Any advice appreciated.been trying a fair bit and it has slightly gotten worse.not sure what am doing wrong.i can make switch no problem and ride about 10 meters toe side then loose all momenton?

Same here! Interested in response

Concentrate on putting weight on the ball of our front foot to get more rail in the water and,
Bend your back knee a bit and concentrate on steering the board up wind a bit with the ball of your back foot.
Hope that makes sense

toeside is much easier to do in stronger winds... or when a bit overpowered

when going toeside point downwind at first to get some speed up then start cutting upwind

also set your harness is loose so it can twist and the hook is almost at your hip and it feels like the kite is behind you

I don't think you can get 100% upwind toeside compared to normal stance so practice gybing also.

my 2c

Have you tried it the other way?
Everyone will naturally have a favoured side, usually the opposite tack to your favoured direction when normal riding. If your natural stance (not goofy, in general directional boardriding activities), then going left (port) is initially more natural, but on toeside in this direction you are riding fakie/backwards/dominant foot forward.

keep your kite low so you can edge. It the kite is below 45 it is much easier.

More commitment you give it the better it feels try to overrotate away from the kite and get your weight over your toes - if it feels like your overdoing it you are probably just about committed enough to go toe side with pace!

I hate riding toes side upwind! it hurts old ****ed my knees. I avoid it like the plague unless I'm riding down the line on a wave face. That aside. Its real easy to push the kite to the edge of the window when riding toeside and then loose power and sink. Work the kite more, bear down wind more get more speed.

I ride natural all the time (don't switch). It's like everything else. Technique and practise. Don't be to heavy on back foot. Keep weight relatively central to board. Keep your chest facing in direction you want to go. Some people actually face upwind too much. Keep your legs relaxed not stiff.

My favourite stance!
A sliding spreader bar helps enormously to get the pull from your hip.
You need to be competant riding with one hand.
Lift the heel on your back foot and commit to weighting the fronts of both feet.
You need more weight forward than would naturally think.
Concentrate on standing tall with shoulder back for style.


Thanks Adam Cartmer for this shot.

Mite come in useful on this bad boy I just built today

Holy gwocamoli dont let ISIS get a hold of that design they be chopping heads left , right and center .
i take its some kind of alloy and not stainless steel !

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speedy87 said...


Mite come in useful on this bad boy I just built today

Nice floor

And parked it next to the hot air vent to keep it warm so it goes upwind better !!! ????

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cauncy said...

speedy87 said...


Mite come in useful on this bad boy I just built today

Nice floor

And "Happy Birthday "

TT's are wind hungry going toe side.My North nuggget surf board is a no brainer going toe side upwind , but still I am only 90 percent as efficient as my natural stance .My harness is a little loose and I commit hard with my body on 45 plus degree angle and my finger tip touching the water.
Definantly need to be well powered and speed is essential.
Any choking of the kite will end up with the walk of shame.

I would say you need to be well powered rather than over powered.
Don't need to be going out in 30knots to ride toeside

I really improved when I got a dynabar. You don't know how good they are to you get one!

I switch most of the time and really only go toeside when I am on waves or before a gybe.

If you toeside half the time it will take a toll on your fitness. It is fun but just more physically demanding.

And don't do it when the wind is light.

I fumbled with through toeside after Mr X19 advised me to put more weight on my front foot.

But I really started doing it well after I got the dynabar. It helped me with stance and kite positioning.

After a year I was able to stop using the dynabar and was fine without. The dynabar was a great aid.

Personally I still have not mastered toeside, although I am already jumping and feel otherwise pretty confident. I try from time to time but just can't get through the gybe without sinking in the water. It seems like it is not something super important to learn unless you're on a surfboard and going in waves, which is still on my list of things I want to learn.

In snowboarding I always preferred my toeside because I have more control for doing 180/360s over a kicker. I just can't bloody work out getting onto my toeside in kiting. I even tried waterstarting straight onto my toeside but even in strong wind didn't manage to get up on it, it drives me nuts that I can't work it out...

Any further tips?

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One or two tips Kajo
<div>When trying to do a gybe to toeside remember to turn the kite first and wait a couple of seconds till the kite is pulling you down wind before you start to turn the board. When I do it I turn the kite really hard and bring it straight back through the window keeping it low. If you have heaps of power you can do a large radius turn. If you don't have enough power make the turn a smaller radius.

<div>Try riding along a comfortable speed heel side and simply do a little pop and land toeside. If you don't have big fins you could just slide around to toeside but try and keep your speed up.

<div>I find that riding toeside is similar to snowboarding as I find that I put more weight on my front foot than I do when riding heel side. When I learnt to snowboard 10 years after learning to kite I was way more comfortable toeside as I automatically put more weight forward and it took awhile to get used to puts weight on my front foot when turning on heelside

<div>Hope this helps and makes sense to you

It does Ian, thanks for the tips. I know how to switch in snowboarding, so I will try the same next time I kite. This may actually be easier to get on the toeside this way and work out your balance etc, which should hopefully then help doing the gybe to toeside.