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Almost
every trick has a number of variations and
tweaks that can be combined... |
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Getting
up and riding for the first time.
So you're out in
the boat and ready to get in the water. But before you can "get
your ride on," you need to get your board on. There are a vast
number of binding lubes out on the market today that will ease the
struggle of getting into your bindings and are environmentally friendly,
so I recommend you use one. You can also opt for shaving cream or
common dish soap, but neither of these are very ecologically sound
choices, and if that weren't reason enough, some of these may actually
deteriorate the rubber that your bindings are made of. Now that I've
made my little plug for the environment, let's begin.
With your feet firmly installed in the bindings, lay back in the water
with your knees bent and the board parallel to the water's surface,
floating naturally. The bottom of the board should be facing the boat.
The rope goes over the top of the board and the handle should be held
with both palms facing down (sorry slugger, no baseball grip) and
your arms should be straight. Let your knees fall open so that your
arms are resting between them. Pull your shoulders back and keep your
chest up.
Once you are ready, communicate this to the driver audibly and clearly,
use go and wait. When you feel the boat starting to pull, concentrate
on maintaining your body position; strong bent knees, arms straight,
shoulders back and chest up, at this point you should point your toes
forward and being pulled up in a squatting position. As you start
getting pulled out of the water, don't try to "muscle" your
way up with your arms. Let the boat do the work. When it comes to
a tug of war between you and the engine in that boat, unless you're
Superman, you aren't going to win.
The board should begin to plane on top of the water. Once the board
is above the water, straighten your legs to a standing position as
you bring the rope to your lead hip. Twist at the waist so that your
shoulders are facing the boat and your feet are facing sideways. Keep
the handle at your lead hip, your shoulders back, twist at the waist,
your chest up and back straight as though you were standing on solid
ground, with knees slightly bent. |
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There, wasn't that easy? If it wasn't, you're probably a victim
of one of the many
Common mistakes getting up

- Standing
up too soon causes the board to sink. Keep in mind that you really
can't stand up too late. If you want to ride around the whole
lake in the original crouched position in which you started, you
can certainly do that. Always err on the side of caution and stand
up later rather than sooner. If you're working hard to stand up,
it's probably too soon. Turning the board too soon will also often
make the board sink. Remember, wait until the board is on top
of the water before you stand and turn the board.
- Muscling
your way up often results in the "bungee-effect," where
the rope suddenly becomes a weapon that you use to nail your friends
in the boat with (It's not that funny when you're the friend in
the boat. I lost a pair of Oakleys to a confrontation with a 13"
handle). When you start pulling against that rope, and the tug
of war begins, the boat is going to win, because, again, I don't
see you wearing blue tights and a big 'S' on your chest. When
you finally give up and let go of the handle, or rather the handle
is ripped from your soft little hands, two things happen; One,
the aforementioned bungee-effect and two, you'll probably have
started the development of some nice rough callouses. So keep
your arms straight and shoulders back, and let the boat pull you
up.
- Plowing through
the water is murder on your back and you'll feel it the next day.
When you're hanging on and all that seems to happen is that water
is pushing against the bottom of the board, thus stretching out
your arms, there's a simple solution - slightly point your toes.
You see, what's happening is that no water is getting under the
board to lift it up. By pointing your toes, the board is put at
a slight angle, allowing for water to rush under it and, as a
result, lift it up.
- Being pulled
out the front can result from one or both of the following; weak
shoulders and weak legs. If you don't hold your shoulders back,
they will roll forward. When they roll forward, you'll lose leverage
and get pulled right over the board. Similarly, when you don't
maintain strong bent legs, the pressure of the water on the bottom
of the board will only make you bend your knees more and more
until they're up in your chest. If you don't push with your legs
against that force to stand up, you'll just be yanked forward
till you plop right over the front of the board. So, hold your
shoulders back and maintain strong bent legs.
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What if you got
up alright, but just can't seem to stay up?
Common mistakes staying up
- The uncontrollable
side slide is a precursor of the dreaded face plant. When the
tail end of the board comes sliding around so that the front tip
is no longer pointed in the direction of the boat, but rather
both your feet are pointed at the boat, it is most often a result
of not twisting at the waist and/or not keeping the handle at
your lead hip. Twisting at the waist keeps your shoulders facing
the boat while your feet face the shore. The orientation of the
handle is also critical in keeping your body in the correct position.
Should you pull the handle to your center, in front of your bellybutton,
rather than maintaining it at your lead hip, it will pull your
lower body around so that you find yourself in the side slide.
Should this happen, you better keep your weight on your heels,
thus keeping the front edge of the board out of the water, and
get the board back to the correct position by twisting at the
waist and putting the handle where it should be, on your lead
hip. If not, when the front edge of the board gets caught by the
water, you will find your face hurtling at light speed towards
the water and you may experience a definition of pain that you
otherwise never knew existed.
- Being pulled
out the front may also result in a migraine-inducing face plant.
The cause? Improper weight distribution and/or leaving your arms
straight out in front of you. If you find that you are constantly
being pulled forward, consider putting a little more weight on
your back foot. Ideally you'll want equal weight on both feet,
but in the beginning, until you are more comfortable on the board,
you may want to think of placing 70% of your weight on your back
foot, and 30% on the front. Also be aware of where your arms are.
