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Strapless Frontroll

See it in the Trick Tree

A strapless frontroll is a forward rotation popped off the tail, with the weight on the toes turning the board's bottom into the wind so it stays on the feet.

Also called: strapless front roll · front rotation · front roll (strapless)

Prerequisites

Strapless PopFrontroll

Unlocks

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

Schools teach this differently

The opened tutorials disagree on how the rotation gets started. Reo Stevens has you approach a ramp, then take the back hand off the bar and throw that whole arm towards the wind while looking over the back shoulder. The North Kiteboarding Academy version keeps you on the bar longer: pop the board upward off the tail like a backside air, pull down on the bar with the front hand for lift, and let the shoulders twist the upper body into the spin.

Ideal conditions

No source we cite states a wind-speed range. On water state, only Reo Stevens is explicit: the takeoff is much easier off chop or off a wave, and a small wave is probably the easiest for most riders. The North Kiteboarding Academy tutorial teaches a back-foot tail pop without naming a water state at all.

How to do it

  1. 1. Setup and approach

    • Build real board speed on the way in. Make sure you have good speed before you pop.
    • Approach with the kite around 10 o'clock and put your front hand in the middle of the bar, which keeps the kite from turning down too fast when the back hand comes off.
    • Pick your ramp if you have one: the takeoff is much easier off chop or off a wave, and a small wave is probably the easiest.
    • Step your back foot to the tail of the board and take a wide stance, the same setup as a backside air.
    • As you load up, steer the kite back and up between 10 and 12 for a little more height. Don't let it cross 12.

  2. 2. Pop and start the roll

    • Pop the board upward off your back foot, pulling down on the bar with your front hand to generate extra lift.
    • Take your back hand off the bar, throw that whole arm towards the wind and look hard over your back shoulder.
    • Use your shoulders to start twisting your upper body in the direction you want to spin, and bring your knees up to your chest.
    • Push the bar away once you're in the air.

  3. 3. In the air: board control

    • Shift your weight to your toes to bring the windward rail up, and kick the tail of the board up into the wind so the bottom of the board faces into the wind through the whole rotation. The wind is what keeps the board pressed firmly to your feet.
    • Mid-rotation, bring your front leg up and extend your back leg out slightly. That rotates the board more on a vertical axis and helps keep it stuck to your feet, especially if it's windy.
    • If the spin is coming around slowly, keep spinning your head and push with your hip.
    • Keep your body vertical over the board. The initial urge is to lean over horizontal, and that makes it very hard to get back over your board.
    • Keep looking over your back shoulder as the spin continues, and look for your landing.

  4. 4. Landing

    • Keep your knees bent until you get close to the water.
    • Just before you land, extend your legs out to keep the board stuck to your feet.
    • Land flat, centered on the board and pointing downwind, bringing the tail down first to engage the fins. Don't try to land on your rail.
    • Bend your front leg and straighten your back leg through the touchdown.
    • Bend your knees again to absorb the impact, then bring the kite back down to regain speed and ride away.

Common mistakes and fixes

Mistake

Sending the kite beyond 12 o'clock on takeoff

Fix

Stop the send short of vertical, steering up between 10 and 12. Past 12 the kite lifts you up and away from your board.

Mistake

The kite turns down too fast the moment the back hand leaves the bar

Fix

Put your front hand in the middle of the bar before the takeoff. That's what minimizes the kite turning down while you're one-handed.

Mistake

Leaning too far off axis

Fix

Keep your body vertical over the board. The urge is to lean over horizontal, and once you do that it's very difficult to get back over your board.

Mistake

The rotation comes around too slowly

Fix

Keep spinning your head and push with your hip to speed the rotation up.

Mistake

Trying to land on the rail

Fix

Land flat, centered on the board and facing downwind, bringing the tail down to the water first to engage the fins.

If it goes wrong

  • Once the rotation has started, take it all the way round instead of stopping halfway. Ryan Goloversic of MACkite teaches this for the front roll in general, on a twin tip: try to bail and you land on your back, keep your legs up and send the kite high and he rates the outcome as not bad at all.
  • When the landing is coming at you and it feels wrong, let the board go and drop into the water. Luke Millard of Flukes Kitesurfing gives that instruction for strapless tricks generally: if you are not comfortable coming in, let go of the board and plunge in.
  • Going down, put distance between yourself and the board. Mystic's crash guide for riders tells you to land as far away from the board as possible, and says you can practise it by kicking the board off in controlled jumps and landing away from it.
  • If you ride your surfboard on a leash, treat the board as incoming once you are in the water. The Kite Spot's strapless guide tells you to protect your head and, when you feel tension in the leash, to expect the board to be coming at you or at your lines.

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 already be able to do before trying a strapless frontroll?+

None of the opened tutorials lists hard prerequisites, so treat this as placement rather than a checklist. In Willow-River Tonkin's strapless series the frontroll comes last, after jumps with pop, jumps with kite, grabs, 180s and one-footers, and he calls it one of the probably most stylish and also sophisticated jumps, one that requires supreme discipline. It's the trick you grow into, not the one you open with.

Do I need a wave to take off from?+

It helps, but the tutorials don't agree that you need one. Reo Stevens says the takeoff is much easier off chop or off a wave, with a small wave probably the easiest. The North Kiteboarding Academy version never names a ramp: you step your back foot to the tail, take a wide stance and pop the board upward with the back foot, similar to a backside air.

What keeps the board on my feet without straps?+

Wind pressure. Right after takeoff you shift your weight to your toes, which brings the windward rail up, then kick the tail up so the bottom of the board faces into the wind for the whole rotation. As the North Kiteboarding Academy tutorial puts it, the wind is what keeps the board pressed firmly to your feet. Reo Stevens adds that bringing the front leg up and extending the back leg out slightly helps keep it stuck, especially if it's windy.

Wax or pads, and what board size?+

From Willow-River Tonkin: wax has more of a surfing feel and covers everywhere your foot may shift, while with pads you can slip and slam if you haven't covered the whole board. He personally prefers pads because he likes knowing he has 100% grip when he hits the water, and because you never have to think about bringing wax to the beach or your wax melting in the sun between sessions. On size, if you're new to riding a directional a bigger board is more stable while you're learning; once you're in the waves or doing strapless freestyle, a smaller board is a lot quicker and more snappy.

How hard is the strapless frontroll compared with other strapless tricks?+

It sits near the top of the strapless ladder. IKSURFMAG calls it quite possibly the pinnacle of strapless freestyle, and Willow-River Tonkin ranks it among the most stylish and sophisticated strapless jumps. Rated 4 out of 5 here.

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.