shoulder across for the grab more comfortable. And keep your harness tight!
Common Problems
- If you are over-rotating your back roll and either landing across the wind on an edge or starting another rotation make sure that you don’t carve up excessively during your take off.
- You should go from the edge that you’ve approached with, and then kick up and around. Also make sure you dive the kite for the landing as this will stop your rotation and pull you off down wind. If you can’t reach the grab, try a few without a back roll.
- The nose grab is more about bringing your knee up and across under your harness hook, rather than you reaching down for it.
- If you’re getting pulled forward and off balance by the kite in the air, either crashing or landing nose first. This is a result of the kite flying forward of
- 12 o’clock, so in the rider’s case towards 11, and can be due to a number of reasons. Firstly make sure your hands are centered on the bar, keep the bar in with one hand without yanking it forward. Make sure you send the kite, the further it goes back, the further it needs to return, so there is a perfect balance depending on your height and kite size.
Keystones
- Good solid edge with legs resisting
- Send kite positively
- Pop up into the back roll (not around)
- Pull front knee up for early grab
- Turn head to complete rotation
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
Blind Judge 3
We’re expecting that you can already stomp the blind judge, and therefore we’ll tweak what you have to move you towards the full monty. In tech terms, considering that you should land a blind judge pretty much down wind, you’re only going to have to turn just over another 90° to claim this one, but that’s a bit like saying you only have to pass the bar in the air to convert the blind landing into a judge, only. It may not sound like much but it’s worth the effort, as it will quite literally feel stunning to land back on your heels – boom! We’ll walk you through the bits that we think make the difference and get you all the way around.
The Approach
Yes once again if you don’t start this right you’ll be emptying your bladder into the wind, whilst banging your head on the proverbial brick wall. First things first, where you start is where you’ll finish, so if you want to land heel side pointing downwind you better bear away so that you’re pointing very downwind before takeoff to help your chances. If not even if you rotate all the way you’ll land on an edge and butt check at best.
Finally and looking at Pic A. you’ll need to get your body and weight into the right position to control the speed and pop. This should be nothing new but you can see that the rider has his hips back over the back of the board, his front leg extended, his shoulders behind his hips and his elbows is This is only possible if you bear away in this position so don’t carve off the wind and bend your front knee!
The Carve
You need to be super aggressive here to get maximum pop, so fight for it if this was a close up you’d see the rider’s rather pained kite face, there’s some effort involved.
Pic B. From the good approach position the rider was able to quickly carve back onto his edge by turning the board back up wind. To resist sufficiently the rider does not allow his back leg to bend more than it was before he carved – you can only use the bend that you have to pop. At the same time the rider’s front leg remains fairly straight which keeps his hips back and low. The final battle is to keep his front elbow in to stop the kite rising as he carves against it
Pop and Flick
This is definitely one of the most influential moments in learning this move, the flick which follows your pop.
Pic C. By resisting hard, carving hard and popping hard but late, the rider’s board flicks around behind him, turning his waist and shoulders upwind, so that the board is more vertical than horizontal behind him.
To prevent him from rotating the rider keeps looking forward and keeps his arms in, but he doesn’t resist this movement as it is the coiling of the spring! In this position the rider’s legs are straight, he doesn’t let his knees bend and feet lift. If you’re used to letting your knees bend your feet up behind you, you need to work on this straight flick. From here you can use gravity to gain maximum speed to spin effectively. If the feet go up you only have your knees travelling a short distance, as opposed to the weight of the board coming from far behind and one side to the other.
Pull and Turn
The flick is only transient, because no sooner is your board behind you than you need to get a move on and throw the 3.
Pic D. As soon as the rider can, he pulls hard on the bar to get his head and shoulders above it and swings the board forward. With the board and his body coming from that turned upwind position, it starts to turn the rider as soon as he moves. Worth noting as well that as the rider pulls on the bar with both hands he is already twisting it around ready for the pass. In comparison to a blind judge the rider does throw himself into the rotation, committing to a full rotation from the off. Think of it as a full flat rotation as opposed to a blind judge with a heel side landing. The basic difference here is that if your board is horizontal it swings forward and down as you pull. From the flicked position, as soon as you pull you automatically start to turn and therefore build up momentum for a full 360°.
The Pass
Hopefully the extra pop and direction of spin created from your flick will allow you to keep two hands pulling on the bar for longer whilst still allowing you to turn. This should then allow you to pass the bar nearer to you, whilst you remain more upright with the board underneath you. If you’re comfortably landing blind judges, then concentrate on passing the bar later, allowing your body to turn further before reaching for the bar. Pic E. You can see in the picture that the rider’s hips are over the board, so he is rotating with the board. The rider achieves this by keeping his head more upright, so don’t tuck your chin into your chest. You can also see that at the moment of passing the rider’s head is turning to look forward, keeping the rotation alive. Finally the rider’s trailing leg is bent.
You must keep this leg, your front landing leg bent so that it doesn’t drop down away from you, preventing you from completing the full 3.
Getting it round Pic F.
