| GETTING UP A wakeboard is the easiest thing to get up on behind the boat. It doesn't take much effort or strength or anything like that. Most girls will get up first try, without any coaching because they don't pull and push and flex or anything, rather, they let the boat do the work. Here's how to do it. Sit in the water with your knees generously bent, arms straight with both hands on the handle and the board sideways in the water (meaning the people in the boat can see a part of both ends of the board). When the boat starts to pull, gently push the board under water ... gently. That's really all there is to it, when the board surfaces, stand up straight and put your most comfortable foot in front by putting the handle in front of the desired leading hip. If you still have problems, try putting your butt on your heels when the boat starts to pull, then when the board surfaces stand up. If THAT still doesn't work, try starting with the board completely submerged in the water, still sideways though. Keep the board about six inches to a foot in front of your body with your knees bent and hang on. If you still have problems, refer to getting up. GRABS Grabs are easy. Take your jump up first, then go for the grab. The only thing to really remember is to bring the board to your hand, don't bend down to the board or you'll most likely crash. Just go up and see if you can get your hand there and keep your balance, then start really grabbing. There are a big handful of grabs, if you can think of it, try it. It doesn't matter if you know the name or not. The best part of grabs is that you can start poking the board. Get a good grip on the board, then straighten you front leg out, or your back leg, or both legs ... whatever, and make sure you do it at the peak of your jump. Rock on. HS 180 First you want to be able to ride fakie, because in a 180, you land fakie. Take it easy at first, 180s can give you some major headaches if you crash just right (wrong?) and slam your head into the water. Take a slow progressive cut just enough to get you across the wakes. Everything at first is the exact same as a regular jump, even the take off. Once you are in the air, let go with your front hand and put the handle to your back hip and turn the board 180 degrees. Now your back hip should be your front hip, hang on and you're done. Try grabbing this trick, take the trick up, let go with your front hand and grab the board with that hand, its easy and fun. HS JUMPING Check out this tutorial with pictures here or read on. To jump heelside, get outside of the wake on your toeside. If you are right foot forward, that is your left. Cut about 10 feet outside of the wake, then let the board flatten out and get ready to cut back in. DO NOT cut out then cut back in real fast like a ski, wait a minute and let the board straighten out. If you cut back in real fast then you get a lot of slack on the rope, and you can't jump with slack. Once the board flattens out slowly start your cut back in. You want to do what is called a progressive cut meaning you progressively cut faster and faster. You want the fastest part of your cut at the top of the wake, so start the cut slow. Dig your heels into the water, push the board out in front of you, and put the handle in front of your body with your elbows bent. Your position should look similar to sitting in a chair with good posture, but leaning back on the back legs. When you get to the wake, stand up. Don't jump though, just bring your hips to the handle and straighten your legs. Don't jump ... just stand tall. Once you are in the air, keep the handle in front of the center of your body, your hips, or you will get pulled off balance. Not get ready for the landing, straighten you legs a little, then wait to hit. One thing to remember is that you aren't jumping off of a ramp like a skateboard, or a kicker like a snowboard, but you are getting a lot of tension and energy in the rope and ultimately trying to sink your board into the wake, remember, the water is coming at you at 25 miles per hour, when you sink your board into the wake by standing tall, not jumping, the wake pushes you back out of it. That is how you jump on a wakeboard. RIDING THE BOARD The key to anything on a wakeboard is handle placement, including simple edging (turning). RFF - right foot forward LFF - left foot forward. Riding Straight - Can't keep the board from turning on you? That's because you aren't holding the handle in the right spot. Put the handle above your front foot. When the handle is out to the side of your body (above your front foot), the boat pulls you straight. If you put the handle more to the front of your body (chest/hips area) the boat pulls the back end of the board around. Heelside Edging - Heelside turns are to the left for LFF, right for RFF, so that your chest is facing the boat. There are three little things that you do at the same time to turn, here they are: 1. Move the handle so it is more in front of your body, instead of to your side 2. tilt the board so your heelside edge (the side your heels are on) digs into the water 3. slightly twist the board in to the direction of your turn (LFF, left; RFF, right) ... this should pretty much happen naturally if you do step 2. To edge harder, dig your heels in more, and get the board out in front of you. Toeside Edging - Toeside turns are to the right for LFF, and left for RFF, so that your back is facing the boat. There are also three main things to do at the same time to turn toeside and they are: 1. Put the handle to the small of your back and lean AWAY from the boat, try to put your leading elbow to the middle of your back, hold on with both hands!. Too many people let go with one hand, that is stupid. Don't do it. 2. dig your toeside edge into the water (the side your toes are on) 3. slightly twist the board the way you want to turn, that's right for LFF and left for RFF. Again, this pretty much should happen on its own. That's it! STIFFY Stiffys can look cool, or stupid, but either way its fun. Take a normal heelside cut, then after you are in the air, stick your legs out in front of you, (grab the board if you want to look good) and straighten your legs. Or you can do it snowboard style (this is better), take the trick up, bend down a little and grab the board indy, then straighten your legs and do a little bit of a twister. The best version of this trick is toeside. Take the trick up on a toeside jump, turn the board almost a 180 and grab the board indy, then straighten your legs, bring the 180 back and land the way you took off. TS JUMPING Toeside jumping seems harder than heelside but in all reality its easier. There are less steps involved. You approach a toeside jump from the side of your stance, LFF people come in from the left, RFF come in from the right, so when you are cutting in your back is kind of facing the boat. Like anything, you want a good progressive cut. Start from about 15 feet out and take an easy paced progressive cut into the wake. Throughout the cut keep the handle on your leading hip, almost on your butt. Keep your head up and your back straight. Lean away from the boat to cut harder. When you hit the wake, stand up a little bit straighter ... that's it. The key is to keep your head up and your back straight when leaving the wake. Some people like to give a slight tug on the rope with their back hand at the wake. When airborne, keep the handle in the small of your back by your leading hip and now you've mastered the toeside jump. |
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