For the fat guys who want to wakeboad.

[Okie One]

I wanted so share my experience of learning to wakeboard for the other XXL people out there. Im 6'5" and weigh almost 300lbs. I tried to get up all last summer with no avail. So this winter I did a bunch of research on the web to see if its even possible for a big guy to get up. And to see if theirs a special technique for us. I talked to Jason Buffalow and this is what he shared with me:

Put your lead knee into your chest. The rest of the board will be pointed under you almost straight down. Think of a can-opener off a diving board. Your arms will be around that front knee with palms facing down. The boat needs to give you everything it has got until you learn. At this point the boat will try to pull you over your front knee, but since you have a big board and a strong guy you can resist it pretty easily. The key here is to not fight it or try to muscle it, but let the boat pull you up and over your knee. If you try getting up sidwayz right now, your size and strength do just the opposite of what I am telling you. The first few times you my go over your knee all together, but once you get the pull than you can see how much to resist. Once break the plane you can stand up. DO NOT STAND UP TO EARLY. You can actually get up and ride in the squatted can-opener position.

Thank God it worked because I was thinking that I just wasted a bunch of money on a board. It helped me to put the majority of my weight on the back foot to keep the nose above water. Then just hold on to the rope. This may sound stupid to the pencil neck light guys, but I found it helpfull to use weight lifting straps to help me get a better grip of the handle. They do come lose when you let go.

I hope this helped my fellow brethren of fat guys.