Texas Wakeboarding Camps

[SexyWS6Mama]

I plan on going to one of these wakeboarding camps or doing private lessons with them, but wanted to get some feedback on how they are? Was it worth the money? How was the overall experience? Do you recommend it? What did you really learn?

The two I'm looking at are:

McElhinney Wakeboard School in Sequin

and

FreeRide Wakeboard School in Austin

Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!

[savage3221]

Pat McElhinney trained many of the pros there are today. Rode in the first ever wakeboard competition, and is one of the coolest guys I know. I've had the pleasure of a few sets out with him on my own boat, and when I'm at my buddy's house on Lake Placid sometimes we ride with him there. You will not regret taking lessons from him. Also, his crew is a good one. Matt Strom is a really awesome dude, and a great teacher. Also, Gabe is sometimes there as well.

Among some of the riders Pat taught: Gabe Lucas, Randall Harriss.... those two are enough for me

[savage3221]

P.S. Pat taught Billy Garcia, who runs FreeRide

[m_lesney]

I heard good stuff about freeride, and lakelessons as well

[savage3221]

[Nauty]

I took a 3 day from Pat a couple of years ago and he is definitely the best bang for the buck. However, it really depends on your current skill level and what it is you're looking for in a lesson. Pat will teach you the fundementals from the start and he will make you ride with no ballast in the boat. If you are already a skilled rider with a nice bag of tricks you may not feel like you're getting much out of it.

What I mean by this is Pat will strip away all of the bad habits you may have developed before moving onto more advanced stuff. In other words, if you already have some tricks in your bag, but your technique is bad, you will spend your lessons working on your technique rather than learning a new trick.

In the long run you will be grateful for it. The fundamentals that Pat taught me have made me a better rider. I have a better understanding of every new trick that I try. Even if I don't come close to landing them I at least understand what it is that I'm trying to do.

If you do decide to take lessons from Pat just make sure that you get in shape before you go. Lake Placid is 7 miles long. When it's your turn to ride you will ride from one end of the lake to the other, all 7 miles. Do that 2-3 times per day and your arms will be jello by the end of the 2nd day. You also want to make sure you take your lessons durring the week and not on the weekend. Lake Placid has concrete walls all up and down it. The rollers bouncing off of them get pretty bad on the weekends from other boat traffic.

[SexyWS6Mama]

Thanks for the replies, I'm still a pretty beginner rider but hopefully this can pave my way to good technique and more.

Yes, it would be during the week that I would go.

I'm leaning more towards sequin one.

[cowdoc13]

You will not be sorry if you go to Pat McElhinney's school. Everything everyone has said about his school is accurate. I was 46 when I first started going there. Had been riding for about 2 years. I thought I knew a little about riding a wakeboard when I went. Turns out all I really knew was bad technique. Pat spent a lot of time helping me learn the correct fundamentals. Pat is really laid back. He is an excellent teacher. Very patient. Does not care how many times you fall. Will not push you beyond your limits, but will push you to progress. He has the oldest wakeboard specific school in the world. He has been in the sport since its inception. He shaped boards for O'Brien. He was a rider and team manager for O'Brien in the mid 90's. He is a phenomenal rider still today. He knows what he is talking about and how to teach. His 210 has plenty of pop without additional weight. With Pat and 4 riders, there is plenty of wake for any trick one wants to try and one does not get slammed trying new tricks because they are trying them off a huge wake. When I first went there, I could clear the wake heelside, but not toeside. At the end of the 3 day set, I was clearing the wake consistently heel and toe side and doing one wake 180s and half cabs. I also took away a lot of basic knowledge that helped me progress once I got back home. Have ridden there ever summer since and can now consistently clear the wakes toeside, heelside and switch heelside. Can 180 wake to wake in each of those directions. Can do heel and toe side 3's, wrapped and handle pass, and have a pretty consistent backroll. Can now land a halfcab roll about 30% of the time. Not a lot for someone in their teens or 20's, but above avergae for someone that is 54. The smartest thing I ever did to improve my riding was going to Pat McElhinney's school in Seguin.

Given that you live within a couple of hours of Seguin, you may want to go down and take a half day set with Pat or Gabe Lucas just to get a feel for what the school is like. I usually do that early in the spring a few times until I am in good enough shape to handle a 3 day set. Like Nauty said, you get lots of riding in and at the end of a 3 day set you will looking for some time off the water to get over the soreness, even if you are in really good shape. Pat and Gabe are great teachers and phenominal riders. in my opinion, you will not be sorry you went there.

[SexyWS6Mama]

cowdoc13: You got me PUMPED to go!! I can do W2W heel side and but not toeside yet; and my heel side has only been a few times. Plus I can do TS180, some surface tricks, ollie's and handle pass, but nothing great. I had taken private lessons before so hopefully I don't have too much bad technique to fix.

I will be staying with my dad in SA so sequin will only be like 20 mins, so I'm going for 3 day camp at least!!

I can't wait to go now........... Thanks for your input!

[STANG KILLA SS]

me too!

[SexyWS6Mama]

I just signed up for June 15,16,17!!!!!!!!

I'm so excited.....Thanks for all your replies!

[Slade]

I think you probably chose the best two camp/schools in Texas to choose from.

