Powerslides. Need help. Where'd all this slack come from?

Christobull · Addict Joined: 29 Jun 2009 Posts: 898 City: Tulsa

I finally got to ride on some smooth water last weekend, so I was working on some new surface tricks as well as developing others I had down, but the powerslide has me at a loss. The trick itself, I get. Feels just like I'm on a snowboard, but I generate so much slack in the line I can't hold on once the boat catches up. I think maybe I'm not initiating my slide quick enough. It feels like I'm carving back toward the boat before I break my fins loose. Any advice? Other than that the trick feels solid. I can just about touch the elbow of my rear arm on the water and stand back tall afterwards, but the amount of slack is just ridiculous.

holdsworth · Posted: Jun 30, 2009 5:10 am Post subject:

Christobull, you're right, you're carving in towards the wake while trying to pop the fins out. The thing that I do on powerslides is edge out pretty hard and when I know I have enough speed, I lean on my toes a bit (not edging at all, just leaning) and push out my back foot to get completely sideways.

Christobull · Addict Joined: 29 Jun 2009 Posts: 898 City: Tulsa

Okay, I'm pretty sure I see what you're saying. I'll definitely give that a try next time I see some smooth water, which probably won't be the 4th of July weekend unfortunately.

holdsworth · Posted: Jun 30, 2009 1:54 pm Post subject:

Halfway through this vid I have one.

http://vimeo.com/5329276

Blindside_137 · Posted: Jun 30, 2009 2:16 pm Post subject:

yep, i really have to think about kicking my back foot out and keeping the handle in close.

try a few backside slides behind the wake at ~15 mph or so and get the feel of your legs and the handle positioning.

Wakeboarder3780 · Posted: Jun 30, 2009 2:43 pm Post subject:

holdsworth, I really like at 0:33 where you 180 right after the trick. It might be to maintain balance but it looks smooth (read sick) as sh*t.

Wakeboarder3780 · Posted: Jun 30, 2009 2:47 pm Post subject:

to the point of this post (not to tell you to rush it or anything) but the faster you go from cutting hs to dropping down on that slide, that faster you go to "putting on the brakes" which will give less time for the rope to get slack.

If that doesn't make sense think of this. Lets say you and the boat are traveling 23mph. Lets say some force made you all of a sudden accelerate up to 25mph (lets say god did it). Right now you are getting slack in the line at a rate of 2mph. The faster you can hit the brakes to travel less than 23, the less slack will get created.

Now thats thinking way too much about it Wink

holdsworth · Posted: Jun 30, 2009 2:48 pm Post subject:

Wakeboarder3780, nah I have fine balance on those it's just natural to bring it back to regular for some reason.

Christobull · Addict Joined: 29 Jun 2009 Posts: 898 City: Tulsa

holdsworth, That a pretty impressive video, btw. How long have you been riding?

holdsworth · Posted: Jul 02, 2009 6:06 am Post subject:

Christobull, this is my twelfth season.

STANG KILLA SS · Posted: Jul 02, 2009 6:35 am Post subject:

i tryed this for the first time last night, trying what you said holdsworth.
i just couldnt make it work. my sister and g/f both said it just looked like i was goofing around, and badly.
never could get more than just a sad scared looking backwards chair thing.
any more tips?

also cant figure out the water wheelie, like you do and the biging of that vid.

pet575 · Posted: Jul 02, 2009 7:32 am Post subject:

STANG KILLA SS, I think they call what you were doing the "prison slide." Very Happy

STANG KILLA SS · Posted: Jul 02, 2009 7:34 am Post subject:

haha thats fkn halarious.

Shault · Newbie Joined: 02 Jul 2009 Posts: 1 City: Brandon

I can do the powerslides but have never tried to do what holdsworth does in the first 3-4 secs of video.

How do I do that? Just lean back on pull on handle?

Christobull · Addict Joined: 29 Jun 2009 Posts: 898 City: Tulsa

Christobull · Addict Joined: 29 Jun 2009 Posts: 898 City: Tulsa

STANG KILLA SS, looks like you've got the part down that I don't. I think if you just leaned into it really hard at that point and pushed your feet out, you'd have it. The only other thing that I'm not sure about is the angle the slide should be. I always thought you should be moving across the line and slide traveling in the same direction of your cut. This could be wrong of course, but you seem to be traveling with the boat, and maybe that has something to do with it.