If you hold them out straight and the boat begins to pull you
forward, you have nowhere to go but forward. But if your arms
are slightly bent and the boat begins to pull you forward, you
have a little bit of room to work with. You can pull back with
much more ease and with a much quicker response time. Straight
arms work when you're getting up out of the water, but once you're
on top of it, they can sometimes cause you a great deal of pain.
- The Neanderthal
Plunge looks kind of like the Nestea Plunge performed by a caveman.
You may have seen it. The beginner who is hunched over, looking
down, maybe poking their rear end out excessively. Your mom always
told you to stand up straight. You just never thought her advice
would help you out in your wakeboarding endeavor. Remember that
if you look down, you're going to fall down, so keep your eyes
up on the boat or out on the horizon. Keep your knees slightly
bent so that should you go through some choppy water or over a
roller, you can absorb it with your legs, not your whole body.
Tuck that tail in and puff your chest up with pride because you
are wakeboarding now, my friend
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Deep
water start
Description:
Get up and going on the board from a floating position
in deep water.
Tip: While floating in the water, keep the board
horizontal and in front of you while facing the boat, let the
boat take up the slack of the rope, keep your arms straight or
slightly bent, not pulled in to your chest, and keep your knees
bent, when you feel ready shout GO or READY, do not shout NO as
it sounds like go and it may be difficult for the people on the
boat to hear, if you are not ready, rather shout WAIT, as the
boat accelerates, keep the board horizontal and at an angle so
your toes are pointing toward the boat, as you feel yourself coming
up onto the board, move your leading foot slightly forward to
point the board towards the boat.
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Shallow
water / shore start
Description:
Get up and going on the board from a sitting position
in shallow water.
Tip: Sitting on the bottom with most of your
body out of the water, the board horizontal and in front of you
while facing the boat, the board's bottom edge may be touching
the bottom too depending on how shallow it is, let the boat take
up the slack of the rope, keep your arms straight or slightly
bent, not pulled in to your chest, and keep your knees bent, when
you feel ready shout GO or READY, do not shout NO as it sounds
like go and it may be difficult for the people on the boat to
hear, if you are not ready, rather shout WAIT, as the boat accelerates,
keep the board horizontal in front of you and at an angle by pointing
your toes forward toward the boat, as you feel yourself coming
up onto the board stand up and move your leading foot slightly
forward to point the board towards the boat.
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Stand
on board
Description: Stand up and ride on the board for
at least 5 seconds
Tip: Keep your arms slightly bent
and close to your front hip. The proper handle position is at
your leading hip so when you start getting comfortable on the
board get used to this, spread your hands out to use the whole
handle with both palms down. Keep you knees bent like shock absorbers
to ride out any waves but without sticking out your butt. Focus
on twisting your hips so that your upper body is facing the boat
and your lower body is keeping the board pointed in the direction
of the pull.
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One
hand
Description: Ride one handed for at least 5 seconds
Tip: Now that you're getting more
confident, take a hand off the handle and wave to the boat or
to those watching from the shore. Doesn't matter which hand but
make sure you are at least smiling!!
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Cross
one wake
Description: Cross one wake
Tip: After you've gotten used
to your board we're sure you will want to cross the wakes. Remember
that a key element when learning is how you position your hips.
Focus on twisting your hips so that your upper body is facing
the boat and your lower body is keeping the board pointed in the
direction of the pull. In order to turn the board to head in either
direction, it's just a matter of turning your hips and looking
in the direction you want to cross the wake turn the hips to the
left and your body positions the board to turn left. Same thing
when you turn your hips to the right, keep the forward edges up
and out of the water by pressing down with your heels or toes
on the backward edges to avoid the forward moving edge digging
into the water otherwise - "Face Plant"! Apainful lesson
you will no doubt experience.
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Cross
both wakes
Description:
Cross both wakes
Tip: Crossing one wake or two,
it's all the same, use your hips! In order to turn the board to
cross in either direction, move your hips in the direction you
want to go. Rotate the hips to the left and your body positions
the board to turn left. Same thing when you rotate the hips to
the right. Keep your legs bent to absorb the bumps without sticking
out your butt.
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Heel
side and toe side
Description:
Cross both wakes
in your natural stance (leading foot forward) then turn back towards
the wake and cross it again.
Tip: Cross
both wakes,
then cut out by continuing straight outwards, then turn the nose
of the board towards and past the boat, back towards the wake,
this is called a transition, as you get to the turning point,
rotate your hips in the direction you want to turn while flattening
the board out at the apex of the turn and moving the board over
to the other edge as you start cutting in from heelside to toeside.
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Touch
water
Description: Crouch down and touch the water.
Tip: Test your balance as you learn to ride.
Keep your upper body upright and bend at the knees. You don't
want to have your legs straight and band over to touch the water,
you could end up head over heels and flat on your face.
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Surf the wake
Description: Cut up and down the wake as if you were
really wanting to tear it up. The shorter and harder you make the
cuts, the cooler it looks!
Tip: Cut out from the wake, you don't need to go
far, then turn back towards the wake, as you start to go up the wake
do a sharp agressive turn on the wake creating a huge spray and cut
away again. |
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