The final hurdle. You can see that as the rider releases his front hand he keeps his back arm bent and the bar close. This will keep him moving towards the kite and prevents him from dropping down. The rider’s head is still turning to look for the landing, bringing his shoulders with if now whilst holding the bar in close the rider lifts his front knee through with the rotation and twists the bar around in front of him, so that the bar will lead him as he comes around, bingo.
Top Tips
- They’ve all been mentioned, but start well off the wind, go for the flick and pull early. Really spin into the rotation, committing for the full 360 and pass the bar late so that you turn further, leading with your head held high.
- Once you pass the bar keep your knees and board up, and the bar in close, so that you can roll your front shoulder towards the bar waiting in front of you…. To get yourself in the mood and your head around it, try to get the full 3 without passing the bar, so let go when you should pass but aim to get your body and board around.
- Don’t however practice this method too much as you don’t want muscle memory to remember the letting go.
- You will need time and height to land this, so as well as going early you can sneak the kite up a fraction as you pop, but don’t wait to see if it’s enough, as then you’ll be its late.
Keystones
- Flick from take off.
- Immediately pull and turn.
- Head and knees up.
- Pass later in your rotation.
- Keep bar in close and lift
Dark Slide 1 Hand
The Dark Slide is definitely one of those tricks that appeals to a lot of folk, whether kids in boots or the more laid back lady and gent usually content with some boosting. Maybe there is an element of show boating that lies concealed in all of us, and who can argue that gliding effortlessly over the water with but a corner of your board resisting doesn’t look at least vaguely cool – rest assured a glimpse of a Dark Slide can bring out the exhibitionist in any of us.
We’re going to reach to the one handed variation here in this article. As you know already there are some pros and cons to executing any trick with all your weight potentially committed to one side of the bar. Concentrating on the positive, using one hand to grab can really help you get your body and board into the correct position. Hence although we’ll take you all the way through to the landing (and there are many, deliberate or otherwise), consider this article as much as how to learn the position and gain confidence without even sailing away and claiming it.
The Approach
Pic A. First off let’s consider kite position. We’ll opt for our usual 1 or 11 here. If your kite is too low you’ll plough straight into the water as you “flip” the board, if it’s too high you’ll get lifted either as you commit or as soon as you’ve got into position. So your best bet is a happy medium where you’ll have enough lift to stop you falling into the water, but enough pull that you can stay on your flipped edge and resist for longer. Next question is trim. You do need some power in the kite to less this, as it’ll support you better.
Hence we won’t be going straight into the looping part. You also want to be able to release your front hand without the kite sending back. For this having the sweet spot trimmed out away from you will help. If you have your sweet spot dose you’ll have to pull on your back hand to keep the lift and this will rooks the kite move quicker – not ideal. You need some speed on your approach so you don’t want to be hacking upwind on a huge edge, rather a relaxed across the wind. This will also allow you to turn up into the flip, without losing all your speed. So check again on picture number –A . On entry you can see that the rider has speed and has already taken his front hand off the bar, which is trimmed out and away from him. He has turned up onto his edge, hence the spray, with his front leg extended, so weight back over the tail of the board. His back hand is centered on the bar so as not to move the kite too quickly as he’s on a 9m.
The Sit & Hang
Pic B. This is where it starts to get more dynamic. You need to get your weight off your feet and hanging off the kite, fully committed into the harness. This is because you will flip and trip the board into the slide, you won’t be popping. When you do this you must get your hips back over or behind your back foot. The simplest way to commit is to suddenly bend your knees and sit into the harness. As you do this you must keep the power on in the kite, so now having your sweet spot trimmed away from you really helps. By un-weighting the board you will be able to move into the next stage without having to pop the board off the water which would make it difficult to resist against the edge when it digs in.
Toe Edge Trip
Pic C. The previous two stages allow you to get here – this is the moment that you’ll move across. Before thinking about what you must do, take note of the rider’s position in this image. His weight is way back, lifting the nose of the board into a wheely. His shoulders are leaning back over his back foot too. His bum is down low over the back of the board. And his knees are now across downwind of the board! At the moment however his body is still upwind of the board.
Your sits here is to trip over onto your toe side edge, but with the front of the board lifted so that only the rear toe side will be left in. This means that you’ll only have a bit of resistance, which is manageable to hold. If you don’t get your weight back, you’ll roll onto most off your toe side edge and come to a rather abrupt halt! Being fully supported in the harness here is key. The rider has dropped his weight lower and lifts his feet to completely un-weight the board, thus he can move his weight across the board by pushing his knees and hips across and literally tripping himself on his toe side edge. If he still had weight on the board, he would end up carving downwind – so if your board starts to carve take more weight onto the harness and if need be your back hand.
Flip & Grab
Pic D. You can see here how the back of the board digs in as the rider rolls across the tail and this trip the board onto the other side – the Dark Slide side! At the same time the rider pulls the front of the board up towards hiss with his front leg and grabs the heel side front fin. This will make it easier to hold the “slide” position as he is pulled by the kite. Once you’ve got the grab hold on tight and the rest should be fairly automated. It is worth noting here that he has not thrown himself forwards towards the kite. He is using the edge of the board to trip him, and from there the kite will pull him.
