Top Turn Tail Release is a carve off the top of a breaking wave, driving the tail across the lip until all three fins let go and the nose drops down the line.
Also called: Tail Slide · Backside Tail Slide
Prerequisites
Unlocks
Nothing in the tree needs this one yet — it stands on its own.
Schools teach this differently
Our sources genuinely disagree on what the kite should be doing over the lip. Reo Stevens parks it, moving a hand to the far side of the bar to hold it exactly where it is through a frontside turn. KiteKahunas sends it with one strong pull into the opposite side of the wind window before the wave, then pushes the bar out so it cannot interfere. Gustavo Foerster's backside tail slide sends it higher still, almost to 12 o'clock, with the lines soft. Ben Wilson's backhand version keeps it low at around 45 degrees, steers it up before he starts going up the wave and back down before he starts back down the face. The weighting differs too: KiteKahunas loads the tail through the heel of the back foot frontside, while the backside versions put a hand in the water and jam off the back foot after throwing the weight from heelside to toeside.
Ideal conditions
Side-shore to side-onshore wind. Reo Stevens shoots his frontside sequence in side-shore wind, and Ben Wilson's backhand version wants side-shore to side-onshore so the kite drifts down the line instead of pulling you off the wave. Duotone puts the whole thing on wave choice: picking the right wave and section is what decides whether the slide happens at all. KiteKahunas aims the turn at the pocket, and if you arrive at the wave slow in light wind it has you compensate with bigger body movement rather than more kite. None of the sources we cite give a wind speed in knots or a wave height for this trick.
How to do it
1. Set up the bottom turn and give the kite a job
- Be riding down the line already, either steering the kite a beat ahead of you or letting a wave-specific kite drift while the wave does the driving.
- Get your bottom turn solid first. Duotone gates the backside snap on a bottom turn that is totally dialled plus confident carves and kite steering, and IKSURFMAG calls the bottom turn the most important turn in the wave.
- Drive the bottom turn low and carve it as hard as you can hold, leaning over the heelside rail until your butt almost touches the water.
- Pick your wave and your section on the way in. Duotone says that choice is what decides whether the slide happens.
- Slide your back foot toward the tail. Further forward and the fins keep gripping and you draw a long arc; back over the fins and the board pivots and the tail lets go.
- Sort the kite before you reach the wave. One determined pull into the other side of the wind window, then push the bar out so it cannot interfere while you turn.
2. Turn off the top
- Start the turn about halfway up the face.
- Lead with your head and shoulders, turning your head sharply into the turn and throwing your front shoulder the same way, and point your chest where you want to go so your hips follow and push on the tail.
- Throw your trailing hand backwards hard in one movement with the arm straight, against the way the board is rotating.
- Keep the back knee bent so it can absorb the bump at the lip while the tail stays loaded.
- In the pocket, straighten the back leg and drive the tail down, and bend the front leg so the board can come all the way round.
- Point the board vertical at the wave if you want the turn more explosive and more complete.
3. Break the fins free
- Force hard enough through the back foot to push all three fins out over the top of the wave. That is the release.
- Frontside, load the tail through the heel of your back foot. You can put far more into it than you can with your toes, and that is where the spray off the lip comes from.
- Backside, throw your free hand down onto the water and transfer all your energy to the back foot. An arm in the water gives you a reference point to lean over.
- Keep your weight centred over the board as the fins go. Lean off to one side and you fall forward or backward the moment they let go.
- Stay relaxed through it even though your body is absorbing a big load.
- If you came at the lip slow, in light wind for instance, put even more emphasis on the body movements and throw the trailing hand back even harder.
4. Come off it and ride away
- As you feel the tail slide, control it and be ready for the next move rather than just hanging on.
- Depower as you come through the turn. The kite is now pulling the opposite way to where you want the board to go and will stop you completing the turn if you leave it loaded.
- Bring the back knee in toward the front knee so you can keep pushing on the tail as the board comes round.
- Use your front foot to push the nose back down the line.
- Pull the bar to ride off the wave.
- On the backhand version, steer the kite back down before you start back down the face, or you get stuck at the top and lose your down-the-line momentum.
Common mistakes and fixes
Mistake
You ride the kite and forget the board. Most kitesurfers pay too much attention to the kite in their hands and not to the board under their feet, so the turn comes from kite pull rather than rail pressure.
Fix
Take your speed from the board and your body posture. Work on where your head, chest and hips point through the turn and draw longer lines with the board instead of hauling on the bar.
Mistake
Back foot too far up the pad. The fins keep holding, you load and load, and the tail never breaks free.
