Is this hindering me...?

[hockeyplaya1821]

So it's been the offseason for a while now, and as a fairly new beginner, I'm just itching for the warm weather to come back so I can get out and ride. I usually ride with my girlfriend because I don't have a boat and well, they do! My question deals with where my rope attaches to on their boat. They have a bayliner 185 with just a regular ski tow ring dealie. Now I've read that, once you're good enough, having a tower will help you get more pop because it's elevated above you. Now I wonder, if the tower helps because the rope attaches above where you hold the rope, will it hurt if the rope attaches below you? Like, on the boat, the ski tow ring is relatively close to the water, so if you were to draw a line from me wakeboarding to the boat following my line, it would be going downwards. I had physics my senior year of highschool, so I know there's at least some force pulling down on me. I'm just wondering if any others have a similar setup and are having a difficult time going w2w...

[edrex]

And the wake from the bayliner is not as good as a Mastercraft so that is holding you back too. And they don't have Perfect Pass so the driver not being able to keep the speed constant is definately messing you up.
You could go on all day about how better equipment and conditions would make you a better rider, but really you need to just practice. I'm not saying a tower isn't any better then a low ski hook, but I've towed friend in the past with a similiar setup who were still busting w2w spins and inverts off the back of my boat.

[HHI Dave]

This is a pretty common topic here. I can only tell you my personal experience and my personal opinion.

When I first started wakeboarding back at the beginning of June, I was using the ski hook on the back of my boat (19.5' Tahoe I/O) It really didn't make much difference as I was more concerned with just getting up and staying up and learning the basics at that time.

As the summer passed I was riding 2-4 times per week, every week, I progressed pretty quickly (at least, I believe I did). All of our riding time was divided between my boat and my buddy's boat which is a 28' parasail boat with a big block I/O and a large aluminum parasail pylon that we used to tie the rope. The height of the parasail pylon is about the same as a wake tower.

By about the end of July I noticed that there was a distinct difference between the amount of air and "hang time" I was getting off his boat vs. my boat. Granted, there are other factors like wake size etc, but I'm firmly convinced that the lack of a tower was having a negative impact.

So, I guess the moral of the story is, a tower won't give you big air unless you learn the basics first, but the lack of a tower will hold you back once you do begin to learn and master the W2W technique.

I'll be ordering my Monster Tower in the next week or two and plan to have it on my boat before the end of January.

Hope this helps.

Oh yeah, edrex, you forgot to mention that not having a mega-watt sound system with amps and subs and 10 speakers holds you back too because you can't jam out while you're riding.

[edrex]

HHI Dave, I did forget that. I mean, towers aren't even really about riding, they're for speaker placement!

[hockeyplaya1821]

Thanks a bunch guys. Having started last spring I've progressed past the "basics" and have started the whole w2w thing. I can get it with the current setup, but in the air I just feel like I'm getting pulled downwards and have to work extra hard to get a decent amount of pop.

Again, thanks for the help.

[ridininmd]

yep sounds like your girlfriend is holding you back. Dump her and find one with a better boat.