How to teach a youngster how to get up?

skobi1 · Addict Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 639 City: eugene, or

Who has taught any kids how to get up and ride? My partners turns 4 in march and we want to get him riding this year. Is this too early? anyone out there had to do this? And just out of cuiousity how old were you when you started?

skobi1 · Addict Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 639 City: eugene, or

I was in the 18-30 catagory

ohsix · Posted: Jan 22, 2003 8:48 pm Post subject:

quigglymaster · Posted: Jan 22, 2003 9:47 pm Post subject:

the way i was taught was demonstration on land then afterwards, i just jumped in. i was up in less than 5 tries

steveaz · Criminal Joined: 22 Jan 2003 Posts: 73 City: Phoenix, AZ

I taught my son to snowboard at 4 but he wasn't ready to wakeboard until 7. He rode the tube and a big yellow ski thing up until then. Only advice I have...take your time and don't push them before they are ready. Every kid is different though.

rocketdogg · Newbie Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Posts: 11 City: maryland

My own son was a few months from being 4 when I taught him how to snowboard. He didn't do so well but we had fun, he did better the following year and then after each year. He is 6 now.

This past summer I tried to teach him how to wakboard, it didn't go to well. I bagged it and went back to the tube and focused more on the kneeboard to get him used to the pull of the rope and such.

I agree with steve that it just depends on the kid. I used to be gung-ho about getting my kid up when he was young and all, but then realized I was just being dumb, and thinking more about my own bragging rights than caring if my son actually wanted to do it, and also if he was having fun learning.

Personally I would test the waters and see if he wants to. If not then back off, mainly because if they don't like it, and have a bad experience, or get scared, then they may not want to do it again until they are like 16. My son wants to learn, but I'm not going to push him. It's all about having a good time.

Tiffanator · Posted: Jan 23, 2003 6:02 am Post subject:

One of the important things is to make sure your kid is ready to learn, you don't want to scare them. Mark Farley sent me a story of how he got his girl up. He put her on a long line and had his son run along the shore with the line and pull her up. She would coast until she got to the sand then just drop back into the water. After a few times he put her behind the boat and just put it in forward and let it idle. It was almost enough to pull her up because she was so small. Then he started slow and worked up from there.
Another thing you can do if they are small enough is to let them ride the board with you. Put them between your legs and they hold on to you. It gets them used to the feeling of being up on the board. The strap them into a small board and sit in the water and hold them until they get up. Keep reinforcing them, telling them what a good job they are doing and that all is fine. Maybe once they start getting up pretty consistently you can ride beside them on your board and talk to them. Just don't scare them. If all else fails, let them ride in the tube while you board.
Hope that helps
Later

bluefish86 · Posted: Jan 23, 2003 12:37 pm Post subject:

I've never taught anyone to board, but I've taught lots of kids to waterski. The main thing is to not force them to do it. If you do, they'll either get scared or start to hate it. You have to wait until they are ready, and want to do it. The age at which they're ready really depends. I've taught 7 and 8 year olds who really wanted to learn, and have met 12 year olds who are still scared and would rather not.
Until they are willing, you should try to get them comfortable with the water and with moving quickly over water by doing things like bringing them tubing, or putting them in swimming lessons. One thing that will usualy make a reluctant kid want to learn is for them to see someone else their age(or even better a friend their age) already up.

Craiggy · Criminal Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 65 City: Canada

my parents never even asked if i wanted to try waterskiing (we didn't have a wakeboard) then when i was five i was begging to go.

my brother is 13 now and still won't try because we keep trying to get him to. Thats just us though