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Airstyle · Advanced

Board-Off

See it in the Trick Tree

Board-Off is a jump where the rider grabs the board, takes both feet off it in mid-air, then puts them back on and rides away.

Also called: boardoff · board-offs

Prerequisites

Jump with GrabOne-Footer

Unlocks

Board-Off VarialFin Grab Board-OffKiteloop Board-Off

Schools teach this differently

Our sources disagree on what you actually hold. Progression teaches gripping the board on its back heelside edge with fingers around the fin and rail for more control while you position it, and its grab guide offers a back-hand grab on the toeside edge with fingers wrapped over the top of the fin, or an indie grab, as good places to start. MACkite and IKSURFMAG both describe taking the board off by its handle, with IKSURFMAG using an underhand grip on it. Which one applies depends on the route you are following and whether your board carries a handle.

Ideal conditions

Ride a kite bigger than you would normally pick for the wind. Progression's larger-kite line comes from the one-footer tips that feed the board-off: use a larger kite for extra hang time and stability, because you do not want to be on your 7m worrying about its position in the window. MACkite makes the same point for the full trick — take out a bigger kite for long, lofty jumps, because more airtime means more time to get through the whole board-off. IKSURFMAG adds that if conditions allow, a larger kite makes life easier, since it will not rip you off the water and you get your knees and board up sooner, with more hangtime. Progression also suggests running attempts on a downwinder so a kicked-off board does not cost you a long grind back upwind.

How to do it

  1. 1. Before the water: land drills and setup

    • Land one-footers consistently before you try a full board-off. MACkite has the rider arriving with jumping down pat, a tail grab they can style out, and one-footers mastered; Progression calls one-footers a great first progression and says a board-off needs decently floaty jumps and a solid grab.
    • Sit on a chair with the board in your hands and cycle it on and off your feet until the movement stops needing your eyes.
    • Rehearse the bad version too: pretend the breeze caught your board and blew it into a weird angle, and fix it from there.
    • Open your footstraps a touch wider than your normal riding setting so your feet drop back in without a fight.
    • Do the land work on soft grass or sand. You do not want to drop a carbon board on concrete or bash up a wood floor with your fins.

  2. 2. The send and the pop

    • Rig bigger than you would normally choose for the wind. A small kite leaves you managing its position in the window instead of doing the trick.
    • Edge super hard for a clean take-off and a big floaty jump.
    • Send the kite up to 12 o'clock rather than across the window.
    • Keep the send mellow enough that the kite actually goes up. Strangling it with the bar pulled right in costs you the height the trick runs on — sometimes less is more.
    • Feather the bar out on its sweet spot as you leave the water so you hold your edge and get maximum height for minimum drift.
    • Run early attempts on a downwinder so a kicked-off board does not mean kiting back upwind.

  3. 3. Board off in the air

    • Hold the kite just behind 12 once you are up, around 11:15 to 11:50 on a jump going left to right, so it keeps floating you instead of pulling you forward.
    • Get your knees up high. That is IKSURFMAG's fix when the board will not come off, and Progression's grab guide says it is easier to bring the board to you than to reach off into the distance.
    • Get the back hand off the bar and onto the board as quick as you can. Progression's board-off hold is the back heelside edge with fingers around the fin and rail, which gives you more control when you position it.
    • Keep the grabbing arm straight and use your fingers to lever the board up. Once it is off you can clamp onto it more firmly.
    • Get the board off and extend your legs down.
    • Pause a second out there — Progression's one-footer tip is to hold the grab for as long as possible.

  4. 4. Feet back in and land

    • Stay long. Do not stay crunched up, or you end up bringing the board up to your feet instead of giving your feet some momentum to meet the board halfway.
    • Bring your knees back up and pull the board back in front of you. Keep your knuckles up, which holds the straps near while pushing the pads away — the action is much like revving a motorbike or outboard throttle.
    • Front foot goes in first, every time.
    • Dive the kite as you come down. That extra lift gives you valuable extra time to squeeze the toes in.
    • Redirect late and hard for that extra bit of air time before you touch down.

Common mistakes and fixes

Mistake

You curl into a ball with the board and try to haul it back onto your feet.

Fix

Extend your legs down as soon as the board is clear, then let your feet travel up to meet it halfway. Staying crunched up leaves you lifting the board with no momentum coming from below.

