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Airstyle · Intermediate

Hooked Raley

See it in the Trick Tree

Hooked Raley is a pop off the loaded heel edge, still hooked in, where the kite stretches you flat into a Superman before your feet swing back under to land.

Also called: Hooked-in Raley

Prerequisites

Load & Pop

Unlocks

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

Schools teach this differently

Our sources disagree on how high to park the kite. Elite Watersports teaches 11:00 for the hooked-in version and drops it to 10:00 or 10:30 when you want more hang time, and MACkite parks it between 10 and 11 (or 1 and 2 the other way). IKSURFMAG, demonstrating the unhooked version, wants it around 45 degrees or a tad higher and says that by 11 or 1 o'clock it is already too high, because a high kite gives you a dangly jump instead of pulling you forward.

Ideal conditions

Flat water with space to work. IKSURFMAG says the move benefits from a fair amount of speed and is easier on flat water, and Elite Watersports sends learners to shallow, flat spots because they are forgiving — fewer edge catches, more space, and no deep water when you wipe out. No source we cite puts a knot range on the hooked version.

How to do it

  1. 1. Set up and load the edge

    • Park the kite around 11 o'clock going left, or between 1 and 2 going right.
    • Keep it stationary. No moving it during the load and the pop — move it and you lose the power and control.
    • Bear away at least 45 degrees before you carve. The move benefits from a fair amount of speed.
    • Carve hard against the kite: bum low, shoulders back, front leg extended.
    • Load the weight into your back foot and push down into the board to build the tension for the pop.
    • Hips locked, heels dug in, toes pointed at the sky. Treat your body as one unit taking in all the energy.
    • Keep your hands centred on the bar. Pulling the back hand as you carve is one of the two things that leaves you dangling under the kite.

  2. 2. Pop

    • Stamp down hard on your back heel against the edge, extending that back leg as quickly and forcefully as you can.
    • Pop off the water before the kite has the chance to pull your shoulders forward. You can't hesitate.
    • A quick, powerful snap or scoop beats a long, leaned-back pop.
    • Jump up and back against your edge from your heels. Throwing yourself forward off the balls of your feet is what pulls your feet out of the straps.

  3. 3. Superman

    • Once you leave the water the kite pulls you forward towards it, and that pull is what stretches your body out.
    • Fly it Superman-style. Let your arms stretch as far as you can, but don't lock them — keep a slight bend at the elbows.
    • Chest and hips facing down towards the water, with an arch in your back.
    • Let your legs swing up behind you and the board float behind you, parallel to the water's surface.
    • Keep your eye on where you think you'll land, the whole time you're in the air.

  4. 4. Swing under and land

    • Pull your arms in towards your hips. That swings your hips, and with them your feet and board, forward and underneath you.
    • Pull on the front hand and land downwind. Aiming downwind a little lets the board transition smoothly instead of catching its edge.
    • Touch down tail first, legs extended but ready to absorb the landing.
    • Ride away downwind to take the power out of the kite.

Common mistakes and fixes

Mistake

Steering the kite while you load and pop, so the tension you built keeps changing under you.

Fix

Park it and leave it. Elite Watersports is explicit that the kite stays stationary through the load and the pop, and that moving it costs you the power and the control.

Mistake

Pulling on the back hand as you carve, so you end up flying through the air dangling under the kite.

Fix

Keep your hands centred on the bar. IKSURFMAG names the back-hand pull and a kite that sits too high as the two causes of that uncontrolled flight.

Mistake

Bending both legs too much on the edge, which bleeds off the speed and power you need.

Fix

Front leg extended, back leg the loaded one. IKSURFMAG traces the same power loss to not turning off the wind enough before the carve.

Mistake

Losing your upwind angle on the approach, so you go downwind too quickly and the board and kite get hard to control.

Fix

Elite Watersports' drill is to start going downwind a bit and then aim back up. The kite pulls you more evenly and the board stays under control.

Mistake

Catching the board's edge on touchdown.

Fix

Aim downwind a little for the landing. Elite Watersports says that is what keeps you from catching the edge, and MACkite lands downwind for the related reason of taking the power out of the kite.

If it goes wrong

  • Learn it over shallow flat water. Elite Watersports calls those spots forgiving — fewer edge catches, more space to work, and you won't get stuck in deep water if you wipe out.
  • Land riding downwind. MACkite's reason is that it takes the power out of the kite, and Elite Watersports' is that it stops the board catching its edge.
  • Elite Watersports encourages professional instruction rather than self-teaching, to progress faster and avoid reinforcing bad habits.

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

Do I have to unhook to learn a Raley?+

No. Elite Watersports treats the hooked-in Raley as the first freestyle trick to aim for, and calls it the first step to learning unhooked tricks and the foundation for everything that follows. IKSURFMAG says the same from the other side: the Raley can be performed hooked in or unhooked, and the principles are the same. Progression Sports adds that the popping technique is fundamentally the same either way, so starting hooked-in gets you half way towards unhooking.

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

MACkite lists only two prerequisites for the Raley: the pop, and being able to ride upwind. Elite Watersports puts it in different words, that the first step is load and pop and without it the rest of the trick won't work. Progression Sports adds that good pop is vital for Raleys, S-bends, in fact every powered trick that exists.

What gear suits it?+

Elite Watersports suggests a 9 to 12m kite for the balance of power and control, a freestyle board with good pop and solid edge control, a responsive bar, and a harness that is comfortable but snug. MACkite's unhooked Raley guide is filmed on the author's own picks at the time: Slingshot RPM kites in 10, 12 and 14m with a Refraction 147.

What water and wind do I want?+

Flat water. IKSURFMAG says the move benefits from a fair amount of speed and is easier on flat water, and Elite Watersports points learners at shallow, flat spots such as Skyway Beach and Fort DeSoto in Tampa Bay because they are forgiving, with fewer edge catches and more space to work. None of the sources we cite gives a wind range in knots.

How do I get my feet back under me for the landing?+

With your arms. IKSURFMAG's move is to pull the arms in towards the hips, which swings the hips and therefore the feet and board forward and underneath you, then touch down tail first with the legs extended but ready to absorb the landing. Pull on the front hand on the way down so you land downwind.

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.