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Took a hard hit yesterday! So have a few questions?

 
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snugglebear
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PostPosted: Aug 21, 2011 12:01 pm    Post subject: Took a hard hit yesterday! So have a few questions? Reply with quote

Okay, just starting to be able to get up every time. I ride regular and I have just been working on controlling the board inside the wake. Questions, sometimes the board feels slippery or squirrely in the water, what is up with that? Secondly, wehn I have tried to cross the wake, I get stuck sometimes and can't get over or back and then I fall, any suggestions here? And finally the hard hit I took yesterday and you have to remember I am 52 years old but still very much young at heart. I got up easily and no sooner that I was up, the board started porpoising, rocking terribly from front to back, and as quick as I was up, the front of the board tipped down in the water and well, you know the rest of the story, about lost my dentures I hit so hard. Still a sore today? Did I get to far forward when the board started to rock, anything will help on where body position should be. I get the handle right next to my leading hip...at least until something like this happens and then it is just hang on....should of probaly let go of the rope instead of trying to save it. Well, Ride On, any words of wisom would be great, thanks all for your help up to this point.
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twolfcorner2009
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PostPosted: Aug 21, 2011 5:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

When you started digging the nose in, you probably were going over some small rollers and started rockin your weight forward as you crested on the roller. Regardless, focus on keeping your weight more towards your back if you're digging your nose in.

The "slippery or squirrelly" feeling is just coming from the design of the board, each board rides differently, if you want a tighter "grippier" ride, look into a different board.

If you're getting stuck you're either a) not taking a hard enough edge into the wake or b) (which is an indirect result of a) not carrying enough speed to get you up and over the crest.

Your handle positioning is correct, keep it pinned or as close to your lead hip as possible, it'll give you the best pull on the rope and the most control as well.

Keep at it and get those nailed and then start going for that wake!
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snugglebear
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PostPosted: Aug 21, 2011 6:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for your response twolfcorner2009, yes there were some small rollers and I was fighting for my balance. Even though I am an avid and proficient snowboarder, going over the rollers felt very foreign. You are right though on keeping more weight to the back.

My wakeboard is a Hydroslide Backdraft Wakeboard. What would I look for in a tighter or grippier wakeboard?

I think too you ae right in that I am not carrying enough speed to get over the crest.

Thanks again for the help!
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Enygma
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PostPosted: Aug 22, 2011 8:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

He's wrong about keeping more weight on the back. I can put almost all my weight on the front foot and it doesn't dig. You should be standing with almost evenly distributed weight.

The reason the board might feel slippery sometimes inside the wake is the jet stream of the boat. That's a spot behind the boat the will make almost any board slippery if you ride right on top of it. It's the white washy spot dead center of the wake.

Your problem with getting back and forth in and out of the wake is simple. Not enough speed. You need to go faster and just think about absorbing the wake with your legs or if you're feeling confident just take a small jump.
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twolfcorner2009
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PostPosted: Aug 22, 2011 5:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

For a beginner, if you're digging your nose in, concentrate on keeping more weight on your back foot, once you start to get better control on the board, enygma is right, you can almost ride a balance 50/50 weight distribution.

Again, true, but more than likely it's that Hydroslide board you're riding. The channel, fin, and rocker design all contribute to how the board feels on the water. Some people like riding a looser board, while others like one with more bite to it.

Easiest way to correct it is to keep riding, rollers can be tricky at first especially if you're riding in the wake all the time, they can be kind of difficult to see depending on how much white wash the boat is kicking up.

Ride on!
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snugglebear
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PostPosted: Aug 22, 2011 6:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for all the great advice, and one other question, do you always keep the handle next to your lead hip? Can you not at least every once and a while let your arms go straight like you are water skiing? Thanks again all!
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twolfcorner2009
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PostPosted: Aug 23, 2011 4:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You can ride with your arms extended or just bend your arm at the elbo and slide the handle into the crook of your elbow if you need to give your arms a break. Just when cutting and edging, it's best to keep it pinned to your hip as it provides you with the best control.
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JeffreyCH
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PostPosted: Aug 23, 2011 5:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

These guys have you on the right track, when starting out you want to keep wieght on the back foot. I have trouble at the beginning of each season (wake > snow, snow > wake) just because of the differences of how the board is weighted. I would for sure get a different board, about anything with molded in outer fins will help a ton with that slippery feeling. I tend to ride one handed a lot with just my lead hand. My poor old back doesn't like being twisted into the 2 handed position a whole lot. Very Happy In fact the olny time I really ride with both hands is when I'm cuttting in/out for a jump, or doing surface spins/slides. As you get more experiance on the water you will learn to read the rollers, and absorb them with your knees rather then bouncing all around.
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pet575
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PostPosted: Aug 23, 2011 7:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A few things to maybe better summarize what you've been told so far (which is all right, BTW):

1. Balance front-to-back: You need to ride with your weight 50-50, or equally distributed, so that you can have as much of the board's edge in the water as possible to give you the most control while edging. ONLY ride with more weight on your back foot when you are facing rollers or rough water.

