I'm a noob! :P

SpellingIsFun · Newbie Joined: 29 Jun 2010 Posts: 7

So I'm new to wakeboarding.
I'm a huge snowboarding addict. Going on some 10 years of riding. And I am so pleased to have a board to ride in the summer.

I got some video today of myself to try to check my form and I find I look a lot more unstable than I feel. I think I am trying to translate snowboard techniques into wakeboarding and it's not the same--clearly.

Should I be putting my weight on my back foot in general? I slalom ski, so I keep intertwining a little of that, too. It's weird...

Also, I'm using a ski handle. I have a wakeboard handle, but I have to get a new rope. I keep holding the handle like a slalomer. I think it's because I'm unstable because my grip is too close. Do you think the wider handle will help or is it more that I have to build the strength?

Chocoholic · Soul Rider Joined: 21 Feb 2009 Posts: 363 City: Dubai

Damn it - another one of these skier/snowboarders - lol jk Laughing

Don't hold the handle like you would slalom skiing, you need you hands both the same side of the handle with a wider grip and if you've only just started wakeboarding, have you arms straighter and keep the handle down. You can bend your arms as you get better.

Your weight should ideally be quite even, with maybe a little more on the back foot.

Obviously because you've been skiing, you'll be used to having your legs straighter, you need to get a good bend in those knees, this will really help with your stability and it's not just bending your knees, the way I describe it, it's rolling your knees outwards towards the ends of the board.

JeffreyCH · Posted: Jun 30, 2010 5:45 am Post subject:

I ride both wake and snow, and your right the difference is night and day. The weight transfer in wake is a little like riding deep powder. You engage your edge more with your back foot, and lean back against the rope. In snowboarding you use the torsional flex of the board to carve, no flex in wake. On snow you point your shoulder down hill, and roll your hips forward, wake you twist at the hips so your shoulders are squared towards the boat.

SpellingIsFun · Newbie Joined: 29 Jun 2010 Posts: 7

Chocoholic - Rolling the knees out is what I'm missing, I think. I have good bend in the knees from snowboarding, but it's a different kind of bending as Jeffrey explained.

Jeffrey - That comparison is extremely helpful. I think the reason I end up with my weight so far forward on the board is because I am trying to turn with my shoulders. I mentioned to my boyfriend after I got up for the first time last week that I was having trouble getting my brain to work with my body and keep my shoulders toward the boat while my hips are pointing away. I think it's something that will only get better with more practice as I get more comfortable behind the boat.

I have a wider handle that I am going to try out this evening. I think it will give me a lot more stability, so we'll see how it goes.

Thanks for the advice! Smile

Wakeboarder3780 · Posted: Jun 30, 2010 6:10 pm Post subject:

agree with everything that is said, make sure you're keeping both palms down on your handle - it will put you in a more balanced position.

I personally think of wakeboarding vs snowboarding difference like this:

On a snowboard you rotate around your front foot - your back foot does the steering. Basically you lean a particular way and then push your back foot out to meet that angle on a snowboard..

On a wakeboarding that rear foot is instead the pivot point - it's anchored to the water by the board edge and fins. Now you kind of steer with your front foot (in my opinion). In essence you lead with your hips, but your front foot is tipping left or right (while your back foot stays in the same spot), hence making you turn.

That's how I think they differ. Also, don't sell yourself short - snowboarding WILL help you pick up wakeboarding faster - it will just take a while to get used to how to control the rope/handle so the handle doesn't drive you Wink

SpellingIsFun · Newbie Joined: 29 Jun 2010 Posts: 7

Yea. My first run went better today. The wider handle helped to keep me gripping palms down, for sure. The second run ended with me testing my face's ability to absorb blunt trauma. I packed it in and have been icing my sore jaw since.

My neighbors watched me eat it and said it looked like the boat was going WAY too fast. My driver said it was between 21 and 23 mph. I don't know how accurate the speedometer is, though it's a brand new boat. The throttle is still a little stiff and it's really tough to get it to stay consistently around 20 mph. Do you think slowing down and trimming up a little would be the best idea? I drove for my boyfriend and I ended up having to do this to keep the boat around 19-21 mph. By 23 mph he was asking to slow down. I think I'm just used to the speed from slaloming and I'm letting myself get pulled too fast. Suggestions?

Chocoholic · Soul Rider Joined: 21 Feb 2009 Posts: 363 City: Dubai

Always best to learn things at slower speeds and gradually increase it as you get better.

Enygma · Soul Rider Joined: 26 Jul 2009 Posts: 356

another good thing I seen in "the book" is to pick up a wakeskate and practice tricks on that, that way you're not bound to the board and will not suffer as many or as bad of injuries:)

I was thinking about picking up a cheap one for this purpose myself.