S-Bend to Blind is an unhooked Raley with a full front rotation plus half a turn more, so the rider lands blind and brings the bar around behind the back.
Also called: sbend to blind
Prerequisites
Unlocks
Nothing in the tree needs this one yet — it stands on its own.
Schools teach this differently
Our sources split on the bar work into blind: IKSURFMAG teaches keeping both hands on, pulling hard, and passing the bar only once balanced after landing (a soft pull with an early back-hand release dives the kite), while Kiteboarding St Petersburg and Pro Kitesurf Roma teach letting the back hand go mid-rotation and committing to the handlepass in the air.
How to do it
1. Setup and approach
- Park the kite at 11 or 1 o'clock, or a touch above, and leave it there for the whole trick.
- Ride in with speed, bear away off the wind, and unhook.
- Keep your shoulders behind your hips and your weight over the tail of the board.
- Load the back leg so it is flexed and ready to fire, never soft.
2. Pop into the S-Bend
- Carve back upwind as hard as you would for a full-power Raley.
- As the board turns up underneath you, kick hard against your back foot and keep your elbows in.
- Let the board flick up behind you until your front leg extends and your feet trail high in the Raley shape.
- Throw your head and shoulders down and around to start the front rotation.
- Keep your arms slightly bent; staying close to the bar speeds the spin and sets up a harder pull later.
- Aim to come out of the front rotation with your feet still high and behind you.
3. Spot and pull to blind
- Look over your shoulder and wait for the water; spotting the landing is what times the pull.
- As you come around, pull the bar down hard toward your hip with both hands.
- Swing your front leg forward and down toward the bar so the board drops beneath you instead of hanging upwind.
- Keep your head and shoulders turning past the front rotation so your whole body carries into the extra half-turn.
- Draw your arms in and let your body come more upright through that last half rotation.
4. Land blind and pass
- Turn all the way, so the board touches down pointing dead downwind; a downwind board has almost no edge left to catch.
- Get your weight over the board as you land, centered so the board neither bounces off the tail, buries the nose, nor stops on an edge.
- Expect to come in fast; the S-Bend builds speed, so arrive ready to take the landing.
- Keep the kite parked exactly where it was at takeoff, then pass the bar behind your back once you are balanced and riding away blind.
Common mistakes and fixes
Mistake
You never quite get the board underneath you and your weight over it, so you miss the blind landing.
Fix
Really look over your shoulder during the rotation; the moment you know you are coming around, time the pull off what you see.
Mistake
You bounce out of the landing because you bend at the waist as you throw the blind, tipping the rotation off axis.
Fix
Keep your chin and head up as you commit to the blind.
Mistake
You catch the heel edge or fall backwards: you did not get enough height, or you pulled gently and dropped the back hand, leaving the front hand to dive the kite.
Fix
Fly the kite at 45 degrees or a touch above to help get the board up, and pull hard on both hands so the bar comes in level and the kite stays put.
Mistake
The kite climbs during the Raley phase.
Fix
Park it at 11 or 1 before you unhook and leave it alone until you are riding away.
Mistake
You land too far upwind with the kite still powered, which turns the bar pass into a fight.
Fix
Swing the front leg down toward the bar so the board drops beneath you and touches down pointing downwind.
If it goes wrong
- Keep the kite parked at 11 or 1 for any unhooked attempt.
- Kite control comes before the trick: the moment you feel you have lost the kite, let go of the bar.
- IKSURFMAG's instruction is to release rather than fight it: reset and go again.
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 locked in before trying the S-Bend to Blind?+
IKSURFMAG wants your Raley to Blind sorted and counts prior Front to Blind work as a real help. Kiteboarding St Petersburg asks for S-Bends dialed and the blind landing with a bar pass already learned.
Where does the kite sit during the trick?+
Parked at 11 or 1 o'clock, or a touch above, and it stays there. You want to land with the kite in the same spot it held when you left the water.
Do I pass the bar in the air or after landing?+
Schools teach it both ways. IKSURFMAG has you pull hard with both hands, land blind, and only pass the bar behind your back once you are balanced, while Kiteboarding St Petersburg and Pro Kitesurf Roma have you release the back hand mid-rotation and commit to the handlepass.
Why do I keep falling backwards or catching my heel edge on the blind landing?+
Two sourced causes: you never got enough height (the kite around 45 degrees or a touch above helps get the board up), or you pulled softly and dropped the back hand, which loads the front hand and dives the kite. Land with the board pointing downwind and there is barely an edge left to catch.
How do I build up to it without eating every landing?+
IKSURFMAG lays out an incremental path: chase clean pop and a solid landing first, then delay the rotation and concentrate on the board flick and the S-Bend itself, and only add extra power and speed once that feels automatic.
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.