Hi guys,

l fly a pair of '09 Rebels & have just started to land back rolls and have found that after a long session doing back rolls l end up with extremly tight twists in the centrelines to the point that the 5th line is completly usless. Quite apart from the obvious danger of the kite not depowering if l have to hit the QR theres the annoyance factor of having to spend the time untwisting the lines before l can head out again. Would fitting a swivel to the centre line solve the problem & where on the lines would you fit it? And just so l dont get a whole bunch of people saying "front rolls will untwist the lines" l'll do that as soon as l can do front rolls.

before i could front roll i would loop the kite on which ever transition undid it. not really loop, just down turn or what ever its called. makes for nice fast carving transitions. (pop to toe side and pull hard on your front hand so that the kite turns downwards and then under and then powers through the window as you go down wind then back the other way)

do not get stuck in a rut, learn to do back rolls on the opposite tack. if you continue doing backrolls one way only you will get frustrated when you have to start learning them all over again going the other way and will probably not bother. This sucks when you progress more and more and you can only do tricks going on way.

It is hard to motivate yourself but I strongly suggest learning a new trick on both tacks as soon as you can.

Inspiration to learn front rolls asap?
... but as the others have said, you need to learn to backroll in both directions otherwise you'll end up with one massive leg and one underdeveloped one.

Definately learn to backroll in the other direction. you should always try to nail a trice in both directions from the get-go.

Obviously, down the track, tricks on both tacs are the way to go. In the meantime, try twisting your centre/front lines in the opposite direction when setting up on the beach, this will give you a bit of a head start as you'll be able to do a few backrolls before your lines are become straight. Imagine my line twists when only able to do a back roll one direction and a front roll the opposite direction!

I had the same issue, at first I would just go into the beach and turn around the opposite direction until the twists were out (with kite at 12)

Soon I learned to downloop while turning (you will find this is from the tack you cant backroll on to the tack you can) to undo the lines

Now, I backroll both ways, sometimes I don't even unspin the bar between them (when just practising rolls both directions)

Good luck, its always fun though.

sometimes i find there's no time for lubricant..

There is some spray yachties use sailcote? which reduces the friction. I was wondering how sleeving the lower lines with a thin tube would work. Maybe the lines would slide within the tube?
Another alternative is to just cut and replace the worn areas of the lines using the good section of discarded twist worn lines.