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Airstyle · Intermediate

Backroll to Toeside

See it in the Trick Tree

Backroll to Toeside is a back roll with a frontside 180 on the end, so the tail swings through downwind and you ride away toeside on the other foot.

Also called: Back2Toe · Back to Revert · Back Roll to Toeside

Prerequisites

BackrollLoad & Pop

Unlocks

Nothing in the tree needs this one yet — it stands on its own.

Helps to know first

Pop to Toeside

Schools teach this differently

Our sources split on two real points. On the head: Peter's Kitesurfing Handbook tells you to throw your head in the direction of the loop and let the body follow, and Elite Watersports say wherever your head goes the body goes, while IKSURFMAG's back roll breakdown teaches the opposite — you haven't thrown your head, you've turned your entire body, with the hands leading the bar around. On the kite: Peter's handbook wants some pressure kept on the bar, particularly the front hand, to hold height, and warns that a kite lower in the power zone won't give you enough of it; Elite Watersports send it gently back toward 12; IKSURFMAG keep it at 11 or 1 and say it will not get up to 12, on the grounds that a kite any higher leaves you sliding with no resistance to push against.

Ideal conditions

No source we cite gives a wind range for this trick by name. For the back roll it's built on, Elite Watersports call 15 to 22 knots in moderate, steady conditions the learning window, want side-onshore because it gives you room to ride out downwind safely and steadies the kite overhead, prefer flat water to chop, and warn riders off offshore and gusty days. IKSURFMAG recommend a bigger kite on gentle power while you're learning, for the feeling and float and the less whippy handling, and want a flattish patch of water to flatten the board off on during the approach.

How to do it

  1. 1. Approach and load

    • Ride in upwind at a speed you can actually control. You need to be moving, but blatting in full tilt just makes everything happen too fast to fix.
    • Park the kite at 11 o'clock on your left tack, 1 o'clock on your right. Any higher and you'll just slide, because there's no resistance left to push against.
    • Slide your hands together at the centre of the bar so a twitchy hand can't redirect the kite mid-move.
    • Trim the bar in close.
    • Flatten the board off with a relaxed edge and get your hips back over the rear foot. Find the flattest patch of water you can for this.
    • Keep the bar in and on the sweet spot. Pull on the back hand and the kite drifts up, which quietly kills your pop.

  2. 2. Carve and pop

    • Carve up into the wind, turning your shoulders and hips upwind and driving against the back foot.
    • Leave the bar alone through the carve. Pull early and it's impossible to carve up and impossible to extend — and the kite just pulls you back upright.
    • Get your weight over the back foot with your shoulders coming up over the board.
    • Stamp against your back heel and extend that back leg with all your might. The board gets driven down and corks back up out of the water.
    • Level the bar as you leave the water, a touch of front hand down. You've drifted the kite, so now you need to stop it.
    • Don't drag the carve out. If you're losing speed before you pop, you're carving too long — go sooner.

  3. 3. In the air

    • Extend up into the rotation rather than curling up into a ball. Use your entire body, foot to head, to extend up.
    • Turn your entire body. Your hands and the bar lead you around the rotation.
    • Turn your head to look over your front shoulder and spot the water you're landing on.
    • Keep your eyes off the kite. Tilting your head back to look up knocks you off balance and disorientates you.
    • Hold the kite down with the heel of your back hand, the same input you'd use to lower the kite when body dragging.

  4. 4. Toeside landing and ride-out

    • Once the roll has come round, swing your back hip and back knee around the extra 180.
    • Bring the back knee over and around so the tail of the board comes through downwind, pushing your original back leg through onto the new back foot.
    • Pull the bar into your rear hip rather than your front hip, and point the tail at the kite.
    • Take what was your front hand off the bar to open your body up and help the hips swing round.
    • Land tail first on a flat board, no edge, pointed slightly downwind so it absorbs the impact.
    • Ride out with the front shoulder dropped and the back shoulder up, chest open rather than twisted upwind, flying the kite on the back hand alone.

