Backroll Kiteloop Grab pops into a backroll, loops the kite partway so it pulls the rider round, and grabs the board before the kite steers back to 12.
Also called: back roll kite loop grab · back roll kiteloop grab · backroll kiteloop nose grab · backroll kiteloop late tail grab
Prerequisites
Unlocks
Nothing in the tree needs this one yet — it stands on its own.
Schools teach this differently
Our sources genuinely disagree on how the loop and the grab stack. IKSurfMag keeps the bar pinned in and takes a nose grab with the front hand while the loop is still driving the rotation, triggering the loop about halfway round, at the point where you are looking back at where you came from. Shaun Bennett's MACkite version gets inverted straight off the water, loops right before the apex, then sheets out and puts the kite at 12 overhead before reaching back for a late tail grab. They also split on power: IKSurfMag files it as advanced and ridden on comfortable power, while MACkite's low nose-grab version is filed as intermediate and taught in light wind.
Ideal conditions
Deep water, and a day where you are feeling comfortable rather than on the verge of overpowered. IKSurfMag asks for conditions "preferably not on the verge of overpowered, with a fast-ish kite, and when you're feeling comfortable." MACkite's lower freeride version goes further and says to learn it in light wind, with an explicit warning not to attempt it powered up. No source we cite gave a knot range or a kite size.
How to do it
1. Setup and approach
- Park the kite at 11 or 1 and build speed on a committed edge, with good line tension and some power in the kite.
- Keep the kite high. Let it sit lower in the power zone and you will not get the height to complete the rotation.
- Keep your hands close together with the back hand near the centre of the bar. Slide it down the bar as you might for a normal loop and you lose the leverage you need while keeping the bar in.
- Aim for a controlled two or three metres, not your biggest jump. The loop supplies the rest.
- Only run it over deep water, and pick a day where the power feels comfortable rather than survival-grade.
2. Carve and pop
- Carve up just before you leave the water, weight low, back leg firm, still resisting the kite well.
- Stamp off against your edge and level the bar as you pull in on it for take-off.
- Keep looking forward along the line of your shoulder instead of throwing your head, which is what spins you round too fast.
- Keep the bar pinned in after the load and pop. Letting it out too much during the send is where the float disappears.
- Lift your legs as you leave the water to help the rotation round.
3. Loop and grab
- Trigger the loop when you are halfway around, just enough that you are looking back at where you came from. Go earlier and the loop may not pull you the rest of the way.
- Drive the loop hard with the back hand and hold the bar in. A kite that does not turn, or that starts too far back, is what piledrives you into the water.
- Pull the front knee toward your chest so the nose comes up and forwards, into easy reaching distance.
- Release the front hand and grab the nose. This is not a move where you have time to focus on the board and then hone in on it.
- Hold the nose tight, keep the bar locked on hard, and relax. If you relax, the tweak will be all the more natural.
- Look towards the kite and travel with the pull.
4. Landing
- Keep steering the kite all the way around and do not let off until it is on its way to midday, so it can catch you on the way down.
- Ease the bar out to release the tension on the back lines and let the kite breathe and climb.
- Come down downwind, or slightly back the other way from the direction you were travelling.
- Ride out going with the speed of the kite.
Common mistakes and fixes
Mistake
The jump feels flat and you have no float or hang time to work with.
Fix
The kite travelled too far back in the window, the back leg went soft, or you released the bar too much during the send. Level the bar just prior to take-off and keep it sheeted in through the pop.
Mistake
The kite piledrives you into the water instead of carrying you round.
Fix
The kite was not turning, started too far back, or the one-handed steering was too weak. Get the kite more above you before pulling the trigger, steer aggressively with the back hand, and do not let the bar get pulled out.
Mistake
You reach for the board and the grab is nowhere near your hand.
Fix
Not enough knee lift. Bring the knees up dynamically after take-off, engage through the middle, and get as small as you can instead of hanging out long.
Mistake
You over-rotate and land disoriented.
Fix
Stop throwing your head over your shoulder and stop trying to rotate fast. Keep looking forward along the shoulder line and let the take-off set the rotation.
Mistake
The loop hits far harder than expected when the wind picks up or you have more power than intended.
Fix
Pull the loop later, which takes the guts out of it, and go back to light wind to rebuild the timing.
If it goes wrong
- Learn and practise it over deep water only.
- Keep the kite looping once you have committed. Do not let off the steering until it is on its way to midday.
- Do not let the bar get pulled out of your hand during the loop; if the kite is piledriving you, get it more above you before pulling the trigger on the next attempt.
- If you have more power than intended, pull the loop later to take the guts out of it.
- Land directly downwind and go with the speed of the kite. You can soften the landing by sheeting out and sending the kite higher after it completes the loop.
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 do I need to have dialled before I try it?+
Two-handed backroll kiteloops. IKSurfMag files the grab version under advanced and says it helps to have the regular two-handed backroll kiteloop in the bag already; MACkite's version says to get simple backroll kiteloops dialled first. Underneath that, the backroll itself assumes you are staying upwind and can jump and ride toeside.
How much wind and how much power do I want?+
Not overpowered. IKSurfMag wants conditions that are preferably not on the verge of overpowered, on a fast-ish kite, when you are feeling comfortable, with deep water underneath you. MACkite's low nose-grab version is taught the opposite way round, in light wind, with an explicit warning not to learn it powered up. None of the pages opened for this trick gave a knot range or a kite size.
Do I need to go big for it to work?+
No. IKSurfMag says two or three metres is plenty as long as the jump is controlled, because the loop pulls you the rest of the way around. MACkite's freeride version is deliberately a low roll, close to the water.
Nose grab or tail grab?+
Both are taught, and they are different moves in the air. IKSurfMag's version releases the front hand and grabs the nose with the bar locked in while the loop is still driving. Shaun Bennett's version sheets out, directs the kite to 12 o'clock overhead, and uses that time to reach back for a late tail grab.
How do I build up to it without getting hurt?+
IKSurfMag lays out a progression: warm up with slow backrolls, then backroll kiteloops while trying to keep the legs in, then add the grab late on the way down, then add it earlier and earlier so you always know the kite is going around. Deep water throughout.
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.