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Wave · Intermediate

Down-the-Line Wave Riding

See it in the Trick Tree

Down-the-Line Wave Riding means sending the kite ahead down the line and following it until it stops pulling, then surfing the open face on the wave's power.

Also called: down the line riding

Prerequisites

Bottom TurnToeside Riding

Unlocks

Top Turn Tail Release

Schools teach this differently

Coaches disagree on where the kite belongs mid-manoeuvre. Kitekahunas flies it from one side of the window to the other straight through the power zone and keeps it low throughout. Naish and Ben Wilson steer it up before you climb the face and back down before you drop again. The same two camps split on the back leg in the top turn: Kitekahunas straightens it hard into the tail, while Reo Stevens keeps the back knee bent to absorb the bump and hold steady tail pressure.

Ideal conditions

Ben Wilson Coaching names side-shore to side-onshore as ideal, because the kite drifts down the line there rather than pulling you off the wave. Naish points riders at side-shore or offshore spots and says to keep the kite stable at 45 degrees in off and side-off wind; Peter's Kitesurfing Handbook sets the same 45-degree ceiling so the kite cannot lift you off the board. Before you go out, Naish wants you reading the break: waves break where it is shallowest, check for current, wait for the set to finish, and remember that once a wave has broken the water flows together and often affects the wind speed your kite is feeling.

How to do it

  1. 1. Set up and line up the wave

    • Fire every safety release before you get on the water, so you know the kite comes off fast and clean.
    • Read the break first: waves break where it is shallowest, so mark that spot, check whether there is a current to watch out for, and let the set finish before you head out. Once a wave has broken the water flows together and can change the wind your kite is feeling.
    • Punch out through the whitewater at an angle instead of straight into it, kite high and bar sheeted out for the extra lift over the foam.
    • Tack back out toeside so you can meet the wave going either way without swapping your feet on the board.
    • Drop the kite low, around 45 degrees, and hold it there while you pick your wave.
    • Run the three-point check before you commit to the wave: front foot placed, back foot placed, knees bent.

  2. 2. Bottom turn

    • Stay hooked in until your speed and your position on the wave are genuinely under control.
    • Drop your centre of gravity and lean over the heelside rail hard enough that your backside almost touches the water.
    • Hold that heelside rail until you are about three-quarters of the way up the wave.
    • Push the bar out through the bottom turn, then pull it back in towards the end of it to build the speed you need for the top.
    • Put your back hand down on the water and turn around it as a pivot point.
    • Steer the kite up before you start climbing the face, so it is always one step ahead of you rather than chasing you.

  3. 3. Top turn

    • Read the face on the way up and start the turn about halfway up when the section is open.
    • Give the bar one determined pull to fly the kite into the other side of the window.
    • Push the bar back out straight after that pull so the board gets your full attention.
    • Turn your head sharply into the direction of the turn and throw your front shoulder around with it.
    • In the pocket, drive the tail with your back leg and straighten it as far as it will go, keeping the front leg bent to carry the arc round.
    • Depower as you come out, because the kite is now pulling the opposite way from where you want the board to go.

  4. 4. Run it back down the line

    • Push the nose back down the line with your front foot once the board will not turn any further toward the kite.
    • Sheet out and let the kite sit further back in the window so it floats downwind instead of stalling.
    • Follow the kite with the board so it stops pulling you and simply stays flying while the wave does the driving.
    • Keep it under 45 degrees so it cannot lift you off the board.
    • If you are unhooked and the speed is getting away from you, grab the chicken loop to bleed power out.

Common mistakes and fixes

Mistake

The kite backstalls, overflies or falls out of the sky as soon as you point the board at it and ride down the face.

Fix

Depower and let it sit further back in the wind window so it drifts and keeps floating downwind. A kite that will not drift forces you into constant tight turns just to keep the lines loaded, which kills the down-the-line ride.

Mistake

Unhooking early, before you actually own the wave.

Fix

Stay hooked until the very last second and only unhook once you have full control of your speed and your position on the wave. Unhook too early and you lose control and wreck the whole wave.

Mistake

Staring at the kite through the turn.

Fix

Most riders pay too much attention to the kite in their hands and not enough to the board under their feet. Lead the turn by looking where you want to go and pointing your chest in that direction.

Mistake

Bringing the twin-tip habit of driving off the back foot onto a surfboard.

Fix

Weight on a surfboard sits far more balanced, so if anything you need to over-compensate and keep more weight on your front foot. Strapless riders feel this fastest.

Mistake

Mistiming the kite pull as you set the top turn.

Fix

Pull too early and the kite drags you away from the wave before you reach the pocket; pull too late and it hauls you over the wave and the top turn never happens. One determined pull as you commit, then push the bar out.

If it goes wrong

  • Practise releasing all of your safety releases before you go out, so you can get the kite off completely and quickly, and do a release check before you get on the water.
  • If the kite is in the waves, release and detach it rather than staying connected to it, because with you still attached to the bar the tension in the lines can easily rip it.
  • If you have unhooked and are carrying too much speed, reach over with your other hand and grab the chicken loop to depower the kite.

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 wind direction does down-the-line riding need?+

Ben Wilson Coaching calls side-shore to side-onshore ideal, because in that angle the kite will readily drift down the line instead of pulling you off the wave. Naish sends riders to side-shore or offshore spots and says to keep the kite stable at 45 degrees in off and side-off wind. Peter's Kitesurfing Handbook puts the same ceiling on it from the safety side: keep the kite below 45 degrees or it lifts you off the board.

What do I need to be able to do before I try this?+

Kitekahunas expects you to already ride comfortably and in control, ride upwind, ride toeside, link at least basic transitions and changes of direction, and many riders arriving at waves can already jump. They reckon an intermediate freerider is as little as ten days of practice from being a wave kitesurfer. Peter's Kitesurfing Handbook treats toeside upwind as the one worth mastering, because it lets you tack in both directions without switching your feet. Both Progression and IKSURFMAG say to build the carving turns on flat water first, with Kitekahunas recommending you get four different carving transitions solid on a twin-tip before moving to a directional.

Why does my kite drop out of the sky halfway down the wave?+

Because you are riding fast toward it and taking the tension out of the lines. Kitesurfist describes drift as the kite's ability to fly with a bit of slack in the lines and stay parked, floating downwind, while you surf. Kites that drift badly backstall, overfly backward through the window trailing-edge first, or simply drop out of the sky. Good drifters tend to be lightweight, more arched with wide tips, and lower aspect, and they sit further back in the wind window.

Straps or strapless?+

Peter's Kitesurfing Handbook lays out the trade: straps keep the board on your feet over broken water and off a wave crest and make the water start easier, but they cut down where you can put your feet and make jibing harder. Strapless lets you put your feet in the best position for both surfing and going upwind, at the cost of harder water starts, coming off the board if you fly the kite high, and a loose board around you when you wipe out. Progression argues for going strapless early anyway because it makes weight-distribution problems immediately apparent, and suggests a leash in medium to large waves, particularly when it is not a beach break.

Do I have to unhook?+

No. Peter's Kitesurfing Handbook describes unhooked riding as unleashing the real power of the kite and freeing your body up to surf and turn the board, with power fine-tuned by pushing your arms out or pulling them in, but it removes your depower. Ben Wilson stays hooked in until the very last second and never unhooks without full control of speed and position on the wave, then sheets in for a burst of energy.

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.