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Foundations · Progressing

Load & Pop

See it in the Trick Tree

Load & pop is jumping off line tension alone: you carve hard against the kite and release the edge explosively, without sending the kite.

Also called: pop · popping

Prerequisites

Riding Upwind

Unlocks

Unhooked Riding & PopOle from BlindPop to ToesideHooked RaleyBackroll to Toeside

Helps to know first

Basic Jump

Schools teach this differently

Schools teach the way into this trick differently. New Wave has you learn the load and pop hooked in first and only then unhook, while MACkite starts unhooked from the beginning with a three-drill progression: ollie, loading the lines, then scooping. Kiteboarding St Petersburg treats the load and pop as the first step of all jumping and holds back any kite input until the technique is right.

Ideal conditions

Learn to unhook in marginal conditions on flat water for stability, with the bar trimmed so the sweet spot sits just above the chicken loop and a modern safety leash with a quick release on the end.

How to do it

  1. 1. Setup

    • Trim the strap so the bar's sweet spot rests just above the chicken loop, with equal tension on front and back lines — the bar feels light and the kite can fly forward.
    • Park the kite around 11 or 1 o'clock — keep it higher while learning, with the goal of keeping it progressively lower. Use your board speed and edging to load energy into the lines; you can't sheet in and take off.
    • Get in the habit of keeping both hands close to the middle of the bar — it matters more later in the progression, so establish the habit now.
    • Ride slightly downwind and let off your edge to take the tension out of the lines, then unhook. Keep your arms close.

  2. 2. Load

    • The moment you're unhooked, immediately re-engage your edge: lean back slightly, keep your hips locked upright and roll your shoulders back.
    • Sit back like you're sitting in a chair with good posture, leaning way back, pressure on your heels — if you bend like a hinge at the hips you kill all that energy.
    • Carve away from the kite and imagine digging your edge so hard that you create a ramp in the water.
    • Build real tension between kite and rider, but keep it balanced — hold your edge and balance the tension in the bar; too much tension just skips you downwind.
    • Keep the bar close, somewhere between your chest and your hips, with a slight bend in your elbows so the bar doesn't get away from you.

  3. 3. Pop

    • When the board fights back and tries to release its edge, push off the water with one quick, snappy motion.
    • Stomp down on your back heel — the kite pulls you forward while your board scoops away from the kite, and that sends you into the air.
    • For the basic pop, bring your knees tight into your chest — it's closer to an ollie on a skateboard. For the bigger scoop pop, point your toes and throw your legs back behind you as the board leaves the water.
    • As you come off the water, pull hard on your front hand to send the kite back down — get in the habit of flicking the kite down a little after you pop.

  4. 4. Land and ride away

    • At the apex of the jump, pull the bar hard into your front hip — or even into your front knee — and point the nose of your board toward the kite.
    • Land flat and downwind with your knees bent to absorb the impact.
    • Hook back in, carve back onto your edge and ride away upwind as normal.

Common mistakes and fixes

Mistake

Creating too much tension against the kite, so you just skip downwind on your edge.

Fix

Keep the load balanced: hold an edge on the board, balance the tension in the control bar, and make it one fluid motion — get low and cut away from the kite to pop off the water.

Mistake

Edging in slowly and gradually, so the kite creeps forward in the window and you lose speed.

Fix

Set the edge in an extremely quick and snappy manner — dig the edge as hard and as fast as possible.

Mistake

Jumping straight up or toward the kite, which throws temporary slack into the lines.

Fix

Load by leaning back and edging hard away from the kite so the lines stay tight when you push off.

Mistake

Bending like a hinge at the hips during the load, which kills all the stored energy.

Fix

Keep your hips locked — sit back like you're sitting in a chair with good posture, leaning way back, pressure on your heels.

Mistake

Too much power ripping the bar away from you once you're unhooked.

Fix

Either load less power, or pull the bar harder into your lead hip and travel further downwind in the air.

Mistake

The kite pulls away from you on your first unhooked attempts.

Fix

Try to pop more downwind.

If it goes wrong

  • If you're overpowered unhooked and can't hook in normally: release your back hand and grab the top of the chicken loop while your front hand holds the bar center, then let the front hand join it on the loop — as the bar moves away the kite de-powers — and pull the chicken loop down onto the hook.
  • Set up so you can bail before you ever unhook: run a modern leash with a quick release to the 5th line or to the chicken-loop line below the bar — never to the chicken loop itself (the 'suicide leash') — so letting the bar go actually de-powers the kite.
  • Crashing is part of the process — don't ride overpowered when you're learning this, and when you do drop your kite, relax and enjoy the swim.

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 move the kite to get in the air?+

No — the pop comes from tension between the kite and the rider, built by edging and cutting away from the kite. Practice the load and pop first without adding kite movement, and only slowly add the kite into the equation once the technique is right; over-sending the kite just carries you downwind past your kite.

How do I pop higher?+

The faster you go, the harder you edge, and the more you scoop, the higher your body and legs will go — imagine digging your edge so hard that you create a ramp in the water.

Can I learn to pop in light wind?+

Yes — go downwind and do a series of small hops to build up a ton of board speed, be as explosive as possible with your speed, your scoop and your body movement, and flicking the kite down after the pop is mandatory in those conditions.

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.