How to Nail the Front Roll Hand Drag with Precision Kite Control

MACkite's Dave has been spending some time in Brazil working on one of his favorite transition tricks, the Front Roll Hand Drag. It's a slide type trick that's a play on the Back Roll Hand Drag. While nearly identical to that in terms of the kite movement and steering, it's very different when it comes to body movement and positioning, so he's put together a guide to walk you through nailing your own Front Roll Hand Drags.

Prerequisites

You'll want to have your Back Roll Hand Drags down before attempting to move on to the Front Roll Hand Drag. You should also be comfortable with Front Rolls. Even though this is quite a different variation, they'll still be a good foundation to build on.

Kite Movement

The kite movement is really no different from other slide tricks like the Back Roll Hand Drag, the Hat Drag, Darkslide, or Jesus Walk. You'll need to have that tight kite control where you're floating along the surface of the water and looping at the end to get out of it, with enough power left in the kite to pick you back up.

You'll accomplish this with back-handed kite steering, and you should be comfortable with that from getting other slide tricks dialed in. Once that's second nature, you're ready to get into learning a new body movement.

Body Position

The Back Roll Hand Drag comes more naturally. You'll carve upwind, let your board slide out from under you while popping just a bit, and then reach back for the water. It's a transition with a natural flow.

The Front Roll Hand Drag relies on fine kite control. You'll be riding cross wind with some speed, letting off your edge, and as you come into it you won't edge and pop hard. You'll just do the tiniest little pop so that you won't catch the front edge of your board as you reach over.

Reach at about 45 degrees off your board rather than straight off the front of your toes or the front of the board. Aim somewhere in between those two points. You won't be touching the water near the board because that'll put you in a position where you'll end up catching an edge and cartwheeling. As cool as that would look, you'll instead move more like you're diving forward. Spot exactly where in the water you want to drag your hand, do a slight pop and travel 5 to 8 feet, then touch the water. This will help you with over-rotating or catching early.

Step-by-Step Breakdown

1. Ride in crosswind with some speed on not too much of an edge and make a slight pop.
2. Reach forward and out to touch the water while tucking your front shoulder down. Move the kite slowly.
3. As you catch the water and create drag, this will initiate the rotation. You can determine how fast you rotate by how much resistance your hand makes in the water.
4. Initiate your loop as you feel the kite running out of power. Aim to pull your loop quite late. If you pull it early, you'll still be backwards and will get yanked hard.
5. While the Back Roll Hand Drag flows as a transition because the landing feels like it comes along with your direction of travel, the Front Roll Hand Drag will have a bit more of a yank. Keep your core tight as you loop and you'll come around, turn your head to spot your landing, and then get the rest of your body to follow your head.
6. Stomp it and ride away! You can keep pulling the loop in order to make it a transition, or you can finish the rotation off and continue on your way.

Tips

Dave finds this trick easiest as a transition. With your body movement and the timing, it's not as natural as a continuous direction trick, but it does work if you like.

The Front Roll Hand Drag will take a bit more getting used to, especially if you're already used to some of the other slide tricks, but don't get discouraged by that. Keep at it and it'll be a great addition to your bag of tricks.

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