Boosting is the work of turning a basic jump into real height, and it comes from harder edging and a sharper send of the kite.
Also called: big jumps · boosting
Prerequisites
Helps to know first
Schools teach this differently
Schools teach the send differently. IKSURFMAG starts it around 11:15 or 12:45 and keeps the kite no lower than 11 or 1 o'clock, while The Kitesurf Centre rides with the kite parked at 10 or 2 and sends it through 11 and 12 to finish at about 1 on the far side, holding it there past overhead. MACkite's Erik disagrees with crossing 12 at all: he takes his back hand off the bar at liftoff so the kite can't pass 12, arguing that a kite moving backward past 12 works against your forward motion and cancels the power.
Ideal conditions
Match your kite size to the wind for control rather than raw power: a 12m kite is best in 15-20 knots, a 10m in 20-28 knots, an 8m in 28-35 knots. Stay out of the 'No Fun Zone' (overly high wind ranges for your kite size) - the idea that riding overpowered means more air is popular but incorrect, demands years of edge-control mastery, and even then isn't safe. In light wind, a bigger 12-15m kite with proper technique still delivers impressive jumps and is underrated training.
How to do it
1. Set up the approach
- Check your gear before heading out, especially lines and bridles - worn bars or bridles can cause serious injuries if they fail - and always check your safety systems are working.
- Take a reasonable amount of power: enough to ride upwind comfortably, but not so much that you're likely to lose control or be pulled off your edge.
- Ride at a maximum 45-degree angle to the wind - this 'J-hook' trajectory hooks you into the breeze and generates more altitude. Riding too low, crosswind, gives you long, low jumps instead of high ones.
- Enter at a comfortable riding speed - 10 to 15 mph is ideal to begin with - fast enough that edging doesn't stall you, not so fast that you can't hold your edge.
- Watch your feedback: if your upwind angle starts to flatten as you accelerate, you're going too fast - scale back slightly to keep the trajectory.
- Before you commit, make sure your kite is no lower than 1 o'clock or 11 o'clock - if it is, move it up. That's your last chance to check on it before you're airborne.
2. Send, load and pop
- Send the kite back hard by pulling aggressively on your back hand while keeping the bar in close - if you're too gentle and merely drift the kite up, nothing will happen.
- Throw the kite back and THEN edge as if your life depends on it: drop your hips close to the water, straighten your front leg, and drive through your back heel, pushing the tail into the water and carving the board hard upwind away from the kite.
- Keep looking upwind over your shoulder as you send - do not peek at the kite, or your head and shoulders come up, the board flattens, and the kite travels too far behind you.
- For more boost, work the bar: as you send the kite up, pull the bar, turn aggressively, then push the bar back out while carving upwind - then pull the bar in a split second before the pop.
- Pop by pushing down hard through your back foot - around 90% of your weight, hard enough to throw head-high spray - then lift your front foot to break the board's suction on the water. The whole pop takes less than a second.
- Release the board as the kite turns backwards from 10 towards 11 o'clock on its way up over your head, and simultaneously pull the bar in for full power - the catapult effect from the loaded lines, the kite's direction change, and the fully powered bar combine to launch you.
3. In the air
- As you rise, bring your hands to your hips to keep tension on the steering lines and even out the bar to bring the kite above you - you now have a parachute.
- Bring your knees up to your hands - being small stops you swinging off balance.
- Do nothing with the kite while airborne: keep it parked at 1 o'clock with the bar in - it's essentially working like a parachute. Engage your core for much better stability.
- Don't hold the bar all the way in for more than 3 seconds or the kite stalls - push the bar out on the way up (the kite lifts even more in the open position) and pull it in and out several times, like a bird flapping its wings.
- Work out where you think you will land and watch that patch of water - spotting your landing helps you keep your balance.
4. Landing
- When you've fallen about 60-70% of the jump height, action the kite promptly: steer it back from 1 through 12, 11 and eventually 10 o'clock as you touch down, keeping the bar in the whole time, with as much input as the takeoff.
- Dive the kite hard with your front hand, timed just before you reach the water - pull it gently and the kite swings to one side and pulls you off balance; don't dive it at all and it sits above you and you land on your bottom.
- Drop your legs underneath you just before touchdown, twist your front hip forwards to follow the kite, point the board downwind and aim to land tail first.
- Pull the bar in one more time just before touching the water and you will get butter-smooth landings.
- Absorb the impact with soft knees to stop bouncing, then carve back round onto your heelside edge while checking where the kite is.
- As you hit the water, let the bar out to decrease power and get your board speed back under control - and remember this manoeuvre takes up a lot of landing space before you're back in full control.
Common mistakes and fixes
Mistake
Sending the kite too early or too hard before you've loaded the edge - you get pulled forward at a rate of knots but generate no height.
Fix
Build the tension in the lines first: ride a little slower, hold the edge longer, and only release when you feel the kite heading back over 12 o'clock, when it's generating upwards lift.
Mistake
Sneaking a peek at the kite as you send it - the board flattens, you lose your edge and line tension, and the kite flies way too far behind you.
Fix
Keep looking upwind over your shoulder exactly as on a normal tack; your last kite check was before you committed.
Mistake
Letting the bar out as you're hauled off the water - natural instinct, but you'll drop out of the sky.
Fix
Keep the bar in and float down, even if you abort the landing and land on your bum.
Mistake
Riding too fast into the takeoff - you can't hold the edge, the board skips, and you get the classic 30 cm high, 25 m downwind jump.
Fix
Enter at a comfortable 10-15 mph, hold the edge for longer, and use a small wave or piece of chop as a kicker to help the edge grip.
Mistake
Trying to physically jump up off the water with the kite - it just makes you lose your edge before takeoff.
Fix
Resist with gusto and play the waiting game: keep the power in close, keep edging, and wait until the kite wins and pulls you up.
Mistake
Landing sideways to the pull of the kite - a very hard landing or a crash.
Fix
All big jumps have a downwind landing: release the back hand, grab the tail and pull it under your hips to point the nose straight downwind before touchdown.
If it goes wrong
- If the jump goes wrong mid-air, do not let the bar out - you'll drop out of the sky. Keep the bar in and float down, even if you abort the landing and land on your bum.
- Wear a helmet and impact vest, and boost at least 100 meters from the shore but not more than 200, so your friends can rescue you if you crash hard.
- Before going for it, make sure you have enough space around you should you drop the kite or go flying off downwind, and make sure the water is deep enough to fall into.
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 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
Do I jump by springing off the water with my legs?+
No. Your pop is not so much about how hard your legs spring up as about the timing of releasing the board's edge - you must pop before the kite rips you up, or you lose most of the power. The pop mainly initiates how your body will fly through the air so you can land well.
Will more power and speed automatically make me jump higher?+
No - that's a popular but incorrect idea. Too much speed crushes your upwind angle and produces long, flat jumps, and riding overpowered requires years of edge-control mastery and still isn't that safe. Controlled speed at up to a 45-degree upwind angle, with the right kite size for the wind, is what unlocks altitude.
What should I do with the kite while I'm in the air?+
Nothing. Keep it at 1 o'clock with the bar all the way in for full power and therefore lift - it's essentially working like a parachute.
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.
- IKSURFMAG Technique Library - Jumping (Christian & Karine, coaching team since 2003)
- MACkite Boardsports Center - How to Jump Higher with the J-Hook and Lazy-S (Erik)
- Elite Watersports St. Petersburg - Jump Higher Kiteboarding (Aaron's coaching, written by Ryan 'Rygo' Goloversic)
- The Kitesurf Centre, Camber (UK kite school) - Learn How to Jump Higher Kitesurfing