Mistake

The board comes off but you land mid-fumble because the jump ran out.

Fix

Rig bigger and mellow the send. Make sure the kite goes up instead of strangling it with the bar pulled right in — a bigger kite buys long, lofty jumps and more time to get through the whole trick.

Mistake

The board will not leave your feet.

Fix

Concentrate on getting your knees up high, keep the grabbing arm straight, and lever it up with your fingers rather than grip strength. Loosen the straps a touch before you go out.

Mistake

You get the board back on but the reinsertion is off balance.

Fix

Check where the kite went. That is likely happening because your kite is too far forwards in the window, so hold it just behind 12.

Mistake

You stretch out toward the board and it stays out of reach.

Fix

Bring the board to you. Extend your front leg and bend your back leg and you should be able to grab the tail of the board.

If it goes wrong

  • Practise deliberately losing the board: toss it safely away at a 45-degree angle from your back foot, so throwing it becomes a rehearsed move.
  • The reason MACkite drills this: if you hold on to the board as you hit the water, your arm and shoulder will be forced up, quickly, at an intensely painful angle.
  • Progression gives this at the one-footer stage that feeds the board-off: try these on a downwinder, so if you need to kick your board off you do not have to worry about kiting back upwind.
  • Do not solve the dropped-board problem with a board leash. MACkite's answer is that you should not attach one, because a board that submarines builds a stupendous amount of resistance and is then propelled at you at an incredible speed when it comes back out. Reel leashes are not exempt, since the kite can launch off the water more powerfully than predicted and pull you suddenly across the water.
  • Learn to body drag back to the board instead: use your body as a rudder, tack as straight as possible, turn only when necessary, and steer the kite gently.

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

What do I need to land before trying a board-off?+

Jumping you do not think about, a tail grab you can throw in comfortably, and one-footers. MACkite describes the rider arriving at board-offs having got jumping down pat, styled it out with a tail grab, then mastered one-footers. Progression calls one-footers a great first progression and says that if you can jump and grab the tail of your board you can try those out with ease, adding that a board-off needs decently floaty jumps and a solid grab.

What kite should I be on?+

Size up. Progression's tip, given in the one-footer section that leads into the board-off, is to use a larger kite for extra hang time and stability rather than being on your 7m worrying about its position in the window. MACkite says take out a bigger kite for long, lofty jumps, since more airtime means more time to get through the whole board-off. IKSURFMAG adds that if the conditions allow, a larger kite makes life easier because it will not rip you off the water, so you get your knees and board up sooner and get more hangtime. None of the sources we cite gives a wind range for the trick — Progression's own session was a 30-knot flat-water day on a 9m, described as what he rode, not as a prescription.

What part of the board do I grab?+

It depends which coaching you follow. Progression's board-off tip is to hold the board on the back heelside edge, gripping the fin and rail, for more control when positioning it, and its grab guide suggests putting your back hand on the toeside edge with your fingers wrapped around the top of the fin, or an indie grab, which balances better in your hand. MACkite and IKSURFMAG describe taking the board off by its handle, and IKSURFMAG specifies an underhand grip, as if you were about to do a bicep curl, with the arm kept straight.

I am scared I will not get my feet back in. How do I get past that?+

Progression names exactly this — the mentality barrier, imagining getting a foot out and not being able to put it back in — and answers it with repetition off the water: practise taking the board off sitting on a chair and getting your feet back in, and always get your front foot back in first. MACkite runs the same on-and-off chair drill and adds pretending the breeze caught the board and blew it into a weird angle. Both Progression and IKSURFMAG say slightly larger or looser straps make the reinsertion easier, and IKSURFMAG has you dive the kite on the way down, because that extra lift gives you valuable extra time to squeeze the toes in.

What comes after a plain board-off?+

Adding rotation to the board itself. North Actionsports notes that instead of just taking the board off at the handle or the fin, top riders are now also flipping and spinning their boards, which increases the risk of losing your board during the trick. IKSURFMAG's board-off varial is one worked example: keep hold of the board until it passes through 12 o'clock, release it, turn your wrist and hand back into an underhand grip to catch it as it rotates round for a 180, then twist into an overhand grip and the board completes a full 360. The article assumes you have attempted a board off before and is filed under Technique / Advanced.

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.