Hold and Pull
Pic E. This is the moment that the hand comes in handy, if you’ll excuse the pun. If you’ve got a good hold on the fin then you have two points of resistance. You’ll be stretched here, with the kite pulling you, whilst the board will be dragging behind you. Using your hand to keep the board pulled in close will keep the minimum of board in the water and make the whole trick simpler to control. On your first attempts it is quite likely that you may pull too much on your back hand and thus the kite will go up quickly and you’ll either loose power or get pulled up off the water. In both cases your best bet is to just let the bar out and drop softly into the drink.
You can of course loop the kite, but if it’s gone a long way back it may come through very slowly and with a lot of power. So bailing by letting the bar out until you know where you are is a good way to start.
Enjoy the Ride
Pic F. If however your kite hasn’t drifted too far up you now need to relax and go with it whilst supporting yourself on the bar. You can see that the rider has been pulled over and extended into the slide with just the tail of the board edging through the water. He’s pulled the bar in for support, which will speed the kite’s journey up and across the window. This will hold him up but there is a point when he’ll feel the support go. This then is the escape stage of the dark slide.
What to do next?
As we mentioned when you’re learning this there is no need to go straight for a loop, step by step will give you the feeling and timing, and with practice you’ll be balanced and ready to loop. So to start enjoy the slide and see how long you can make it last and as you feel the support go sheet the bar o. and drop. As you get more confident you can get the front hand back on the bar and redirect the kite forward, so that you get lifted out of the slide and land going in the same direction. Crikey with more practice you can even add a front or back rotation. However for the classic bona fide Dark Slide you’ll be gagging to add the kite loop I pull you up and out. It’s the timing and your wrist that will benefit you here. Timing wise it’s that moment you feel the support going. Too much after that and the kite will go a long way back and can lead to some fruity loops!
To get the kite looping a tight arc to reduce power you need nest only pull hard on your back hand, but also twist your wrist. Imagine that you’re trying to push down with the outside of your palm and push up with your palm – this way you’ll get some good leverage on the kite. If however you are very powered up it can be a good idea to get the front hand back on the bar to help. Whether you transition or keep going is up to you! To transition loop the kite a moment later and keep the kite looping for longer so that it pulls you back. To carry on stop pulling as the kite comes through the loop.
Top Tips
- It’s all been said but we’ll add flat water and space. This won’t work without speed so you need power in your kite, hence work on the first steps and forget the loop until later.
- Also work on the balance of where you start your kite, as if it’s too high you’ll be lifted too early and stop very quickly. Now have a good look at the Sequence and Videos.
Common Problems
- If you’re falling onto your chest, chances are that you’ve got all your edge catching in the water, pull that front foot up and get your weight back on the approach. If you net trip the board. You are standing on the board, so sit back into the harness.
- If you start to rotate into a back rotation, you’re either turning too far into wind or your looking upwind – look down to where you’ll be going. If you get pulled up into a large kite looping too early.
Keystones
- Speed across wind
- Sit back and edge up
- Drop into harness and se-sight board
- Push knees across board and trip tail
- Grab board and support weight on bar AND
- Either sheet out or loop
Nose Grab Pop Front Loop transition
It’s again wonderful feeling to have you guys again here. We are all set go for today’s trick, however have close look on video first and then follow below instructions carefully.
Here’s one for the purists among you, harking back to the days of no de-power, no leash, no donkey dick and the silkiness of riders like Mr. Shinn (although admittedly he’d probably spin the board around a few times for good measure). Pop transitions were all the rage – the pendulum feeling of swinging out under your kite and then floating bock in with enough speed to carve straight out was intoxicating.
These can’t be seen so often these days, and without wanting to get too sentimental here starts out campaign to get them back on the beaches, and our forthright apologies if you’re already an Swiftly let us consider what a pop transition is. The general idea is that contrary to the name you will use your kite, not a lot, to get some lift and float. However you’ll also use your back leg to get up off the water, way before the kite would normally I. you. The idea behind this combination is that you’ll take off whilst still carrying some forward speed way before the kite gets to 12, and therefore by the time you land the kite won’t be too far on the other side of the window and you’ll have plenty of momentum to plane out.
Compared to a normal transition where you send the kite sharply but for a short period of time, a .p transition requires a gentle drifting of the kite!
Pic A. is all about the take off the rider has her back hand very much centered on the bar to slow the movement of the kite down and this is on an 11 m! She approached with a bit of speed, carved up towards the wind and drifted the kite up by gently steering it. Timing wise, as soon as she feels the first sign of lift on her harness she pops into the move. It’s very tempting to wait and/or let the bar out a touch, but don’t. She’s holding the bar in on the sweet spot, to keep the lift throughout the move and prevent the kite from flying to the edge of the window and you can see that she’s popping pretty hard, extending her back leg completely to get as much height as possible because the kite is merely supporting her whilst lifting her front leg both in anticipation of the grab and the down and round movement of a slow front loop. If she rotates too quickly she’ll over rotate as the kite is pulling from behind.
Pic B. and the front rotation have started from the impulse of her .p and her shoulders going forward and down. To make sure she gets enough rotation the rider has added in the”Timotei Flick), throwing her head around, looking over her back shoulder. She’s grabbed the nose of the board and pulled it right up to her derriere, bending her front knee. This will help with her rotation as well as adding some style. Also note the position of the kite – because the rider popped early (before the kite got to 12 o’clock) the kite is now above her. She has also pulled the bar in with her much centered hand. Not only does this give her the Float and time to complete the move, but if the kite stalls/flares a little bit it will pull downwind, giving momentum for the landing and keeping it away from the powerless edge of the window.
