McElhinney Wakeboard School Props

BoarderX · Posted: Mar 19, 2006 7:35 am Post subject: McElhinney Wakeboard School Props

Went for a 3day set of Pat McElhinney's wakeboard school with a couple friends. I gota say it was bad ass... Pat is a cool rider man. Way down to earth and laid back. He definately knows the mechanics of riding and most importantly, he knows how to relay it to the riders.. Rested for a couple days when I got back home and went for a set yesterday and everything felt great. I can't think of a better way to start the season.

Check it out.. I know my crew and I recommend it.

www.mcelhinneywakeboardschool.com

cowdoc13 · Newbie Joined: 18 Jun 2004 Posts: 43 City: College Station

BoarderX

I totally agree with you. I started riding at Pat's 3 years ago. I try to go for a 3 day set at least once a season. He is an awesome rider and teacher. I was there the Thursday after you for a morning set. He was bragging on you and your buds. He said one of you had learned a scarecrow. Props to you all.

First time I went to his school, I thought I knew a little about riding a wakeboard. Turned out I did not really know squat. Pat was really patient with me and helped me understand and master the basics of a progressive edge and using a tight rope. Now I am throwing heel and toeside backrolls, tantrums, and toe and heelside 3's. I still crash on my inverts because I just started throwing them last year, but at least I now have the conficence to throw them and I know why I am falling when I fail to ride away from them. For those that are saying "so what" about now, I am 51 years-old. Trust me when I say it is even harder at my age.

Pat does not care how old you are or how experienced/ inexperienced you are. He is totally commited to helping you become a better rider. He is really good at explaining things in a way that makes sense and is easy to apply on the water. He will not push you beyond your capabilities. He does not care how many tmes he has to turn around and pick you up. He wants to see you progress. And, the water there is awesome! I too, highly recommend going there.

jgates · Outlaw Joined: 14 Mar 2004 Posts: 158 City: Rome, NY

cowdoc13, you're my hero. Here I am at 45 thinking I need to make things happen this year because the game is almost over. You've given me some hope that someday I'll bag an invert. That said I'll keep Pat's camp in mind. Thanks...

BoarderX · Posted: Mar 21, 2006 3:47 pm Post subject:

yeah he gave me a lot of pointers on my scarecrow.. id only ever landed it once before this and im hoping it becomes a regular this season. He helped my bud a lot with his backroll and another friend of ours who could barely even ride beforehand was landing 180s by time we left. I definately see this becoming an annual event.

I think I failed to mention we got the privilege of seeing him and Gabe Lucas ride and another friend of his that I forget the name. I burned up so many pictures on them riding with a disposable camera that I'm kickin my butt for not havin a good camera with me. The inverted grey specs in the distance with those cheap cameras just dont serve them justice! For God's sake his yardman/deckman was thowing inverts without even hitting the wake. Thats just not right man! Shocked

jwalker1 · Criminal Joined: 27 Dec 2005 Posts: 88 City: Spring

I just called and talked to his wife, It sounds like an awsome school. I'm in, I am going to schedule a 3 day session with him in May. I have never been to a school so I'm looking forward to it. I wish they used a good boat though like MC lol.

RIDElakeMcQUEENY · Newbie Joined: 12 Jul 2005 Posts: 45 City: McQueeny

yeah i live within view of Lake Placid were he runs the school an ive seen him out there a lot but never have tried the school even though i have been wanting too, now i think i'll try it!!!but i wish he used a mastercraft too lol

J_DOGG · Posted: Mar 22, 2006 5:00 am Post subject:

Yup, he's and old school pioneer...

I think I have one of his old instructional tapes some place in my board room.

Where exactly is he located?

cowdoc13 · Newbie Joined: 18 Jun 2004 Posts: 43 City: College Station

jgates
Thanks. I did not start riding until I was 44. Spent the first two seasons riding behind a jetski. A trampoline helped me a lot with "air awareness" when I started thinkng about inverts. I just got the biggest one I could find so my big, old, slow ass does not get bucked off of it. I can actually do more tricks on a trampoline now than I could when we had one when I was in junior high school. It helps me keep in shape and practice something I enjoy. Life does not end at 30, it just slows down and takes a longer to get over the "hard knocks" of riding. Riding is something I really enjoy. Pat keeps it fun and has really helped me progress. I would not have progressed to the point I have without his help and instruction.

