Just a "newbie"

[Sandman4432]

Well, i want to get into wakeboarding but i have hit a stumbling block.

Basically I am the best riders of all those I ride with (though my roomate has a brand new Tige 22' boat) and they all, at the same time, think they know enough to still give me pointers on what im doing wrong and what I can do to improve. It doesn't work and everything im trying isnt getting me far.

You should know that I have only been out 10 times at most but I feel like i should be better by now. I feel like im trying to hard. I look at videos and you guys dont really "jump" like you would on the ground but whatever happens I haven't figured it out. What i've been doing is trying to cut hard from the outside then pull myself toward the boat at the wake to get more speed and air. From what i've read so far this is far from good technique.

I linked a video of me we just took so you can watch and critique please. I want to get good but I dont know what im doing wrong....exactly. I dont care to do tricks yet I just want to get that amazing air you all get.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v45/Sandman4432/GFX%20Designs/?action=view&current=MVI_0015.flv

Thanks in advance.

[pet575]

You're giving away all the energy you've built up by "breaking at the waist." Your back/shoulders are heading down toward the water and board, and all of the energy you're building up us being spread out through your hips and lower back. That and you're flattening/coming off your heelside edge before you hit the wake.

You need to keep that heelside edge through the wake and keep your upper body stiffer so that you are leaning back a bit and your back is more straight. I looked exactly like you when I first tried to w2w.

[Sandman4432]

Thanks for the comments but I think im confused at what you mean by "flattening/coming off your heelside edge before you hit the wake."
So what im getting from what you wrote so far is that I shouldnt squat down so much and that I should be standing straight (in a sense) when I hit the wake?

[pet575]

Sort of. It is OK to squat just a little, as long as you're leaning back at the same time and straighten your legs just as you hit the wake. But, if you are squatting is much as you are, then you are actually absorbing some of the wake with your knees. That is robbing you of pop and distance, that along with your edging problem.

To try to explain it better, you look like you're flattening the board out as you come into the wake instead of keeping it on the heelside edge (the edge you use when you cut in toward the wake). Not completely, but you are definitely doing it a little. That means you're actually slowing down as you hit the wake.

Watch your vid again. You take a pretty good heelside cut toward the wake, and then you back off at the last second. Your board flattens out a little (like you're not on either edge) as you come into the wake. You're slowing down as a result. This is the opposite of how you should be doing it.

You need to use what is called a progressive edge heading into the wake. That means you start your cut to the wake and gradually cut harder and harder until you hit the wake. The amount of edging should INCREASE as you approach the wake. In your vid, yours DECREASES as you approach the wake.

You actually do OK for what is happening-you almost make it to the other wake even though you are giving up speed and/or energy in the rope by doing it your way.

As you watch that vid, ask yourself what is in your mind as you approach that wake to make you decrease your edge? Do you feel out of control? Like you're going to fast? Are you afraid? It is OK to admit you are afraid of the unknown. I'll be the first to admit that fear is what motivated me to do the same thing.

If it is fear, you just have to overcome it and try it the way I've described it. If it is something else, you'll have to share that with us so that we can help you. If you feel out of control, then you need to keep practicing your edging until you feel confident.

[Sandman4432]

That will help a lot. As far as fear goes, I can safely say that what im doing isnt scary yet and so there isnt anything that i fear, but I am literally trying to jump the wake like I would in a high jump competition. Im trying to bend down then spring with my own legs and pull with my arms to force myself up. It seems like this "pop" thing I need to get is the exact opposite.

Ill have to give it another try this week and let you know how that went.

Thank for this and any other tips.

[pet575]

No problem. Keep taking vids too, those are the best thing to give us to help. I'm not any expert by any means-I can just see you doing the same things I used to do. Keep it simple, progressively increase your edge as you head into the wake (you are not really edging at all, just steering your board into the wake-you have to edge HARD at the very end). Then straighten your legs or "push off" of the wake. Some people go in with their knees locked, others like to go in squatting a bit and then push down as they go up the wake. Either will work as long as you use a progressive edge.


One more thing on the progressive edge- you do NOT have to go WAY outside the wake to start it. Many people will tell you to not really start edging hard until you get to the "foam" on the water that the boat's spray creates a few feet outside of the wake. The best way to ease into it is start out just trying to make one-wake jumps as high and as far as you can using this new technique. Start edging progressively only about 3 feet outside of the wake to get used to the difference in the pop you will generate. Once you're comfortable, start your progressive edge out a little further.

Get more video so you can see if you are improving.

[Sandman4432]

Ok one last question before this weekend.
I just wanted to get more tips on where I should keep my arms and where to hold the rope at on my entry to the wake and after.
Plus I was wondering about my legs. Should I keep the board perpendicular with the water or lift the nose slightly when i hit the wake. I just dont know if this effects the "pop" any.

[pet575]

You should keep your arms in a position that allows you to hold the handle against your lead hip.

I don't understand what you are asking on your question about your legs. If you're asking whether you should lean "back" toward the tail of the board (the backside) to lift the nose (the frontside) my answer would be NO. Keep your weight distributed on both feet as evenly as possible. Why?

Let's say you're cutting in toward the wake on your heelside edge. You actually want to have as much of the frontside of the board on the heelside edge in the water as possible. This will help you get a greater length of the entire board's edge into the water, which will lead to more aggressive edging into the wake.

Think about the entire length of the board when thinking about your heelside and toeside edges. The more of that length you have in the water, the better the cut and the better the acceleration. Although it is difficulty (and maybe not physically possible), you would ideally want the ENTIRE length of your heelside edge in the water when progressively edging toward the wake. If you have all of your weight on only your backside foot, then you have only about half of the entire heelside edge in the water and therefore are not getting enough speed from that cut.

Make sense?

[Sandman4432]

sweet.

One more thing about bindings. I realize that most of this changes from person to person but is it a good idea to start with your binding perp. to the board, a few degrees out with both or just one....?

[pet575]

Depends on how much you've ridden. If you've ridden enough to put them where you want and are comfortable then it is all about personal preference. Some say that you should stand in one place on land and then jump as high as you can; however you land is how you should put your feet.

If you've ridden switch at all (and you should begin doing that ASAP if you can get up consistently) then both feet should be set at the same angle.

Personally, I can't put mine too close to zero because my hips aren't loose enough to let me rotate enough in that position. However, too far out kills my knees after I'm done riding.

[devon]