STANG KILLA SS · Posted: Jul 02, 2009 10:22 am Post subject:

yeah i feel like im able to get "backwards" enough, even more so than holds worth, but the bent knees just ruin the trick.
in the 6-7 times i tried it, i only caught the HS edge once and back planted.
i guess you just got to commit and straigten. maybe holdsworth will chim back in with some tips for us

Christobull · Addict Joined: 29 Jun 2009 Posts: 898 City: Tulsa

Agreed. I haven't caught an edge doing it yet, but I did wash out at first. I think a lot of it is knowing what to expect beforehand which only comes through trial and error. I actually started trying this because I was about to run into my friend while we were doing a double set. I was just trying to stop very quickly, like you would on a snowboard, and felt like I could repeat that same motion farther out in the flats. So far, not so much.

holdsworth · Posted: Jul 02, 2009 1:17 pm Post subject:

For the first slide in the video, I just edge out real hard, lean back on the rear of the board (using back hand as a guide hand to not slip out) with my front leg fully extended and rear leg bent. When the board gets up on the tail a little bit, I extend my back (bottom leg in the slide) leg and ride it out from there.

With the other slide, all I do is edge out hard and when speed is up, release the fins by pushing my rear foot out and then positioning my hips to the spot I want to slide in. I keep my front knee bent slightly and my rear knee bent quite a bit more (pause/play the video to see this through the slide) but use this knee to poke it more or less. In the picture below you can tell that I can poke it out to be more in line with the boat if I just extend me knee. I'm a little hunched over in these but not too bad that it looks sloppy. I always lean to the water with a guide hand and just lean against the rope as much as I can (and water smoothness permitting) and work with it from there so that I don't do this "prison slide" Wink

.

Sandbagger · Outlaw Joined: 10 Jun 2008 Posts: 154

I do the power slide all the time, mostly when the boat is making a turn and I can get some really good speed, then just lay down toe side, completely on edge, with the speed the board will slide on edge, my chest is nearly touching the water and my body position is straight fully extended (my knees are not bent at all). Makes a great spray.

In your picture your board is too flat and looks more like a backward butterslide, which is why sometimes you might catch an edge. I have never caught a backside edge doing a powerslide. You really need to lay this out and get completely on edge.

Wakeboarder3780 · Posted: Jul 02, 2009 1:48 pm Post subject:

For the guys working on the slide,

I think when you get more aggressive with it, you'll get that lower to the water look and get the prison slide stuff out of it. As for initiating the slide, sometimes it takes time to learn how to get your board to slip out into slide position.

Just screw with it, you'll get it.

Stang as others have said just lay into it. Cut out hard and then throw down the TS edge

Christobull · Addict Joined: 29 Jun 2009 Posts: 898 City: Tulsa

I started working on this again. My friends are getting the prison slide down. I did it while the boat was turning around, and was almost too afraid to even push out. I got one that was really good, so I think I can build off that. Now my problem is not the slack, but feeling like the boat is going to pull me forward onto my chest. Should I start making a little more of a cut into it? I noticed in some of the pictures, that the nose of the board was catching most of the water.

WilsonH · Posted: Jul 17, 2009 3:37 pm Post subject:

Christobull, from what i've read, the nose catches most of the water because you're switching edges so fast. You may just need to edge harder.. The water up here is always choppy so I don't even want to try a powerslide, but hopefully i'll get a good day and be able to try a bit.

wakeboard1414 · Newbie Joined: 06 Jun 2009 Posts: 44

dude holdsworth nice vid

kriggs · Posted: Jul 17, 2009 7:30 pm Post subject:

holdsworth grab those tantrum to blind's deffinately. nice riding

holdsworth · Posted: Jul 18, 2009 7:35 pm Post subject:

kriggs, Thanks...I have some video from yesterday with two that are grabbed. New video should be up within about two weeks...

wakeboard1414, thanks!

crashhappy · Outlaw Joined: 04 Aug 2008 Posts: 116 City: Acworth

holdsworth, Sick Vid!.......