Do you tow newbs wakeboarding?

[granddaddy55]

7 minutes ago, MadMan said:

$100 Wakeskate:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Hyperlite-Paragon-Wakeskate-LTD-Yamaha-Edition-44-Red/202255167406?epid=13016557657&hash=item2f1758efae:g:LQ0AAOSwsFVaow~s

 

That’s the one I get! Great for hang ten wake crosses

[05hammerhead]

32 minutes ago, hunter77ah said:

I had my bindings stretched because of your second type of newb.  Never again.  Surfing for all newbs from now on.

Yup, been there done that.  I wear an 8-9 velcro binding and wakeboard at least every time Im on the boat so it lives on there.  People dont understand why I wont let them try using my board.  I dont argue I just say no.  Ive gotten to the point now where I have 5 wakeboards, 1 each for the wife and I, 1 128 size small feet, 1 142 smallish feet, and 1 142 huge feet.  Huge PITA.  I just tell people to get it out of the garage if they wanna try. 

Also, when people have gone recently, Ill ride doubles with them so I can help from back there.  Sometimes it totally messes with them, others it makes it way easier.  Now that we surf more though its not the getting up thats the issue its learning how to edge so it helps with that. 

[JustinHarrelson]

13 hours ago, shawndoggy said:

haha we are talking about completely different "beginners"  I'm talking about soft office working grown-a** adults who probably can't run a mile and would have a hard time riding a bike three miles.  Think Wall-e.  We sent a 6'4" 230ish guy to the mri towing at 17.  Most adults in their mid-40s have one foot in the grave (or at least have one foot on a rascal scooter).  I'm not talking about "progressing," except maybe in the sense of "riding straight and not falling".

(I guess in reality this thread is a lament that my friends all appear to be aging at a much more rapid pace than I'm willing to concede myself)

 

I'm 37 and everything you just said is sad, but true. I know so many 40 year olds that are 100% committed to getting old. I'm getting older, but I'm still going to ride the very best I can for as long as I can. 

Hate to say it, but you need a crew of riders and you may need to start inviting out young guys that still have a rider's mentality.

[pauley71]

[martinarcher]

Sounds like a simple pre-ride test is in order.  If you can't get out of the water, back in the boat and complete a sentence within 30 seconds....stay in the boat. 

[minnmarker]

I'm 61 and have one friend my age that still slalom skis, kinda.  I still slalom (aggressive open water) and wake board (no inverts anymore) and surf a lot. Sure am glad WI just passed the mirror law. I'm running out of playmates!  Still have 3 sizes of regular (two) skis to keep the pedestrians happy.

[kerpluxal]

3 minutes ago, minnmarker said:

I'm 61 and have one friend my age that still slalom skis, kinda.  I still slalom (aggressive open water) and wake board (no inverts anymore) and surf a lot. Sure am glad WI just passed the mirror law. I'm running out of playmates!  Still have 3 sizes of regular (two) skis to keep the pedestrians happy.

This... This... and This Congrats minmarker... I have a friend in his 50's that still does all the above and foots..  I guess I have one foot somewhere in there and I still slalom, wakeboard, surf, foot, and surf... I gave up on airchair as it was too much to store on boat... I hope as I get older that I am like you!!!!

[oldjeep]

We don't take a ton of people out, but whoever gets invited is welcome to any of the equipment we bring along - including my ski.  The bindings we have on everything are pretty adjustable, nothing fancy enough to get stretched out.  My fear is that all anything that takes any physical fitness will die and we'll have nothing but tubing and surfing on the lakes- probably 90% of the way there already.

[cadeta1c]

I think more people have got hurt behind mine tubing. By the time the lake is getting rough everyone is tired so jump on the tube and cartwheel and then your hurt. (We only tube when the lake is too rough for anything else) 

[minnmarker]

30 minutes ago, kerpluxal said:

This... This... and This Congrats minmarker... I have a friend in his 50's that still does all the above and foots..  I guess I have one foot somewhere in there and I still slalom, wakeboard, surf, foot, and surf... I gave up on airchair as it was too much to store on boat... I hope as I get older that I am like you!!!!

15 years since I last bare footed!  The falls really hurt - about 6 hours later

And no one else uses my slalom ski.  Bindings are just how I like them.

[DarkSide]

I am much closer to 50 than 40, I have the office dad bod... most of my crew is similar.   Although some still wakeboard and ski on a regular basis. 

I absolutely agree wakeboarding at a high level requires far more athleticism than most of my crew has. 

The flip side to that is wakeboarding at a low level requires NO MORE athleticism than low level surfing.   Example getting up and carving out to the side or simply crossing the wake, really requires very little athleticism.   It does provide a different "RUSH" than surfing no doubt!

