Megaloop is a big-air jump boosted to maximum height, with one full, heavily powered kite loop started about two-thirds of the way to the peak.
Also called: mega loop
Prerequisites
Unlocks
Schools teach this differently
Our sources give opposite instructions on when to pull. Soul Kite Australia teaches the megaloop as an on-the-way-up move, started around two-thirds of maximum height, and explains that pulling the bar on the way up loops the kite faster because there is more line tension than on the way down, which buys you time to finish the rotation. IKSURFMAG, coaching the entry-level kiteloop, tells learners the reverse: leave the big pull until you feel yourself descending. They are describing different rungs of the same ladder, but a rider reading both will be told to pull at opposite moments.
Ideal conditions
Strong and steady. Soul Kite Australia's megaloop window is 28 knots or more on a 7 to 9 metre kite, with jumps of 8 metres and up. For general kitelooping the same guide starts riders at 14 to 18 knots on small jumps and builds toward 25, and S2AS gives 15 to 25 knots of steady wind as the workable band. Watch the back end of the loop: Soul Kite says that if your timing is off or you hit a wind hole at the end of the loop, you land hard.
How to do it
1. Before you send anything
- Rig 7 to 9 metres and wait for 28 knots or more. Soul Kite says nothing above 11 metres belongs in a big loop.
- Have riding upwind, jumping, landing, kite control and back rolls solid before you loop at all, and get your safety training from an accredited school.
- Find out how your own kite loops before you trust it. A C outline tends to carve a perfect circle and generate uniform pull.
- Check your equipment before the session: lines, bridles and canopy.
- Wear an impact vest, and S2AS adds a helmet and a harness with a quick-release leash. Soul Kite Australia names ribs as what riders most often hurt when a loop goes wrong.
- Want steady wind. S2AS puts the general looping band at 15 to 25 knots, and Soul Kite warns that a wind hole at the end of the loop is what turns a landing hard.
2. Send and start the loop
- Bring the kite to the zenith before you pull the bar. S2AS says 12 o'clock or slightly higher, with enough downwind space for the loop.
- Send for everything you have. The megaloop wants 8 metres or more of height under you.
- Start the loop around two-thirds of the way to your peak, while you are still going up.
- Pull as hard as you can with the back hand and push with the front. Both hands steer: the front-hand push is half the input, not just the back-hand pull.
- Move the back hand down the bar for more leverage, and keep the bar on the sweet spot rather than sheeting out — you want the tightest arc you can get.
- Turn your head slightly so your nose points toward your back hand, anticipating the pull by looking back over that hand.
3. Through the loop
- Keep pulling. That is IKSURFMAG's golden rule of kite looping.
- Counter the pull dragging you backwards by bringing your front knee up.
- Expect the kite to finish behind you. Because of the height and power, Soul Kite says it can end up behind you and drop like a dead leaf.
- Fire a second loop or downloop when the kite is about to reach the zenith, or as soon as you feel the tension coming back in the lines.
- On the biggest ones, you might have to put in a third.
- Keep your eyes focused on the kite and stay balanced on the board.
4. Landing
- Land with the board pointing downwind.
- Absorb the landing with your knees instead of landing stiff-legged.
- Come down heel side with your toes downwind.
- Keep the knees soft and let yourself sit down into it rather than fighting the landing.
- Once you are down, keep the kite at the zenith and use your board, and if you need it a hand, to scrub off speed.
Common mistakes and fixes
Mistake
The kite hasn't finished the loop by the time you reach the water.
Fix
Start the loop earlier, on the way up. Pulling the bar on the way up loops the kite faster because there is more tension in the lines than on the way down, and it gives you more time to complete the loop and let the kite catch you before landing.
Mistake
Sheeting out the second the power comes on.
Fix
Keep the bar on the sweet spot and don't sheet out, and move your back hand down the bar for extra leverage instead of letting the bar out.
Mistake
Initiating the loop too aggressively, which brings excessive power and loss of control — or overlooping, where the kite loops too close to the water and you get crashes and tangles.
Fix
Give yourself enough downwind room, set up with the kite at 12 o'clock or slightly higher before you commit, and keep your eyes on the kite through the turn.
Mistake
Losing a balanced body position through the loop.
Fix
Keep your eyes focused on the kite and maintain a balanced stance on the board; bring the front knee up to counter the backwards pull.
Mistake
Fighting a hard landing with locked legs.
Fix
Keep the knees soft, come down heelside with the toes downwind, and let yourself sit into it.
If it goes wrong
- SoulKite Australia puts the abort window at roughly the first quarter of the rotation — about 3 o'clock — after which the decision is made for you.
- Crashing without getting injured is a skill your body builds automatically as part of the progression, and Soul Kite calls letting it build crucial. Don't skip rungs to get there.
- Ride with an impact vest on: SoulKite Australia's kiteloop guide names ribs as what riders most often hurt when a loop goes wrong.
- In a hard landing, land heel side with toes downwind, keep the knees soft, and let yourself sit into it.
- After it goes wrong, keep the kite at the zenith and use your board, and if needed a hand, to reduce speed.
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
How much wind does a megaloop need?+
Soul Kite Australia puts megaloops at 28 knots and up on a 7 to 9 metre kite, boosting 8 metres or higher. Ordinary kitelooping sits well below that: the same guide starts riders at 14 to 18 knots on small jumps and builds toward 25, and S2AS gives 15 to 25 knots of steady wind as the general looping band.
What should I be able to do before I try one?+
Soul Kite's prerequisites are confident upwind riding, jumping, landing, kite control and basic tricks like back rolls, with safety training from an accredited school. It is blunt that this is usually the stage where people get hurt, and it flags a minimum level of fitness, with strengthening and stretching work to cut injury risk.
What kite works best?+
A C shape tends to do a perfect circle and generate uniform pull, and Soul Kite advises against anything over 11m for big loops. Kitesurfist argues a hybrid is the sensible middle for most riders — a C kite pops stronger but glides less, a bow kite pops less but glides longer — and notes that big air generally means riding overpowered.
Do I pull the loop on the way up or the way down?+
The sources split on this. For megaloops Soul Kite says start it about two-thirds of the way to your peak, still rising, because pulling on the way up gives a faster loop and more time to finish it. IKSURFMAG, teaching the basic kiteloop, tells learners to leave the big pull until they feel themselves descending. Treat them as different rungs rather than one correct answer.
What are the loop variations riders talk about?+
North Actionsports catalogues the family. The kiteloop late backroll is one of the more traditional ones, now also ridden with double loops and board-off variations. The boogie loop is a kiteloop with an inverted frontroll, and two inverted front rolls at the critical moment make it a doobie loop. Contra and double contra loops send the kite around the other way and give a more aggressive freefall than regular loops. The S loop is the extreme end: halfway through the loop you send the kite in the other direction.
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.