Kite - Freestyle

Welcome to the Kitemana Q&A on Freestyle kites! Freestyle kites are optimized for unhooked freestyle tricks like S-Bends or Handle Passes. Those specific requirements of freestyle kiters are met by c-shaped-kites that offer a lot of pop and slack to perform such unhooked maneuvers. As in all other kite disciplines, there are several freestyle kite shapes like the classic C-Shape-Kite, Open-C or Hybrid-C-Shapes. To find out if a freestyle kite matches your needs, if freestyle kites are focused more on advanced kites or if C-Kites are also suitable for kitesurf beginners, check out the most common questions and our answers below! Please always feel free to contact us for support. We have English, Dutch and German native speakers in our customer service team, who are experts and happy to help!

Which characteristics are important for freestyle kites?
Which freestyle kite brands does Kitemana stock?
What is the difference between freestyle and wakestyle kiteboarding?
What is the best freestyle kite and kiteboard for wakestyle kiteboarding?
Which kite shapes are best for freestyle?
What are the differences between C-Kites and Open-C/Hybrid Kites?
Why is pop and slack so important in freestyle kites?
What is a five-line setup that some freestyle kite use?
Why do some freestyle kites have a 5th line?
What are the advantages of four line and five line freestyle kites?
Which kite size is ideal for freestyle?
Are C-Shape-Kites good to perform kite loops?
Are freestyle kites suitable for beginners?


Freestyle kites are developed to have a lot of pop and slack for unhooked maneuvers. Slack on your lines becomes important if you unhook and want to perform a Handle Pass. Due to their shape, freestyle kites have less depower than other kites and are very direct, responsive and aggressive to steer. Freestyle kites sit deep in the wind window to offer more drift, but are also less easy to ride upwind with.

Kitemana stocks all premium kite brands. You can find out more about each brand following the links below.

Airush: BY INNOVATORS FOR INNOVATORS
Cabrinha: LIVE FREE. RIDE FREE.
Core Kiteboarding: PREMIUM KITES & BOARDS FROM FEHMARN, GERMANY.
Duotone Kiteboarding: TRUE KITEBOARDING.
F-One: ENJOY ALL CONDITIONS, TRY OUT NEW THINGS, OPEN UP YOUR PLAYGROUND
North: FOR THE SEEKERS.
Ozone: INSPIRED BY NATURE · DRIVEN BY THE ELEMENTS
Reedin Kiteboarding: IMAGINE KITEBOARDING #BEYOND
Slingshot: THE ART OF POWER


Kiteboarding is a blend of several board sports. Kiteboards feeds of wakeboarding, snowboarding and surfing and wakestyle kiteboarding is obviously strongly influenced by wakeboarding behind a boat or in a cable park. Wakestyle is freestyle, but not all freestyle is wakestyle, but what does that mean?! Wakestyle tricks in kiteboarding originate from wakeboarding, which means riders perform tricks that they can pull off on a wakeboard behind a kite. This includes powered, strictly unhooked tricks with the kite low at 10 or 2 o`clock. Obviously, wakestyle kiteboarding also incorporates tricks over obstacles such as ramps, rails, kickers and sliders like in a cable park.

For wakestyle kiteboarding the unhooked performance or your kite is crucial. Stick to your preferred freestyle kite when you start practising wakestyle tricks or want to hit the cable park. Regarding the board, we recommend freestyle kiteboard with a slider base and smaller or no fins. If you want to hit the cable park once to test it out, take the fins of your freestyle board, so you do not get caught on rails or damage kickers.

Freestyle kites all are more or less c-shaped. This means freestyle kites have a narrow arc, squared off and wide wingtips. Classic C-Kites do not have any bridle system, but nowadays most freestyle kites incorporate a bridle system to add more depower, user friendliness and versatility. For more details on that, you can check our Blog on Kite Design Basics.

As mentioned above, classic C-Kites do not have any bridle lines. Steering lines and power lines and maybe the 5th line are directly connected to the the kite. Open-C or Hybrid-C-Shape Kites do have a bridle system, but the kite still has a c-shaped profile.

Pop and slack are very important characteristics in freestyle kites. To perform unhooked tricks, you need to edge hard with your board and pop off the water using your kiteboard and your kite. If you want to perform a handle pass mid-air, line tension is crucial. If your kite allows enough slack in your lines, you can spin your body around passing the bar behind your back, without the kite pulling the bar out of your hands.

Some freestyle kites use a fifth line, which directly connects to the centre of the leading edge. So, additionally to the common two steering lines and two power lines, a fifth line is connected to the kite.

For several freestyle kites, riders can choose between a four-line and five-line setup. In that case, the fifth line is not under tension. However, some freestyle kites that are strongly c-shaped require a fifth line to fly properly. In those cases the fifth line is under tension, which is called a loaded fifth line.

The advantages the 5th line are:

total flag out on fifth line after ejecting the quick release

added depower to C-Kites

easier relaunch of C-Kites using the fifth line

easier self-landing

The disadvantages of the 5th line are:

main disadvantage is that, if the kite inverts (falls in between its own lines) the 5th line can be wrapped around the kite and damage the canopy when tension is added again

more time necessary to set up (…obviously)

after several kite loops, the fifth line can be twisted around the center line causing friction and negatively affect safety and performance

Which kite size is ideal for freestyle?

Larger kites are more stable, which makes it easier to practice new rotations and passing the bar. As larger kites are less responsive, you will not drop the kite as fast, when giving a false steering impulse. Therefore, it is best to practice freestyle in lighter but stable winds and on larger kites.

Are freestyle kites or C-Kites good to perform kite loops?

Freestyle kites are all more or less c shaped. Therefore, if you send a freestyle kite into a kite loop, it will create a huge yank ripping you downwind like no other kite. This is due to the wide wingtips which generate very powerful turns. Megaloops on a C-Kites are some of the most extreme tricks in kiteboarding.

Are freestyle kites suitable for beginners?

Freestyle kites, especially C-Kites are not suitable for beginners due to their limited wind rage and depower, high responsiveness and less efficient upwind abilities compared to other kite shapes.