Heelside advice (vid)

[Burnser]

I have only started browsing on this site in this last few weeks, and this is my first season of boarding. Would it be possible to get some advice/tips/critique on my heelside jump:

http://www.vimeo.com/1804512

Hopefully the video works as this is the first one I have uploaded. This is also the first time I have taken a video of my jump. There are only 2 people in the boat and no extra weight, so the wake is not very good.

I know that my legs are still slightly bent on take off which may be reducing the pop. What I would like to know is, should I be able to clear the wake (it isnt very high but I have read on here that other people can work with small wakes)? Also, how is my edging, should I be edging harder? I have done wake to wake on a very short rope but I would love to be able to do it full length.

This is also my first post so let me know if I have done anything wrong or posted in the wrong place.

Any tips/advice/constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

[Wakebrad]

It looks pretty good. You have a solid edge until right before you hit the wake. Rather than ease up, keep that edge all the way through the wake. You are also not standing tall at the wake. If you look your knees are still pretty bent at the top. With that small of a wake it's a very small transition. You are going to need to extend your legs very fast to get good pop. Your legs should be extended to the point where they are locked when you are leaving the top of the wake.

You look like you have pretty good control. Keep that handle at your lead hip and work on keeping that edge, and extending all the way and you should be flying in no time.

Also it looks like you are riding too far out on that wake. Pull the rope in about 5 ft. Try throwing some weight in there also. A couple hundred pounds (or kgs) would make a big difference. Just make sure to balance it between the front and the back. If it's rolling over put more in the front.

[Pconn5]

Also one thing I would recommend is to make a shorter cut at the wake and really focus on extending your legs at the wake. The farther you cut out the harder it is to hold your edge through the wake. Take a shorter cut and make sure you extend your legs while leaning back on the rope. You will be amazed by how far you can get on a short cut if you get the right kind of pop. During the beginning of the season this rear I was taking a huge cut at the wake as you were and was just bombing at the wake and flying across. I then tried to focus on extending my legs but that would just throw me off balance. When I started making shorter cuts and making sure not to stand up but actually extend my legs back (not sure that makes any sense) I started getting a clean pop and was clearing the wake with basically no edge at all.

Also I agree that you should pull the rope in a few feet, it seems like the wake is a little better up in front of you and it looks very wide where you are trying to jump it. Mostly the thing that helped me the most was to take a smaller cut and really focus on standing up leaning back instead of straight up. The best way I can explain it is if you stood tall but standing on your heels. It is all part of keeping the tension in the line and not getting pulled forward really. If this is done then not only do you get better pop but you also have a lot more control in the air.

EDIT: Oh yea and your edge looks very strong and in control. You are just letting off at the wake which is why, as you can see in the video, you get pulled forward slightly in the air. Taking a shorter cut should help get you to keep your edge through the wake. Although it is a pain to go through the process of taking short cuts, eventually you will learn to load on to the edge at the wake and keep it, then when you extend back you will get a good clean pop that leaves you in control in the air. Before I learned this I could not get a grab in whatsoever without getting thrown off balance but at the end of this season I learned this and figured it out and on like one of my last runs I just started throwing any grab I wanted too basically.

[Burnser]

Guys thanks for those detailed replies.

I realised my legs were still bent, but find it hard to get the timing right to extend on the top of the wake, plus I think i was coming off the edge when I was trying to straighten my legs. I take it I should still be on edge even when extending my legs, as I think that is what you are saying Pconn5.

So, my areas to work on next time are:
keep edging through the wake,
get the legs fully extended on top of the wake,
try a shorter cut at the wake to get a better pop
shorten the rope a bit
add weight to the boat.

Nothing to it then

I just wish I had done this nearer the start of the season rather than the end. Id say we will only have another couple of days out this year.

Thanks again for the tips

[Aussie boarder;]

i dont think you even have to shorten the rope. youre pretty close.

you cut out nice and far, that was good, you just need to cut back in way faster. get a good progressive edge. you sort of slowed a little bit. if you get a nice progressive cut going, you will go way further, and higher.

i think you need to coast a little bit, or ease off a tiny bit, just before the start of the wake, so you can get ready, bend your knees a little, and so youre balance is all good. - get upright, handle at your waist.
this works great for me.
i think that if you dont coast, you dont get as much pop, but you will get more distance. but if you do coast, you will get both, which is
sorry, im a newbie, but this works really well for me

have fun

[flounderbout]

Hmm.

[RIDE.NORRIS.LAKE]

hold edge at before wake pop off wake, maybe practice on a shorter rope

[c-boy]

everyone has there own way of explaining how to get a good jump across the wake. the only way youll learn it is to figure it out on your own and just feel it.

[Medina]

Looks very nice, i wished i could jump like that

[Craig-R]

i'm with flounderbout, don't listen to basically anything Aussie boarder; says. the first two posts are good