Kitesurfing tricks: our guide to help you progress!
You’ve become an independent kiteboarder and want to take your skills to the next level, try out some cool tricks? We’ve got 6 simple kitesurfing tricks to help you progress and have fun 😎
Table of contents
How can I progress in kitesurf?
You’ve mastered waterstarts, you can ride on both sides, go upwind and even do your transitions, but you feel like you’re stagnating and you’re wondering how to keep progressing in kitesurfing? Then this article is for you!
The secret to not starting to go round in circles in your kiteboarding and continuing to progress is to have goals.
➜ Set yourself achievable goals, watch some tutorials before you set off on your kiteboarding session and set out with the aim of passing this or that trick.
Some tricks will require more patience than others, but don’t despair, practice is the key to success!
Improvement sessions from time to time can help you unblock certain tricks by seeing you kiting (filmed session) and with the feedback and advice of professionals.
Surround yourself with kiteboarders! Surrounding yourself with a community of kitesurfers will also help you to progress, motivating you to go kiting more often and to challenge yourself.
1. First kite jump
The first step for learning & landing some kitesurfing tricks is to learn the technique for jumping properly 👌🏻
This technique will enable you to unlock other variations of tricks later on
Here are our recommendations for successful first jumps 🚀
Technique is the key to successful first jumps, speed being the last point to insist on. We advise you to start with a moderate speed, as well as being with the right kite (don’t be overpower). As long as you haven’t mastered the jumping technique, having a lot of speed or being overpower will only accentuate your mistakes and guarantee come a croppers 🤪
– Key points for a successful jump –
1. Make sure the area is clear before jumping
2. Keep your speed moderate (neither too fast nor too slow)
3. Send the kite dynamically at noon (if the kite arrives too slowly at noon, it won’t handle enough power to lift you, a bit like a waterstart)
4. Carve hard upwind to create opposition & put the bar to depower position
5. As soon as your kite reaches 12, pull the bar at the maximum (full power): Good timing is the key to a successful jump
6. During the ascent phase, keep the bar straight and pulled (hands in the center of the bar) to maintain the sensation of lift
7. As you start to descend, initiate the landing, & on the way back down, launch the kite in the same direction and land with the board in the downwind position
The video just below is very well explained for a good understanding of the jump technique ⤵️
2. Riding toeside
Riding Toeside consists in changing the direction of navigation, i.e. riding not on the heelside but on the toes. This technique is essential for downwind 🏄🏻♀️
– Key points for a successful trick –
1. Raise the kite within the flight window (11 or 13h)
2. Remove the front hand to facilitate rotation
3. Initiate hip rotation, rotate shoulders and hips (former front leg becomes rear leg and vice versa)
4. Put both hands back on the bar and relaunch the kite to get enough power to keep riding (otherwise risk being slowed down too much and stopping)
5. Transfer your body weight to your toes, keep your legs slightly bent, your chest straight and lean into the wind to create opposition and maintain a minimum of speed to avoid sinking
3. Jump transition
Once you’ve mastered the jump technique, add it to your transitions to change edges with style 😎
– Key points for a successful trick –
1. Don’t arrive too fast and don’t jump too high so as not to lose your balance during the jump
2. Send the kite at noon
3. Carve hard upwind & put the bar to depower position
4. As soon as your kite reaches noon, pull your bar (full power)
5. Shoulders & eyes turned towards the initial direction and keep the kite at noon
6. As you start to descend, initiate the landing by sending the kite into the power window of the opposite direction + shoulders & eyes turned in the new direction
4. Backroll
The classic problem when you start to backrolling is not being able to complete your rotation, or doing too many rotations and not knowing where you are. 🤪
What determines the right rotation is your look. If you don’t try to turn with your eyes, you won’t be able to finish your rotation and you’ll fall on your back. If, on the contrary, you don’t spot your landing by looking out over the water to where you wanna land, you’ll over-rotate 🤓👀
To start the backroll, hold your look until 3/4 of the way through the rotation, then spot your lading on 1 point on the surface of the water (which will stop the rotation)
– Key points for a successful backroll –
1. Carve hard upwind
2. As soon as your kite reaches noon, pull the bar (full power)
⚠️ The faster you send your kite to noon, the higher you’ll jump, so if you wanna jump not so high at the beginning you can try by sendoff you kite not too fast and arrive with a moderate speed
3. Look over the front shoulder, the rest of the body will automatically follow
4. Keep the bar pulled with your hands in the center of the bar
5. Spot your landing
6. Once landing, the lines will be twisted, turn the bar to uncross them
5. Jump tail grab
Have you mastered the jump? Now it’s time to add a little difficulty by adding a gesture in the air 🚀
– Key points for a successful jump grab –
1. Do a stable jump
2. Body sheathed, bend the knee of the back leg and keep the front leg straight (keep in mind that it’s the board that’s coming to you, not you bending over to catch the tail of your board, keep the chest straight)
3. Grab the tail of your board with your back hand, keeping your front hand at the center of the bar to keep the kite stable
4. Keep the bar pulled (full power)
5. Reposition your back hand on the bar to prepare for landing
6. Land in downwind position
6. One foot
Grab jump is ok? You’re ready for the One Foot kitesurfing tricks! 🔥
– Key points for a successful One Foot –
Make sure that the straps are slightly loose so that the foot can be removed and put back on easily🦶🏼
You don’t need to go very high to do a One Foot, it’s more a question of making a clean jump and being able to remove the foot before the climax of the jump so as to have the whole descending phase to be able to put the foot back on.
1. Do a stable jump
2. Bend the knee of your back leg and keep your front leg straight (keep in mind that it’s the board that’s coming up to you, not you bending down to catch the tail of your board, keep your chest straight)
3. With your back hand grab your board, your front hand need to be in the center of your bar to keep the kite stable
4. Keep the bar pulled in the same time you grab the tail of your board and take off your foot
⚠️ if you feel like you have not enough time to get you foot back just eject board completely on the opposite side from where you’ll be landing
5. Put your foot back on the board and your back hand on the bar
6. Be ready to land
Are you ready to move up a gear and want even more advice and feedback on your kitesurfing tricks? Discover our Coaching+ improvement program
You choose your spot (flat or waves), what you want to work on, you get video feedback and lots of other surprises 😎
See you on the water,
Léa & Marco ✌🏻