BoarderX
I think Chris is the guy who's name escaped you. I have not seen him ride, but Pat said he was really good. I think Gabe Lucas is going to help Pat some with lessons this summer when Gabe is not riding on the tour. I am looking forward to taking some sets with Gabe too. I hear he is an awesome rider.

RIDElakeMcQUEENY
Yeah, say that to Pat. He is "old-school" Natique. That will never change. He will not "dis" another boat, but he is a die-hard Natique man. Always has been, always will be. Cool

J_DOGG
Pat's school is in Seguin, Texas. That is about 25 - 30 miles east of San Antonio on I-10. It is a bout 50- 60 miles southwest of Austin, Texas. Pat shaped boards for O'brien at one time. He and some other riders put together the instructional videos "Class in Session I & II". If one gets into Pat's video library, there are some clips of him doing air raleys and backrolls on a scurfer with sandles. Really impressive to watch considering where the sport has progressed to today in terms of equipment. The ceiling of his proshop is covered with boards starting from the inception of the sport. One can get a real history lesson if they get him started talking about all of them.

BoarderX · Posted: Mar 22, 2006 6:52 am Post subject:

That Air Natique 210 he is currently using is a great boat. When him and Gabe rode he filled up the internal ballast as well as some extra sacks and the wake was HUGE. I usually ride behind a Tige and when we put enough weight in the boat to get the wake that big its like hitting a wall. I loved the way his wake was huge and rampy. I like Master Crafts too, but Natique will always put out one of the best and most solid boats on the market. Just from that little taste alone my buddy with the Tige is seriously considering a Natique now and he's been behind plenty of Mastercrafts Smile

mcelhinneywakeboardschool · Newbie Joined: 21 Mar 2006 Posts: 1 City: seguin

Glad you guys had a good time. We are going to be using two boats this year, a 210 and 211. Gabe Lucas will be coaching along with Pat and we are adding CWB products to the Pro Shop. We are looking forward to having a great year. Check out our web site at http://www.mcelhinneywakeboardschool.com

J_DOGG · Posted: Mar 22, 2006 1:00 pm Post subject:

cowdoc13, good to know, thank....

Yes, those are the instructional vids I have with him as the main guy....

I love hearing good stuuf about camps that don't hang on the BIG name thing... good to hear he is still kicking it.

Nauty · Addict Joined: 12 Feb 2004 Posts: 827 City: Lake Dallas

I have been wanting to take some lessons for some time now. I had spoken to a few local instructors, but never put anything in stone. Reading this thread helped push me over the edge. I just called Pat's school this morning and booked a three day. I'll be heading down there from Dallas towards the end of May.

For the amount of boat time you get for the price you pay, there isn't a better deal out there. I'm sure that the local instructors in my area are very good, but most charge $100 or more per hour. I've been hesitating on committing to lessons because I couldn't help but wonder how much I could really accomplish in a 1-2 hour lesson? I think Pat's pricing is more in-line with what I expect to pay for lessons. It's obvious from reading everyone's comments that he really knows what he is doing. I'm sure with word getting around about his school, he will have a very successful business for years to come.

I can't wait to get there!

cowdoc13 · Newbie Joined: 18 Jun 2004 Posts: 43 City: College Station

Nauty

I know where you are coming from. I learned about Pat's school from a similar thread. Had considered several other schools/camps, but none just seem to fit. I had the instructional videos Pat had done and liked what I had learned from them in getting started wakeboarding. When I read a thread about his school and how good of an instructor he was, I decided to give it a try. Best thing I have ever done in terms of advancing as a wakeboarder.

When I went to Pat's the first time, I was concerned that three days was not enough. Turned out it was plenty to get me started, now I am hooked. And, if one goes there and really works on improving their skills and learning new tricks, they will be tired and sore enough at the end of the third day that they will welcome a break from riding all day. I have ridden with plenty of people at Pat's that were half my age and in much better physical shape. They have all been just as tired and sore as I have been at the end of the third day. I know if someone wants to ride more than 3 days, Pat will certainly accomidate them. But I would be willing to bet that at the end of the third day, they will be looking to crawl into Pat's hot tub to soothe their aching, tired bodies and the whole time they are in it they will be wondering if they have enough left to ride another day. Assuing that is, they worked hard all 3 days at learning to improve their skills and learning new tricks.

