Front Loops/ Rotations Front loops are slightly different, as when you first do them, you need a little more speed and a little more height.  The reason for this is because; initially it is a harder, slower rotation so you need to have more time to complete the manoeuvre. However once you get it, it becomes easier than the back roll as you’ll have more control over the rotation, so it’s worth learning, and looks pretty cool too.

Kitesurfing with the Waterboard Lesson Information Beginner Lessons Improver Clinic

1. Holding power with no movement of the kite.
2. Jumping about 5-10 feet in the air.
3. Be able to pop into the air using the edge and release technique.

Approach this trick as you would a normal jump. Send the kite back into the window and load up by leaning back and edging harder. As you pop, drop your head down to your front shoulder, scrunch your shoulder up and forward and at the same time, lift your front knee up and forward. This head and shoulder movement should initiate the rotation (try doing now whilst reading this, once you can picture it in your head, you’ll be able to take it out onto the water). As in a normal jump, when you leave the water pull on your front hand to keep the kite above you as you rise and drift. To continue the rotation, look over your back shoulder about half way through the trick. When looking over your back shoulder, you should be able to spot your landing. Pull on your front hand to dive the kite to give you the momentum to be planning as you land.

1. Jump as normal
2. As you pop, drop your head to your front shoulder and lift up your front knee.
3. Pull on your front hand as you rotate.
4. Half way through the trick, look over your back shoulder
5. Pull on your front hand.
6. Land

Under rotating – This is the biggest problem most people have when starting this trick. I can remember doing it loads. You get round half way and then just stop and then panic with your back to the kite. There are two ways of sorting this out. First of all you need to be lifting up your front knee when you pop, imagine someone is about to kick you in the groinal region, you’d instinctively lift your knee up and across to protect them. This is exactly the same movement you’d do, with your front knee to get the right pop. When this is coupled with the head movement you should start rotating quicker. If you look at picture 4 in the front loop sequence and picture 2 in the front loop transition sequence you can see my knee is up more than normal. Also note my head position.

The second thing to do is to remember to look over your back shoulder when you’re half way around, this will keep the rotation going even if you are rotating slowly.

Over rotating – If you are doing this, at least you got passed the stage of under rotating. Try popping a little less aggressively; this should slow down your rotation. The other thing you can do is once you’re half way round your rotation look over your back shoulder a little later and stretch your back arm out. This will use the centrifugal forces to slow you down.

Rotating but landing fast – This also happened to me when I was learning. This is usually due to the motion of your body. As you tuck up you inadvertently pull on your front hand, causing the kite to surge forward prematurely. This then pulls you at a rate of knots for a speedy landing. The best thing to avoid this is to relax your front hand once you’re spinning and only pull on it once you start looking over your back shoulder.