Is this a bad habbit

Mythodikal · Posted: May 29, 2003 2:20 pm Post subject: Is this a bad habbit

I was just wonderin cause I do this all the time and cant seem to stop ... I always keep my eyes on the water and never hold my head up and look out to the horizon when Im in the air ... I can go w2w everytime and seem to always land solid .. but if I start trien spins or ne thing else like that am I gonna have a harder time stayin on axis or ne thing like that

x2xwakegurlx2x · Guest

dont quote me on this, but i think that may be a bad habit, but not sure. i think your supposed to look foward, like towards a shore or something, i remember when i went to TWC, they said to look at something, and keep my eye on it, and dont look at the water, try it, it helped me......i may be totally wrong on some of this though

Fredrick Eisenhauer · Posted: May 29, 2003 10:50 pm Post subject:

Yeah its supposed to be bad but its a real hard to get out of i have a few problams with it nothing major but yeah

tommie_tantrum · Outlaw Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 102 City: South Africa

I do the same, I look down and always go way off-axis on spins, its a pretty annoying habit.... and its tought to get out of...

Jim M · Wakeboarder.com Freak Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 2933

Your body follows your head, so yeah that can get you in trouble on spins. Spotting the 2nd wake or just looking down at your landing isn't really a bad thing unless you are doing it too early- it will result in the same thing as stargazing, you will freeze up and lose your rotation.

People say to find the horizon on spins because it helps you to keep the rotation going, but its still important to keep tabs on where you are in the air. Like on the backroll, looking for the 2nd wake is what will help you get around, and it will also let you know when to expect the landing.

Its all about timing, things get easier as you get more comfortable. The best advice I can give is to never just 'ride', always be trying new things, don't let yourself get in a rut. If you stick a few solid w2w jumps in a row, step it up and try something harder. I don't think the backroll is any harder to learn than a 360, just lay it out there!

Nathan Newman · Addict Joined: 08 Feb 2003 Posts: 711 City: Baylor

where the head goes, the body goes. this is also true when landing out in the flats. somewhere out there in the wakeboarder.com world told me that when landing in the flats, look at the horizon to ride away, look at the water and the landing hurts real bad. This is true. Don't look down except to spot your landing, then get that head up!

wakeboarder_dude22 · Soul Rider Joined: 28 Mar 2003 Posts: 409 City: Australia

Especially with toeside jumps, you need to look at the shore to stop yourself from spinning around to face the boat.

Mythodikal · Posted: Jun 22, 2003 6:34 am Post subject:

thanx for the feedback guys ... I wish I had someone to ride with that knew a lil bit of this trivial stuff .... right now im the best one of the ones I ride with and Im pretty much self taught from just goin out and trien to see what feels right .... but I have been workin alot on gettin my head up and I'm startin to break outta it ... I dont do it near as often now

Nathan Newman · Addict Joined: 08 Feb 2003 Posts: 711 City: Baylor

are your landings more solid now?

Mythodikal · Posted: Jun 22, 2003 12:03 pm Post subject:

yea I was landin solid the whole time and had learned how to balance my landing while lookin at the water through the entire jump ... I was just wonderin if it was gonna hurt me lata on when I started 3's and such .... but I fixed it now so its all good

Inggy · Posted: Jun 22, 2003 10:06 pm Post subject:

I had the same problem. I could never stick 3s cause I'd always close my eyes. I would never look down. I would close them. It would suck. I never knew where I was going

WetChick19 · Posted: Jun 23, 2003 4:10 pm Post subject:

I used to look down too, but as the guys ride with say "look down fall down", 3's are really hard to land if you're not spotting the shore and raleys are evil if you're not lookin at the boat, so i'd try to break that habit before you progress any further

MinnDizzyG · Posted: Jul 07, 2003 6:47 am Post subject:

I just started to break this habit this weekend and it made a world of difference on both HS and TS jumps for me. Cool

It will take concentration until I form the new habit, but I broke the hold of the old way (looking down). I definitely suggest looking toward shore for everyone. Spot the wake to time your "stand tall", then consciously lift your eyes.

I'm still working on my progressive edges (HS, TS, reg & switch) and loading the line so I was only going one-wake & cutting out about 7-8 feet. But I was crashing every other jump before I broke the habit - afterward I landed every jump until I crashed on a HS 180. Start one run with that as your only goal - look up on every jump. That's how I did it.

Definitely give this a shot and see if it makes a difference for you - maybe so maybe no, but try it. Good luck all y'all. Very Happy