The first time I went to Pat's, I had visions of coming away throwing 15 "cool" inverts and soaring over the wake like a pro. The only flaw in my plan was I had no clue how to use a progressive edge and a tight rope. After riding behind a jet ski and a few boats, I had developed all kinds of bad habbits. While I could clear the wake when I got to Pat's and could do a one wake half-cab, I did good to get the board 2 feet off the water and usually landed right at the top of the opposite wake. Pat was really patient with me in teaching me the basics. He was always very encouraging. When I left, I could clear the wake easily heelside and made a lot of progress on my toeside. I could 180 over both wakes heelside, one wake toeside, and could take my half-cab wake to wake most of the time.

While I was mildly disappointed I could not do an invert when I left the first time, I was still REALLY HAPPY with what I learned from Pat because I realized I really did not have the skills necessary to do an invert correctly and successfully. And, I honestly felt like I really got my monies worth from going to Pat's because I learned a lot about improving my basic skills so I could progress to the point of throwing inverts. In time I have come to realize that no instructor could physically ride me through an inverted trick so I would be successful at it the very first time and never fall or get slammed learning it. They could only tell me how to do it and what I needed to do differently if I fail. And, I realized the first thing I would need to be successful at advanced tricks is good basic skills. In my opinion, people that leave schools/camps really dissatisfied with what they learned are ones that came to school with unrealestic views of their skill level and unrealistic expectations of what they could learn based on the level of skill they had when they arrived at the school. While Pat would have instructed me on how to do what ever invert I wanted to try the first time I went to his school, not having the basic skills necessary to generate the "pop" and line tension to do them more easily and correctly, all I would have accomplished was to have taken some exceedingly hard falls that would have taken a toll on my old body. Ultimately I would have given up on learning them because they hurt too much to try.

I have never left Pat's feeling like I did not get everything I paid for and a little more. While I always leave wishing I could have progressed even more, I always leave tired, sore, ready for a few days break from wakeboarding, but eager to go home and show off my new tricks, and ready to come back for more time with Pat. It was kind of funny when I left Pat's the first time and returned home, I had to spend a lot of time breaking my previous bad habbits and reinforcing the good habbits I learned at Pat's. Looking back, the first time out behind my boat I was struggling with everything and all the guys I rode with were giving me hell about how bad I was after taking a lesson. But, what they did not realize was I was taking what Pat taught me and working on developing the muscle memmory necessary to develop good habbits. By the third time out, they were singing a different tune because I was able to do things they couldn't. Now some of them will not ride with me because of how far I have advanced from taking lessons from Pat.

The greatest things I have taken away from Pat's are not as much what I learned riding on the water, but what I learned riding in the boat watching others ride. In my opinion, being in the boat all day and listening to Pat instruct while watching others ride was really benefical in being able to go home and perform tricks behind my own boat. Pat really stresses the basics. He is really good at teaching one how to understand what they are trying to do and how to go back to the basic fundementals of wakeboarding when one gets "lost" in trying to do a trick. He is really good at making one understand where they went wrong and how to overcome it whenever they fall on a trick. In my experience, that is really helpful when one is riding behind their own boat. Pat works really hard at making sure you understand why you were unsuceesful on a trick and how to use basics to correct the problem. That means when you throw a trick at home and you fail to land it, you have a really good understanding of what you did wrong and how to correct it. If you do not have the knowledge and understanding to know what you did wrong, you will have a hard time correcting the problem at home. When you cannot correct the problem because you do not know what it is, you get frustrated in time and quit throwing the trick. Many times when I have left Pat's I could not do a trick consistently enough to feel I had it mastered. But, I had done the trick enough and/or watched other people try it enough that I had a really good understanding of what things went wrong when one failed to land it and what to change to correct it. That allowed me to go home and practice tricks without becoming frustrated about why I could not do them. And, eventually it allowed me to master the trick at home.

In my opinion, what makes Pat's school unique is you are in the boat with him all day long. In my experience, it means you are out on the water learning the entire time you are there and it means you get exposed to a temendous amount of knowledge about what one is trying to accomplish in performing a trick. You ride on a river that is 7 - 8 miles long. The water conditions are excellent, even if the wind is really strong. Boat traffic is almost non-existent. I now go there as much for the water conditions as I do to learn new tricks. I have to ride in lakes at home. The few segments of "rough water" I have experience at Pat's is often better than the best water I can get at home. Smooth water is really important in learning new tricks in my experience. Smooth water is something that is plentiful at Pat's.

