Gone are the days of kiteboarding tricks being reserved for the young and elite! YOU! Yes you, with the floppy hat and water sunnies. You can do a backroll, and you can do one next time you go kiteboarding.

You heard right, back Rolls take only one session to land (but forever to master), if you follow these simple tips you’ll be looking at the world in a whole new way – upside down!

Five Tips to landing a kiteboarding Back Roll.

Footstraps need to be done up tight
The last place you want to see your board, is in mid air and sailing towards your face. Tighten those footstraps and lock your feet in tight! Or twist your feet sideways a little. No, you do not need bindings if the board keeps falling off. Learn to hold it on your feet.

Use all the help you can get
Your first kiteboarding backroll will require two things. A kite in the sky, and a wave to hit. Ride towards your wave with speed, and raise your kite high (but don’t let it get behind you). The wave will give you the height, the kite will keep you in the air, all you need to do is rotate.

Look where you want to go.
Ever seen a dog chasing it’s own tail? As you hit your wave, push off with your feet and look around behind you. Can you see your tail? No? Look harder. Turn your head upwind first, then around at the water. Your body will follow.

Land Downwind
As you come around the last half of the rotation, you’re going to land with the board pointing downwind. This step is really important, otherwise you’ll skip off onto your back. So land with your knees bent, look at the board as you land and let the kite pull you downwind.

Don’t be a Wimp
Inverted (or anything with a roll in it) tricks in kiteboarding are awesome for two reasons. The first is because they are easy to learn. The second is that the consequences of crashing are totally tame in comparison to wakeboarding. A big crash from a kiteboarding backroll will usually result in some water up your nose and maybe your hat falling off. The same in wakeboarding can result in bruising and even concussion. So don’t be a wimp! It’s not going to hurt.

The Short Version

-Do your footstraps up properly
-Use a wave to jump off, and keep the kite high.
-Look around behind you (remember that dog)
-Land downwind, or you’ll fall off backwards
-Don’t be a wimp! It won’t hurt!

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