This is basically a hop to or from toeside. When you first have a go, it is best to try it off a bit of chop or a small wave, which will act like a ramp to get you in the air. Once in the air you then have to force the board around 180 degrees. Once you can do it off a wave, try it off of flat water. Before you try this, try riding over a few small waves. As you approach the wave, keep your legs bent. As you ride up the wave straighten your legs. If you’re going fast enough you’ll break the water tension and will spring into the air.

This is the same as above but obviously the opposite, it is actually a little easier as the chicken loop will want to pull you back to heelside as soon as you get airborne

1. As you start the turn, bend your knees.
2. Jump up, popping you into the air (if you seem to stick to the surface, lift your front foot up a little earlier.
3. Once in the air, pull the bar to what will be your new front hip, twisting your body back to the heelside position.
4. As you land get back on your heelside, get back onto your edge to control the power in the kite.

1. As you come in to thinking about turning, drift the kite up to about 1o’clock/11o’clock in the wind window.
2. Pull hard on your front hand so the kite turns underneath itself (see morphed photo).
3. As the kite starts to pull break off your heelside edge
4. Go straight onto your toeside edge carving round through 180 degrees. The kite should pull harder than normal and you should get a nice powerful carving turn.
5. Once you’re going in the opposite direction, lean over your toes and look upwind.
6. From this point you can either hop back to heelside, do a heelside carve or carry on riding toeside!

Now we’ve gone over all of the ways to turn on the water you can start to combine the above with waves. Imagine you have a wave coming towards you, just feathering and about to break. All you have to do is pop to toeside and then as you’re just about to ride up the wave you throw in a heelside carve. When timed correctly, you’ll produce a huge spray off the back off the wave and your mates will gasp in awe at your incredible skill and dexterity! If the wave continues to peel/shoulder nicely, as

soon as you do the heelside carve, go straight into a toeside carve (bottom turn) at the base of the wave and then follow this with yet another heelside carve (top turn). Before you know it you’ll be waveriding doing huge arcing bottom turns and big slashy top turns.

Come to think of it, this is a really good way to look at doing tricks and turns. If you’re just learning carve turns, think of it as being one step closer to waveriding, or if you’re just learning back loops, think of it as a step closer to powered mobes! Or the edge and release technique covered in Fluid Edge the DVD Instructional (and in the next issue of Kitesurf), as a step closer to raleys!

And if others take the piss out of you for trying more basic tricks than them, just think, in 1 year’s time, you’ll be so much better than them and then you can start ripping their kiting to pieces!!!