Strapless Pop is an ollie-style jump where you stamp the back leg into the tail, or ride up chop, to pop the board clear of the water with the kite parked.
Also called: strapless ollie · popping off a wave/chop · strapless jump
Prerequisites
Schools teach this differently
Our sources split on kite position at takeoff. The wave/chop version keeps the kite no higher than 11 o'clock, parked and sheeted in, and explicitly warns against sneaking it up (IKSURFMAG beginner guide). The flat-water pop puts it high and stationary at roughly 12:30 with the bar pulled in for lift (IKSURFMAG/Ole), and the other flat-water tutorials agree on the direction if not the number — North Kiteboarding Academy says steer the kite up before the ollie and pull down on the bar for extra lift, Rondina keeps it slightly elevated.
Ideal conditions
Cross-shore is the easy setting. Cross-onshore works but you need plenty of speed before you turn into the wave or you'll slow right down. In onshore wind, pop off chop rather than waves, since the waves sit too far upwind. Offshore is tricky to learn in — IKSURFMAG's own line is that if you can't already do it, you should be questioning why you're out in that direction. Ramps run from a two-inch piece of chop up to a waist-high wave or a meaty clean face depending on your experience; the flat-water version works off flat water or small chop.
How to do it
1. Set up the approach
- Ride as normal with good speed on your edge, kite no higher than 11 o'clock and preferably a tad lower, bar sheeted in.
- Both hands at the centre of the bar. Step the back foot onto the tail pad, not the kick, and keep the front foot well forward on the upwind side of the board, pointing forward.
- Stand wider than shoulder width if that suits you, but don't split so wide that you kill the popping motion.
- Trim the sweet spot down so you have plenty of throw to push the bar away, and don't let the kite pull you too much — overpowered, you can't get low and pop.
- Pick your ramp early. Anything from a two-inch piece of chop to a clean wave face works. Watch it roll toward you and turn upwind into it; on flat water, carve upwind to prepare the ollie.
2. Load and pop
- Ride up the face on your edge with the bar in, resisting the ramp by pushing the board away rather than soaking it up.
- Move your hips back over the tail so the board climbs the face like a wheelie, nose up and tail down.
- On flat water the pop is all yours: stamp down aggressively onto the board and the water while you lift the front leg, ollie style, kicking down on the tail.
- Roll your weight from heels to toes as you kick to lift the heelside rail — that's what keeps you in control through the move — and bend the front knee so the nose comes up and out of the water.
- Keep both hands on the bar and leave the kite exactly where it started. Don't sneak it up.
- Once the ramp version feels normal, add the progression: kick the back leg violently away from you as you approach the top.
3. In the air
- Pull your knees up toward your hands the moment you leave the water so the board stays flat beneath you.
- Push the board with your toes into the wind and let the front leg keep the base turned into the wind — that is what holds it at your feet.
- Keep both feet in contact with the deck. Lift one and the board slides up and turns under you on its own.
- Eyes forward on your landing spot.
- As you come down, scissor the legs: push the front foot forward and pull the back foot right under you, which pushes the nose off the wind toward the kite.
4. Landing
- Steer the kite down with your front hand to pull yourself out over the landing.
- Drop your legs and land tail first, following the kite, downwind.
- Absorb the impact with bent knees.
- Carve back onto your edge and go hunt the next ramp.
Common mistakes and fixes
Mistake
The front hand comes off the bar when the ramp is bigger than expected; the kite rises, the power goes, and you drop in with nothing left to dive.
Fix
Keep the front hand on the bar and fly the kite lower than you think you should. If the ramp looks imposing, slow down — better to be in control off the top — then attack once you're launching by diving the kite with two hands on the bar.
Mistake
Turning up into the wave in onshore wind bleeds all your speed before takeoff.
Fix
Relax your edge and let the kite pull the board slightly off the wind so you pick up speed, then turn back up into the ramp.
Mistake
Too much speed or too much power, and the board won't stay on your feet.
Fix
Slow down and trim in. Bar trimmed out plus speed is the combination that rips it off you.
Mistake
Overdoing the stamp so a foot lifts off the deck; the board slides and turns under you independently.
Fix
Don't overdo the pop. Stay in contact with the board through the whole move — front foot glued, back foot on the pad.
Mistake
Reaching down for the board when you add a grab.
Fix
Tuck your legs in and bring the board close to you instead of stretching your arm out toward it.
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 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
Do I need to know how to jump with the kite before learning the strapless pop?+
No. IKSURFMAG files popping off a wave or chop under Beginner and says that if you haven't learnt how to pop yet, this is by far the easiest way to master it. What you do need is solid strapless riding: Alby Rondina's progression asks you to ride normal and toeside stance with your eyes closed before you go near aerials.
Where should the kite be during the pop?+
Parked. Off a wave or chop, hold it no higher than 11 o'clock and preferably a tad lower with the bar sheeted in, and leave it there through takeoff — don't sneak it up. For the flat-water pop, Ole sets it high, around 12:30, holds it stationary and pulls in on the bar for lift.
How does the board stay on my feet without straps?+
Wind pressure does the work. Push the board with your toes into the wind and let the front leg keep the base turned into the wind, which holds it at your feet. Keep both feet in contact with the deck — lift one and the board slides and turns under you on its own.
What board setup helps while learning?+
Go bigger when you're new to directionals; a larger board is more stable while you're learning to turn. For grip, pads give you 100% grip every time you hit the water, while wax has more of a surfing feel and you can put it wherever you want it. Rondina also waxes the rail once grabs enter the picture.
What if the wave throws me higher than I planned?+
Commit. The crash usually comes from bailing: the front hand leaves the bar, the kite climbs and you drop. Keep both hands on, fly the kite lower than you think, and if the ramp looks big, slow down on the approach — it's better to be in control off the top, then attack once you're launching.
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.
- IKSURFMAG — Popping Off a Wave/Chop (Christian & Karine)
- KiteWorldWide — Strapless kitesurfing tutorial with Willow-River Tonkin
- ProKite Alby Rondina — 16 Basic Moves on Strapless Surfboard
- IKSURFMAG — Strapless Pop to Blind with Ole (pop fundamentals section)
- North Kiteboarding Academy — How to kitesurf: Pop Shove it (via Strapless Kitesurfing)