How to Butter Slide/Nose Slide

How to Butter Slide/Nose Slide

by Jake Mitchell

One of my favorite kiteboarding tricks is the butter slide, sometimes called a nose slide. It is quite easy to execute, given you have the right equipment, conditions, and a good sense of balance. Even more importantly, it looks really flashy, especially if you hold it for a long slide!

Progression Kiteboarding has a great video to get things started:

For another perspective, or if you'd prefer the butter slide dissected in Spanish:

The nose slide is executed most easily in flat water conditions, and will also look most the most pronounced. You will want to remove the fins from your kiteboard, and make sure your kite is moderately to highly powered. You can butter slide just fine in footstraps, although boots will provide better leverage. The trick is most easily done in the direction your feel more comfortable riding toeside.

butter or nose slide kiteboarding trick1. Riding heelside, build up speed as you prepare for the trick. Keep your kite at the 10:30 to 11 position in the sky.
2. Slowly put pressure on your front foot and begin to rotate your body as if transitioning to toeside. Bring the back of your kiteboard up higher than you normally would.
3. Halfway around, increase the pressure on your front foot and hold the position. Taking your front arm off of the bar will help you maintain balance, as well as creating greater leverage.
4. At this point, you should be gliding through the water balancing on the front tips of your board. Hold it for as long as you can, lifting your back end of your kiteboard as high as possible.
5. Coming out of the butter slide, you can either default back to heel side, or continuing rotating the front of the board to a toe-side position. If after a few sessions you are still having trouble with the nose-slide, you can try to initiate it while riding toeside, as some people find that an easier position to transition from. Just remember, for best results tweak it out as much as possible.