Kiteboarding Tricks | How to Do One-Footed Airs

David is in Brazil for the rest of the 2024 season, but that doesn't mean the trick tips are going to stop coming! Up today is an intro to One-Footed Airs. This is a great trick you can perform fairly early on, and it's worth learning because you can not only add on things like rotations or grabs to it, but you can also add it into other tricks to make them a bit more stylish.

Prerequisites

You will need to be comfortable doing some other things before you're ready to start practicing your One-Footed Airs. The foundation trick is the Tail Grab, so make sure you're used to grabbing the tail of the board with your back hand.

You'll also need to be comfortable flying the kite with just your front hand and not have any issues with oversteering the kite or shooting it down. You'll want to be able to focus on getting your foot out and back in while letting muscle memory fly the kite.

Finally, practice doing some tail grabs while looking back or down at where you're grabbing rather than spotting your landing or watching your kite. Once you start taking your foot out, you'll need to be able to look at the footstrap to get your foot back in.

Steps to a Successful One-Footed Air

1. When jumping for your one-footer, get your hand down to your board on your way up. If you wait until you're at the apex of your jump, you'll run out of time. So get down, grab that tail, and spot where your back footstrap is early in your jump.

2. As you slide your foot out, keep your eyes on the footpad. This will be the easiest way to get into this trick as you're learning it.

3. Once you pass the apex of your jump, but before you're halfway back down, get your foot back in the strap. Don't try to push it until the last moment because it's going to take you longer than you think, especially at first. Your first few one-footers should be very brief just to get the motion down.

4. Rather than holding the board still and trying to get your leg back up to it, move the back of your board to where your foot is as you bend your knee and meet the board with your foot. A common mistake is to move the board a bit further out once your foot is out, and then holding the board there while trying to get your foot all the way back to a spot that isn't even where your foot was originally. When you took your foot out, you had your arm extended down further and you probably even pointed your front leg a bit to help the angle of the board come up. Try to repeat that same motion as you replace your foot in the strap.

5. Keep your eye on the footstrap the whole way through, but stay aware of your kite and surroundings. Your peripheral vision should give you an idea of how far off the water you still are, and you should be able to feel where your kite is and whether you're over-steering it. Once your foot is back in the strap, you can spot your landing and (hopefully) ride away.

Tips

As you get more comfortable with this trick, you'll be able to get the board off even sooner and wait longer until you put it back on. Eventually you'll be able to put it back on right before you hit the water. It's just a matter of building that muscle memory.

You can help build your muscle memory by practicing taking the board off and putting it back on at home. Just lay on your back on your bed or couch with your board on your feet, then repeat taking one foot out and putting it back in. That simple motion will build muscle memory and will make things even easier on the water.

More to Come!

These steps will get you doing your first One-Footed Airs, but there are different variations on it and tricks you can add to it. Learn the basics now so you're ready when we add more trick tips!

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