Your main kite lines can be twisted in three ways.
- You have spun your bar around 360 degrees
- Your kite flips over through the lines.
- You have looped your kite several times in the same direction causing your centre lines to be twisted.

If your kite lines have become twisted, dont panic, you can fly your kite as normal with twisted lines as long as your bar is the right way round with the red side on your left (or however your bar is the correct way round).
Solutions
If your bar has spun around 360 degrees then as long as the red is on the left (our your bar is the right way round) simply fly your kite back to 12 slowly. When your kite is steady at 12 then you can upspin your bar so there are no twists in your lines.
If your kite has crashed, it may have twisted itself through your lines and even when you unspin your bar your lines may still be twisted, again don’t panic. Keep your bar the right way round and fly your kite as normal. You can ride or body drag as normal back to the land to land your kite and re do the lines. There is no emergency and you can fly your kite with twisted lines for several hours if for instance you were on a downwinder and could not land your kite easily.
Pro tip – When you get back to the beach the safest and most often the quickest way to untangle your lines is to land and secure your kite, untie your lines, lay them out downwind behind your kite and untwist them in the same way as if you were setting up your kite at the beginning.

If your lines have twisted around your kite, then your kite could get damaged or become dangerous if relaunched and you must activate your main safety before you attempt to relaunch your kite.
After riding for some time your centre lines can become twisted. For most systems this is not a problem but some systems, when the centre lines are twisted multiple times, the effectiveness when activating the main safety system can be severely compromised or even fail to release.
Most systems allow you to manually untwist your centre lines while your kite is at 12 simply by unspinning the rope above the chicken loop.
When you setup your kite always untwist your centre lines before you launch and it is wise to keep your centre lines untwisted all the time you are flying your kite. Know your centre line system and know how to untwist it while your kite is in the sky. This could actually save your life if you had to use your safety in a real emergency.
Every kite brand is different but most kites have some sort of spinning centre line system to help prevent your centre lines from twisting. Most modern systems can be untwisted by twisting the lines above the chicken loop the opposite way, using one hand while your kite is at 12.
Twisted lines made simple
- You can fly your kite with twisted lines as long as your bar is the right way round.
- Get back to the land as soon as you can and untwist your lines.
- Activate your main safety and self-rescue if your lines become tangled and your kite is not flying properly.