The Blind Judge 3 extends the Blind Judge into a full backside 360 with the handle pass done in the air, and the rider lands heelside.
Also called: BJ3 · blind judge 360
Prerequisites
Unlocks
Nothing in the tree needs this one yet — it stands on its own.
Schools teach this differently
Our sources genuinely disagree on two cues: pass timing (Kiteboarding St Petersburg coaches committing to the handle pass sooner than in a standard Blind Judge, while IKSurfMag coaches keeping both hands on longer and passing later so the body turns further) and head position (St Petersburg says keep the chin tucked and look over the back shoulder; IKSurfMag says hold the head high and never tuck the chin).
How to do it
1. Setup: line up downwind with speed
- Bear away until you're pointing well downwind before takeoff — that's what earns you a heelside landing pointing downwind at the end.
- Set the kite between 11 and 1 so it still gives lift while you hold your edge; a touch closer to 12 buys a higher pop.
- Come in unhooked and fast: hips back over the tail, front leg extended, shoulders behind your hips, elbows in.
- Carve the board hard back upwind without letting your back knee sink any deeper than it already is — the bend you carry in is all the bend you pop with.
- Keep the front leg fairly straight so your hips stay back and low through the carve.
- Pin the front elbow in so the kite can't creep up while you carve against it.
2. Pop and flick
- Pop hard and late so the board flicks up vertically behind you, whipping your waist and shoulders upwind.
- Keep both legs straight through the flick; lifting your feet shortens the swing, while a straight-leg flick brings the board's weight from far behind and loads the spin.
- Sneak the kite up a fraction as you pop if you need more hang time, but don't wait to see whether it worked.
- Hold your gaze forward and keep your arms in to resist rotating early while you coil.
3. In the air: pull, spin, pass
- As the board flicks, pull hard on the bar to get your head and shoulders above it and swing the board forward — from the flicked position, the pull itself starts the turn.
- Spin in committed to the full 360 from the very start.
- Flick the kite back down at the apex to put slack in the lines for the pass.
- Exaggerate pulling the bar in toward your front hip; the closer the bar, the easier the pass.
- Keep both hands on the bar longer than you would in a Blind Judge and pass late, leading with your head held high so your hips stay over the board.
- Keep your front landing leg bent so it can't drop down away from you and stall the rotation.
4. Getting it round and landing
- Release the front hand but keep the back arm bent and the bar close, which carries your momentum on toward the kite.
- Lift the front knee through with the rotation and twist the bar round in front of you to close out the 360.
- Once the bar is passed, keep your knees and board up and the bar in tight.
- Keep looking over your back shoulder until you spot the landing.
- Kick the front foot up and forward and touch down heelside, pointing downwind.
Common mistakes and fixes
Mistake
Bending your knees or lifting your feet during the flick, which shortens the swing and robs the spin of momentum.
Fix
Keep both legs straight off the pop so the board's weight travels from far behind you and builds rotational speed on its own.
Mistake
Letting the kite rise as you carve in, which lifts you off your edge and softens the pop.
Fix
Pin the front elbow in through the carve so the bar can't drift and the kite stays parked.
Mistake
Tucking your chin and dropping your head mid-rotation, which pulls your hips off the board.
Fix
Lead with your head held high and keep your hips stacked over the board as you turn.
Mistake
Passing the bar at Blind Judge timing, which leaves you landing at blind instead of completing the 3.
Fix
Keep two hands on the bar longer and pass late so your body turns further before the hand change.
Mistake
Letting the front landing leg drop away beneath you, which kills the last 180.
Fix
Keep that leg bent through the pass and lift the front knee through with the rotation.
If it goes wrong
- The sourced fallback is the no-pass version: let go of the bar at the moment you would pass and aim to get your body and board around the full 3 anyway — IKSurfMag teaches this as the practice route into the rotation.
- Use it sparingly: the same source warns against drilling the let-go version so much that letting go becomes muscle memory.
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 on lock before trying a Blind Judge 3?+
A consistently stomped Blind Judge. The sourced ladder runs powered unhooked raley, then raley to blind, then Blind Judge with the air pass, and only then the 3 — every rung is a classic powered unhooked move.
What's the difference between a Blind Judge and a Blind Judge 3?+
An extra 180 of rotation. Instead of stopping at the blind position after the pass, you commit to a full backside 360 with the handle pass, which demands more pop — and the two schools split on whether you commit to the pass sooner or later than in a standard Blind Judge.
Where should the kite be?+
Between 11 and 1 on approach — one school coaches 11:30 to 12:30 for a higher pop. You can sneak it up a fraction as you pop for extra hang time, but don't wait to check whether it worked, and flick it back down at the apex to create slack for the pass.
Do I land toeside or heelside?+
Heelside, pointing downwind. That's why you bear away hard before takeoff, and on touchdown you kick the front foot up and forward to bring the board under you.
Why do I keep landing at blind instead of completing the full 3?+
Usually pass timing or a dropped body position. IKSurfMag's fix: pass the bar late so you rotate further before the hand change, keep your head high so your hips stay over the board, and keep the front landing leg bent so it can't drop away and stall the spin.
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.