Old Guys

[jmlloyd]

I posted this in Newbie's but thought i could get some answers here also...

I am searching for any older wakeboarders on this forum and what types of tricks they are taking on. I am almost 40, skiied as a kid but have only been wakeboarding 1 season. Thus far I am only doing some single wake jumps and working on some surface tricks. I enjoy wakeboarding alot and would like to continue to progress, but i am a realist and understand that i am not as young as i used to be. My big thrills now come from pulling my 3 kids as they become better and better riders. Any tips or suggestions on what types of things i should start working on are appreciated.

J

[dalderman]

Welcome to your new obsession.
I started riding two years ago at the age of 40. I've surfed my entire life and snowboarded since the mid 90's so I had a understanding of edging and the weight shift involved of going from heel to toe.
At this point wake2wake, I can do four different 180's, some grabs (hs and ts) and working on a couple of inverts (tantrum and ts backroll) and a 360 which I haven't landed.
Two things that really helped me progress were being a research junkie and getting as much info as I could from websites like learnwake.com, magazines and videos like The Book. Also, ride as much as possible and preferably with people better than you. You really need to put in your time on the water if you want to progress. Nothing else can replace that. And don't forget to have fun doing it.

[sinjun]

i am 43 started wakeboarding on a skurfer in 1990. i have a really bad back so i try to take it easy wake to wake, surface 180s, slides, ollies things like that.

[tcaseymcclure]

thats awsome... my buddys dad is in his 50s and he is jumping wake to wake... I would say just work on a solid progressive edge and try to get a w2w... When you jump wake to wake the impact of landing is significantly less. but other than that I would say practice cutting out into the flats and doing some ollie 180's and practice riding switch.

[fish6942]

I'm 45 and have been riding for the last 8 or 10 years but have been a skier since I was a teenager. Now I'm probably split 70/30 between wakeboarding and skiing.

As far as tricks, I don't and probably never will do any inverts (gotta be to work the next day). Currently working on BS 180s and generally trying to get more and more pop. Most of my tricks I can do regular and switch.

The hardest part about being an older rider is finding people to ride with. It turns out that my 15 year old son is my main driver although he doesn't ride. Most of my friends have relagated themselves to golf and fishing, I tell them I'll start those things once I get OLD!!

[Medina]

You should start with the Sbend2Blind as a beginner Many 35+ Do that

[buckthis]

You don't stop wakeboarding because you get old, you get old because you stop wakeboarding!

[jmlloyd]

Thanks to everyone!!!

[Medina]

Here in Holland we have some 40 year old cable boarders who will own alot of young guys. 313s Backmobes go on

[JeffreyCH]

I'm 40 and been riding wake for 5 years and just finished my 3rd season on a snowboard. I know if I would have started all this in my 20's I would have progressed a lot quicker. I just kind of stopped looking so much progression and just focus on having fun spending time with my family and friends. I taught a bunch of my buddies that are 30's-40's, and we ride every weekend during the season.

The main thing is to keep in shape, and work extra hard on proper positioning and technique. I've got consistent w2w, most of my 1's dialed in, and lots of surface tricks, my favorite being long tail presses, and seeing how close to the water I can get riding cuffed

[cowdoc13]

I'm 54 and have been riding about 11 years. First 2 years were behind a lake roach and after that behind a boat. When I switched to a boat, I thought I knew a little about wakeboarding, but decided at my age lessons were in order if I really wanted to progress. Went to Pat McElhinney's school in Seguin, Texas and it was the best thing I ever did. I have been riding there at least once every summer since. Can go wake to wake heelside, toeside and switch heelside. Can heelside and toeside 180 wake to wake, on good days with grabs. Can half cab with a grab wake to wake. Can do heel and toe 3's pretty consistently wake to wake, wrapped and handle pass. Have a consistent backroll and on rare occasions can land a half cab roll. Doubt I would have ever developed many of those tricks without taking lessons. Yes, I have taken plenty of hard hits, but I thoroughly believe lessons at Pat McElhinney school (http://themcelhinneywakeboardschool.com) are what have allowed me to develop the tricks I have without getting totally hammered to the point I did not want to try those kinds of advanced tricks or could not get up and go to work the next day. As a side note, I have found ibuprofen before one rides means far fewer ibuprofen after one rides.

