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Back to Blind

See it in the Trick Tree

Back to Blind is an unhooked popped back loop with a back 180 added: the rider lands blind and passes the bar behind the back on the water.

Also called: backroll to blind · back loop to blind (surface pass)

Prerequisites

Unhooked BackrollRaley to Blind

Unlocks

KGBBack Mobe

Schools teach this differently

Our sources split on how to start the rotation: MACkite's unhooked back roll guide teaches initiating by looking over the back shoulder ("the body is going to follow your head"), while IKSURFMAG's back-to-blind guide keeps the head square with the shoulders on takeoff, looking forward, so the rotation stays slow enough to find the blind moment.

Ideal conditions

Learn it in flat water and light wind: flat water makes landing blind considerably easier because the board is less likely to stick, and light wind builds confidence; start slower to feel the move, then build speed for momentum. For unhooked riding generally, IKSURFMAG recommends learning in marginal wind on flat water.

How to do it

  1. 1. Set up on a broad reach

    • Trim the sweet spot right down before you unhook and check your handlepass leash sits on the correct side.
    • Park the kite at 1 o'clock (11 riding the other way) and hold it there; kept low you're less likely to spin under the kite and there's something to pull against, so concentrate on not letting it drift up.
    • Unhook with both hands together at the centre of the bar.
    • Carve hard back against the kite's power on a broad reach: front leg extended, back leg flexed, loaded to pop.

  2. 2. Pop into a slow back loop

    • Take off pointing downwind; where you take off is where you land, and take off into wind and you'll be around before you have time to pull.
    • As the board turns upwind, extend your back leg and pop up, keeping both arms bent so the pull in for the twist to blind comes easier.
    • Keep your head square with your shoulders and look forward, not over your shoulder; this trick wants an almost slow, fully controlled rotation.
    • With the kite low, the pop pulls you into a more horizontal back loop; let it come round unhurried.

  3. 3. Throw to blind at the peak

    • Your window is when the board is behind and up in the air, almost where it would be during a raley; at that exact moment, pull the bar as hard as you can into your front hip with both arms.
    • Turn your head the opposite way as you pull and keep your knees up.
    • Look toward your new direction of travel, turn your front thumb down and forward, and twist the bar to drag your shoulders the rest of the way round.
    • Commit to the full rotation; not pulling the bar close enough with both hands, and under-rotating, are the classic ways this one dies.

  4. 4. Land blind, pass on the surface

    • Land flat over the board and ride downwind on the blind landing.
    • Pass the bar behind the small of your back.
    • Get your free hand back on the bar quickly for stability.
    • Turn to face your new direction of travel and sort yourself out.

Common mistakes and fixes

Mistake

Letting the kite drift high during the move

Fix

Hold it at 11 or 1 the whole way through so there's something to pull against; a high kite spins you around a vertical axis and greatly increases the chances of over-rotating the back loop and missing the moment to go blind.

Mistake

Taking off while still carving into wind

Fix

Take off pointing downwind; if you take off into wind you'll be around before you have time to pull, and where you take off is where you land.

Mistake

Throwing the blind after the peak

Fix

Any later than the moment the board is up behind you, almost in the raley position, and the board starts to drop; pull to the front hip exactly then.

Mistake

Arms out and hinging at the hips when the power intimidates you

Fix

Keep your arms close, treat your body as one unit, and pull the bar into your lead hip with both arms; not pulling the bar close enough with both hands and under-rotating are the classic errors.

Mistake

Doing back rolls low with your back near the water

Fix

Get in the habit of going as big as possible on your back rolls now; rolling with your back close to the water will hold you back on Back-to-Blind variations, and going bigger pays off in droves when you take it to blind.

If it goes wrong

  • General unhooked safety rather than a trick-specific abort: if the kite overpowers you while unhooked, release your back hand and grab the top of the chicken loop with it, steadying the bar with your front hand, to depower the kite before hooking back in.
  • Run your leash to the fifth line or the depower system, never straight to the chicken loop, and mount it on the side you can actually reach when things go wrong.

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 school

Educational 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 should I have dialled before trying a back to blind?+

Unhooked popped back loops that are 100% controlled, with a rotation slow enough that you land facing downwind, plus the raley to blind nailed; you should be sticking the blind landing before adding the surface pass. MACkite's ladder builds it from the unhooked pop, the surface pass, the raley and the back roll, and their raley-to-blind guide asks for roughly 300 attempts across those fundamentals before combining them.

Where does the kite go?+

Park it at 11 or 1 o'clock and keep it from creeping up. A low kite gives you something to pull against and keeps the rotation horizontal; MACkite's raley-to-blind guide parks it at 45 degrees or lower, because the lower the kite, the easier the pass.

What conditions should I learn it in?+

Flat water and light wind. Flat water means the board is less likely to stick on the blind landing, and light wind builds confidence while you find the timing; start slower to feel the move, then bring more speed for momentum.

Landing blind scares me. How do I build up to it?+

Drill the surface pass on the water first. MACkite's course uses it to build the muscle memory for blind landings (the movement is almost identical) and to get comfortable with power, since catching an edge while powered is the sport's biggest fear.

Do I have to pass the bar in the air?+

No. This is the surface-pass version: you land blind and pass the bar behind your back on the water. IKSURFMAG treats it as the final building block toward the air-pass variations.

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.