Pic C. The rider stayed in the position of the previous picture until she rotated around enough to spot her landing. 
During that time she will have swung out under the kite a little bit, but with the bar pulled in and tension on the lines she has now started to swing back in. As she do. The rider focuses on her landing spot, releases her grab so that she can get her board down ready for landing, and pulls hard on the bar to dive the kite down for some extra power to pull her out of the move, complete the rotation, and forward onto the new tack.
Pic D. A blink of an eye before landing and you can see that the rider has extended her legs to get the under carriage down, she’s now got both hands on the bar and is diving the kite hard. Most importantly though she’s looking towards the kite and where the pull is coming from. Ono of the many great things about this move is that 
because of the pendulum effect you’ll be able to come out with speed and land on o carving edge, so following the kite and it’s pull is vital – don’t try and set up for your usual downwind landing.
Top Tips
We will keep it simple and just recap two points. Drift the kite up, keeping the bar on the sweet spot AND go early, as soon as you feel the kite pull on your harness.
Your aim is to land this moving the other way without having to loop the kite for power, so finding a balance between speed, drift and timing is the key.
Other than that we would recommend learning this on bigger slower kites, with the sweet spot trimmed further away from you.
This combo will be more forgiving than a rapid 7m trimmed for unhooking. For the sequences we won’t take you through each individual picture but rather focus on what’s important for take-off, in flight entertainment and landing!
Sequence 1
This group of picture demonstrates the drift, timing, pop, grab and front loop. Although the pictures are spread out you will actually keep moving forward as you swing out. This is not on up and down elevator transition. The rider drifts the kite from 11 o’clock and as soon as she feels the pressure in her harness pops up hard into her rotation and grab. From that moment onwards she holds her position and keeps the bar pulled in, watching over her shoulder -looking for where she’ll land once she’s facing the other way.
Sequence 2
Here is all about balance. To finish her rotation and land smoothly the rider needs to get the power on by pulling hard on her front hand. She needs to do this as soon as she can see bock the other way, otherwise she could over rotate and land facing upwind. This will feel strange at first, as you’ll be pulled back towards the kite whilst your body is still twisted away from it. However patience as the pull has will straighten you up and almost magically set you up for the landing.
Common Problems
- Dropping from your rotation into the water whilst you kite flutters down like a leaf to the side.
- Assuming You’re rotating but very low. Two key fadors her, one 2. pop ear, that you did edge and pop the two most likely being the pop
- Come in too slowly and even if you kick off hard, you’ll just slow down too flying back once you pop, and it will fly to the edge of much and get no reward, read as pop, for your efforts.
Keystones
- Drift kite
- Pop early
- Keep bar in
- Watch for landing
- Dive hard
NIS
It’s a game of grip, harder you grip smarter you perform. We really appreciate your love and affection for this sport, which indeed is a plus point for health and working environment. Benefits are many and space is short to write, just wanted to summarize all the thoughts in one line “keep yourself moving until and unless something strange won’t pack you in a BOX.
Let’s talk about today’s trick from very beginning. Even if you already have an inverted Slim Chance in the bag, adding the non-inverted variant to your repertoire will be both satisfying and worthwhile. It’s likely that many of you and in particular some of the “old timers”, went on to master the Slim as the next step after the long forgotten dangle pass. With the result you may have a habit of sending the kite a bit and having a somewhat dangly finish to what started as a powered pass.
Getting your teeth into the NIS is a great cure for this. If you don’t suffer this problem, well it’s still another trick to claim and if you’ve never tried any sort of Slim Chance, now is the time. What should you already be confident with to try this? The base for this is a powered unhooked popped front roll, preferably to toe side, as that’s the way you’ll be passing. If you can already Shifty to wrapped, or even better Shifty 3 then you’re almost there, and if you can Front to wrapped then you’re knocking on the door That said your front rotation may not need to be inverted, but you do need to get the knees and board high, so the more aggressively you can pop, the easier this will be.
The Important Bits
- Approach and Edge
Pic A
Your first pass would be easier if you get good pop on your take off, it will be more to do with timing than brute force. And to get good pop your approach and subsequent carve onto your edge needs to be dialed in. It’s really important to get speed in starting, if you’ve got enough power great, if not work that kite to get some pull and speed. Secondly park the kite where you want it to be, let’s take it around 11 or 1 o’clock, so that you know it won’t drive you down and therefore give you the confidence to pop hard and not lift the kite as you edge. Finally get your body back over the tail of the board as you bear away, so that once you unhook not only will the kite be in the correct place, but also you can turn back onto a solid edge with your weight low very quickly, which is the crux of good pop. You can see in the Pic A that as the rider carves onto his edge and away from the kite his front leg is extended, his back leg bent but locked and his bum is low – a result of the correct entry position. From this point he is ready to pop hard.