I totally agree with everyone that says the more information one gets the easier it is to progress. I read a lot about technique too. I too try to stay in shape and keep my weight down. Ultimately I think one has to decide what level they want to push their riding to.

As I look at my own learning curve/ progression, taking lessons gave me the most information and really helped me build confidence. What was really good about getting hooked up with Pat McElhinney is Pat is excellent at teaching "basics" and you get plenty of water time on what is typically really good water. You ride on a river and it is 6 miles long. There are rarely more than 4 people in the boat and one gets plenty of time on the water. Pat will not not push you beyond your skill level, but he will help you try to learn any trick you want to try. Pat makes you learn on pretty much a stock wake. With 4 people in his boat, there is plenty of wake. Strong basic techniques are really important in my opinion for one to progress to more advanced tricks. Pat really preaches sound basic techniques. He is really good at make one understand where they went wrong anytime they fall on a trick and what they need to do to correct it. That really helps a lot when one gets home behind their own boat.

One place I think some people go wrong is by getting the impression that the bigger the wake the easier it is to go wake to wake, or to learn a new trick. What I think is more accurate for people our age is the bigger the wake the bigger the crashes when one is just starting out and trying to learn how to clear the wake and a few other basic tricks. It is only recently that I have started riding with much more than stock balast in a malibu vlx. Even though I am now comfortable throwing most of my tricks off a bigger wake, I still go back to a smaller wake when I am trying to learn a new trick or start having trouble with something I know how to do. By going back to a little smaller wake it forces me to use good technique and the crashes do not seem to be quite as bad as they are off of a big wake. I now love playing off a big wake. But it has not always been that way because when things do not go well off a big wake, the crashes can be a good bit more brutal at times.

So much of wakeboarding is having a tight line and being in control when leaving the wake. If one has minimal skills and comes screeming in at a big wake, goes totally out of control, and crashes really hard, their enthusiasm for wakeboarding dimishes rapidly. Remember that wakeboarding is about progression. One has to learn how to edge first. One then has to learn how to edge a little stronger as they get to and start up the wake (progressive edge) in order to generate the line tension and forward momentum to clear the wake. Learning things 1 wake and then pushing them wake to wake is important too. Lessons can help with that, but one also has to be willing to spend the time on the water to practice the basics before they can begin to really progress. Typically I do not leave Pat's throwing a lot of new tricks. What I leave with is a very good understanding of how to do the trick correctly. Generally I will have landed it a few times. But ultimately I have to go home and work on it to get consistent at it. At my age, I am limited on how much time I can spend on the water and still walk comforatbly every day. But the more frequently I do ride the more consistent I am with all my tricks.

Lastly and in my opinion, the board one uses in learning how to wakeboard can make or break somone just starting out. If one goes to the local pro shop and buys the latest/greatest pro model, they may end up with a board that is too advanced for their skill level. Been there, done that. Most pros stay on a hard edge at all times. Getting on a hard edge coming to the wake means one will be moving a relatively high rate of speed. Pros are comfortable with that. Most beginners are not. When one feels out of control when they are screeming in at the wake, their survival mechanism kicks in and they get off their edge and let the handle out to let off the line tensions. One gets little to no pop when they get off their edge at the wake and gives up their line tension. When one gives up their edge on many of the current pro models, it will feel like you lose a lot of your forward mometum and you will get little or no pop and little or no distance across the wake. I am no expert on boards and would not even begin to want to suggest a board to anyone else. But another one of the things that came from my taking lessons from someone that has been in wakeboarding since its inception and someone that shapped boards is Pat got me on a board that helped me progress because it had a forgiving edge. Every board style is a little different. At my age, I am not comfortable coming in screeming at the wake all the time which is how it felt when I tried more advanced boards. I do much better on a board that is "forgiving" (intermediate boards) so if I feel a little out of control coming into the wake, I can get off my edge a little without losing all my forward mometum and line tension like would occur when I got off the edge of the latest pro model.

Hope this helps. Above all, keep it fun!!!! One does not have to throw big tricks to have fun on a wakeboard.

[k9fxr]

Cowdoc, havent heard from you in a while,
You said it all nicely and I agree with it all.
I am on the north side of 50 yrs old and look to progress with each session, seems that I am at the same skill level of cowdoc (but never landed a 1/2 cab BR).

