Help with my form! *video included*

[hcrx311]

Need some help with my progressive edging...

My backround...this is my 2nd season ever on a wakeboard or any water sports. The first whole season was behind a pontoon boat with no wake what so ever!

This season I have purchased a SN2001 and have rode behind it 4 times, this video being the 3rd. I am extremely new to the sport but I've read a lot here and watched a lot of videos also.

I am not really getting the pop I think I should be. I have not tried to put weight in the boat yet so the video is only 2 people in the boat. I'm guessing I am letting off my edge before the wake...but sometimes I feel I am coming to fast across (not in the video but other times...) So maybe I need to take a less approach?? or for some reason I'm not getting correct line tension. I am getting w2w, just not the pop...and yes I am definitely still a heelside hero, but I'm learning and trying..

Here is the video let me know what I can do.. Thanks!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2sSXw__95k

Also sorry for the crappy quality its from a phone, the only thing we had that day, I should have more videos soon..

PS- Line is at 65-70 ft I believe and I'm riding a 2006 LF omega 139...

[toothpick]

Hey there, I'll throw some pointers at ya. You called it right about backing off your edge. Here's a little wakeboarding physics lesson:

Jumping the wake is all about line tension. The greater the line tension is, the more your board is going to push down into the water, making the wake push up harder against you, giving you the upward thrust you need to get up high in the air. That said...

a) Your body is a lever you use to create line tension. Tall/long levers can create more leverage. This means that through your edge, if you bend your knees, you are becoming a shorter lever and losing line tension. The fix to this is to bend your knees before you begin to edge toward the wake. Starting with bent knees means you only become taller from the start to the end of your cut. That means your leverage will only grow, not shrink.

b) The boat is stronger than you. If you get onto a good edge 10 feet before the wake and try to keep it there, the boat will gradually pull you off of your edge. You will actually feel the line tension decrease in the handle. Use the boat's energy to your advantage by drifting in toward the wake with no edge (and bent knees, see A) and only edge in the last 10 feet of your wake approach, you can even start by edging just the last 3 feet and build on that with each jump. You should be feeling like you're going too slow, so then you really get on edge to go wake to wake. Clear it with height, not speed.

c) To make sure you have a consistent edge and leg push at the wake, make sure you are looking at the wake during your entire approach. This one little thing will help you become much more consistent.

There's a few basic pointers that will really help you get more air if you keep working on them. Keep filming yourself and watch what your board is doing. A good way to see if you are edging properly is the amount of spray coming off your board. If the spray shows up then disappears before you hit the wake, you're backing off.

By the way, the knee bending is just for heelside. You should be standing tall through your whole toeside approach. Create the leverage by leaning against the rope.

Keep at it and work on being patient in your approach. Wakeboarding is a pretty low effort sport if you learn to take advantage of the physics that are there for you.

[hcrx311]

Yeah thats what I thought......and I think I knew that out there and a couple jumps I can feel really good pop where I guess I'm holding my edge better..

Good tips though! thanks abunch.

[TnR6Rida]

Looks like you are absorbing the wake a little with you knees. Straitin your legs out as your hitting the wake. You should get a lot more pop that way.