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Strapless Backroll Tack

See it in the Trick Tree

A Strapless Backroll Tack is an upwind tack where the board turns 180 degrees through the wind while you spin a full 360 under the bar into a swapped stance.

Also called: roll tack · strapless back roll tack

Prerequisites

Strapless TackBackroll Transition

Unlocks

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

Schools teach this differently

Kite handling through the rotation genuinely splits. ProKite Alby Rondina teaches keeping the kite on 12 while the whole body rotates; the Flukes Kiteboarding roll tack tutorial insists the kite should always be a fluid movement with no pause at 12, already driving back in the other direction. Speed of entry splits mildly too: Alby wants it a bit faster and powered, Flukes asks for a strong carve at moderate speed.

Ideal conditions

Steady wind with a good amount of power on a bigger kite, ridden a bit faster and powered; flat water between the waves or a sheltered spot helps, because the board slows quickly in chop. No source we cite names a numeric wind range.

How to do it

  1. 1. Set up: speed, stance, kite

    • Come in with good speed and power in the kite; the move is easier when you take it a bit faster and powered.
    • Set your feet wide before you carve: one on the tail pad, one way up where the front strap would be, spread wide but not so far that you lose mobility and balance.
    • Fly the kite at around 11 on the approach and move it toward 12 as you start the carve.

  2. 2. Carve through the wind and throw the roll

    • Get low and edge hard into the wind with the back leg well flexed, extending your arms to let the bar out so the kite is not pulling you off the carve.
    • Carve the nose of the board until it is almost pointing the other way.
    • Go into the rotation with your whole body and rotate under the bar, much like a backroll, until you are facing almost downwind again.
    • Keep the kite on 12 through the rotation — but see the note below, sources disagree on this.
    • The board only changes direction by 180 degrees while your body turns the full 360.

  3. 3. Swap feet and drive out

    • When you are almost done, push the board around with your back leg.
    • Swap your stance: slide the front leg backward and at the same time place the back leg in front, and throw your weight and shoulder toward the new front leg.
    • Drive the kite down with your new front hand and make sure it does a real power stroke.
    • Put your back hand on the bar to catch the kite, steer it into the new direction and ride off.

Common mistakes and fixes

Mistake

Pausing the kite dead at 12 in the middle of the move.

Fix

Keep the kite as one fluid movement with no pause at 12 — you should already be driving it back in the other direction as the rotation finishes.

Mistake

Carving in too slow, so the board never comes far enough round before the foot change.

Fix

Carry enough speed to carve far enough, and pull the board underneath you with your front foot, gripping it with your toes as you turn, like a bull scraping the ground.

Mistake

Getting pulled over the front when the kite dives.

Fix

Focus on that tail pad and get your hips back over it. A grippy surface really helps, so make sure you have got enough wax.

Mistake

Learning it in chop, where the board slows down mid-turn.

Fix

Practise in flat water between the waves or in a sheltered area — the board slows quickly in choppy conditions.

Mistake

Going for it on too small a kite or in gusty wind.

Fix

Learn it on a bigger kite with a good amount of power and steady wind. Underpowered, be more aggressive with the kite; overpowered, you can do the whole thing slower.

If it goes wrong

  • Once you know you are not staying on the board, drive the kite down into the power stroke with your new front hand anyway, because Luke at Flukes Kitesurfing tells riders to finish that stroke even while they are falling so the pull is there to lift them back onto the board like a water start.
  • If the rotation stalls with the bar still on the old side of your body, leave it out instead of sheeting in to save yourself, because Evan Netsch says pulling from that position drags you backwards and the bar has to come over your head first.
  • You have stopped under a kite parked at 12, so watch what it does next: for kite flying in general, Progression Sports teaches that a kite tipping backwards in the sky is stalling and that the answer runs against instinct, which means sheeting right out rather than pulling the bar in.
  • When you end up in the water without the board, body drag upwind to it rather than fitting a board leash for the next attempt, since Peter's Kitesurfing Handbook warns that a leash can unreel and then snap the board back at you hard enough to cause very serious injuries.

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

What should I be able to do before trying the strapless backroll tack?+

ProKite Alby Rondina puts the plain tack at move #7 and the backroll tack at #8, and says you should first be able to do a backroll transition jump on a twintip. The Kitesurfing Handbook makes the same point for the duck tack: doing a back roll and a back roll transition gets you used to the rotation movement.

Is a backroll tack the same as a roll tack or duck tack?+

Close, but the names are not used identically. The Flukes Kiteboarding tutorial calls the move a roll tack transition, also called duck tack, and describes exactly this: board 180, body 360 under the bar. Tabula Rasa is the one that supplies the name backroll tack — by adding a body rotation to the tack, you get a backroll tack. The Kitesurfing Handbook keeps a separate strapless tack, which it says is similar to the duck tack but without rotating your body, using your feet to turn the board instead.

Why learn a tack instead of a jibe?+

You keep your ground. Alby's point is that jibes are a fast and fun way to turn, but you lose your upwind progress. Tabula Rasa calls the tack the fastest way to change tack, the one that loses the least water, with the nose sent into the wind so the board turns practically on the spot. The Kitesurfing Handbook says the same of the duck tack: it lets you turn without losing any ground downwind.

What wind and kite do I want for it?+

None of the sources gives a numeric wind range. Flukes says learning it is best done on a bigger kite with a good amount of power and steady wind conditions, and that underpowered you need to be more aggressive with the kite while overpowered you can do it all slower. Alby adds that the move is easier a bit faster and powered.

How far does everything actually rotate?+

Per the Flukes roll tack tutorial, the board changes direction by 180 degrees while your body changes by 360 degrees, rotating under the bar and finishing with the feet switched on the new tack.

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.