first trick after w2w

[mess]

hi Everyone...

New here...

I have been wakeboarding about 4 years now. Progression has been SLOW because I'm pretty much a wimp. But I love to wakeboard. Now I am feeling soooo comfortable with everything that I do now that I'd like to know what the logical steps to progress are. I can clear w2w on my heel edge, and also toe edge but that's not consistant. I tend to absorb too much of the pop by bending my legs, but I'm working on that. I am also working on riding switch. I am able to 'butter' as my husband calls it (basically turn the board sideways and sort of grind?) and I can go from regular to goofy and then back again this way, but just barely. Did it for the first time last night.

Anyway, what I really want to get this summer is my first 180. Thing is, I have NO idea what the easiest way is to try first. I get that there are a ton of different ways to do a 180, and I want to know what would be the easiest for a first timer. I'm guessing switch to regular? but if someone could lay out the steps, how to hold on to the tow rope, how to approach the wake, etc, I'd appreciate it huge!

Thanks all!

Jess

[criswb]

Try the ollie 180 first. Cut out all the way on your heelside edge (as if you were preparing to jump toeside) ollie and let go with your front hand. This will make you turn the 180, just dont forget to start edging away (on your ts edge) as soon as you land, if not you'll slide out on your heels. The go for 1 wake 180s, and inside out 180s and then go the full w2w.

[mess]

Thanks... Good tip. I was out last night with a couple friends. One guy just started this summer, and just got a w2w 180. The other guy has been progressing slowly with me for the past few years, and he got a 1 wake 180. I NEED to get this before summer ends! Does it help to try spinning on a trampoline? I find that I just don't know what to do to make it rotate in the air...

Frustrated!

[criswb]

I dont think the trampoline will help you with your 180s. Its not that hard. Just dont think about rotating the board. If you think about rotating with your feet or your board, you're never going to make it. Think about pulling the handle to your rear hip to turn the 180.

The easiest 180 and the first one I learned was the TS FS 180 to switch. The reason why its so easy is because you are coming in a twisted position so the body will naturally want to untwist. Also, you land on your heelside, and it's easier to land that way. Just edge in (dont really need a big edge) pop and then let go with your left hand if you're regular, right hand if you're goofy. This will make you rotate. Remember to pull the handle to your rear hip. (right hip if regular, left hip if goofy). As you land, edge away. Notice that to edge away you dont need the board to be in line with the boat. I hope I made myself clear with this explanation, and dont worry, you'll land it next time you're out! just try it and dont stress about it.

[mess]

Well there you go!

I'm going out tonight - so I'll give that a try. The 180 you describe is the one I was trying last time I was out - It's the one my friend landed and it was pretty easy for him, so I think I should be able to pull it off. But I was definitely concentrating on trying to rotate my feet and nothing else.

The advise about the handle position should help a ton. I didn't know any of that, so I was probably putting it in the completely wrong place.

Jess

[mess]

Hey criswb!

I got it!

I'm still not consistant, but hopefully that will come in the next week or so. This is huge for me... I was so scared to try this, and honestly I thought I'd be stuck at the level I was at forever. Your hints helped a ton, especially about the handle placement.

On to the next thing! Any suggestions?

[criswb]

Thats sooo cool!!! congrats!!! Now try and get another 180! Try both the heelside 180 and the halfcab 180. I find that the halfcab 180 (aproaching the wake in switch heelside) is the easiest since you land riding your original stance. Just remember to jump it before turning it! When landing toeside remember to be edging out on your toes. Placing the handle almost to your butt helps with that, and look away to the shore, not down.

[mess]

That sounds good. Also I think I'll keep working on the one I've got to see if I can go w2w soon. Honestly, I'm landing it consistantly now (was out last night) and where I'm landing, the nose of the board is almost over the far wake, so wouldn't have to push a whole lot harder to get there.

Don't think I could do these without your tips! Thanks. It keeps the guys guessing - the ones I am usually out with - they can't figure out where I got the guts to start trying stuff.

ha ha.

Jess

[mess]

Hey by the way - I'm looking at a 134 LF Substance. Do you know that board? Any thoughts?