2. Rope position: Keep it at or as close to your lead hip as possible. When you get a little tired, let go with your back hand and hold on with just your front hand (like what JeffreyCH does). If you get into a habit of going "waterski style" with straight arms in front of you, it pulls the board sideways and you are prone to digging the front edge in once you are sideways and getting a hard faceplant. I'm betting you've had the board go sideways on you while you've been learning and have a hard time controlling it. I'm also betting that you had waterski arms every time. So, in the future, when the board starts going sideways when you don't want it to you need to make sure you've got that handle as close to your lead hip as possible. I know it is harder, but it is a good habit and a good fundamental to have that you can build your riding around. It isn't something you should shortcut because you feel like you don't have to do it. Having said all of that, you CAN use waterski arms so long as you are twisting your upper body so that your hands are above the board in front of your front hip. Otherwise, don't do it. You can ride out of pretty much ANY trouble if you've got your hands on that lead hip, too.

3. Slippery board: you're going to get this when you're riding "flat" and going straight. The first thing to do is get a better board (Hyperlite, Liquid Force, O'Brien, CWB, Ronix). BUT, you don't need a better board immediately to deal with this problem because you will have it even with a better board-just a lot less of it. The way that I deal with it is that I hardly every ride "flat" for more than a second or two. I generally am using one edge or the other (even if it is very subtle) even when I'm riding right behind the boat in the wake. It is personal preference, but I feel like I'm in much better control of my board when I'm on one of the edges. I'm the same way when I snowboard or when I used to skateboard when I was a kid. I'd rather be locked into a subtle carve or a hard carve behind the boat to feel in control.

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fd2blk
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PostPosted: Aug 29, 2011 5:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Do you have a background in Slalom or Surfing? The reason I ask is I am a little older as well, 43, and have always been on a Ski until last year. The first thing I noticed was how squirmy the wake board was compared to my ski. The first time I tried wakeboarding I hated it. I got up first time but the thing was sliding all over the place and the reason was I had way to much weight on my back foot and was trying to ride the wake board like a ski rather than a wake board. From what you are describing I would suggest trying to get a more balanced distribution of weight between your front and back foot and concentrate on moving your weight back and forth between your heels and toes to edge the board to make it turn. Two things I noticed wake boarding, it is a lot less work then slalom and the wipeouts are much more violent. Good luck and just keep at it and my guess is you will get the hang of it prety quick.
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snugglebear
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PostPosted: Aug 29, 2011 8:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

fd2blk, thanks for your response. I have a long background in Slalom and Snowboarding, and only a couple summers of surfing in my late teens when my brother was stationed in San Diego in the Navy. I started water skiing when I was 4 or 5 and was slalom skiing regularly by the time I was 8. Yet I like you find the wakeboard also sliding all over the place, I don't feel much in control. I believe as you stated, I to was having way to much weight on the back foot. I can feel it happening as far as getting the balance and I definitely know how to heel and toe from snowboarding. When it all comes together it feels great.....maybe short lived....but great. Still recovering from my fall, was checked out for a hernia and compression of a couple of disc in my back. But hey, no pain...no fun. A little more recovery time and I will be back at it. Remember, aging isn't an option, but maturing is...I will always be young at heart....even though my recovery time can be a little longer.
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Chocoholic
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PostPosted: Sep 02, 2011 9:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

twolfcorner2009 wrote:
You can ride with your arms extended or just bend your arm at the elbo and slide the handle into the crook of your elbow if you need to give your arms a break. Just when cutting and edging, it's best to keep it pinned to your hip as it provides you with the best control.


Asd a relative newbie, you shouldn't actually be trying to keep the handle in and down at this stage - you're not ready for that. Have your arms out front with a nice bend at the elbow. You only start to bring the handle in and down, when you get ALOT better.

Right now you're just starting out, so finding your balance, learning about edging and line tension are your major worries.

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