Fix
Move your back foot further toward the tail. The board pivots instead of arcing, and the tail breaks free so you can finish the turn with a tail slide.
Mistake
Leaning to one side as the fins release. You go over the front or off the back the instant the tail comes loose.
Fix
Keep your weight centred over the board as you finish the turn so you keep control while the tail slides out.
Mistake
Mistimed kite send. Pull too early and the kite pulls you away from the wave before you reach the pocket. Pull too late and it pulls you over the wave and there is no top turn left to do.
Fix
Give the kite one determined strong pull just before you reach the wave, then push the bar out so it cannot interfere while you turn.
Mistake
Kite left powered while you turn back against it. It pulls the opposite way to where you want the board to go, and on the backhand version you end up stuck at the top of the wave.
Fix
Depower as you come through the turn, and steer the kite back down before you start back down the face.
If it goes wrong
- If you are losing speed and the tail starts to move slowly, stop forcing your back foot and just flow naturally with the board.
- If the kite loads up against the turn, depower with the bar rather than trying to fight it with the board.
- On the unhooked backhand version, stay hooked in until the very last second. Ben Wilson never unhooks until he has full control of his speed, his position on the wave and his kite position.
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
What do I need to be able to do before I try it?+
Have your bottom turn solid and totally dialled, and be confident with your carves and kite steering. That is how Duotone gates the backside snap, the family it files the tail slide under, and IKSURFMAG makes the same point that the bottom turn is the most important turn in the wave. You also need to be riding down the line already, either flying the kite one step ahead of you or using a wave-specific kite's drifting capability. KiteKahunas puts its front-side top turn in the advanced riders and masters part of its wave course, as Lesson 8, after the front-side top-turn and bottom-turn basics of Lessons 5 and 6 and the bottom-turn focus of Lesson 7.
What wind and what wave does it want?+
Side-shore to side-onshore. Reo Stevens' frontside sequence is shot in side-shore wind, and Ben Wilson's backhand version wants side-shore to side-onshore so the kite drifts down the line and does not pull you off the wave. Duotone says picking the right wave and section is crucial to succeeding, and KiteKahunas has you put the turn in the pocket. No source opened here names a wind speed in knots or a wave height, so treat any number you read elsewhere as unverified.
Where do I put my back foot, and what board am I on?+
Back foot placement decides whether the tail releases at all. Reo Stevens: further forward gives more drive and draws out a longer turning arc, because the fins hold more and you can put a lot of pressure on the back foot before the tail breaks free. Move the foot further toward the tail and the board pivots more, which makes it easier to break the tail free and finish with a tail slide. Duotone's definition implies a three-fin board, since the slide is described as having all three fins free above the top of the wave. The strapless versions come from Gustavo Foerster and from Ben Wilson, who teaches his as unstrapped and unhooked.
The fins letting go is the scary part. How do I not eat it?+
Expect it and stay stacked. Reo Stevens: if you are expecting the tail to slide out from the fins breaking free, keep your weight centred over the board as you finish the turn, because leaning too far to one side means you fall back or forward when they let go. Once the slide has started, Gustavo Foerster has you control the situation and get ready for the next step, and when you feel you are losing speed and the tail starts to move slowly, stop forcing the back foot and flow naturally with the board. IKSURFMAG makes a related call about the front-side cutback rather than this turn: release rear foot pressure or you stop dead in the water and the wave passes you by.
What is the difference between a snap and a tail release?+
Duotone lists them as separate tricks. The backside snap is a quick, explosive, sharp off-the-lip turn, similar to a re-entry but with less follow-through coming out of it, and it lets you change your line and direction of riding like a carve but more abruptly and closer to the pocket. The tail slide is described as a progressive snap where you slide the tail over the lip with all three fins free above the top of the wave, and Duotone scores it 500 points against 375 for the backside snap. Reo Stevens files the same move under top turn tail release and treats the slide as how you finish the turn.
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.
- Reo Stevens Coaching — How To Kitesurf: Top Turn / Tail Release
- KiteKahunas Wave Kitesurfing Course — Lesson 8: Frontside Top-Turn
- Strapless Kitesurfing: How to ride back side, bottom turn and tail slide (Gustavo Foerster)
- Ben Wilson Coaching — Unstrapped, Unhooked Backhand Top Turn
- Duotone Kiteboarding — 9 New Wave Tricks
- IKSURFMAG technique — Toe Side to Heelside Turn on a Wave (Andreas Lagopoulos, Uncharted Kite Sessions)