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Foil · Expert

Foil Backroll

See it in the Trick Tree

Foil Backroll is a backwards 360 on the kite hydrofoil, popped off the front wing instead of a board edge, with the kite between 11 and 1 through the spin.

Also called: kitefoil back roll · kite foil backroll · foil back roll · hydrofoil backroll · Backroll (kite foil)

Prerequisites

Foil Jump

Unlocks

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

Helps to know first

Backroll

Schools teach this differently

The two foil sources give opposite weight cues for the same moment on the landing. IKSURFMAG's foil freestyle guide says to put pressure on the back foot especially, to get back onto the foil and start gliding. MACkite's Blake Olsen says to keep your weight centred over the front knee and lean back only slightly to level off, and to resist edging the board against the kite. They agree on the rest of the landing: nose downwind, front wing in first.

Ideal conditions

Steady wind, deep water, and a clear coast around you. Foiling lets you train the rotation in under 15 knots, and the sources are blunt about not learning new tricks in strong gusty wind, chop or bigger waves. A bigger kite with gentle power gives you more feel and more float than a small kite you are hanging on to, because it is less whippy and easier to control.

How to do it

  1. 1. Before you leave the beach

    • Get safe foil riding and jibes dialled, then learn to pop the foil out of the water and land small straight jumps. The rotation gets bolted onto that take-off and landing technique.
    • Put on a wetsuit that covers your arms and legs, a helmet and an impact vest before you start spinning over carbon.
    • Switch to a smaller front wing. IKSURFMAG's foil freestyle guide caps it around 850 cm² on an Armstrong: a small wing pops out of the water more willingly and gives you less impact area on the landings, so you are less likely to break gear or hurt your knees and ankles.
    • Go through the whole trick in your head before you get on the water. Rehearsing the rotation in theory is what keeps you from hurting yourself and getting frustrated once you are out there.
    • Check your foil's warranty first. The warranty from most foil brands stops applying the moment you start jumping the gear.

  2. 2. Approach and pop

    • Build to roughly 20 km/h for your first attempts.
    • Ride with the mast about halfway out of the water and the front wing still fully submerged. Sit any lower and that is a lot of mast to get clear.
    • Put both hands in the middle of the bar so you do not lose control of the kite.
    • Steer the kite up towards 12 slowly and keep it inside the 11-to-1 window for the whole move.
    • Shift your weight onto the back foot, kick the tail, and pull your front knee up to unload the front foot.
    • Pop a fraction earlier than twintip timing. You are popping with the wing, not the edge of the board, so time it for the wing to exit the water as the kite hits noon, and leave the bar sheeted in until you reach the top.

  3. 3. The rotation

    • Turn your head in the direction you are spinning as soon as you have popped.
    • Pull your knees into your chest and make yourself as compact as you can. That is what keeps your balance and stops the extra weight of the foil starting to rotate you.
    • Angle the foil away from your body so the wing and that three-to-four-foot mast clear the surface instead of catching it.
    • Let your hands and the bar lead you around. At no stage should you turn your head away from your hands.
    • Keep going until you have the full 360. Holding your orientation in the air is the hard part: come up short at 180 and you land on your back.

  4. 4. Landing

    • Spot your landing as soon as the 360 comes around.
    • Sheet the bar out as you start to come down.
    • Point the nose downwind and tip it slightly down at the water so the front wing goes in first.
    • Land the board flat, the way an aircraft touches a runway that happens to sit about a foot below the surface. Resist the twintip reflex to edge against the kite; keep your weight centred over the front knee and lean back only enough to level off.
    • Keep the nose downwind through touchdown so you get back onto the foil and start gliding.
    • Once the wing is back under, put pressure on the back foot to climb onto the foil, and counter with the front foot. Skip that counter and you will do a dolphin jump.

Common mistakes and fixes

Mistake

You only get 180 degrees around and land flat on your back.

Fix

Keeping your orientation in the air is the hardest part of a back roll. Turn your head in the direction of the rotation and get compact, then spot your landing once the 360 has come around. Crashes on the way to a proper landing are part of the game.

Mistake

Popping off the board rail the way you would on a twintip, so the foil stays glued to the water.

Fix

The pop comes from the wing, not the edge of your board, and that creates a slight sense of delay. Go a little early and time it so the wing exits the water as the kite hits noon.

Mistake

Landing with everything on the back foot, and you dolphin jump straight back off the foil.

Fix

Counter-pressure with the front foot as you load the back foot to get onto the foil again.

Mistake

Hands drift out wide on the bar and you lose control of the kite mid-rotation.

Fix

Hold both hands in the middle of the bar for the whole manoeuvre, and let the bar lead you round rather than turning away from it.

Mistake

Twintip muscle memory kicks in and you edge hard against the kite on touchdown.

Fix

Kill the edge. The board wants to touch down flat on the surface, weight centred over the front knee, leaning back only enough to level off.

If it goes wrong

  • Train the abort until it is instinctive: the moment you know the trick will go wrong and you will not land it, pull hard on the bar so the kite pulls you away from your board instead of into it.
  • If you are scared of crashing, lean back a bit as you come down. That way, if you fall, you will not fall over the board and get hit.
  • Wear a wetsuit covering both arms and legs, a helmet and an impact vest.
  • Look around. You are not alone on the water.
  • Make sure the coast is clear and there is enough water, in case it does not go according to plan.
  • Never try learning new tricks in strong gusty wind, chop or bigger waves.

Learn this with a coach, not from a page

This is a high-consequence move. The sources it is built from describe riders getting hurt on it, and every one of them teaches it as a step you earn rather than attempt. Get coaching, build up in stages, ride with people who can help you, and give yourself deep water and clear space downwind.

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

How much wind do I need for a foil backroll?+

The foil is the point: IKSURFMAG's foil freestyle guide sells the whole discipline on being able to train your back rolls, one footers and board offs in under 15 knots. The upper limit is a judgement call rather than a number. The same guide tells you never to learn new tricks in strong gusty wind, chop or bigger waves, and a bigger kite with gentle power gives you more feeling and float, and a less whippy kite to control, than a small one you are powered up on.

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

Ride safely on the foil and get some jibes in the bag first. After that, learn to pop out of the water and do small jumps, because the rotation only goes on once you have mastered the take-off and landing technique. The Kitesurf College kite foil series runs in the same order: body drag and first flights, jibes, taxi footswap, foiling footswap, then the 360, tacks, sitting on the foil and jumping, with the backroll near the end.

What foil should I be on?+

A smaller front wing. IKSURFMAG recommends a maximum of about 850 cm² on an Armstrong, because small wings are easier to pop and leave less impact area on the landings, which is how you avoid breaking gear and injuring your knees and ankles when you come down hard. Worth knowing before you commit: the warranty from most foil manufacturers stops being valid once you start jumping the gear.

Is there a way to practise the rotation without leaving the water?+

Yes. Kitesurf College describes the kite foil 360 as a non-aerial backroll: you ride the foil around a full circle instead of spinning in the air. Their tutorial covers the kite control, the board control and the training steps for it.

The foil under me is the scary part. How do I keep it from hitting me?+

Three things the sources actually name. Cover up first, with a wetsuit over both arms and legs, a helmet and an impact vest. Train the abort until it is instinctive: the moment you know you will not land it, pull hard on the bar so the kite pulls you away from your board. And if you are scared of crashing, lean back a bit on the way down, so you do not fall over the board and get hit.

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.