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Double Backroll

See it in the Trick Tree

Double Backroll is a hooked-in jump off a hard upwind edge with two full backward rotations in the air, then a kite dive into a downwind landing.

Also called: Double Back Roll · Double Back Loop

Prerequisites

Backroll

Unlocks

Double Backroll Transition

Helps to know first

Boosting Higher

Schools teach this differently

Sources genuinely split on what drives the second rotation. IKSURFMAG's double back loop guide wants the spin coming from the board and hips, and names throwing the head and shoulders as the primary error, because from there it is hard to judge your landing and control your kite; it brings the head in only as a rescue, over the front shoulder with the back knee up, when the second rotation is running slow. MACkite coaches the opposite on their double backroll transition, throwing the head back and tucking the knees hard to huck the second rotation, and Elite Watersports puts it plainly for the single: wherever your head goes, your body goes.

Ideal conditions

Big-kite weather. IKSURFMAG teaches the double back loop on a 12m or larger kite, because a bigger kite floats better and that hangtime is what lets two rotations fit inside one jump. The single back roll it stands on works best in 15 to 22 knots of steady side-onshore wind; gusty days, offshore wind, and being overpowered all work against you. Pick water that is clear and deep enough to get it wrong in.

How to do it

  1. 1. Set up: big kite, hard edge

    • Go out on a big kite in big-kite weather, 12m and up. That float is what buys you the hangtime for two rotations.
    • Start with the kite at 11 or 1 o'clock, as you would for the single back roll.
    • Put your hands either side of the centre line, about a thumb's length out. Butted right up against it makes the kite hard to steer, and arms spread wide oversteers it.
    • Come in with good speed on a solid edge, weight back, tension in the lines. Moving, but not blatting full tilt.
    • Edge hard right up into the wind as you commit, loading the board like a spring.

  2. 2. Send and pop into the first rotation

    • Send the kite with a short, sharp move to around 12 or a fraction behind. Enough travel to make lift, not so far that it goes past you.
    • Keep the bar in on the sweet spot through the send. Let it out as the kite starts to lift and the kite drifts back before it takes you up.
    • Extend your back leg hard and kick yourself off the water, using your whole body from foot to head.
    • Get the spin from your board and hips as you carve up into the wind, so the rotation is something you steer rather than something you throw.
    • Pull hard on the front hand as soon as you leave the water, so the kite gets right back above your head.
    • You are already half a back loop round by the time you take off, so finish that first rotation before you reach the apex of the jump.

  3. 3. Second rotation in the air

    • Pull the bar right in, hands to hips, so it sits pretty much parallel to the water. Keep it in and you keep floating and turning.
    • Lift your knees and make yourself small. Small is balanced and easier to rotate.
    • If you feel yourself slowing down, throw the head around over your front shoulder and bring the back knee up to speed the second rotation up.
    • Don't look at your kite. Tilting your head back to look up knocks you off balance and disorientates you. Keep your eyes on the horizon.

  4. 4. Spot, dive, land downwind

    • Spot your landing during the second rotation. Once you can see your landing, you know you have made it.
    • Dive the kite by pulling on the front hand. It makes power and pulls you downwind, which stops you over-rotating and sets up an off-the-wind landing.
    • Lower your back foot and let the board drop underneath you, so you have something to land on, tail first.
    • Ride away downwind rather than fighting straight back onto an edge.
    • Once you are riding, get back on your edge quickly to get tension on the lines and the kite back under control.

Common mistakes and fixes

Mistake

Throwing your head and shoulders to force the spin, which turns into uncontrollable rotation.

Fix

Get the spin from your board and hips. Huck it with head and shoulders and it gets really hard to judge your landing and control your kite.

Mistake

The kite drifts backwards as you take off and the jump dies under you.

Fix

You either let the bar out as the kite started to lift, or you didn't send the kite hard enough. Give it a hard but short yank rather than slowly drifting it, and keep the bar in on the sweet spot.

Mistake

Over-rotating past the landing.

Fix

Dive the kite as soon as you have spotted your landing in the second rotation. The pull drags you downwind and quite literally pulls you out of the rotation. And start with a small, controlled load and pop, eyes through the turn, rather than spinning yourself into the first rotation with too much energy.

Mistake

Edging hard the instant you touch down.

Fix

Ride out downwind first. So few people try to ride downwind on landings and it is the key to everything: it lets you ride out on the board and leaves you the option to send the kite either way.

Mistake

Completing both rotations but never getting the height, so you land on an edge across the wind with your bum in the water.

Fix

Make an effort to pop up into the rotation, not just carve around into the wind.

If it goes wrong

  • Have the single back loop dialled before you add a second rotation: you can control your rotation and you know where your kite is.
  • Don't go at it too powered up to start with. Work your way up in steps, both height and power.
  • Make sure the coast is clear and there is enough water for when it doesn't go to plan, in wide-open space and medium, steady wind.
  • Wear a helmet, especially in shallow water, plus an impact vest, and carry a hook knife as backup.

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 I try a double backroll?+

A jumped back loop you land consistently. IKSURFMAG rates the double as intermediate and treats the single as the entry requirement: you want to control your rotation and know where your kite is. It gets taught in two flavours, a popped double and a sent double.

What wind and kite size does it want?+

Big-kite weather. IKSURFMAG puts the double back loop on a 12m or above, because that size has float in its DNA and the hangtime is what lets you fit two rotations in. For the back roll underneath it, Elite Watersports gives 15 to 22 knots of steady side-onshore as the working band, and says to skip gusty days, offshore wind, and anything that has you overpowered.

Is the double backroll hooked in, and where does it sit in the progression?+

Hooked in. It belongs to airstyle, which Progression defines as hooked tricks only, strictly hooked, covering board-offs, slides, kiteloops, rotations and transitions. On their backroll ladder it comes fourth, after the backroll, the one-handed backroll and the grabbed backroll, with the no-handed and double-grab backrolls after it. MACkite lists it at number 20 in a 28-trick beginner-to-intermediate run.

Do I throw my head back to get the second rotation round?+

The guides do not agree here. IKSURFMAG wants the spin driven by board and hips and calls throwing head and shoulders the main error, bringing the head in only as a fix when the second rotation is slowing down, over the front shoulder with the back knee up. MACkite coaches the head as the driver on their double backroll transition, throwing it back and tucking the knees hard. Elite Watersports sums that side up: wherever your head goes, your body goes.

Why do I keep over-rotating past the landing?+

Usually two things at once. You are generating the spin by throwing your head and shoulders instead of getting it from the board and hips, and you are late on the kite dive. Spot your landing during the second rotation and pull the front hand as soon as you see it, because the dive makes power and pulls you downwind, out of the rotation.

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.