- The Take Off
Pic B
If you’ve got the approach right you’ll have so much edge and bite as you turn the board upwind, that as long as you commit you’ll get plenty enough pop to complete the move without lifting the kite. Your board, knees and hips will be thrown up high enough to make the pass. Even though you’re throwing a front roll, you need to be as low as for as for a raley, uber edge your aim is to get yourself as much height as you can, which will give you time, so as you stamp hard against the back of the board, explosively extending your back leg, concentrate on extending from your back leg all the way up into your back shoulder. This way even as your head goes down and around and your front knee lifts to initiate the rotation, you’re still on the way up. In Pic B you can see the spray that the rider has following him, a definite rooster tail. As he goes down into the front roll he’s still rising. Just as importantly by popping hard Christian is able to bend his arms and pull his hands towards him, keeping the bar in close. If you don’t get the bar in now, you’ll have an almighty task ahead of you. Finally with the bar in close it is more achievable to keep the kite parked with the bar angled forward – if the arms extend you’re likely to pull on the back hand.
- The Halfway Mark
Pic C
It should be looking like at the 180° mark if all is going well this is what. Please watch carefully, the board and knees high, swinging around with your shoulders, not dropping and pulling you down. You need to be leading with your head, even though you’ll be throwing the pass against the rotation, as you need to see where you’re going so that you can time the movement. The rider is coming around and he still has his hands in close, if he were to rotate another 90° he would find his front hip nearing the bar. You don’t want this, so once you can spot your landing you have two jobs. Pull the bar in towards your hips, and pull your old back knee, in this case the rider’s right, towards the bar. They don’t actually have to get very close but this will slow your rotation and lift that end of the board, giving you more chance to make the pass.
- Do It
Pic D
This is the make or break moment requiring full commitment and energy. Timing wise you should be just about to drop, that lovely floaty nanosecond before free fall. Most likely it will feel too late, and if it does that’s perfect! In short you pass as you drop out of your rotation. Whilst your knee and bar move towards each other you have to turn your back on proceedings. Give one last tug on the bar with both hands, a bit front hand heavy to stop the kite flying up when you release it and then throw you head and shoulders back around, down and away from where you’ve been looking. Assuming you’ve already been wrapped or passing the drill is the same, fast and deliberate, twisting the bar as you release your front hand to allow your shoulders to turn further. In the picture the tail of the rider board is high, his knee and hip are close to the bar and he’s leading his pass with his head. He also has his complete kite face on, as this is 100%. With the board high and his knees bent the board won’t drop and pull his away from the bar as he turns.
- The Pass [Pic E]
Now it’s hand to hand, which sounds obvious, however if you twist the bar fully and hold on tight your body will wrap around your arm, follow your head and the bar will present itself to your waiting hand. As long as it’s looking for the other hand and not scratching around in the small of your back. Here in this image the rider free hand finds the other one and grabs the bar. Now it’s just a matter of landing it, claiming it and riding away without looking too surprised.
- The Landing [Pic F]
This is a normal tendency that we don’t always think about the landings too much, but this one does require some anticipation, or else you’ll be passing, getting excited and then diving in. You need to be ready to ride as you land, hopefully downwind and maybe even further around. There are two things that really help. Firstly keep your head turning. It’s common to freeze the head whilst changing hands, and this often leads to a fall, so as you change hands keep turning the head to look towards where you’re going. Secondly untwist the hand, that is to say allow your wrist to turn palm down so that the bar is once again as it should be and the status quo is restored. By doing this your shoulder can turn up and forward and you’ll be better balanced to follow the kite. In the picture the rider’s hand is the right way up and his head is trying to look around, following his eyes.
Top Tips
- Your first key of success is “Preparation”, hence make sure you’re in a dynamic stood, as you’ll need to rotate quickly for the pass, and bang out a few popped front rolls
- Be focused on bringing the knees and hands closer as you’re coming around. Beware though, as this will kill your front roll rotation so be ready to land toe side and off balance
- At time you have done enough fronts that time is slowing down, you’ll get an idea of when you can pass. If you are able to bang out a few Shifty to Wrapped,or Shifty 3s, even better. It’ll get your pass rotation well and truly warmed up.
Common Problems
- Pop issues are common with front rolls as by the very nature of the rotation it’s very tempting to throw yourself down before you’ve gone up.
- Also there is a tendency to stand more upright whilst edging to pre-empt the take off, but you must edge low and hard, then stretch up to get the necessary height
- The problem with all passes this way is that the kite loves to rise, either as you pull or once you release. The beauty in the NIS is that as you’re waiting for the moment to pass, you have time to sneakily steer the kite down before or whilst pulling. Do this and the pass will be noticeably easier as you’ll practically manufacture slack
- Getting the knees and board up can be a problem. For the inverted Slim you can throw your shoulder down and head back to get the legs up. Whereas here it’s all about pop. However keeping your hands in close with bent arms will mean that your balance point will be more around your waist and therefore you’re more likely to rotate around this axis
- If your arms are stretched out it’ll be much harder. Finally the landing. Passing like this does encourage you to look down at the water as you throw your head, which works wonders for the pass but doesn’t do jack for the landing. So make sure you try and move your head after passing and untwist your hand.
