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Unhooked · Advanced

Front to Blind

See it in the Trick Tree

Front to Blind is an unhooked front loop with a late 180-degree twist, so the rider lands blind and passes the bar behind the back to ride away.

Also called: front roll to blind · frontroll to blind

Prerequisites

Pop to BlindUnhooked Frontroll

Unlocks

Front to Blind OleFront Mobe

Schools teach this differently

Our sources genuinely split on rotation framing: Christian and Karine (IKSurfMag) teach it as "two distinct parts" — a full front loop, then a blind twist thrown just before landing — while Jack Rieder and Alex Pastor coach pressing the bar down to keep rotating flat through the extra 180, a continuous framing, and kitesurfingtrick.com opens with "in theory, it is one and a half front rotation" before switching to the two-part view.

Ideal conditions

Flat water makes learning easier (IKSurfMag: "flat water really does help"), ridden at moderate speed — landing a fast blind is the stated challenge. Alex Pastor warns that extra height off a wave changes your rotation timing, and that inconsistent landings risk catching the back edge or over-rotating. No source we cite specifies a wind-speed range.

How to do it

  1. 1. Set up the approach

    • Come in unhooked at moderate speed with the kite parked at 11 o'clock (1 going the other way) — at 12 it stops driving you forward and you drop without power, down at 10 you land with too much speed.
    • Set your safety leash side before you start — hanging on your left side when passing left to right, and vice versa.
    • Bear off a touch, unhook, then carve hard back upwind against the kite with heels dug in and body leaning back, so the lines stretch tight and the kite loads.
    • Keep the bar in between your chest and hips through the load — do not let it drift up and away from you.

  2. 2. Pop and throw the front loop

    • Stamp the pop off the water first and get airborne before you change your momentum — redirect too early and you get no height and fall onto your back.
    • Throw the rotation with your head: turn your front ear down into your front shoulder, tuck it across your body, and look over your back shoulder.
    • Drive your front knee up toward your forehead and let your legs go up high; keep your arms close, almost like you never unhooked.
    • Keep both hands on the bar and pull it in toward your front hip — hold on with both hands longer than you'd think, because a one-handed throw lets the kite pull you back around.
    • Pull on your front hand so the kite stays parked — split the bar with your index and middle finger on the front hand for finer control — and never let it climb to noon.

  3. 3. Spot the landing and throw the blind late

    • As you come round toward the water, spot your landing and keep your eyes on it.
    • Do not twist to blind up in the air — hold the front loop until touchdown feels imminent, almost too late, then commit to the twist.
    • Throw the blind with both hands pulling the bar in — the two-handed pull is what stops you over-rotating.
    • Press the bar down as you twist so the rotation carries you the last 180, far enough to point straight downwind.
    • Pull your back leg up toward your backside and stretch the front leg long — that lets the board pivot off the wind.

  4. 4. Land blind and pass the bar

    • Land with your weight on the back leg so the board keeps pivoting downwind.
    • Bend your knees and swallow the impact — with both legs straight you just hit the water and stop.
    • Twist your bar hand so the thumb points in your direction of travel, then keep turning your head and shoulders — your weight rocks onto your heels, the lines go slack, and the bar arrives behind your back.
    • Grab the bar with your free hand, complete the pass, ride out — then claim it.

Common mistakes and fixes

Mistake

Twisting to blind in mid-air, long before touchdown

Fix

Hold the front loop and throw the blind only when landing feels imminent — go blind up in the air and there is little chance of holding that position on the way down. Wait until it feels almost too late, then commit.

Mistake

Throwing it one-handed for style

Fix

Keep both hands on and pull the bar in toward you — the two-handed pull stops the over-rotation. With just your front hand on, the kite can quite easily pull you back around.

Mistake

Coming in with full speed

Fix

Shave speed while learning. Landing really fast blind is a challenge in itself, so slow the approach until the reception is consistent.

Mistake

Under-rotating the final 180

Fix

Press the bar down through the twist and rotate far enough that you are riding straight downwind — stop short and the bar gets pulled out of your hand.

Mistake

Letting the kite climb toward 12 during the pop

Fix

Pull hard on your front hand and keep the kite parked at 11 (or 1). At 12 you lose forward momentum and drop into the water without power, and a kite that high also makes the handle pass much harder.

If it goes wrong

  • Once you have popped and thrown the front rotation, ride it out instead of trying to stop halfway, because MACkite's tutorial on the unhooked front roll this trick is built on says a mid-roll bail puts you on your back and tells you to keep your legs up and send the kite high instead.
  • If you touch down before the last 180 is finished and the move is not going to come together, MACkite's tutorial on landing blind says you can let go of the bar and ride downwind to recover.
  • If you are going in no matter what, the same MACkite page has you scoop out, throw your legs up and body flop into the water, and rates that above catching an edge and getting slammed.
  • When the bar pass misses and you land backwards in the water, IKSURFMAG's handle pass article, written for the pass family this trick ends with, tells you to let go and try again.
  • If you come out of the attempt still unhooked and cannot get the chicken loop back onto your spreader bar, Session Sports, writing about unhooked riding in general, tells you to grab the chicken loop and let go of the bar, which it says depowers the kite so you can hook back in without being ripped downwind.

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

What should I have dialed before trying a front to blind?+

Christian and Karine (IKSurfMag) recommend at least getting the pop to blind nailed first. Jack Rieder names a front roll and a handle pass (raley to blind) as his prerequisites. MACkite frames the front roll as the rotation that unlocks this whole family of tricks, Front to Blind included.

Should I learn it hooked in or unhooked?+

The Jack Rieder and Alex Pastor tutorial coaches it hooked in first, then the same motion unhooked once you have it dialed.

What conditions make learning easier?+

Flat water and moderate speed. Alex Pastor warns that extra height off a wave forces you to change your rotation timing, and that inconsistent landings are how you catch the back edge or over-rotate.

How hard is it really?+

IKSurfMag files it under advanced technique, and kitesurfingtrick.com agrees. The blind landing is what the coaching centers on: keep speed down, because landing really fast blind is a challenge in itself, and throw the twist late.

Any gear setup to change before the trick?+

Set your safety leash side before you start — hanging on your left side when passing left to right, and vice versa (Christian and Karine's setup note).

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.