Once you are able to pop up and get riding consistently, and ideally once you are also able to stay on an upwind tack you are ready to ride toe side. Riding toe side is super fun! It allows for a new perspective as you are able to look upwind and behind you. It also can lead into explosive carving turns, which are especially fun in the surf.
To get started you should first play around with adjusting your board edge when riding heel-side by shifting your body weight from back to front foot and feel the back fins and edge start to slip out of the water when you do this. Get comfortable with shifting your body weight while on your heel-side edge.
Once you are comfortable making those adjustments you are ready to do a flat spin on your board to change from heel-side to toe-side. It is quite simple. All you have to do is shift more weight onto your front foot and then spin your back foot down wind and turn your body to face upwind. Thus twisting the board from heel-side to toe-side. Once the board is fully spun around you will apply pressure on the new edge of your board which is your toe-side edge.
Be sure to lean your body forward against the pressure of your harness. It is the same concept as "trusting your harness" when standing up and riding heel-side. You have to lean into your harness by leaning your chest forward and applying pressure with your spreader bar onto the chicken loop.
You are going to be steering the kite with the bar behind you. Steer the kite with your front hand (which was your back hand when heel-side) reaching downwind. Try holding the bar in the center instead of at the bar end. The objective is to keep steering the kite on the same side of the window when moving to toe-side and to keep riding in that direction. If the kite comes too much overhead you will lose power and sink. If the kite travels to the other side of the window you will get yanked backwards and crash.
hand placement
Common mistakes
- too much weight on your back foot while on toe side
- standing too much upright (not leaning forward)
- forgetting to continue to steer the kite in the same direction of travel
- losing your edge- the only time the board is off and edge is while you are spinning the board or "flat spinning". Before the turn you need to have a heel-side edge, and after the turn a toe-side edge. Really engage the toe-side edge at the end of the turn.
Another option for turning to toe-side is to pop up and spin the board while you are in the air. When first trying this bring the kite a little higher in the window to give yourself a little lift when popping.
Play around with the toe-side riding. Try to incorporate it into a transition by either popping or sliding to toe-side and then moving the kite to the other side of the window which will allow you to carve out of the toe-side in a long sweeping turn and throw a lot of water. This can be quite beautiful.
abbot carving out of toe-side in a powered turn