Keystones
- Good approach and solid pop
- Hands in close
- Bring hands and knees together
- Pass late, as you drop
- Keep looking
Toe side front Roll To blind with Ole
We hope you are grooming well with the aid of our articles and learning every trick carefully. With ever learning day, you are going to be perfectionist in this sport. We always emphasize on doing every trick with right way and right balance, so that your every step of learning should be placed on right path. The trick which we are going to learn today has a better name, but for the moment we’ll stick to the descriptive version. Fundamentally this is a pop trick, but a subtle drifting up of the kite is more than tolerable to get you easiness to learn this trick. For those of you confident with your toe side edge this is a great trick and an inspiring step on from the toe side pop to blind which is a good prerequisite as you need both a decent pop from your toes and the blind that very same side. If this will be doing it first time, let us advise again that it will be easier to pop from your strong toe side to a new and unvisited blind rather than try and pop from your weaker toe side. Popping well from your pinkies is the key here.
The Approach
We need two things in order to pop from your toes, first speed and then a good solid edge. With the board fizzing over the water it’ll be a doddle to get it up and you’ll have momentum when you get it around. Looking at Pic A. you can see that the rider pre pop. First off the rider has his bar trimmed in close so that he can get an aggressive edge and hold the power with two hands without being pulled up onto the board. This way he can turn his head and shoulders away from the kite and stand up onto his toes, hips forward, driving the board between him and the kite. The rider has shifted his weight back on the board ready to pop, as this will help him add tension to the lines by edging harder. However if you need more speed you must keep the front knee bent and the board trimmed flat before shifting your weight back.
The Pop
The assumption behind popping is much the same as from heel side – once you have enough speed, carve 
up hard and stamp off the back foot. Though bearing away and then carving up from toe side is no simple task, so for the same sort of effect shifting your weight back will dig the tail in and turn the board upwind on its rocker. The trick is to be quick, shift your weight back and stamp – wait and you’ll lose your speed and nothing will happen. In Pic B. the rider has leant his weight back and simultaneously drifts the kite up slightly from 11 o’clock to give him a bit more lift whilst stamping down hard by explosively straightening his back leg. As he pops up he turns his head and shoulders down and around, initiating the front roll.
The Rotation
The rotation will be very quick as with every front roll from toe side. This is handy, as you’ll need to spin quickly to allow for the extra twist to blind. Aim to keep two hands on the bar until you are coming around the first 360°, as this will keep you more upright and lead to a smoother landing. Looking at Pic C. as Christian reaches this point you can see that he is leading with the head. This is important; as he will know when to initiate the blind once he spots his landing. The rider here also has his knees bent and board up to help encourage a quick rotation and he keeps the bar in for that little bit of extra float. As he focuses on where he’ll land he releases his back hand, turning his head and shoulders down and around under the bar so that he can get his body around to blind whilst the board is leading. This way the board will be beneath him and ready for touchdown.
Throwing Blind
We can see in Pic D. that the rider has “thrown” the blind with the result of turning his head and shoulders down. As he drops his feet and board are leading the way. Whilst turning, he tweaks the kite down by pulling gently on his front hand. This will guarantee a bit more speed and forward momentum for the Ole, and is necessary if you sneak the kite up for takeoff.
Landing
As with all things Ole or pass you’ll need to land blind on a flat board heading at least a tiny bit downwind towards the kite. This way you’ll have no tension on the lines and so the Ole should be a walk in the park. Pic E. the rider lands upright over his flat board, having thrown the blind enough to land slightly off the wind. Try to keep your head up, as this will prevent you from breaking too much at the waist, which can in turn force weight onto your toes and put tension on the lines! If anything you want to be leaning on your heels. Landing this way the lines will be slack and therefore the bar will be close to you, not twisted around leading the way and pulling you over.
Ole
Landing upright on a flat board heading towards your kite sets you up perfectly for the grand finale, the Ole. Pic F. Standing over his board the rider can now push the bar upwind and around in front of him, so that the blind miraculously transforms back into toe side. Once the bar is across get both hands back on it, sheet in and ride off with a hefty grin on your face.
Common Problems
- If you’re not getting enough pop from toe side try sailing more across the wind before dropping your weight back and popping.
- If the kite is falling out of the sky as you land make sure that you are both popping hard into the front roll and that you give the bar a tweak forward to keep the kite from drifting too far up.
- If you slide under the kite on landing try throwing your blind more aggressively by turning your head and throwing your free hand around.
- If you’re getting pulled over & catching your heel side edge, you’re not landing enough downwind.
- If you can’t Ole and the kite pulls you over you’re edging on your toes whilst blind, so make sure your weight is on both your feet, biased towards your heels.
Keystones
- Speed on your toe side edge
- Change weight to back of board and quick pop into fast rotation
- Release back hand after 360’to throw blind
- Tweak kite forward
- Land flat and downwind
Double Back Rool Transition
Adding together some extra rotation is a sure shot fire way of stepping up a move that you already have mastered, and the double back roll transition is definitely up there as one to learn, so here it is. Although some warning words are here, if you’ve been practicing the double back roll kite loop from last issue, you may require to rewire your brain and press default as these are two clearly different moves wherein you definitely don’t wish to be confusing. A very good base before starting this is a solid and controlled, BLT, or back roll transition if you’re from across the pond. From this point below is what you will be doing.
