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Foil · Advanced

Foil Jump

See it in the Trick Tree

In a Foil Jump the rider sends the kite and kicks the tail so the front wing leaves the water, stays compact in the air and lands flat back onto the foil.

Also called: small foil jumps · kite foil jump

Prerequisites

Foil WaterstartFoil Carving Jibe

Unlocks

Foil FrontrollFoil Backroll

Helps to know first

Basic Jump

Schools teach this differently

The two sources with real step detail agree on pointing the nose downwind, but they split on where your weight goes at touchdown. IKSURFMAG has you put pressure on the back foot especially, with the front foot only countering so you do not dolphin. MACkite's Blake Olsen has you keep the weight centred over the front knee and lean back slightly to level off as soon as you feel the wing enter the water. Neither one addresses the other's version, so pick a coach for the landing and stay with them.

Ideal conditions

IKSURFMAG's whole case for foil freestyle is that you can train tricks in under 15 knots — that light-wind window is the reason riders take tricks onto a foil instead of a twintip. Elite Watersports puts beginner foiling progression at 12 to 15 knots for predictable power and easy lift. Never try learning new tricks in strong gusty wind, chop or bigger waves.

How to do it

  1. 1. Set up the run

    • Ride safely on the foil and get your jibes working before you go hunting air. On The Foiling Collective's ladder, jumping sits near the end — after body dragging, taxiing, hand transitions, short flights, longer flights and speed control, crash technique, taxi and foiling footswaps, jibes, 360s, the heel-to-toe tack and sitting on the foil — with backrolls and frontrolls coming after it.
    • Never try learning new tricks in challenging conditions such as strong gusty winds, chop or bigger waves.
    • Wear protective gear: a wetsuit that covers both arms and legs, a helmet and an impact vest.
    • Gain some average speed, around 20 km/h, for your first attempts.
    • Set your ride height with the mast roughly halfway out of the water and the front wing still submerged fully.
    • Go through the complete trick in your head before you get onto the water.

  2. 2. Send and pop

    • Steer your kite up as you would for a jump with a twintip.
    • Before your kite reaches 12 o'clock, put all your weight on your back foot and give a small kick or pop to the tail of the board.
    • Reduce pressure on your front foot at the same moment by pulling that knee upwards.
    • Pull hard on the bar to gain the maximum power from your kite.
    • Pop a little early. The timing with a foilboard is a little different from a normal kiteboard — you are popping with the wing, not the edge of your board — so be a little preemptive and time it so the wing is exiting the water as your kite hits noon.
    • Angle the foil away from you, up or downwind depending on the rotation or grab. Remember you do have a three to four foot mast protruding underneath you.

  3. 3. In the air

    • Leave the bar shifted in until you reach the highest point.
    • Bend your knees and bring them into your chest. The more compact you are, the more control you will have.
    • Stay as tiny and compact as you can. Let your legs hang and the extra weight of the foil starts rotating you.

  4. 4. Landing

    • As soon as you start to come down, shift the bar out and prepare for landing.
    • Imagine an airplane landing on a runway, except the runway is about one foot underneath the water.
    • You want the board to touch down flat on the surface, so resist the muscle memory to edge your board against the kite.
    • As soon as you feel the wing enter the water, keep your weight centred over your front knee but lean back slightly to level off.
    • Put pressure on the back foot especially and point the nose of your board downwind to get onto the foil again and start gliding.
    • Do not forget to counter pressure with your front foot, or you will do a dolphin jump.

Common mistakes and fixes

Mistake

Dolphin-jumping off the landing instead of settling onto the foil.

Fix

You loaded the back foot with nothing countering it. Counter pressure with your front foot as the board touches down, and point the nose of the board downwind.

Mistake

The extra weight of the foil starts rotating you mid-air.

Fix

Your legs are hanging. Bend your knees so you are as tiny and compact as possible, and keep that shape until the highest point.

Mistake

Popping on twintip timing, so the pop arrives late.

Fix

The timing with a foilboard is a little different from a normal kiteboard because you are popping with the wing, not the edge of your board. Be a little preemptive, pop a little early, and time it so the wing exits the water as your kite hits noon.

Mistake

Touching down on an edge.

Fix

Resist the muscle memory to edge your board against the kite. Land it flat, weight centred over the front knee, leaning back slightly to level off.

If it goes wrong

  • The moment you notice the trick will go wrong and you know you will not land it, pull hard on the bar so the kite pulls you away from your board and you avoid crashing into it.
  • Train that bar pull first so it becomes instinctive to you.
  • If you are scared of crashing, lean backwards a bit. That way, if you fall, you will not fall over the board.
  • Work on how you fall from the foil and how you push the board away — that will help immensely.
  • Wear a helmet, a foil-specific impact vest with additional padding rather than a plain flotation vest, and a wetsuit covering both arms and legs. A foil is not a normal fin, it is long and very sharp, and the whole foilboard plus foil carries a lot of momentum when a rider crashes.
  • Use two straps or none, never one. If one foot slips out, get the other out immediately.

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 be able to do before I try foil jumps?+

You should be able to ride safely on the foil. Once you can do some jibes and feel more confident, IKSURFMAG says it is time to unlock the next level. On The Foiling Collective's tutorial ladder, jumping sits near the end — after body dragging, taxiing, hand transitions, short and longer flights, speed control, crash technique, taxi and foiling footswaps, jibes, 360s, the heel-to-toe tack and sitting on the foil — and backrolls and frontrolls come after it.

How much wind do I need?+

The sources answer slightly different questions. IKSURFMAG pitches foil freestyle as the ability to train tricks like back rolls, one footers and board offs in under 15 knots, and that is the draw over a twintip. Elite Watersports, writing about learning to foil rather than jumping, puts beginners at 12 to 15 knots for predictable power and easy lift, and says you can get up and stay foiling in 10 to 12 knots on larger wings. Neither publishes a wind range specific to jumping. Whatever the number, avoid strong gusty wind, chop and bigger waves while you are learning.

What foil should I be on for jumping?+

Depends which stage you are at, and the sources are pitched at different ones. For freestyle and jumping, IKSURFMAG recommends a maximum 850cm² Armstrong front wing, because smaller wings are easier to pop and there is less impact area on the landings. For learning to foil in the first place, Elite Watersports puts beginners on 1250 to 1500cm² with a 60 to 70cm mast and a 5'2" to 5'4" board, and calls the traditional 700 to 800cm² starter size a frustrating place to start for most kiteboarders learning to foil.

Will jumping void my foil warranty?+

Quite possibly. IKSURFMAG notes that the warranty from most foil manufacturers and brands is not valid once you start jumping with the gear. Check yours before you commit.

What protection should I actually wear?+

A wetsuit that covers both arms and legs, a helmet and an impact vest. MACkite recommends a hardshell water helmet or 3D moulded protective cap, and a foil-specific impact vest with additional padding rather than a standard flotation vest. It also rates eye protection with external frame lenses, which will not fold inwards on impact.

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.