waking in a war zone.....

Seoul Rider · Newbie Joined: 05 Jun 2004 Posts: 3

just want to say a big "Annyong hae sae yo" (hi) to everyone as this is my first post.

I've been reading this forum for a while and think its awesome....I just took up wakeboarding, as its the only interesting water sport I can find here in South Korea (hence Seoul rider- I've become).

Korea might seem like a weird kind of place to wakeboard, but I can say its keeping me sane. I'm from Australia and surfed since I was a young. Unlike Japan, there are no waves here. Fortunately, there's wakeboarding.

We go up the North Korean River, just south of the DMZ.....complete with military bases and Apachi helicopters flying overhead (reminds me of Apocalypse Now, when they were surfing in the war).

I have a quick question.....As a surfer, I tend to put too much weight on the back edge (heel or toe) rather than evenly down the rail. Does anyone have some advice on how to break this habit? It feels real odd to give the front foot a more active role in the turn (if you know what I mean)....

Peace to all. And congrat's on collectively making one awesome wakeboarding site..

Seoul Pete

Seoul Rider · Newbie Joined: 05 Jun 2004 Posts: 3

Is the above question too simple or just plain dis-interesting? This is the newbie board, right?

Let me put it another way. I guess we can use various ways to practice or train (trampoline, skate board, snow board, cable ski...even surfing). Although, each are a little different to actual wake boarding.

For surfing, the power is generated with wave position and the back foot 'carving' the large fins. However, when I wake board I find it really difficult to cut out wide of the boat to gain the speed for a wake jump. The seems to be due to the rear of the board being too deep and the front not cutting deep at all. The rear foot binding is catching the water causing all sorts of instability.

I can tell you, this is quite frustrating.

One problem with wakeboarding here in Korea is that no body speaks any English..That's why I'm posting to get some feedback...'preferably in English'.

carsonmac · Newbie Joined: 11 Feb 2004 Posts: 36

Seoul Rider, try posting this over in the general discussion forum, even though you may have a "newbie" question I don't think anyone will mind since you haven't gotten any responses over here.

Mister C · Posted: Jun 08, 2004 4:37 pm Post subject:

Give it a shot over in the general wake, as this question doesnt necessarily fall into your everyday noobie category.

Sportster4Tec · Posted: Jun 08, 2004 8:48 pm Post subject:

In wakeboarding you have to rely more on your edges and cutting "against" the boat's pull to gain line tension. You can't just turn parrallel to the wake and just ride straight to it without cutting. Check out the progressive edging tip in the trick tips section on this site. Hope this helps.

roundbaywakeboard · Posted: Jun 09, 2004 10:12 pm Post subject:

Seoul rider, that's tight that they (Korea) let you ride a boat. Having a heavy heel is a good thing in wakeboarding-however you have a resistance point to use (the rope). Use that heavy foot but use the line tension to keep you from falling backward-it should give you an excelent approach to the wake. Two things- first, cut out hard, flatten out, then slowly edge into the wake. Second, hit the wake completly perpendicular to yourself...never go over the 38th parallel. *Ba da bing!*

Seoul Rider · Newbie Joined: 05 Jun 2004 Posts: 3

Thanks for the advice....

I got some feedback (in Korean) from the driver. He said, " 넌 지금 이러게 하고 있는데....." I should say, he said that I'm bending or leaning from the hips, when I should be straighter at the hips and bend ze knees and use the ankles to find a fuller edge.

I've read through all the various trick tip sections, which are great help, but as you know...... reading and doing it are different. Also, practicing on the dock is different to being pulled by the boat. One idea I might try is riding a skateboard pulled by a bike.

It seems that nothing beats feedback from video and boat buddies..but this site rocks too.

cheers.
Pete

WakeBoardingManiac · Addict Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 914 City: Montréal

You don't absolutely need to have 50-50 weight on each foot... Lot's of pro riders are really back heavy (mainly those coming from a skiing background) and they can still rip. It all depends on your style!