The Approach Pic A.
Vital 2 things to remember for any transition are; you have to kill some forward momentum and then you still need to send the kite for lift. You certainly require a good edge for both of these elements. From a good edge you can edge harder upwind to slow down, and with a good edge you can send the kite rapidly and sharply from either 11 or 1 to 12 o’clock because you maintain tension in the lines. If you think about this you won’t drift the kite up slowly whilst standing up on the board and your chances of success will be greatly increased. Please note and also see in Pic A that the rider has come in with good speed on a decent edge, kite at 11 o’clock, weight back and tension in his lines.
From this point the rider has sent the kite up whilst edging harder to both resist the pull, and also to slow down. Even though his back leg is bent it is not soft – it is pushing and therefore resisting.
The Rotation Pic B.
A certain element of trial and error with good amount of practice is what required for this part, depending on your standard BLT. In case if you are a recognized exponent of slow, casual-looking back roll transitions then speeding up the rotation to accommodate an extra 360° shouldn’t hold much of a problem. If however you’re guilty of the occasional foray into spinney quick low BLTs, then you’ll need to focus more on your approach and the take-off, in search of more height and float, which added to your spin speed should see you nicely round the full double.
We feel it extremely important to mention here that that you do want to help yourself into the second rotation, but you don’t want to force it as later in the move you can use your head, body and kite to help you finish. The rider I Pic B. has dropped his weight way back over the tail of the board. With his weight so far back the board will turn/carve much further into the wind as it is almost pivoting on its tail. This will efficiently speed up the rider’s rotation as he will carve further into wind before take-off than for his standard BLT.
The important tool here is timing, you must drop back as the kite starts to lift, a fraction before you take off. This way you’ll still edge and therefore be rewarded with some air and float. If you drop back too early you’ll be pulled back and the kite will fly further back in the window, offering you less time in the air to make it round the two times.
Take Off Pic C.
Here comes the key moment, though your approach will dictate how this goes. If you have edged and resisted and literally stabbed the kite back hard but face short time you will be able to pop up off your back leg as you pull the bar in whilst the kite is somewhere close to 12 o’clock.
The rider has pulled the bar right in after popping. The reasons for this are twofold. Firstly by pulling in hard with 2 hands the rider successfully stops the kite moving and keeps it centered above bias around 12 o’clock. Secondly he gets a cheeky bit of extra lift from the kite. However be cautioned if your sweet spot is trimmed miles away from you, your kite will flare/stall and you will not get the float or control that you’re expecting. As he takes off he keeps his head looking forward between his arms, which will stop him over cooking the rotation. Finally the rider in this image lifts his knees, making himself small, balanced and easier to rotate.
Half Way House Pic D.
By the time you reach to the peak of your transition, your aim is to complete your first rotation, so one on the way up and then one on the way down. That means unless you’re getting great height there won’t be much time to separate the move into two halves.
You are ready and primed to go into number two as you complete the first 360°, it’s the most important thing here. Check images number D. that the rider has lifted his feet above him and has his knees pulled in close. This a little inverted position will make it much simpler to finish the move, as with your feet high and knees in, your whole body, legs and board will follow your head and shoulders as you turn into the second rotation. It is absolutely possible to finish the move with the board down low, however you are far more likely to finish with your head and shoulders, but find that the board has been left somewhat behind – which will hinder your smooth landing. In picture you can see that the rider has started to pull, gently at first, on his left hand (old back hand, new front hand – whichever way you prefer to think). This gentle movement of bar and kite will encourage you to lean back into the second rotation
Turn and land pic- E
Your second rotation will come from a combination of your head and the kite. With your feet up look around and you’ll continue to turn and the rest will follow. You can see that the rider is attentive on where he will land, and as soon as he feels that he is rotating, he dives the kite down hard. The pull from the kite twists him around and powers him up for a down wind landing.
One thing which really important is Timing here in this trick , but if you pull too early the kite will end up low with little power and as such you’ll be forced into a late kite loop once you have landed to keep you dry. If you time the dive well, you’ll get the perfect dry landing without needing to loop the kite.
Top Tips
- Start with some single BLTs, focused on the edge, send, upward take off and keeping the kite above you at 12 o’clock throughout the move.
- Once you’re comfortable, confident and consistent bring your feet up and go for the second rotation whilst keeping the kite at 12.
- Once this is in the bag you can dive hard to add the perfect 10 landing! If you’re struggling with the slow rotation, concentrate on the up rather than the spin and approach with less speed and more edge, whilst sending more aggressively – but just for a short moment.
Common Problems
- The most common problem here is implementation the move but landing with the kite so for at the edge of the window that there is no way to get any power to get moving.
- There are two probable reasons for this. Firstly you’re drifting the kite up rather than sending, so you feel the lift late and the kite has already travelled too far behind you.
- Secondly as you take off your leaning back onto your back hand, so you don’t stop or even redirect the kite to 12. Concentrate on performing the move with the kite at 12 o’clock and then add the kite dive on at the end.
- The other famous problem is not having enough height to land cleanly, so you are completing the double but always landing on an edge across the wind with your burn in the water.
