Downwind body drag with two hands on the bar: entering the water, body position, power strokes on both sides and what you must be able to do beforehand.
The honest answer first: in the downwind body drag you lie in the water with both hands on the bar and let the kite pull you in the wind direction, without a board. It sounds like play, but it is the basis for everything else: you learn how much pull the kite makes, how to steer it with small movements and how to stay in the water when the board is gone. In the IKO levels "side body drag with 2 hands" and "body drag with power stroke on both sides" sit in Level 2G, right after relaunch and before the upwind body drag [1].
Why this is not a side issue: in the KITE study almost half of the injuries happened in shallow water, and all fractures in shallow water or on the shore [2]. If you handle the kite confidently in the water, you have more options in exactly these situations. The body drag is also your way back to a lost board and your fallback after loss of control.
This guide explains what you learn at school and does not replace an instructor.
IKO describes it like this: kite steady at 11 or 1 o'clock, piloting hand near the bar centre, look down and check nobody is downwind, walk in until hip-deep [4]. Milestone: you stand hip-deep, the kite is calm, no lines wrap around you.
Lie on your belly, stretch and spread your legs to balance, and fly the kite slowly towards the land so you are not pulled out to sea [4]. Milestone: you lie calmly in the water and steer the kite with a few centimetres of bar travel.
Bring the kite into the power zone with gentle movements and let it pull you straight downwind. The pull comes from the kite, you hang in the harness: relax arms and hands (practice). Milestone: you let yourself be pulled 30 to 50 metres straight without the kite falling into the water (practical benchmark).
The kite flies a short figure eight and produces acceleration: the faster it moves through the power zone, the more pull [3]. Learn to switch between gliding and accelerating and control speed with small movements. Milestone: you raise and lower your speed deliberately without the kite looping over.
With your front arm and body you can steer in the water, the arm acts as a rudder (practice; the same idea appears in IKO's self-rescue chapter for kite sailing [7]). To stop, you fly the kite high and take pressure off the bar. Milestone: you point at a spot on the beach and steer to it.
IKO explicitly names the power stroke on both sides [1]. Repeat everything with the other hand as your lead hand. Milestone: both sides equally calm, equally far.
During the body drag you are attached to the kite through the lines. Nothing may catch between your hands, your neck and the lines; the manufacturer warns that body parts caught in lines can suffer severe injuries and burns [6]. In a tangle you let go and trigger the quick release [4].
In the water your kite is also a life raft and signal: IKO advises not to let it go without need [8]. Do not drag towards obstacles, boats or other kiters, keep two line lengths of distance downwind [6]. This guide does not replace supervised training.
Make your first body drag session deliberately goal-free: no distance, no board, no clock. Just observe how your speed changes when you move the bar by five centimetres. If you first "read" the kite, you ride with less hurry later. This is practical experience, not a study finding.
It is part of the IKO levels (Level 2G) and the basis for retrieving your board, controlling the kite and getting back to shore in an emergency [1]. Without it you depend on the board after every fall.
No binding value is documented. IKO describes entering to at least hip depth [4]. Shallow water is accident-prone: in the KITE study 49.2% of injuries happened in shallow water [2]. Ask your instructor about the depth at your spot.
Yes. You can lose control in the water too. Release is practised in Level 1 [1], and the manufacturer recommends testing it before every launch [6].
A short kite movement (figure eight) through the power zone that briefly produces pull and moves you forward. IKO lists the power stroke on both sides as a benchmark [1].
Controlled Stop: Coming to a Standstill From Riding on Purpose