Double Frontroll is a jump off a hard upwind edge with the kite sent from just under 11 or 1, turning two full forward rotations before a downwind landing.
Also called: Double Front Roll · Double Front Loop
Prerequisites
Unlocks
Nothing in the tree needs this one yet — it stands on its own.
Helps to know first
Schools teach this differently
The two IKSURFMAG double-front tutorials genuinely disagree on where the kite belongs once you are spinning. The Double Front Loop coaching keeps it a tiny bit behind 12 as that safe, floaty position and warns that redirecting it forwards past 12 will pull you off balance. The Double Front Roll Grab coaching does the opposite: send it up over 12 to maximise lift, and "you must get it moving forwards over 12 as this will help you into your second rotation and give you more hang time." Pick one approach and stay with it for a session instead of mixing them. The same two pages also describe different landings — the Double Front Loop lands tail-first and downwind, while the grab version has you bring the legs through and "land on and over the board, nice and flat."
Ideal conditions
No source we cite names a knot range for the double, so treat wind numbers as unverified. What the sources do specify: deep water with plenty of space around you, and steady wind rather than gusty or offshore. IKSURFMAG's rotation coaching says learning rotations on a bigger, slower kite in lower winds takes the fear and jeopardy out of it — get it wrong and the result is wet hair and a relaunch. You do not need to go massive on height, but you do need a decent amount of hang time, so pick a session with enough power that you feel excited rather than overwhelmed. Elite Watersports recommends flat water and steady side-onshore wind for front rolls, though note it teaches the single over waist-deep water while the IKSURFMAG double tutorials both require deep water.
How to do it
1. Approach and send
- Ride in at comfortable speed with the kite parked just under 1 or 11, and load a hefty upwind edge you can actually kick against.
- Pick a power level where you feel excited rather than overwhelmed, with plenty of space and deep water underneath you.
- Send the kite hard back rather than steering it gingerly. A short, sharp send beats a slow drift because it lets you hold your edge and gives you something to kick against.
- Feather the bar out as the kite climbs so it follows the sweet spot and you can keep edging. Do not pull the bar in until after you have kicked.
- Decide on two rotations before you leave the water. There is no way to learn this in stages, so commit to the spin from take-off.
2. Pop and first rotation
- Stamp hard against the edge of the board with your back foot and extend that back leg as you leave the water.
- Throw your shoulders down into the loop, not across.
- Throw your head down towards the front of the board and let your front knee lift.
- Keep the bar in. Letting it out as you come around the first loop is what stalls rotation two.
- Lift both knees and keep yourself as small as possible. Speeding up the first rotation is what leaves you time to throw the second one before touchdown.
3. Second rotation in the air
- Treat it as one rotation on the way up and another on the way down.
- Hold the bar in through the whole spin so you keep feeling where the kite is.
- Use light pressure on your front hand to keep the kite working above you. Redirect it forwards past 12 and it will pull you off balance.
- Keep leading with your head and keep looking over your shoulder. As long as you can see where you are going, the rest of your body and the board follow.
- If you are grabbing, steer with your thumb on the opposite side of the bar so you can fly one-handed without sheeting in or out.
4. Dive and land
- Get your eyes on the prize, pick out roughly where you will land, and lead into it with your head.
- As soon as your front knee and the nose of the board come through the wind, dive hard with the front hand so the kite pulls you around the final few degrees.
- Let that dive set you up for a downwind landing.
- Bring your front leg and the board through underneath you.
- Spot the landing, soften your knees, then point the board downwind to regain speed and keep steering the kite to ride away.
Common mistakes and fixes
Mistake
You land hard on your back, hip or backside with no float in the jump.
Fix
You are either not keeping the bar in or not getting the kite back above you after take-off. With the kite left behind you will still get the spin because you pivot around the lines, but you get no float and no forward momentum, so concentrate on flying the kite.
Mistake
The second rotation stalls halfway.
Fix
You are letting the bar out as you come around the first loop. Keep it in through the loop, and since there is no staged version of the trick, commit to the spin from take-off.
Mistake
You keep landing one and a half rotations.
Fix
You have not sent the kite hard enough, so you are taking off with the kite at 12 or just behind, which means any front-hand pressure redirects the kite too much. Send it more aggressively.
Mistake
You spin flat instead of rolling forward.
Fix
That is twisting the torso rather than tucking into a roll, which gives a flat horizontal spin with no control. Let your head initiate the rotation and bring the front shoulder slightly ahead of the hips at take-off.
Mistake
You over-rotate past the landing.
Fix
Open your body up to stall out the rotation, and spot the landing early so that once you are about three-quarters round you can extend your legs and prepare to land.
If it goes wrong
- Learn it over deep water with lots of space around you.
- If you feel too disorientated mid-rotation, do nothing and float down under your kite. IKSURFMAG's front roll coaching calls this a no-drama option.
- Keep off a panic pull. The same coaching says floating down is considerably preferable to yanking on a hand and hoping it will bring you around.
- Wear an impact vest and a helmet while you are working through the crash phase.
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
What should I be able to do before trying a Double Frontroll?+
Single front loops, consistently. IKSURFMAG puts it bluntly: "Needless to say we do suggest that you can front loop." Their front roll coaching also assumes a good upwind edge, a bit of speed so the board is lively, and the kite parked at 11 or 1, and it suggests warming up with a few gentle small jumps first. Elite Watersports adds upwind riding with edge control and basic load-and-pop jumps. Add deep water and lots of space to that list.
Can I build up to it gradually, half a rotation at a time?+
No. IKSURFMAG is explicit that "there is no way to learn this in stages, as you need to commit to the spin from take off." The useful mental model instead is one rotation on the way up and another on the way down, so the thing you build up is the speed of the first rotation, not the number of rotations.
How much wind and what kite size do I need?+
None of the sources opened for this page state a wind range for the double. The relevant guidance from IKSURFMAG is that learning rotations on a bigger, slower kite in lower winds takes the fear and jeopardy out of them, and that you do not need to go massive on height but you do need a decent amount of hang time to fit both rotations in.
What do I do if I lose track of where I am mid-rotation?+
Nothing. IKSURFMAG's front roll coaching says that if you feel too disorientated you can do nothing and float down under your kite with no drama, and that this is considerably preferable to yanking on a hand hoping it will bring you around. Practise over deep water with space so that option is actually available to you.
Where should the kite be while I am spinning?+
The sources split on this. One IKSURFMAG tutorial keeps the kite a tiny bit behind 12 for float and warns against letting it go forwards past 12. Another sends it up over 12 and keeps it driving forwards to generate hang time for rotation two. Both agree on the parts that matter most: bar in, kite above you, lead with the head, and a hard dive at the end to pull you round the last few degrees.
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 — How to Double Front Loop
- IKSURFMAG — How to Double Front Roll Grab
- IKSURFMAG — How to Front Roll (Intermediate technique)
- Global Kite Spots — Trick inspiration for intermediate kitesurfers
- MACkite Boardsports Center — How to do the Front Roll
- Elite Watersports — How to Front Roll in Kiteboarding
- Art of Kitesurf — Back and front roll secrets and technical differences