Of course since Billy learned from Pat you will get the same attention to detail and technique with him as you would Pat. I know both guys personally and both of them are great guys and World Class instructors. Sometimes you can get lucky and have Gabe Lucas at Pat's and in turn you will find Tom Fooshee running a boat at Freeride Wakeboard School when he's in town... in fact there are several times through out the year when you can find a guest coach at Freeride. Some of the pro riders that have taught Freeride students include, Gator, Ricky Gonzales, Randall Harris and Wes Brisco.

I know you already made your choice but for others reading this, here are some Freeride facts that show the wide range of possibilities at the school:

1. Billy is a father of two young boys around 11 & 13 so he's great with kids of all riding levels.

2. Him and his school were featured on that Mtv show MADE where he took a girl from Lake Travis High School that had never ridden before and got her to place 2nd at an INT competition with only 30 days to train.

3. He currently has two star students in JB O'Neil & Holland Finely that are tearing up the competition in contests around the country.


Either choice is a great one but I had to comment since nobody else had given a description of Freeride Wakeboard School.

Hope to see everyone at our events this year
www.360wakeboard.com

[STANG KILLA SS]

great plug, but that flyer is like 2 weeks old........

[Slade]

[STANG KILLA SS]

we'd love to come to the next event.


this is the flyer i was refering too on the front page of the link you posted.

[Medina]

No Offence. You need a better designer, this flyer looks crappy.

Please give me the logos and I redesign it.

[Slade]

Yeah, we're in the middle of redesigning the 360 site... that flyer should actually have been replaced by the Thur Movie Nights at Wahoo's Fish Tacos flyer.

Check back for the updates & I'll see you guys around

[STANG KILLA SS]

sweet, let me know when that is, we would love to come catch a flick with you guys. im sure we saw/met some of you at the boat show. we were there friday night

[Slade]

[Slade]

check here for movie night info

http://www.360wakeboard.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10420

[STANG KILLA SS]

no need to hate, hes a foreigner, bare with him
not everyone in the world can be a texan

[Slade]

[SexyWS6Mama]

Thanks for the great info on Freeride. I actually contacted them as well and I might go there for 2 lessons. Best of two worlds you know!

I did watch that MTV episode and I would have loved to be that girl. Wakeboaring 30 days straight, bring it on!!!!!

Me and Cory (STANGKILLA) would love to come to a 360 meets, but I heard they are on Thurs. nights and that's the same night as our car club meets.

Again, thanks for all the great info!

[SexyWS6Mama]

well, since both are great places to go, then both I go too!

I got a private lesson (4 hrs with Billy) in May

and then got 3 day camp with Pat in June.

I'm sure I will learn tons from both of them!

[jt09]

the dutchman is right. that flier looks like ass, no matter when the event was.

[savage3221]

Slade, Stone, I basically hate everything about your site, and the way you ran our booth with the Wii sucked too. Why don't you go drown yourself with a pair of skis and an I/O boat?
(-Cameron/wakesavage)






Lighten the hell up everyone, damn!

[Slade]

[jt09]

edit - this is good thread and i'm not going to continue w/ the hijack.

i appreciate the positive input from slade and what he does for the 360 group. might want to reassess how he speaks to the potential gatorboard buyers in an open forum, but that's his call...

[Slade]

I appreciate the appreciation if it is indeed sincere...

for the record though, I just posted on this thread to give some information about two of the best wake camp/instructors in Texas. I didn't come on here with any negativity against anyone and while me and the GB crew are still good friends; I haven't officially worked for Erik in over two years.

I don't think anything I have done will effect GB sales in a negative way... with that said either of these camps are still top choices for instruction in Texas and everyone is still more than welcome to any 360 event... even the dutchman

[jt09]

it's sincere - i don't run w/ the 360 crowd, but i do see all you guys do to further the sport here in austin and i think it's done pretty damn well. i lurk the 360 boards every now and then and i know you are one of the driving forces over there - i do a lot of charity/planning stuff so i know it's an unappreciated effort, event the quicky flier creations. i got a bit protective of our euro friend and i apologize.

it's pretty easy to get caught up in an internet pissing match and this is a very positive thread, so there's really no place for it here. i had posted something pretty pissy, so i replaced it.

[SexyWS6Mama]

Just to give everyone a response to what I did.

Went to FreeRide for a private lesson 9-2 and later I went to Pat's Camp for 3 days. Both good, learned different stuff from both.

However, I can't tell you how much I learned at Pat's and I'm so grateful for everything he taught me and he made me more aware of what wakeboarding really is and what I"m really doing out there on the water. You really get "schooled" . I'm hoping to go back to Pat towards the end of August and now I will go every year back to him for camp. Plus, it's only 20 mins from my dad's place so it's close!

Thanks for all your responses and cowdoc13; you are an awesome wakeboarder!

[savage3221]

Glad you had a good time at Pat's, always thought he was doing it the right way. Did you happen to get to meet Matt Strom? He's one of the drivers/instructors that works with Pat, 21yrs old. What a funny duo those two are, you might know what I mean if they were workin together with you.

[cowdoc13]

Thanks, SexyWS6Mama. My skills are simply a reflection of what Pat has taught me over the years I have been riding there. Pat's an awesome teacher in my opinion. He is so good at breaking the fundementals down to where one can understand them and apply them on the water. The skills I get to practice at Pat's and the information I leave with always allows me to go home and continue to improve.

Enjoyed getting to ride with you at Pat's. You are a strong rider. Keep hammering away at your toe and heelside 180s. You were so close to taking them both wake to wake. It was impressive getting to see how much you progressed while we were there.

[SexyWS6Mama]

[STANG KILLA SS]