Common mistakes and fixes

Mistake

You spin so fast that the roll runs away from you and there's no time left in the air to finish the job.

Fix

Stop chasing height. You don't need any height to pop to toeside from heelside normally, and that's all the clearance you need underneath you once the roll has come round. Come in with less power, stop throwing your shoulders, and let your eyes travel through the turn.

Mistake

The kite climbs as you take your front hand off the bar, and you're left with no way to pull it back down as you come around.

Fix

Level the bar as you stamp off, then push the kite down with the back hand — think body dragging again. Splitting the bar with the index and middle finger of that hand keeps it lower still.

Mistake

You pull the bar in as you start the carve and the board flatly refuses to turn upwind.

Fix

Carve, extend, then pull, in that order. Pull too early and it's impossible to carve up and impossible to extend, and the kite drags you back upright on top of it.

Mistake

You carve so long that the board loses speed and stops before there's anything left to pop off.

Fix

Pop sooner. Anticipate it rather than waiting until the speed has bled away.

Mistake

The board slides out sideways instead of biting when you stamp on it.

Fix

Keep the front leg extended so your weight stays biased towards the back of the board. Loaded that way it bites into the water instead of sliding.

If it goes wrong

  • If you get a big yank, let go of the bar.
  • If the rotation is disorientating you, slow it down. Rotating too fast is what turns into crashes.
  • Learn it in moderate, steady wind on flat water. Gusty days and offshore wind are not where this belongs.
  • Wear an impact vest for the flotation and the landing cushioning, and a helmet if the water is shallow or the spot is crowded.
  • Carry a hook knife in case of line trouble.

Learn this with a coach, not from a page

This guide explains what the move is and what riders get wrong, so you arrive at the session knowing what you are trying to do. It cannot watch your kite, read the gust coming, or stop you committing to something you are not ready for — a coach or instructor can.

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

How much wind do I need?+

None of the sources we opened pins a wind range on this trick by name. For the back roll underneath it, Elite Watersports put the learning window at 15 to 22 knots in moderate, steady conditions, side-onshore, on flat water rather than chop, and tell you to stay off gusty and offshore days. IKSURFMAG add that while you're learning, a bigger kite on gentle power gives you more feeling and float, and feels less whippy than a small one lit up.

What should I already be able to do before trying it?+

Peter's Kitesurfing Handbook wants you staying upwind, jumping, and riding toeside before you go near a back roll at all. Elite Watersports add upwind riding with full control, a consistent load and pop, soft landings off small jumps, and comfort riding both directions. For this variation specifically, IKSURFMAG's backroll masterclass with Steven Akkersdijk is framed around what opens up "once you've nailed your first backroll", and MACkite's unhooked Back to Revert asks for a raley with late release, a pop to toeside, and a back roll first.

Do I need to go bigger to fit the extra 180 in?+

No, and trying to is the usual reason it doesn't work. IKSURFMAG make the point that you don't need any height to pop to toeside from heelside normally, so all you need here is that same clearance underneath you once the back roll has come round. Boost for it and you throw yourself into a spin, and then there's no time left in the air.

Is this a hooked or an unhooked trick?+

Both exist. Global Kitespots file the back2toe under powered hooked-in tricks, alongside front2blind and back2blind. MACkite teach it unhooked as the Back to Revert: you unhook riding downwind, carve back upwind leaning away, and release the edge later than a standard back roll — almost halfway through the roll before you leave the water. They call it your first true combo and the doorway to the Back to Wrapped and the Backmobe, and reckon on 300 to 500 attempts before tricks at that level feel natural and automatic. IKSURFMAG's popped step-by-step doesn't state either way.

The toeside landing is the part that scares me. What am I actually aiming for?+

Tail first, board flat, no edge, pointed slightly downwind. Your original back leg pushes through onto the new back foot, your chest ends up open rather than twisted upwind with the front shoulder dropped and the back shoulder up, and that leaves the back hand alone flying the kite. Go and drill a plain pop to toeside until landing tail-first with your weight biased back stops feeling like a mistake, then add the roll in front of it.

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.