How do I help my 8 year old with wakboarding?

[petemac]

He's actually a very athletic guy and pretty large for his age (4' 8" 100lbs) he has water skied before so the sensation of being on top of the water isn't foreign. What techniques do you guys suggest for the beginner boarder? His stability factor while on top of the water seems to be the issue, dry land practice?

[WakeGirl]

Do you have access to a boom?

[dlb]

We start out with slow boat speed, short rope length and keep them focused on looking at the boat or shoreline. Avoid the look down, you go down concept. For a kid who is a skier getting them to put the rope handle on their front hip or close to it is as much of the issue as anything. It lines them up better, get him to rotate his sholders relative to his hips.

Also if they start to wobble, dropping the back hand off the handle reorients them into a proper line with boat. They can then get control back by getting the hand back on the handle or letting go. It is better to try again than face plant.

Edited July 9, 2009 by dlb

[davemac]

Do you have access to a boom?

Just got my 10 yr old daughter (who is also a big kid for age, 5-2" 120 lbs, good slalom skier) up today. Used a boom borrowed from fellow crewmember for my vaca (kudos to Chris), and she nailed it first try, repeated, then put 4 foot leader on end of boom for 2 more successful starts, then behind the boat...no sweat..."much easier than slalom" was her comment.

Can't say enough about how well the boom works as a learning aid.

Good Luck

..probably should add... board was 131, and we stayed around 15-17 mph

Edited July 9, 2009 by davemac

[Pondking]

3 simple things for the beginner wakeboarder behind the boat. They worked wonders with my son at 6 yrs.

1. look at the tower where the rope is connected. Never look down.

2. hands with over - over grip down low by front hip or as close as possible. Feel as you are being pulled from hip.

3. once up, a little extra pressure on the back foot will keep the fins in the water and the board tracking straight.

This is how I learned to trick years ago. It works well for kids and adults learning to wake board.

These will get him going and he'll quickly find his balance. Good luck and have fun.

[Connor51]

We start out with slow boat speed, short rope length and keep them focused on looking at the boat or shoreline. Avoid the look down, you go down concept. For a kid who is a skier getting them to put the rope handle on their front hip or close to it is as much of the issue as anything. It lines them up better, get him to rotate his sholders relative to his hips.

Also if they start to wobble, dropping the back hand off the handle reorients them into a proper line with boat. They can then get control back by getting the hand back on the handle or letting go. It is better to try again than face plant.

I'm with that 100%. I've taught several people to board recently, and the ones that had skied before were always trying to keep the rope in front of them. This made the board turn sideways, and they would wash out. If you can get them to keep the rope at their hip, it will make a huge difference.

[bobofthenorth]

Slow the boat down. He can board a lot slower than you think he can.