A downloop while kiteboarding is a good skill to have for many reasons. The most controlled way to learn a downloop transition is when you are underpowered. Once you are comfortable with downloops, you can use them to land softer on big jumps, use them for tricks like darkslides and hand drag backrolls or if you’re kiting in a crowded area, to transition when you have someone riding close and upwind of you. We’ll break downloops down into three key points.
Key Point One: Kite Position
When learning how to do a downloop transition you’ll want to start with your kite high. If riding to the right, your kite should be at 1 and if you’re riding to the left, your kite should be at 11.
Key Point Two: Bar Control
This is in our opinion the most important point, the bar control. To have an effective kiteloop, you have to pull one side of the bar in and push the other side of the bar away. Pulling in on one side and pushing out on the other side will help prevent the most common mistake, steering the bar like a wheel. If you find that you can’t loop the kite around, then chances are you are not steering the bar properly.
Key Point Three: Board Position
The third key point is to edge the board as hard as you can into the wind before you begin to loop the kite. This will help position the board in a way that when you do feel the pull from the loop of the kite, your board will be facing downwind and you can travel downwind until the loop is over and you can begin your edge into the wind again. If you’re not pointing the board downwind, you’ll create tension between you and the kite and you’ll end up skipping across the water.
Simple Step By Step
- Edge your board hard into the wind, your front foot will become your back foot.
- Bring the kite high.
- Pull in on the front of the bar and push out on the back of the bar
- As the kite loops and faces up again, let go of the bar to untangle the lines.
- Grab the bar and continue to ride.
Downloop Transition Lessons
If downloop transitions are not clicking for you. We feel confident that within an hour, we can help you learn these. For scheduling send us a message:
