Front to Blind Ole is an unhooked front rotation landed blind, the bar pushed over the head to the other side so the rider carries on toeside, no bar pass.
Also called: ole (bar-over-head exit) · unhooked front to blind ole
Prerequisites
Unlocks
Nothing in the tree needs this one yet — it stands on its own.
Schools teach this differently
The opened tutorials split on the endgame after landing blind: IKSURFMAG's ole tutorials keep the bar in hand, pause, then push it over the head to come out toeside, while Jack Rieder and Alex Pastor's front roll to blind has you pull the bar into the front hip with both hands, let go as you go to blind, then stomp and regrab (surface-pass grammar). Same rotation and blind landing, different bar-hand exit.
Ideal conditions
No source we cite gives a wind range in knots for this trick. IKSURFMAG's Ole from Blind guide lists flat water among the prerequisites for learning the ole ('all you need... is a half decent blind and some flat water'), and the tutorials single out the ole exit as the practical option when you are on a big lifty kite in light wind and the bar pulls upward too much for a clean pass.
How to do it
1. Set up and approach
- Trim the bar correctly and centre both hands on it before you unhook.
- Park the kite just above 11 or 1 o'clock. That touch of extra height buys lift while you learn, and it stays parked there for the whole trick.
- Come in with good speed and bear away a little before you unhook.
- Once unhooked, drop low over the board and edge hard into your pop.
2. Pop and front rotation
- Pop hard off your edge — all the height comes from the pop. Using the kite for lift just costs you the forward momentum you need.
- Pop first, then throw your head and shoulders down and around. The pop has to come before the rotation.
- Hold steady pressure on your front hand all the way around the spin. It stops the kite floating up above you and keeps it moving forwards, which makes the landing easier.
3. Throw the blind and land
- Finish the full front rotation and pause for a split second before you throw the blind. That tiny pause stops you over-rotating.
- Pull hard on the bar, then throw the blind. The pull comes before the throw.
- Land flat on the board, pointing downwind — not on an edge across the wind. On an edge the lines tighten and the ole is dead before it starts.
- Land tall: standing upright over the board, head high, holding the bar high on an outstretched arm.
4. Ole out
- Turn the flat board downwind toward the kite for a beat. The line tension drops away, and that slack is what lets the bar travel.
- Push the bar hand across, upwind of your head and shoulders, to the other side of your body.
- Make it an upper-body move: you are not trying to turn the board or slide it around — the shoulders and arm carry the bar across while the board keeps tracking downwind.
- The moment the bar is across, get your free hand back on it so you have full kite control again.
- Ride away toeside, or carve back onto your heels.
Common mistakes and fixes
Mistake
Falling backwards during the ole.
Fix
Keep your weight balanced over the board and physically push the bar upwind past your head. Leaning back to drag the bar across your face tips you off the back.
Mistake
Landing on your toes with the board across the wind.
Fix
Land flat, pointing downwind. Across the wind the lines tighten, and you won't be able to push the bar without it pushing you back.
Mistake
Rushing the ole, or starting to rotate into it before you have even landed.
Fix
Treat the ole as an add-on. Land, pause for a split second, and only then push the bar across.
Mistake
The kite floats up over your head mid-rotation.
Fix
Keep front-hand pressure on through the whole spin; that stops the kite floating up and keeps it moving forwards toward the landing.
If it goes wrong
- If you touch down on your toes with the board across the wind, the ole is over for that attempt. IKSURFMAG's write-up of this trick says the lines tighten and pushing the bar from there only pushes you back, or has you leaning back.
- Land blind with a lot of power and speed and you will most likely get carved onto your heels before the bar goes anywhere. IKSURFMAG says keep going and ride out in the other direction.
- If you are going in whatever happens, do not let the board catch an edge. MACkite tells riders to scoop out, throw the legs up and do a body flop into the water.
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 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 have dialed before trying the front to blind ole?+
Popped front rolls need to feel solid, and ideally you can already raley to blind; if you have the hooked version down, IKSURFMAG calls this 'a mere step away'. For the front roll to blind itself, Jack Rieder recommends learning the motion hooked in first and unhooking once it feels automatic. MACkite's front roll tutorial names the Front to Blind as one of the combos the unhooked front roll unlocks.
Why ole out instead of passing the bar?+
The tutorials give two reasons: the ole lets you learn the blind landing with the kite parked slightly higher, and on a big lifty kite in light wind the upward bar pull makes a pass sketchy, so pushing the bar over your head is the 'health conscious option'. It also has a different look and feel from a standard bar-pass ending.
Where does the kite sit, and do I move it during the trick?+
Park it just above 11 or 1 o'clock (Rieder says 45 degrees or a little higher while learning) and leave it there. Height comes from popping hard off your edge, and front-hand pressure through the spin stops the kite creeping up.
What exactly is an ole?+
The bar travels over your head from one side of your body to the other, so a blind landing turns into toeside riding while you keep hold of the bar the whole time. IKSURFMAG's Ole from Blind guide calls it a kind of cheat's surface pass.
Why does the landing have to be flat and downwind?+
Slack. Flat on the board and turned downwind toward the kite, the line tension drops and the bar can travel over your head. Land across the wind on an edge and the lines tighten, making the ole precarious if not impossible — pushing on the bar only pushes you back.
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 Unhooked Front to Blind Ole
- IKSURFMAG: How to Ole from Blind
- Kite Surfing Trick: Unhooked Front to Blind Ole
- MACkite Boardsports Center — How to Frontroll Kitesurfing Tutorial (Unhooked)
- IKSURFMAG — Front Roll to Blind explained by Jack Rieder & Alex Pastor
- MACkite Boardsports Center — Pop to Blind & Landing Blind (Unhooked)