No or low wind is the best time to practice an axel, in bigger wind you need to be on the edges or lunge at the kite to MAKE it go flat.
How to axel for me? it's one thumb flicked forward (snapping on the brakes, you may also need to punch that handle forward) while the other hand yanks the opposite handle towards my hip. How much of each hand & how fast dictates whether it changes positions or rotates all from one spot. in either regard though, it's not an axel if it's not flat.
If you are doing the "changing position" axel it means you are steering the kite around instead of all yank and spank (it's slower, like you dialed it around a turntable with your thumb). That one leads easily enough to the" half axel into a clamshell roll-up", if done close to the ground.
There's a "launch 1/4 axel" too. You start out balanced on a tip vertically, leading edge facing the center of the window. launch and just slightly rise vertically, then quickly punch the leading edge out (away from you) with the lower wing, as you lunge forward significantly to allow the kite to fall and then rotate it around until the LE is facing away from you, holding back that upper wing rotational yank until the last possible moment, halfway is to an inverted hover, (just a flick and it's over) all the way around is back to upright leading edge = 1-1/4 axel.
Feeling bolder?, well you could wind up in a vertical tip stand from a flat spin, but you'd better have some extra tubes to practice as sticks will be sacrificed learning and mastering this bold technique. Powerful ending to a great routine?