So I put in a sequence of catching and throwing in my flying yesterday.

It’s a pretty impressive “trick” that is actually not too difficult to do. I remember the first time I saw someone pulling it off and I thought, wow, that was really cool. ….picked up my kite and gave it a go. And guess what, it didn’t take long until I could do it myself!

It goes something like this….

1. First, fly your kite to the top of the wind window.
2. Put both handles in your “weaker” hand while…
3. …grabbing both upper lines with your “stronger” hand.
4. Give the upper lines a significant tug…
5. …pulling the kite “out of the wind”
6. The kite comes gliding towards you.
7. At exactly the right moment, reach out and grip the kite’s LE with your “stronger” hand.

Yeah, you got it! And by the way, use a shorter line set (10m/30ft) for this one.

Now the throwing. Before you throw the kite, make sure:

• The lines aren’t snagged by anything.
• You’re not stepping on the lines.
• The lines are free from any major twists.

Ok, let’s throw it!

1. Hold the kite with its LE pointing towards you.
2. Make sure to hold the end of LE with your “stronger” hand and support the (centre of the) LE with your “weaker” hand.
3. You also hold both your handles in the “weaker” hand, and you’re ready to throw the kite.
4. Throw the kite downwind and at a slightly upwards angle.
5. While the kite is gliding downwind, put one handle in each hand so you’re ready to start flying again as soon as the flying lines go tight.
6. When the lines go tight, continue to fly … Try to keep the kite from hitting/touching the ground.

Check out the video below to see what it looks like.

Different kites will glide differently. So you should experiment in how you pull your kite out of the wind. Some kites will need a really strong pull, while others merely a gentle tug. Different kites will also glide at different angles. Some kites will dive almost straight to the ground, others will, yeah, really GLIDE!

The strength of the wind will also have an impact on the glide. In lighter winds, the kite can often glide a pretty long distance, in stronger winds quite the opposite.

So now you just have to grab your kite, go out there and do some catchin’ and throwin’!