So we do not even attempt to teach anyone wakeboarding. Teaching people to surf is simple, they enjoy it and can progress.  The risk of injury learning to jump wakeboarding vs airs/spins surfing is not worth it for my group.   

 

Edited April 18, 2018 by DarkSide

[isellacuras]

My favorite is to teach newbies to ride the hydrofoil. Great entertainment for all. I am a very soft office type 40 something that still love to ride EVERYTHING (my quiver contains wake, surf, ski, kneeboard, wakeskate, sit down and stand up hydrofoils) and i encourage my guests to try something. I wouldn't let an ER visit from one stop you from giving the opportunity to others that might be more able. Don't let size fool you either. I have a couple obese and 50+ers that have inverts, granted they are not newbies but they were at one point. 

 

[John I.]

15 hours ago, shawndoggy said:

haha we are talking about completely different "beginners"  I'm talking about soft office working grown-a** adults who probably can't run a mile and would have a hard time riding a bike three miles.  Think Wall-e.  We sent a 6'4" 230ish guy to the mri towing at 17.  Most adults in their mid-40s have one foot in the grave (or at least have one foot on a rascal scooter).  I'm not talking about "progressing," except maybe in the sense of "riding straight and not falling".

(I guess in reality this thread is a lament that my friends all appear to be aging at a much more rapid pace than I'm willing to concede myself)

 

Hey, I resemble this remark!  I  only wish I was still in my mid-40's...        

Being the conscientious boat owner that you are, it sucks when a guest is injured even through no fault of your own. The only thing worse than hearing that one of your guests sought medical attention after an outing,  is taking them to the ER yourself. On the rare occasion we have a newbie out with us, I let them know they are welcome to try anything we are doing (primarily ski, with a fair dose of wake board and wake skate as well) but I don't push them to do anything. And we alter our usual routine to spend more time floating, sightseeing, and relaxing than we would otherwise.

At this point in my life our friends are pretty much segregated based on level of physical deterioration into the (dwindling) water/snow sports crew, the hiking/biking partners, and the drinks/dinner companions. 

[shawndoggy]

22 minutes ago, isellacuras said:

My favorite is to teach newbies to ride the hydrofoil. Great entertainment for all. I am a very soft office type 40 something that still love to ride EVERYTHING (my quiver contains wake, surf, ski, kneeboard, wakeskate, sit down and stand up hydrofoils) and i encourage my guests to try something. I wouldn't let an ER visit from one stop you from giving the opportunity to others that might be more able. Don't let size fool you either. I have a couple obese and 50+ers that have inverts, granted they are not newbies but they were at one point. 

 

Haha I've seen you ride!  You can definitely get down and are competent.  But that comes from a lifetime of standing sideways on something from time to time, right?

And I betcha your 50+ friends with inverts weren't newbies in their 40s (more like 20s with more balls than brains?).

[shawndoggy]

28 minutes ago, DarkSide said:

The flip side to that is wakeboarding at a low level requires NO MORE athleticism than low level surfing.   Example getting up and carving out to the side or simply crossing the wake, really requires very little athleticism.   It does provide a different "RUSH" than surfing no doubt!

So we do not even attempt to teach anyone wakeboarding. Teaching people to surf is simple, they enjoy it and can progress.  The risk of injury learning to jump wakeboarding vs airs/spins surfing is not worth it for my group.   

Agree it doesn't take much to stand up (and we're actually pretty good at getting almost anyone to stand up behind the boat).  but the whipping fall from crossing the wake badly can be much more dangerous than surfing ... at least in our experience.

[hunter77ah]

10 minutes ago, shawndoggy said:

more like 20s with more balls than brains

I feel like this is a slam, but I'll take it as a compliment lol.

I've always said wakeboarding is 70% balls and 30% skill.

[shawndoggy]

2 minutes ago, hunter77ah said:

I feel like this is a slam, but I'll take it as a compliment lol.

I've always said wakeboarding is 70% balls and 30% skill.

Not a slam at all.... more like a realization that as I get older the benefit of trying to huck something doesn't outweigh the chance of getting hurt.  Just a natural progression of things I think.  

I just did 3 days at the Boarding School in Orlando and there were a pair of 17 year old twins there who were so immensely coachable.  Saw them each learn new tricks in a matter of minutes... due at least in part to the fact that they weren't afraid to take a hard fall to get there.

Edited April 18, 2018 by shawndoggy

[isellacuras]

23 minutes ago, shawndoggy said:

Haha I've seen you ride!  You can definitely get down and are competent.  But that comes from a lifetime of standing sideways on something from time to time, right?

