The Trickbox - Flat Handle Passes

This is for those of you looking for the next progression after your unhooked railey's. Lets say you are comfortable with these and even throwing out your first backrolls unhooked. At this stage you'll find yourself getting many repetitions each session and wondering what's going to be the next stage and how to move on.

In the following description I'll show you why flat handle passes are some of my favourite moves and why you should give them a try. They're one of the easier handle passes, less consequences, once learned - easy to repeat, unique pressure-less bar feeling while flying and finally, loads of fun! Before you start, here are 2 things you need to practice:

1. At home: Take off your finns and place your board on a carpet; mount a rope to a fixed attachment point and use it as a tow point; practice spinning and passing both ways with the board on your feet!
2. On the beach: make sure you have enough space and adjust your kite; unhook and practice flat spins and passes in both directions! When I was learning this I spend many days on the roof of our flat doing my homework aswell as praticing on the beach to get get my head around it. Do this and you'll get the muscle memory without crashing.

For the final approach you'll need to know following things: Ride with normal speed (70%) towards the wave; kite extremely low; Unhook just before the wave (5m); release your edge and ride 30degree downwind. You will feel the bar-pressure decreasing rapidly, now its time to hit the wave; pop straight up; keep the bar close and initiate the flat rotation with your head (as practiced on dry): Pass the bar and spot your landing.

Remember each point is key, so visualise each aspect to prepare for the task. I apologize for the photos as they might raise the impression you need a lot of height. Once you have your basic 360 dialed in, add your own flavor and take them bigger!