Windless With Watty: indoor Revolution tricks

“Windless With Watty” is a series of short video tutorials on indoor tricks with a Revolution kite, published by Spencer “Watty” Watson in 2008 and 2009. This page gathers the seven tutorials, each leading to its video’s page, with a few key takeaways and the transcript.

It is a resource for people who already fly outdoors and want to try tricks without wind, in a gym or a large hall. Outdoor tricks from the same author are on Windy With Watty.

Spencer “Watty” Watson is an American kiteflier from the Pacific Northwest, active in indoor and sport kite competitions. He also builds and sells his own kites under the WattyWorks name. His website is watty.us and his YouTube channel is WattyRev.

The series ran in 2008 and 2009 and was originally offered to KiteLife subscribers. Each episode is one to four minutes long. An outdoor series, “Windy With Watty”, ran at the same time.

• Each episode covers a single trick, with a view from far away and a close-up of the hands.
• The explanations are short, concrete and pitched at someone who already holds a Revolution kite.
• Watty states his setup: a standard indoor Revolution, outdoor end caps, erasers under the kite for grip, and 5 to 8 foot lines. Other indoor quad-line kites may react differently.
• The videos are from 2008 and 2009, so image quality is modest.
• The tricks are for indoor kites on short lines. Some, like the sweep, do not work on long lines, as Watty warns.

Videos are in English. You can activate subtitles in the YouTube player if you need to: how to activate subtitles.

Several tutorials build on each other: the pancake catches refer back to the toss and catch, and the guillotine’s handle twist is the opposite of the whiplash’s. Starting with the toss and catch is a good idea.

1. 

   Indoor toss and catch

   Spence Watson

   Catching and throwing indoors: two catches and five or six throws, from the javelin to throws held by the V. You see how to keep air in the sail before a throw.

2. 

   Indoor pancake

   Spence Watson

   The pancake indoors, then its catch and the axel catch. You see how to bring the kite to you and grab it by the V.

3. 

   Indoor axel

   Spence Watson

   The axel indoors: a small tug on one side, a big one on the other, and a step forward to empty the sail. You also see how to refill the sail after the spin to catch the kite before it hits the ground.

4. 

   Indoor fade

   Spence Watson

   The fade indoors: flipping the kite on the ground like a flic flac, making it rise on its back as you walk back, then catching it.

5. 

   Indoor sweep

   Spence Watson

   The sweep indoors, a short-line trick: stepping over the landed kite, jumping, then pulling. You see why pulling the bottom lines gives the most force.

6. 

   Indoor whiplash

   Spence Watson

   The whiplash indoors: letting the kite fall forward, stepping over it while turning the handles, then unwinding it with a pull on the bottom lines.

7. 

   Indoor guillotine

   Spence Watson

   Two versions of the guillotine indoors, from a kite face down or standing up. You see how to jump through the lines without them snagging.

The same author explains the outdoor axel with the same hand movement.

• Try the outdoor tutorials by the same author: Windy With Watty.
• For tricks outdoors, organized by trick, see Quad-line tricks and freestyle.
• If the tricks are still out of reach, start with The basics of flying.
• For indoor tutorials with a more complete method, KiteLife also offers indoor tutorials; see KiteLife tutorials.