And I betcha your 50+ friends with inverts weren't newbies in their 40s (more like 20s with more balls than brains?).

All true but i say don't stop because you had one bad crash.  Get back on that horse. Just have to tell them about the toe edge. Think of all the people you have taught over the years and all the enjoyment that brings. If someone is willing to try, "boot up old man". As long as they know the dangers going in, that's all part of any "sport". Would you stop pulling noobs surfing if someone caught a fin to the head?  Jus sayin..., leave it up to them to decide, just don't stop making it an option. You may have posted it in the original post but what was the outcome of the ER visit?  I will go back and look. 

Edit: I saw MRI, still curious about the outcome. Remember taking your first few toe side faceplants?  I can still remember thinking i was broken when i did them in my 20's. 

Edited April 18, 2018 by isellacuras

[shawndoggy]

2 minutes ago, isellacuras said:

 You may have posted it in the original post but what was the outcome of the ER visit?  I will go back and look. 

No I didn't post that part... concussion that time.   Actually quite a few concussions over the years.  Then at Boarding School last week one of my co-workers did something to his eye... potentially a detached retina.  Probably why I have this on my mind.

Edited April 18, 2018 by shawndoggy

[05hammerhead]

15 minutes ago, shawndoggy said:

I just did 3 days at the Boarding School in Orlando 

 

Going again in May.  Man I love that place.  Most surprising was how much I learned to coach others from Trav.  

[shawndoggy]

21 minutes ago, 05hammerhead said:

Going again in May.  Man I love that place.  Most surprising was how much I learned to coach others from Trav.  

zactly.  I learn as much sitting in the boat as I do with the handle in my hand.  First sets of the year for me, new wake, etc.  I rode like garbage, but I am excited to come home with some stuff to work on once we get the boat on the water.

The new Xstar wake is no joke.  It's so long that it took me the whole first day just to find the top of the wake.  I kept trying to pop from the lip halfway up the wake because the transition is just so long.  

[isellacuras]

31 minutes ago, shawndoggy said:

No I didn't post that part... concussion that time.   Actually quite a few concussions over the years.  Then at Boarding School last week one of my co-workers did something to his eye... potentially a detached retina.  Probably why I have this on my mind.

All sports have their risks. I don't ride motorcycles but i would in a heartbeat given the opportunity. Go carts? Sign me up. Heck, I'd even give a trapeze a go. I'm just sayin let the guests decide. At 40+, soft or not, they know their limits. Don't take it away from them just because "someone, that one time" got hurt. 

[Falko]

I have a couple of friends that will ski and board. The rest just want to ride around, maybe knee board tops. I expect this summer my son's friends will be the main cargo, interested to see what they'll bring to the table.

[carguy79ta]

We just surf. Occasionally we will pull my son wakeboarding (my 257) but he doesnt like the big wake. If we do that stuff we use his supra. I started wakeboarding at 51.  Did it 4yrs. Then bought an A22. Been surfing ever since. Now am 58.  Last year I skated behind the 257.  Was just hanging on for dear life. I am fairly atheletic, weightlifting and other ways to workout will always be part of my life. Just started training for a tough mudder to do with my daughter. In general I am younger than my age.  By my decision.

[JeffC]

Hey!   Dont call me a  soft office working grown-a** adult... or tubby...  Well, wait, both shoes probably fit.   I guess call me anything you want, as long as you call me when it is time to head to the lake. 

I am 58 now, bought my first boat in 2014 just to prove to myself that I could still slalom ski.   It worked.   Took some epic falls that had me counting arms and legs to make sure they were still all attached.   The last pull of the season two years ago convinced me that it was time to learn to surf.   Both eyelids peeled back, and hurt for about 2 weeks.  I have not given up slalom, but I am not as aggressive as I once was,  and if the water aint glass, then Im either getting out two skis or the surfboard.   Glass is getting hard to find on public water in CO, even at the break of dawn.    

I never did learn to wakeboard, and while I have one, I think Ill leave that to my kids.  I equate it to switching from skis to snowboards...  learning it probably is hazardous to my health, and not worth risking a season of wakesurfing, which I have become HOPELESSLY addicted to.   I crave surfing like I did slalom skiing when I was 22 and immortal. 

As for the label... well, snowsports and watersports are what keep me motivated not to be total couch creature.   This winter has been BAAAAAAD, a shoulder injury kept me out of a lot of exercise over the winter (limiting me to only one trip to the slopes, just a couple weeks ago ).  I am pretty much a lard azz right now, but daily bike rides are slowly getting rid of some of the weight.   I probably have 2 weeks until I get into the water to make sure I dont break the surfboard in half, or snap the tower off the VLX.