The Back Mobe is an unhooked back loop finished with a handle pass in the direction of travel, about 720 degrees of rotation from carve to landing.
Also called: backmobe
Prerequisites
Unlocks
Nothing in the tree needs this one yet — it stands on its own.
Schools teach this differently
Sources split on bar-to-hip mechanics for the pass: Kiteboarding St Petersburg coaches keeping the bar tight to your hip throughout and bringing it in hard for the pass, while IKSurfMag warns that pulling the bar into your hip with the back hand makes the kite rise and coaches rolling your hips up to the bar instead.
How to do it
1. Set up the approach
- Park the kite just under 11 or 1 o'clock. That is what gives you elevation and time in the air — the danger at this position is that you spin under the kite, so the rotation has to stay controlled.
- Unhook, bend your back leg and shift your hips toward the tail so the nose pushes off the wind.
- Stay off your toes as you bear away. Toe pressure drags your weight forward and makes it much harder to resist the kite and pop.
2. Carve and pop
- Carve hard back upwind with your front leg fully extended and toes lifted so the foot stays in the strap. Keep the back leg flexed and loaded.
- Lean your shoulders back into the rotation and twist your hips upwind against the kite's pull, keeping the board between you and the kite.
- Kick down hard off your back leg before the kite can pull you over the board.
- Keep both arms bent through the carve and pop. A smooth, controlled pop is what generates good slack in the kite.
3. Back loop into the pass
- Keep your head between your shoulders, eyes forward, and bring your knees up. By not looking over your front shoulder you rotate at a controllable pace, using the momentum from the carve to turn you.
- Hold your arms bent so the bar stays pinned close through the whole loop.
- As the loop completes, throw your head and shoulders down and around so your hips roll up toward your hands.
- Keep both hands on the bar until your hips rise. Hauling the bar into your hip with the back hand makes the kite rise and pull the bar away from you.
- Release the front hand and take the shortest, quickest route around your waist with as little movement as possible, then grab again immediately; let go a fraction too early and the bar pings away.
4. Stomp the landing
- Keep the passing arm bent after the grab, folding at the elbow so your hand travels toward your shoulder. Let that arm pull straight and you will not turn far enough to land it.
- Hold the bar in close with tension on your front arm so the kite's pull carries you through to a flat-board landing at speed.
Common mistakes and fixes
Mistake
The kite drifts up as you roll your hips for the pass
Fix
Bring your hips up to the bar instead of pulling the bar down to your hips. Split the fingers of your back hand over the centerline, and steer the kite back down with the front hand if it climbs.
Mistake
You land on the board but never catch the bar
Fix
You are spinning one fast double rotation instead of a back loop followed by a pass. Go back to slow back loops with bent arms and practice separating the two rotations.
Mistake
You pass the bar, land, then fall
Fix
Your front arm is pulling out straight after the pass. Keep tension on it and hold the bar in near your body until you are riding away.
Mistake
Your legs drop mid-rotation and the rotation dies before the pass
Fix
Get completely horizontal by the time you reach toeside. If your legs are too low at that point, they drop before you finish the rotation and the pass never arrives.
If it goes wrong
- Keep the kite parked at 11 or 1 o'clock any time you ride unhooked; do not move it during the trick.
- If you lose control at any point, let go of the bar; the guide tells you to release rather than fight it.
Learn this with a coach, not from a page
This is a high-consequence move. The sources it is built from describe riders getting hurt on it, and every one of them teaches it as a step you earn rather than attempt. Get coaching, build up in stages, ride with people who can help you, and give yourself deep water and clear space downwind.
Find a certified schoolEducational reference, not instruction. Kitesurfing is a risk sport: the steps here describe what named schools, instructors and technique libraries teach, and the page lists exactly which ones, but real conditions involve wind, gusts, water state, traffic and equipment behaviour that no written guide accounts for. Schools also teach justified variations — where our sources disagree, the page says so instead of picking one. Judge your own readiness, use the safety systems on your kite, and do not attempt a move because a page made it sound achievable. KitesurfingOfficial accepts no liability for the use of this information on the water.
Questions riders ask
What exactly is a Back Mobe?+
An unhooked back loop followed by a handle pass in the same direction of travel, about 720 degrees of total rotation from the carve. The pass happens in the air, which is what separates it from surface-pass tricks.
What should I have dialed before trying it?+
A decent popped, slow-rotation unhooked back loop with bent arms, plus handle passes drilled behind your back on dry land. One school progression runs unhooked back roll, then back roll to toeside, then back to wrap, then backmobe.
How is a Back Mobe different from a Back to Wrap?+
In a backmobe you get the handle pass in the air; in a back to wrap the pass happens on the water.
Where should the kite be?+
Parked just under 11 or 1 o'clock. That is what gives you elevation and time in the air; the trade-off is that from there you can spin under the kite, so the rotation has to stay controlled. Keep it parked for any unhooked trick.
What do I do if it goes wrong mid-air?+
Let go of the bar. It stays parked at 11 or 1 the whole time you ride unhooked, so the kite is not what you are holding on to.
Keep reading
Sources
Every step on this page traces to the sources below. Where they disagree or stay silent, the page says so instead of guessing.