Kitefoiling 360 - The Essential Kite and Bar Techniques

Learning to 360 on a kitefoil is a popular trick for anyone foilers looking to move on from gybes, it's also a great stepping stone to tacking and it just feels great when you pull it off! But to do it properly and consistently you need to properly understand how to fly the kite through the whole manoeuvre. Having the kite riding with you will make all the difference transforming your 360's from powered, chaotic spins, never know if you're going to explode, to gliding through the carve effortlessly every time.

We'll break the 360 into 3 stages, showing the kite and bar movements required for each stage.
Rob originally released the two short separate videos, that make up this video, on his IG and FB pages but here they are pulled together so you can refer back to them in one place. He has also included an introduction and then a summary of the 3 key points you need to focus on at the end.

How are you progressing with your 360's?

If you want help with you 360's come have a private session with Rob or Danny, or check out one of our Camps and clinics which will back in 2021.

This 360 is the version where you start riding on your heelside and carve upwind into the 360. Check out Rob's facebook page for the Toeside variation of the 360:

Rider: Rob Claisse
Kit: F-ONE Mirage 1000 and 8m Bandit-S
Location: Witsand Breede River, South Africa

[TinnedSalmon]

Love that manoeuvre....nicely laid out with visuals and then follow up.

[JR-wnzc]

Thanks for this video - I was able to nail this move today after watching this. Can't wait for your intermediate/advanced kite foil series.

[stevet]

Great explanation. I have been trying without the final loop, but the up side of that is I have performed some of my most hilarious (from the view of spectators on the beach) crashes to date :)

[hellisme]

i have a 1250 Hs (armstrong) front wing, do you think it s too big for this trick or it s my excuse on my failed attempts?

[giladweisz]

Wow, Rob! Your tips are amazing! Especially the part about bar position/pressure at each stage of the trick (you're the only one that talks about it!) . I watched it yesterday and then tried about 100 times non stop and managed to complete the 360 five times +-. Yuhu! Any tips on how to do wide 360's like yours? Mine are really tight.

[windaddicted]

Thanks for this video! What board is the rider using? Thanks in advance!

[Alejandro]

such a groovy trick, must learn! Thanks.

[blimonov]

Hello what board you are riding on that video looks very beautiful

[royfigueroa]

Hi Rob. Great video. I am just having a hard time visualizing the "wind direction" on the film. thanks

[mashimisha]

Three questions:
Do you sell a more detailed video of 360s? I couldn't find one on your site.
Is the reason for sheeting in the bat to provide lift or is it to accelerate the kite through downloop?
I am trying this on a Flysurfer Soul 6m. Should I adjust the process of sheeting the bar in to avoid backstalling the kite?

[AKJammer]

After watching your videos on Gybes and Foot Swaps (and successfully completing them), I'm now working on tacks. The 360 is supposed to be a good intermediate step so I'm starting here. In the video you don't mention which hand does the pulling when sheeting in. It appears to be the back hand doing most everything, which would be the same as in a tack, is that the case?

[JeffreyJDavis]

Great video and super useful with the multi perspectives including the kite. You're right, I've been approaching this like a backroll and just cranking it around driving off the back foot. Here's the part that's got my mind in a moebius strip though. As you enter the loop (1:53), my brain is telling me I need to be pulling my front (left) hand to loop the kite in that direction. Obviously your right hand is the only hand on the bar, so I'm wrong. I don't think you are looping by pushing out with your right hand. What am I missing?

[abraxaf]

Great instruction as usual. Grateful there is a kite coach with the analytical skills of someone trained in maths and compsci.

Is this something to attempt even before the heel-toe tack? Which is better to start with?

[vicepresidentrrp]

Rob- I've been working on this and can somewhat nail it about 25% of the time. My biggest struggle is getting weight onto the front foot. As I initiate the carve with kite at 12 and sheeted out, I sense weight on back foot. Try as I might to get weight to the front, I have a somewhat backwards lean keeping weight on back foot. Curious as to how to get more weight on that front foot to successfully ride around the 360 rather than forcing the board around with my foot strap. Thanks in advance- Mike

[aigledu]

Currently trying this on my 6m kite. Would you say it's harder on smaller kites as the bar pressure is less? Finding it really hard right now but will preserve 😅

[borispetrov-limonov]

Hey Rom on How long You Ride your lines with this kite 15 16m 18m in order to have quick response of the kite

[targadave]

I have a Moses (Sab) 633/483 wing combo and it always feels slower and more “pivoty” trying to do a 360. I make a very small percentage of my attempts but they are completely pivot style (with rapid loss of speed) instead of a nice smooth arc that maintains speed (glide) like yours. Would I be better off with a faster “glidier” type front wing like a Sab 695 or 679? Any recommendations?

[renesansman]

What is the board you're riding in the video?