- This can generally be linked with concentrating too much on the rotation and not launching yourself up into the move. Make an effort to pop up into the rotation, and not just carve around into the wind.
Some Keystones
- Good solid edge with legs resisting
- Send kite positively with confidence
- Pop up into the back roll and center bar
- Keep Kite at 12 o’clock and lift legs
- Turn head at apex and dive kite to complete number two
Back Loop One Foot
Kite surfing is an grand sport and also proven one of the best exercises for your body & your mind. Being a pleasurable, social sport, kitesurfing can increase your levels of health and fitness with no doubts.
Hopefully you did your boned back loop grab homework! Here is the natural progression, once again based on the humble sent back loop, grabbing the tail but adding a stylish one foot into the equation!
The Approach Pic A.
To have the time in the air to get a foot out and still land you’ll need to perform a dos, and floaty back rotation. Approach wise you need to be coming in on a good edge with the kite parked at either 11 or 1 o’clock. Get your weight back by extending your front leg and dropping your bum over the back foot, whilst still resisting. You can see that the rider is low to the water and edging hard upwind. From here she can send the kite aggressively with both hands for a decent floaty jump.
The take off Pic B
This part will really decide how much time you’ll have and how slowly you’ll rotate. Having sent the kite hard against a good edge the lift from the kite should come early, once the kite is around 12 o’clock. As soon as the rider feels the pull she stamps up off her back leg, extending her entire body up in a popping motion and simultaneously pulls the bar in, both for extra lift and to stop the kite moving any further back in the window. By popping up the rider is carving up into her rotation but she isn’t turning further into wind and therefore she won’t spin uncontrollably. All the while the rider keeps her head looking forward through the bar, again making sure that she doesn’t rotate quickly so that the grab and one foot will be simpler.
Go Early Pic C.
Just the same as the grab, you must go early, but only after you have extended up into the rotation.
As soon as she has left the water she is looking for the grab and already bringing her back foot up towards her extended back arm. The earlier she gets hold of the board, the more time she’ll have to grab and concentrate on getting around smoothly and landing softly! Go for the grab just as you have practiced so whether you grab the heel side edge of the board or the actual tail doesn’t matter, whatever feels comfy and natural.
Slip It Out Pic D.
It will be easier to get your foot out if you have the board edge up, as opposed to flat. 
This way gravity will help and with the smallest of encouragement you should be able to get your pinkies free. You can see that the rider is still looking at the board, she looked for the grab and then focused on the foot strap so that she can see what she is doing and this also has the added benefit of keeping her head from looking over her shoulder, and thus keeps her rotation slow, giving her plenty of time for the one foot. The rider can now hold the board up whilst she pulls her foot out and down, easily releasing it from the strap. If the board is held flat it will be harder as you will have to pull your foot out towards you, which requires more flexibility or longer arms. On your first attempts aim just to get your foot out onto the pad. Once you’re confident you can extend your leg, pushing your foot down towards the water for extra style and look at me points. Final point to ponder here is that even though the rider is flying the kite with one hand, she still has the bar pulled in. This gives her support and float, whilst keeping tension on the lines, meaning that the kite is ready for the eventual landing.
Back In Pic E.
At first keep your back foot close to the strap when you take it out. This way you can literally pull your foot out and leave it resting on the pad, so to get it back in you just need to push it. As you gain confidence start to extend your back leg once you have taken the foot out take the foot so that it is more obvious. You’ll need to keep your eyes on the prize, 
so watch the strap and aim your foot back in. Once your toes are in, use your grab and push your foot and/or pull the board to make sure that your foot is properly in.
This is not essential but it will make the landing considerably easier. If only your toes are in you’re more likely to trip over your toe side edge when you land.
The Grand Finale Pic F.
Once you have your foot safely back in the strap it’s all about preparing and conquering the landing. Your first job is to make sure that you finish the rotation, so turn your head and look towards your potential landing zone, which should be in front and downwind of you. Don’t be tempted to look too far around as this will encourage you to over mists. Job number two is to get two hands on the bar so that you can comfortably pull the bar in and dive the kite, which will both pull you out of the rotation and pull you downwind for your landing. You can see that the rider is looking downwind whilst reaching up for the bar. From here on in she’ll dive the kite and land with the board facing down wind, claiming the one foot.
Top Tips
- Assuming that you’re happy with your slow rotation the most important part to concentrate on is getting the grab early.
- If you do, then you will have more time to get the foot out and then back in.
- Do concentrate on looking at the foot strap to get your foot out; making sure the board is edge up.
- Finally do wiggle your back foot out of the strap a little before you take off, or even loosen the strap so that it is easy to slip in and out.
- Now have a good look at the Sequence and the get the grab early and don’t use your head. Videos for a full step by step guided tour.
Common Problems
- Most of the potential problems will be the same as for the grab, so over rotating or flying the kite forward too much when you grab.
- If it’s not working make sure that you take off up into your back rotation, If the kite pulls you forward in the air, causing you to lose balance, land nose heavy or crash, send it a bit more for the jump so that you’re flying with the kite just behind 12 o’clock.
Keystones
- Good solid edge with back leg resisting
- Send kite positively
- Pop up into the back roll
- Grab early and tilt the board edge up
- Look at strap to get foot out and in
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
