Deep water starts for this older, larger person

jaldridge · Newbie Joined: 05 Jul 2008 Posts: 3 City: Weatherford

I read a lot of advice on teaching deep water starts, and I thought I'd share my experience with others. I am 54, 6'1" and weigh about 205. I am in pretty good shape.

I had a lot of trouble with deep water starts. Mostly, I was simply ploughing water till the rope was ripped out of my hands. The advice from most people, including a pro coach, was to point toes towards the boat, get close to the board, and let the boat pull me up. Not.

The key piece of advice was to dig in with my heels, not point toes. This caused the board to briefly sink initially, compressing me over the board, and the board just planed right out of the water. The event was happily repeatable. Hurray! Your mileage may vary.

Punkpenguin · Outlaw Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 224

Thats pretty much how i learned to get up.

I always teach people to get over the board as soon as there is tension in the rope, then gradually point their toes up, and feel the lift of the board... i have the driver go about 2-3 mph and let them feel it out ( with me next to them in the water showing them the position) and when i see the getting the hang of it, i tell the driver to accelerate slowly up to riding speed.

jaldridge · Newbie Joined: 05 Jul 2008 Posts: 3 City: Weatherford

Now, if I can just stay up...

stunta666 · Newbie Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 31

jaldridge · Newbie Joined: 05 Jul 2008 Posts: 3 City: Weatherford

Or watermelon rind, as I read somewhere recently.

Seriously, I do think different start techniques work for different people, and this one made all the difference for me.

bass69 · Addict Joined: 28 Jan 2008 Posts: 529