Kiteboarding | Learning the Unhooked Back Roll

Today we're going to break down a heelside back roll. This might be the most popular trick in kiteboarding. This is actually even easier than the Raley. This will be your first roll in kiteboarding. It's going to open the door to many other more advanced tricks that begin with this rotation.

The back roll is often a misunderstood trick, not because it's overly difficult but because people often mistake it for a flip. While you can invert your back rolls into a flip, more often than not they look more like an off axis 360. This is where you want to start, and it leads to a lot of fun progressions. Pair this with a front 180 and you have a back to revert. Add a back 180 and you have the back-to-blind. Take that a step further with the backside 360 and you have the KGB.

Like our raley video, I'm going to break this down into 4 parts.

Trick Overview
Body Position in the Air
Variations
Common Mistakes
The basic back roll can vary from person to person, depending on your style. Things like how you pop, when you release your edge, how explosive you are in your movement, or just what you do with your body in the air all make a huge difference. There are also a couple ways to control the axis of your roll. We'll cover that in the variations section of this guide.

Step One - Trick Overview
Keep the kite at 1 or 11 o'clock and come in with good speed. Ride downwind to unhook, carve back upwind, and lean backward. Remember, just like our popping video, you need to keep good body posture and stay locked at your hips while loading up your lines. Keep your chest and hips facing the sky and treat your body as a unit.

You'll feel tension load up. For the back roll, it's a good idea to load a bit longer than the raley. You need the extra pop and height to throw you into the roll. Right as the the tension hits its apex, hold a moment longer. As you release your edge, you'll want to look over your back shoulder.

The Release

For the back roll, it might be tempting to release your edge late. I mentioned holding the edge a moment longer, but you want to do a normal scoop. If you do release late, you can even complete a good part of the rotation before you leave the water. That's actually bad form unless you're going for a bigger trick. If you are struggling with the release, go back to our popping video and try some of those tips on this trick.

As you come off the water, keep looking over your shoulder and spot your landing. Your body is going to follow your head. Keep the bar close throughout the entire roll. As you come around, pull the bar into your lead knee. Point the nose of your board towards the kite and land downwind, riding at the kite.

Step Two - Body Position
Remember, the body is going to follow your head on this trick. To initiate the roll, you just just look over your shoulder and swing your hips. At first, keep things simple and just go for a basic roll. As you leave the water, keep your arms bent and the bar close. Bring your knees into your chest and swing your hips around. You need to keep your knees tucked in for this one or you'll get stretched out. It's always good form to keep one knee more tucked than the other.

From here, you can start experimenting with how you roll, either by spinning with the momentum after your scoop or really swinging your back hip into a more inverted roll.

Also think about what you're doing with your head. If you throw your head back more and quickly bring your back knee hard into your chest, you'll invert the roll. This is where personal style comes in so just do what feels good and have fun with it!

Landing

To land, as you look over your shoulder you should be able to see the water pretty quickly; look at the water and spot your landing. Pull hard on your front hand to flick the kite down and pull the control bar hard into your lead hip. It's actually really helpful to take your back hand off the bar. Point your nose at the kite and land flat, centered over both of your feet, not favoring any edge. This will take the power out of the landing and it's going to look better.

After you land this a few times, I recommend letting go with your back hand. It's going to make everything look and feel more fluid.

To do this, as soon as you get the board under you, just bend your knees and let go with your back hand. Remember to land flat and riding at the kite. Hook back in before you lose too much board speed and ride away.

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Written & Produced by Ryan (Rygo) Goloversic