[criswb]

Thats the board I just bought! Well, I bought a 134 Cadence which is the exact same mold as the substance. I'm currently riding the 131 Cadence and i love it, but I wanted to try a bigger board for the softer landings... Its a great board, it's as fast as it should be (not super fast, but also not slow) has tons of pop, very soft on landings. It tracks well IMO, I took the fins off of mine about a month ago and love it even more! Those are my thoughts, but if I'm not wrong the substance has been one of LF's best selling boards.

What are you riding now? Have you decided on bindings yet?

[adela]

I think the halfcab is the easiest 180. Crisb gave good advice - wait for the pop before doing the 180, and LOOK AT THE SHORE. I wasn't landing these consistently until i started looking at the shore.

[mess]

Yeah, I like the 134 Cadence way better for looks, but money wise I can get the substance on ebay for way less... I'm not rushing into it though, because this time of year there's bound to be some clearance sales. I'm so sad... our season up here is almost over. If I'm lucky I can ride till the end of September, but I am so jealous of you criswb... I'm guessing you can ride almost year round. I live in the interior of British Columbia up in Canada, and our season is quite short.

Right now I'm riding a Hyperlite Motive 140. The bindings are Hyperlite as well - can't remember the type. My husband and his buddies and I have been test driving all sorts of other boards. We tried an O'Brien Valhalla 138 which I really liked, a used Double-up board that actually had amazing pop, but I don't know the model, and another really big O'Brien board that I just hated, waaay too big for me and so much WORK to ride.

Bindings - I'm not sure. I get confused about the way they describe them. I'm used to riding in bindings that fit men with feet up to size 11, so what I'm used to is a really sloppy fit. I think I like the watson binding, but they describe it as 'stiff' as opposed to 'surf' and I wonder if it would be too much of a change to get used to after my current sloppy fitting bindings. it's a lot of money to spend on something that I might hate.

Our current bindings have a free-floating 'tongue' in the middle and it always folds over and bunches up and drives me nuts, so I like the looks of the new bindings that have the neoprene attached on either side of the front of the foot. I don't know if that makes any sense, but anyway, it's hard to explain. But then my friend Aaron said he tried a set of the new type bindings over the weekend and he hated it! He said that they were way too tight on the front of his foot, and that he was cramping up.

So anyway to answer your question, I have no idea what bindings I want. Mostly I want some that will be for me and only me, some that have a better fit, but don't make me cramp up and want to stop riding.

Another question though... what do you think of gloves? Do you use them?

Adela... HI! Thanks for adding your tips. Cris is helping me a ton, and it's nice to hear from someone else too.

Jess

[criswb]

Its a good idea to hold on a bit at this time of year to buy a closeout board... Im guessing all the 06 board/bindings prices will drop after the Surf Expo which is around the 14.

Bindings will fit different according to the kind of foot you have. I'm a size 8 with a narrow foot and I like feeling my foot tightly secured to the binding, specially the heel, it has to feel tight but not trapped. I have the Transits in size Medium and they work great for me. What theyre saying with the Watson binding being stiff, theyre referring as in they're not so flexible to move around, but they are still very soft inside and comfortable. I've tried those, they were super comfy but were a little too stiff for me. The Minx bindings are the best womens bindings IMO. They have really good hold, are very comfortable and look very pretty! Those are very flexible but still offer great support. I think my size on those would be a Medium, but if you have a normal sized foot (and are a size 7 1/2 or more) Id go with the large.

Ive also tried the HL Noise bindings, although they look very pretty and have a very comfy footbed, I didnt like them at all. They didnt offer as much support as I needed in the heel area, and the top part of the binding, the one that goes up to your calf was too hard and hurt me.

I prefer using bindings that are as tight as they should be (after 20 mins of riding your feet should start to sleep) because it gives me more security that nothing bad is going to happen to my feet if I take a bad fall, my feet are not going to come out of my bindings and I have more control over the board that way.

YEs its great to have a never ending season here.. it never gets too cold to ride... the bad thing is I dont have a boat so I have to rely on other people to take me riding! You can come visit me any time during your winter if you want a pull!

[mess]

Well, I'm about a size 8 1/2. I have narrow feet too, but after riding a men's large binding, I'm pretty sure anything will feel secure to me, so a large (if I go for the Minx) would probably be best. The only reason I liked the watson is that that liquid liner sounded so cool. It looks like there might be a few more bindings with that option in 07. But I don't really want to pay the price for the newest stuff when the '06 will work as well, and certainly better that what I have.