The last couple of things I am going to share about my experiences taking lessons are that one will ride with people of all skill levels when taking lessons. The first time I rode at Pat's I rode with kid named Cody Kidder (sp?) and Cody is really good. I was embarrassed and intimidated at first beacuse of how few skills I had. Pat and Cody were really patient and very encouraging. In time I learned that I needed to focus on my riding and stay within myself because to advance, I needed to learn and focus on the basics, not on "big tricks". My point to anyone going to take lessons is to be realistic about where you are in going to the school and what you want to try to accomplish while you are there. And no matter if you are the least skilled rider in the boat, stay within yourself and work on learning what you need to learn to progress. Do not let the fact that others can do more keep you from trying and mastering basic things you cannot do. Remember everyone has to start somewhere.

Lastly, many people's tendency is to go to a school/camp and throw tricks they know how to do because they do not want to fall and look like they cannot ride to everyone in the boat. Been there done that. When one does that, they will pick up tips on how to do those tricks a little better, but they will not maximize their time at the school in terms of learning new skills or tricks. Or, they will wear themself out doing stuff they know how to do and not have the strength or energy to learn something new.

Sorry for the long post. Just wanted to share some of my experiences taking lessons and some of my experiences riding at Pat's.

Nauty · Addict Joined: 12 Feb 2004 Posts: 827 City: Lake Dallas

Wow..... Great post!

I think I am on the right track with the advice you are suggesting. The main reason why I want to take lessons is to get a solid foundation. I started wakeboarding about 4 years ago. The first year was spent doing more beer drinking than wakeboarding. The second year I started riding more, but I was trying tricks that were too advanced for my level of riding. I was trying backrolls before I knew how to edge. More or less, I was trying to run before I learned how to walk.

In the middle of my second year I blew out my right knee on a simple wake to wake jump. The entire next season was spent just trying to get the courage to jump wake to wake again. Because of my knee injury my confidence was shot. I made some significant progress last season, in that I am able to get "some" pop off of the wake, but my problem is consistency.

Although I am aware that I am doing it, I still have a tendancy to absorb the pop off the wake by bending my knees as I ride up it. I think the bottom line is that I am afraid of getting the pop that I so desire. I'm afraid of blowing out my knee again, so I tend to let up as I get to the wake. Every now and then when I do stand tall and get pop, I am often thrown off balance while in the air. My goal in taking lessons from Pat is to get a solid foundation so that I can stay in control throughout the jump and get past my fear of launching off the wake.

I am also going to put a mental training program to use in conjunction with what I learn from Pat. My father-in-law is a mental trainer, www.mentalmanagement.com . He developed a system for controlling the mind while under pressure. He has trained everyone from fellow Olympic athletes to Navy Seals and Pro Golfers. Even a few pro wakeboarders have his book. I know his system works, I've just never been disciplined enough to use it on a regular basis. That is until now. I love this sport too much and spend far too much money on it to be a below average rider. This is the year that I will turn the corner.

I am really looking forward to my lessons in May. I would have booked an earlier session, but I thought it best that I get a good two months of riding in before hand to shake off some of the winter rust.

Bowen · Posted: Mar 27, 2006 11:37 am Post subject:

Nauty, I'm not gonna lie, I'm really tempted to go with you. My birthday is around then and that would be a great present from my 'rents...

Nauty · Addict Joined: 12 Feb 2004 Posts: 827 City: Lake Dallas

Daniel, you better hurry and make some arrangements. Pat allows only 4 students at a time. Your older brother already shot me an e-mail wnating to join in. The spots are going fast! That would be cool if both you guys can make it.

Yep, my birthday is on the 19th. That will be the first day of my 3 day. What better way to spend your birthday than on a boat all day!

BoarderX · Posted: Mar 27, 2006 2:19 pm Post subject:

Someone had mentioned the ceiling of his shop lined with old wakeboards.. a good portion of which Pat had actually designed and shaped himself. Well, I happen to have a really crappy quality picture of that with me standing below in awe. The picture doesn't even cover half of the boards so keep that in mind.. enjoy.

TubeNazi · Soul Rider Joined: 27 Aug 2003 Posts: 368 City: Dallas

BoarderX, I talked to Grant and he was so psyched when he got back. He had a ton of good things to say about your lessons. Seems like you guys had a good time.

I've ridden with Pat once a loooong time ago before he had his school up and running. Even then he helped me ride better and instructed me better than anyone before. I was a very new beginner who had never been wake to wake and by the time I left I had gone into the flats with no problem. He had a natique then, too.

Also, I was shocked when I heard him talking about designing my "brand new" O'brien Flux. I was in a world way out of my league, but everyone couldn't be cooler to hang out with and I never felt out of place.

Good times, good times.