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Deadman

See it in the Trick Tree

Deadman is a hooked-in jump: the rider locks the bar down, goes upside down with the board on the lines, lets go with both hands, then catches it to land.

Also called: Dead Man · Full Deadman

Prerequisites

Boosting Higher

Unlocks

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

Schools teach this differently

Our sources disagree on where the kite should be when your hands come off. Scillonian on Extreme Kites teaches redirecting before the release, so that when you grab the bar again the kite is already at 11 or 1 heading the right way for the landing. Eurus on Kiteforum argues for keeping the kite as straight up as possible once you release, because with the stopper set halfway a kite sitting off at 1 or 11 leaves you powered up the moment you let go and you can eat it hard.

Ideal conditions

Deep water, because you can land this one head first. IKSURFMAG's write-up of the same inverted shape says to make sure the water is deep enough to land head first, and riders in the Extreme Kites thread put the floor at more than a foot. On kit, one Kiteforum regular prefers Deadmans on his larger kites and says things go bad fast on a small kite in high winds. No source opened here gives a knot range.

How to do it

  1. 1. Bar setup and water check

    • Fit a stopper ball or a micro-loop before you plan the move. With nothing holding the bar down, the bar sheets out the second your hands leave it and there is no trick left.
    • Set the stopper about halfway down as your starting point, then adjust from there.
    • Expect the kite to keep lifting once the stopper is set. You are not dumping power the way a normal boost does.
    • Pick water deep enough to land on your head. More than a foot, and then some.
    • Get the invert first. Full inversion with the board touching your lines, off a sent jump you already land clean, before you add the bar release.

  2. 2. Send and load the stopper

    • Edge hard upwind, looking where you want to go, shoulders twisted open, driving against the board.
    • Send from about 1 or 11 o'clock. At that height you can still hold the edge.
    • Steer with both hands and keep it smooth. Yank the bar and the kite stalls, then it pulls you over and downwind instead of up.
    • Pull the stopper down as you leave the water. Toby on Kiteforum takes it all the way; one rider's first full Deadman came from bringing bar and stopper about three quarters of the way to the chicken loop on the way up.
    • Go for height. Hang time is what buys you room to get inverted and back up before the water arrives.

  3. 3. Invert and let go

    • Pull your knees up and level the bar to stop the kite moving back, bringing it to just about 12.
    • Get the kite back above you before the legs go up. Leave it behind you and you start rotating forward.
    • Throw your head back until all you can see is the water beneath you, and keep everything in line so nothing twists.
    • Kick the board up until it stops against your lines, then push your hands and hips towards each other to bring your bum in, and stretch out.
    • Take both hands off the bar and hang back with your arms out behind you.

  4. 4. Catch the bar and land

    • Start coming back up while you still have height. Hands need to be on the bar with time left to spot the landing.
    • Reach back for the bar with the kite already redirected the way you want to go.
    • Lower your legs under control with your stomach and legs engaged, everything still in line.
    • Look forward to where you think you will land.
    • Dive the kite for the landing. The harder you dive it, the more the power pulls you out and downwind for a soft tail-first landing.
    • Land with the stopper still powered and push it back up after, or push it up just before you touch down.

Common mistakes and fixes

Mistake

Going for it on a bar with no stopper ball or micro-loop.

Fix

Fit one first. Riders on both Extreme Kites and Kiteforum say flatly that without something you can pull down to stop the bar sheeting out, the full Deadman is not possible.

Mistake

Not enough height, so you are still inverted when the water arrives.

Fix

Build the jump before you build the trick. One rider in the Extreme Kites thread reports a clean Deadman that ended face first purely from being too low, and the first sign of trouble was his hands getting wet.

Mistake

Leaving the kite behind you as you throw your legs up, which tips you into a front rotation.

Fix

Get the kite back above you before the legs go. IKSURFMAG names this as the most likely cause of rotating forward out of the move.

Mistake

Yanking the bar on the send.

Fix

Steer smoothly with both hands. A yank stalls the kite and pulls you over and downwind instead of up.

Mistake

Starting to spin while you are hanging upside down.

Fix

Keep everything in line so nothing twists. Riders in the Extreme Kites thread call out the accidental rotation specifically, and one who tried a Deadman with a rotation on purpose said it did not end well.

If it goes wrong

  • Ride deep water only. IKSURFMAG's write-up of the same inverted shape says to make sure the water is deep enough to land head first, and riders in the Extreme Kites thread put the floor at more than a foot.
  • Do not improvise a hooked strop under your bar to hold it down. A rider in that thread explicitly does not recommend it and describes watching a rider get dragged about 50 metres up the beach by a deadman kiteloop after failing to unhook a strop.
  • If you run a North-style micro-loop and do not want to hook into it, the kit's barrel top twists 180 degrees so it will not catch.
  • Plan the landing with the power on. Once the stopper is set you are not dumping power like a normal boost, so the kite keeps lifting through the move.

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

Do I need special gear for a Deadman?+

Yes. A bar with a stopper ball, or a micro-loop like North's. Riders on Extreme Kites and Kiteforum both say the move is not possible without something you can pull down to keep the bar from sheeting out, and one Kiteforum poster puts it as needing a stopper for any variation of the deadman. IKSURFMAG's Click Bar stopper-ball piece makes the same point about the hardware: the stopper is there to increase ease of use and control over the kite, especially when taking hands off the bar, and during old school tricks.

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

Land a sent jump, and go fully inverted with the board touching your lines while getting real height. IKSURFMAG rates the Stiffy, the same shape with your hands staying on the bar, as open to anyone who can happily land a sent jump. The rider asking about the full Deadman on Kiteforum was already landing full inversions with the board on his lines and was only short on hang time for the two-hand release.

How much air and what wind does it need?+

Enough hang time to get inverted and back up before the water. Toby on Kiteforum says it is technically possible with less hang time or height, but that good hang time is what makes it stylish. One Kiteforum regular prefers Deadmans on his larger kites and warns that things go bad fast on a small kite in high winds. None of the sources opened here put a knot range on it.

What is the scary part?+

The head-first landing. You are upside down with no hands on the bar, and if you are low you meet the water in that position. That is why the water depth advice is so blunt in the sources, and why riders warn against letting yourself start to spin while inverted.

Is a Deadman the same as a Stiffy?+

No. IKSURFMAG describes the Stiffy as a Dead Man without letting go of the bar. Same inversion, same board kicked up against the lines, but the Deadman is the version where both hands come off.

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.