Where do you actually ride? In the ocean? I've looked and looked to find a place to go on vacation in winter with my husband where we could wakeboard. We're not the sit around in the sun types (at least not all day every day), so I think we would only enjoy ourselves if we had some stuff like that lined up to do.

Your offer sounds great - don't know what the chances are of actually doing it, but I'll keep it in mind!

Jess

[criswb]

We only ride in the ocean during our summer vacations (which are actually called winter vacations, but it's the hottest time of the year, and its between the months of october thru april) when we go to the beach. The problem is the water is choppy almost all the time and there are other boaters to make it worse, so we ride just playing around. Where we really ride is in an inlet of the ocean that comes all the way to the city and in a dam.

You could def wakeboard here during your winter time, the only problem would be the lack of boats! There are only 3 wakeboard boats in the whole country, and only 1 of those are in use for wakeboarding. One of the other's owner blew out his knee a few years ago so his father wouldnt let him ride again and the other one just parades his boat around the beach, Ive never seen him wakeboarding and he doesnt take anyone wakeboarding behind his boat. Luckily Im friends with the one guy that does use his boat for the purpose it was made!
Another boat I ride in is an old Tristar, which throws a decent wake with some weight. That one you can rent by the hour.

Thats why Im saving my money (and hoping to win the lottery) so i can buy a boat!

[mess]

Wow.

That lack of boats would suck. Good for you that you are friends with the one guy with a boat though! We have our own boat - not the ideal wakeboard boat, but it is a 19 foot Maxim i/o with a tower. It's better than lots of the other options up here, and it has a decent wake in my opinion (but I haven't ridden behind a 'real' wakeboard boat to know the difference).

We also live in a town that basically surrounds the local lake - so even though our season is short, between May and September we ride every day the weather allows. We have about 4 or 5 good friends that love to wakeboard. We're not really all that great - certainly not competition level - but we have a blast and we try to push each other. I am the only girl though, and that is something I hate and love at the same time.

I am also really excited about my kids learning to wakeboard. This summer was the first time for my 9 year old son, and he is going to be a natural. I want to learn a few tricks this summer so that by the time he wants to try them I can give him the odd tip. I am so jealous of him because he's starting young. I didn't wakeboard my first time till I was older than you. I think I was around 25 the first time I went. So much wasted time! lol.

[wakeflopper]

well, if it makes you feel any better, i'm right there with you. my first year i got hsw2w, yr 2 i learn ts 180 1wk. I've not much progressed bc i got preggo. now I'm back on the water, i learn a power slide ( back side butter slide if you will) get your surface 180's. ollie 180's hs ts regular and switch, then take them to the wake. ts 180's seem easier to me, i've only landed 2 hs 180's, as a matter of fact, I'm going out this afternnon to work on my backside surface 180's (handle pass), heal side 180's, and I'm starting to try to suck my knees in to start learning HS w2w grabs. That should keep you busy for the rest of the season, without taking TOO many opps to the face. (I too fail to stand tall at the wake and absorb the wake too much). It helps to see it on video to correct it.

[wakeflopper]

by the way, the easiest way for me to learn my first 180 was approaching regular toeside, get a small pop, and then pull the rope into your opposite hip, this makes the turn for you, and you get to land Healside switch (very soft, and forgiving landing). You can drop your back side hand if you need, but not necessary b/c you are landing HS. PS: this was the 1st trick Shaun Murray taught me when I went to their camp. i just smiled, did what he said, and it all worked out. leslie

[mess]

Thanks for all the tips again... Our season is winding down now, and sadly, I haven't been on a wakeboard since last time I posted. I am hoping to have a chance this weekend to try some of the other 180s and to get better at the one I do have down. Leslie, the first for you is the same as my first. I can do that one. It's only a 1 wake jump, but I am getting decent pop. I think that another thing I'll be working on next summer is stretching that one into a w2w jump. Somehow I don't think I'll pull that off this year - I only have maybe 5 more days on the lake this year if I'm lucky. SO SAD.

I wonder how long I'll be able to keep working on progressing before I start hitting tricks that scare me too much again?? I am in my early 30s and I am such a wimp.

HA HA.

Jess