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Big Air · Expert

S-Loop

See it in the Trick Tree

S-Loop is a big air kiteloop reversed halfway through, so the kite flies half a megaloop one way and is then driven back the other, tracing an S.

Prerequisites

Kiteloop

Unlocks

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

Schools teach this differently

The sources genuinely disagree on when to pull the loop. SoulKite Australia teaches bringing the kite to the zenith before pulling the bar while you are learning, then looping earlier as you get confident. MACkite says pull at about 80 percent of your total jump height with the kite at noon or a little before noon, and treats waiting for the weightless peak as the thing that ruins the loop. The Kitesurfing Handbook sits with MACkite: initiate while the kite is still on its way up so it has enough speed to get through the loop.

Ideal conditions

Strong wind on a small kite. SoulKite Australia puts megaloop-size conditions at 28 knots and up on a 7 to 9m kite, and would not recommend big loops on anything bigger than 11m. Those are SoulKite's numbers for loops in general, not for the S-loop. North frames the S-loop itself as wind-gated in its Colin Carroll piece: expect to see it in the opening heats, should the wind suffice. None of the sources I opened specify a water state or spot type for the move.

How to do it

  1. 1. Send and pop

    • Pick a strong wind day on a small kite. SoulKite Australia puts megaloop-size conditions at 28 knots and up on a 7 to 9m, and would not recommend big loops on a kite bigger than 11m.
    • Ride in hooked with plenty of power, on a hard edge. The Kitesurfing Handbook starts every kiteloop there, and MACkite says steady loops always come from your edge and pop.
    • Send the kite from 10 o'clock up through 11 and 12, finishing around 1. Mirror it from 2 o'clock on the other tack.
    • Drive around 90 percent of your weight through the back foot, with force, until the board throws spray about head high. That spray is your pop.
    • Release the board off the water as the kite turns back through 10 to 11, and pull the bar in for full power in the same instant.
    • Put your back hand at the end of the bar for the leverage to haul the loop.

  2. 2. Into the first half of the loop

    • Pull the loop while the kite is still on its way up. MACkite puts it at about 80 percent of your total jump height rather than at the peak.
    • Have the kite at noon or a touch before noon when you pull. Let it get too far behind you and MACkite says the loop comes out low and behind you, throwing force back against the way you were riding.
    • Pull as hard and as fast as you can with the back hand while you push the front hand forward.
    • Hold the bar sheeted in at full power while the kite comes round.
    • Expect the kite to pull you downwind. SoulKite's line is to be prepared to change direction and go downwind.

  3. 3. Reverse it

    • Halfway round, send the kite back the other way. North describes the shape as essentially half a megaloop driven back around the other way, making the shape of an S with the kite.
    • Expect the reversal to arrive at the moment a normal loop already feels worst. Colin Carroll's description for North: you go one way, then, just when it's getting hairy, you go the other.
    • Make the call early. SoulKite gives you a fairly big window at the start of the loop, until about 3 o'clock, where you can still decide to abort.

  4. 4. Catch and land

    • Once the loop has closed, stop pulling and push the bar away so the kite can come back to the zenith. SoulKite is blunt about it: do NOT continue pulling the bar, because tension in the back lines keeps it from getting there.
    • Sheet out as soon as the kite finishes the loop, enough to let it climb faster to overhead for a smoother landing. MACkite adds that the higher you are, the less sheet-out you need.
    • Steer firmly on the way down. The Kitesurf Centre says don't be afraid to steer the kite reasonably hard, because it has a long way to go across the window in a short period of time.
    • Point the board downwind for the landing and land going a little downwind to control the speed the loop generated.
    • Land heel side with your toes downwind and don't block your knees, or you go onto your backside.
    • While you are building the move, land toward your strong side. MACkite says it gives you more room for error riding out the landing.

Common mistakes and fixes

Mistake

Waiting for the weightless feeling at the highest point of the jump before you pull, because the yank is intimidating.

Fix

Pull at about 80 percent of your jump height while the kite is still on its way up. MACkite's coach says he pulled late at first because he was afraid of the yank and thought he needed to get as high as he could — and at the peak there is not as much line tension, so the kite does not loop as fast.

Mistake

Letting the kite drift too far behind you before you pull the loop.

Fix

Pull with the kite at noon or even a little before noon. Too far behind and MACkite says the loop is low and behind you, creating force back in the opposite direction to the way you were riding.

Mistake

Keeping the pull on after the kite has come back around.

Fix

Push the bar away and let it come back to the zenith. SoulKite states it flatly: do NOT continue pulling the bar, because keeping tension in the back lines stops the kite getting back overhead.

Mistake

Grinding out loops in the mid-range height band, below the 6 metre mark.

Fix

MACkite says be careful in that range: you are high enough to freefall after the loop, but not high enough that the kite will climb and catch you in time. Build the edge and pop that give you steady loops in the 6 metre and above range.

Mistake

Trying big loops on too much kite.

Fix

SoulKite would not recommend big loops with a kite bigger than 11m, and puts megaloop-type conditions at 28 knots and up on a 7 to 9m.

If it goes wrong

  • Decide early. SoulKite Australia says you have quite a big window at the start of the loop, until about 3 o'clock, where you can still make the decision to abort.
  • If you abort, pull hard on the other side of the bar to quickly bring the kite back to the zenith. SoulKite's warning is that otherwise you will fall like a stone.
  • Wear an impact vest. SoulKite names rib injury as one of the most common injuries when looping, and the Kitesurfing Handbook gives the same advice for kiteloops.
  • If you are going down, land on the board heel side with your toes downwind and don't block your knees. SoulKite says the bad crashes usually happen when you land on your back or your side.
  • Watch gusty wind. The Kitesurfing Handbook warns that in gusty conditions your kite may suddenly lose power.

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 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

How much wind does an S-Loop need?+

Enough to loop a small kite hard. SoulKite Australia puts big and megaloop conditions at 28 knots and up on a 7 to 9m kite, and would not recommend big loops above 11m — those are its figures for loops generally, not for the S-loop specifically. The only S-loop-specific note I found is North's, which expects it in the opening heats at King of the Air should the wind suffice.

What should I already be able to do before going near this?+

The Kitesurfing Handbook lists learning to downloop and learning to jump and land as the prerequisites for kiteloops at all. SoulKite adds being fully confident going upwind, jumping, landing properly, kite control, going downwind and basic tricks such as a back roll. MACkite says steady, reliable loops in the 6 metre and above range always come from your edge and your pop, and flags the mid-range below that as the band to be careful in.

What kite size do the riders doing S-Loops use?+

Small. In IKSURFMAG's coverage of North's 2023 big air launch, Luca Ceruti said he was super excited to see what the smaller sizes would be capable of, specifically with the double loops and S-loops, and Marc Jacobs said the 7m and 6m are impressive for double loops.

Is an S-Loop the same thing as an S-Bend?+

No, and mixing them up sends you to the wrong tutorial. IKSURFMAG files the S-Bend Pass under advanced technique and opens it as an aggressively popped front loop pass, your next stage on from landing blind — a rider rotation with a bar pass. The S-loop is a kite path move from big air: North describes it as half a megaloop driven back around the other way.

What makes it so hard, and where does the fear sit?+

The reversal arrives at the point where a normal loop already feels worst. Colin Carroll's line for North is that you go one way, then, just when it's getting hairy, you go the other. North calls it one of the most extreme moves there is, because halfway through the loop you are sending the kite in the other direction. At the time of that piece it had never been done or even attempted at King of the Air, with Marc and Luca holding it and adding rotations, and the expectation that those would score well into the 8s if not the 9-point range.

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.