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Kiteboarding is an exhilarating sport that combines aspects of wakeboarding, snowboarding, windsurfing, surfing, paragliding, skateboarding, and sailing into one high-octane activity. One key skill that every kiteboarder needs to master is the ability to go upwind. While going downwind is straightforward, moving against the wind presents a unique challenge. This blog will guide you through the fundamental steps to successfully kiteboarding upwind. Understanding the Concept of Upwind Upwind r …

Hey, what's up guys? Blake from MACkiteboarding here, and today we're learning a super fun trick, which is the backroll. This is a game-changer once you can ride upwind and have your jumps down. This is the next step, where you're doing a sort of back flip. From there the possibilities are endless, so I'm really excited to teach you this. Step One: Kite Position The first step in a backroll is understanding the kite's position as you're going into it. There are many ways you can do a backrol …

What's up guys? This is Blake from MACkite here in Key West, Florida with Cole from MACkite. He just got in today and he's going to get out kiting. I can't with my torn ACL, so he's going to go do the kiting for me and we'll teach him some tricks! Cole Gets His Groove Back Cole: This morning, I was in Michigan and I had no idea I'd be kiting today, but here we are! Blake was nice enough to let me use his stuff, and now I'm getting a little session here in Key West. I don't know what else I cou …

Today we have a 28 trick list, from beginner to intermediate, so you can get an idea in your head of different things to go out and try in your next session, and just go have fun. Enjoy! Jumping Beach Start Straight Air Jump with Grab Heelside to Toeside Pop Toeside to Heelside Pop Butterslide Downloop Transition One-footed Start Sent Backroll Sent Backroll with Grab Powered Backroll Powered Backroll to Toeside with Grab Powered Frontroll Powered Frontroll with Grab Sent Frontroll Sent Fron …

Yeah, what's up guys? I'm Rygo. I'm Ewan. And we're down here in Brazil. We got some clips when we were in Hood River. I didn't film these, Brad Strom--thank you, Brad--filmed these, and we've had a lot of you asking about the pre-load and pop, and Ewan's a big air guy, so I was hoping you could explain this trick for everybody out there and your thoughts on it. Yeah, so it's something that I used to do a lot more in my freestyle, especially in light wind. For those of you who don't kn …

This is Blake from MACkite here with 5 tips to help you ride upwind. Tip 1 - Twist Your Body Upwind Twist your shoulders and lean back over your back foot. This weights your back foot rather than both of your knees. This lets you get a stronger and harder edge. Twist and lean back, looking upwind. Twist with your shoulders and your hips, with your feet, and even point your toes upwind, and all of those little things together will make it so much easier for you. If you instead close your shou …

Welcome back to Wing Wednesdays, or Foil Fridays... whatever we're going to call this one. This is Tucker with MACkite, and today I'm going to talk to you about my new fascination. We're going to maximize our light wind fun, maximize our time on the water, and maximize the gear we already own. I can guarantee you'll get a lot more time in the water, have a lot more fun, and use your equipment more effectively.Ride in Almost Any WindLet's talk about how kite wing foiling can maximize our lig …

Blake from MACkite here. It's good to be back! I'm recovering from a torn ACL surgery, and just being able to walk is so incredible. So I figured... why not teach you one of the most important things in kiteboarding, which in my opinion is how to fall. Get Strong I have a lot of experience in falling; I've been injured a lot. Throughout the years of teaching myself how to kiteboard and do all of my own tricks, I have had to learn how to fall through trial and error. Now I've got it down to w …

Welcome back to MACkite. This is Jake, and today we are talking about whether it's better to learn in lighter winds or heavier winds. Of course, this is just my personal experience and, being here in Michigan, we probably experience more light winds than heavy winds, so that's going to impact my answer slightly.My personal thought is that light wind is a better environment for learning to kite. I think it's probably easier to learn in heavier winds, but that doesn't necessarily translate t …

This blog post provides an in-depth look at the five key steps necessary to learn how to water start when kiteboarding or kitesurfing. The first step is to get comfortable with the kite, learning how to launch and land it, as well as understanding its wind window. The second step involves compressing your body into a smaller package, which involves using the power of the kite to pull you through the water and upwind. Step three is getting onto the board, where you will need to carefully balan …

Kiteboarding Upwind Is Your First Beginner Milestone If you’re a beginner kiteboarder, going upwind means not walking back up the beach after each ride. If you’re jumping, you need to march upwind easily because every flight takes you downwind fast. Back in the stone age, with 2-line kites, riders would pressure their back foot edging hard to slow their board speed allowing the kite to move to the edge of the window so they could ride upwind. We even used the pickle fork tail like ski brake …

Make Your Kiteboarding Jumps Even Higher With the J-Hook TechniqueI've been coaching some friends on how to boost higher while kiteboarding. Most people use a J-Hook (carving upwind to load the rail) to pop. I find that the Lazy-S (carving upwind, but instead of popping, you carve downwind using the increased power to accelerate) makes much more power.But first, let's talk about using the J-Hook to transition to the Lazy-S.The first thing I say is that you are not being pulled by a kite—you ar …

Kiteboarding without fins is an easy way to spice up your otherwise bland freeriding routine. Oh, yeah—we all do it. We get out there on the water and slowly glaze over into our almost preset mode of jumps and tricks that we always default to. By taking your fins off (twin tips—not kite surfboards), you'll find the ride to be super loose and skatey, giving your existing board a breath of fresh air should you choose. Have a go at it, and be sure to let us know what you think. Good winds! …

Getting InspiredGetting Hooked On KiteboardingWhether you hit the beach one day and saw some crazy kiteboarders flying in the air on a windy day, or you saw Kevin Langeree’s 28.3-meter jump in an Instagram video, you’ve somehow been introduced to kiting, and now you’re hooked. You’ve done your research, watched youtube videos, bought all your gear, and are ready to hit the water (with either an experienced kiteboarder or instructor, of course). The wind is cranking 25 knots, and you can see the …

Kiteboarding kites come in a wide variety of sizes. Which size kites are best for you? Let's take a look at your riding style, your gear budget, and find out how many kites you'll want to have in your quiver. Step 1 | What Kind of Kiteboarder are You? First, let's figure out what kind of kites you'll want to invest in. Are you an all-around, freeride kiteboarder who likes a little bit of everything? Do you want to focus on kitesurfing in waves with a surfboard? Maybe you want to get …