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Short line wakeboarding for kids or beginners


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I have been towing my 10yr old wakeboarding at about 35ft. This allows him to jump the wake at a much narrower point. So far he absolutely loves it. Every time we go boarding I lengthen the rope by 6" to keep his focus on progressing.

I was wondering if anyone else has tried this, and if there are any safety concerns that I have missed?

Joe

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I have gone short line as a last ditch effort when teaching newbies who are having truouble. It actually works real well if you have a good driver. I put them about 10' behind the platform, attach the rope to the tower and stand on the platform so I can see exactly what they are doing wrong/right. Then lengthen them as quickly as possilbe. The extra angle/pull really helps get people up, it's not quite a boom experience but it is close. Getting them long line helps them learn "the way it's gonna be"

I have not experienced any safty concerns.

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I have been towing my 10yr old wakeboarding at about 35ft.  This allows him to jump the wake at a much narrower point.  So far he absolutely loves it.  Every time we go boarding I lengthen the rope by 6" to keep his focus on progressing.

I was wondering if anyone else has tried this, and if there are any safety concerns that I have missed?

Joe

I did the same thing. But, I didn't start at 35. Started at 50 total. But now he is at 60 and hopefully 65 by the end of the summer. This was a great procedure for getting him jumping wake-to-wake.

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we shortened the length to about 50 for the little guy on the boat because he wasn't coming close to clearing it at 65. the 50' helped a lot for morale.

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we shortened the length to about 50 for the little guy on the boat because he wasn't coming close to clearing it at 65.  the 50' helped a lot for morale.

I shortened the rope until RJ was right behind the whitewater hump and then we lengthen it every time we go. He thinks he is the king when he clears the 6' or so that he is at right now. That down side landing feeling is very addicting once you find it.

Joe

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did this with my little girl last night because she was nervous to be "way back there". had her about 20 feet back from the boat, she got right up and was happy. Seems plenty safe, still further from the exhaust than surfing.

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I think this is a great idea and one that I didn't think of. I will be trying this when I start to teach my son next summer. Thanks guys.

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Remember, the idea here is to help them get the idea of what landing a w2w feels like, to land on the downside of the far wake. You probably don't want to start out like this, but wait until they're comfy on the board & behind the boat, & actually trying to jump. For some kids it may freak them out a bit being so close - the whitewater & turbulence can be intimidating for a newbie, & the wake characterstics up close like that are different. As always, YMMV.

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