I would add never ride out of control, or push your self when tired/fatigued, I did and am recovering from an ACL tear and surgery.

Cowdoc, what board are you on now, you are making me rethink my current?

[cowdoc13]

k9fxr

I am an "old fart". I tend to read a lot more on this site than I do comment.

Sorry about your knee. Hope the recovery and rehab are going well. Great advice about not riding when fatigued/tired. Popped my MCL late one Saturday evening trying to go "big" when I should have been going to the boat ramp. Had been riding all day and was tired. Water was chopped up from all the boat traffic. Just had to take one more set. Was lucky I did not injure my knee worse. My little brother, at the ripe old age of 38, tore his ACL his first time snow skiing. It was a last run of the day fall when he was out of control and really tired.

Before going to Pat's the first time, I made my first purchase of the "latest/greatest" pro model. Thankfully Pat put me on an 03 Hyperlite Motive the second day I was there. Night and day difference between the 2 boards. The Motive was much easier for me to ride and progress on. For me and my style, it was a great board to learn on. Really like that board because of how forgiving it is. If I got on too hard an edge and started to feel out of control, I could get off the edge a little and not lose all of my forward momentum or line tension. Rode it for 4 years. Learned all my spins on it and started doing my inverts on it too.

Tried 2 other "latest/greatest" pro models looking for something "more". Sold both of them because I either felt like I was sitting still in the water or hauling butt when I rode them. Never felt comfortable on either one because you had to stay on such a hard edge all the time, so I always went back to the Motive by the end of the season. Nothing wrong with the Motive I was on, I still have it and ride it ocassionally today. But, I was just looking for something that would give me "more". Basically I came to the realization that the Motive gave me everything I needed at my skill level. All I had to do was use good technique to get the "more" I was looking for from other boards.

Three years ago I switched over to a CWB Pure just to try something different again. Pat told me it rode very similar to the Motive, which it does in my opinion. The pictures I posted on last year's "old guy" thread was on an 06 Pure. Right now I am on an 09 Pure. Originally the Motive was called the Belmont which is Shawn Murray's signature board. Originally, the Pure was the Absolute. It is my understanding that when companies come up with a "pro model" that is popular with the masses because of how it rides, they give it a new name so they can continue to make changes and market the original name as this year's "latest/greatest" of that signature pro model. So basically most boards marketed today as "intermediate boards" are older "pro models" with a new name.

Fins are something that are likely worthy of mention too, as someone just starting maybe trying to decided which is better. Basically my advice would be to try it both ways because not everyone likes the same feel of a board on the water. While I can ride without fins, my personal preference is to have a set of 1.25 fins on my board. For me, fins provide me with the feeling that I am a little more stable and in control when learning new tricks, especially on the landings. I do not mind the slick feel of going finless and the board does pop better and I tend to go bigger when I go finless. But, I personally feel more comfortable and in control when I am riding with fins. Certainly if one is going to do a lot of surface tricks, finless is definitely the way to go as surface tricks are more challenging when one has to break the fins lose from the water to slide the board around on the water.

Lastly, k9fxr are we in the same basic line of work, just different species????

[WilsonH]

jmlloyd, as long as you're having a good time the tricks will come, in my experience atleast. If you're having fun, no matter what skill level you're at, you're having a sucessful day of riding. At your age i'm sure you arn't planning on going pro, so just make sure every time you go out you enjoy yourself! I know for myself i'll get a little bored just messing around and try something new and i almost always get it first or second try. If you make yourself comfortable you will progress. As for your question, only you know how far you can progress, don't let your body get in the way of your riding though!! It's all in the mind

[rc5695]

I'm 34 and started on Skurfers when they first came out in the '80s, along with a big slalom background. I'm mostly doing w2w, 180's grabs and stuff. My bad lower back doesn't bother me unless I land a bunch of big jumps on flat water... My goal is to get the w2w 360 down this year now that I've got a real wakeboard boat. I biggest problem is not having somebody better than me to ride with to school me. I learn by watching. If I were serious about getting better, I'd def. buuy The Book and some videos... I'm more into just having fun nowadays

[k9fxr]

I spent literally years trying to get the 360 down with out knowledgeable help. Get some live help, do it right, unlearning bad habits takes a long time