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How do you get up on a wakeboard??


buBarry

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I am a life long skier, and have only tried to get up once (unsuccessfully) on a wakeboard. My son (14) really wants to learn to wake board. We don't really know anyone that boards, and I am not much help.

Any advice on teaching him? Or for that matter pulling him? Would I be better off just finding someplace to give him a lesson?

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I am a life long skier, and have only tried to get up once (unsuccessfully) on a wakeboard. My son (14) really wants to learn to wake board. We don't really know anyone that boards, and I am not much help.

Any advice on teaching him? Or for that matter pulling him? Would I be better off just finding someplace to give him a lesson?

If he really wants to learn, invest in a DVD called "the book". It includes instructions for pulling wakeboarders as well.

In order to get him up, a couple of quick questions, do you have a tower? He'll be able to get up without it, but the tower will make it easier.

Does he know if he is left foot or right foot forward? The following assumes left, substitute right if he is right foot forward.

1. The pull is a LOT slower with a wakeboard than with skiing.

2. Have him in the water with the rope over the top of the wakeboard, bottom of the board facing the boat

3. Eventually he will be able to get up from anywhere, but when learning have the line straight behind the boat

4. Have his legs bent... a lot... and arms straight. The "V" from the handle should be right at the edge of the board

Also, before you begin his board should be showing above the water. This usually isn't a problem.

5. When he's ready start to pull, again much slower than slalom skiing, there is a huge surface area to the wakeboard

Once you see the board is on top of the water, you can accelerate a little more to get him up to speed

6. As soon as he feels the pull have him lift his "left" (or right if right foot forward) foot. The object here

is to get the wakeboard to "tilt" torward the surface of the water (like a ramp). by lifting the left foot up the

pull of the boat will do this automatically

7. He should still be crouched down, but the board should pop to the surface. At this point he can start standing up.

There are four sides to the board (front, back, toe side, heel side). When he initially stands up he wants to stay centered between toe and heel side, but keep the weight torwards the back. This keeps the front edge out of the water. Once the boat is up to speed he can just get in a balanced position. This is similar to getting up on the ski.

Some tell-tale signs and problems

If you pull and the board becomes an anchor with water pouring over the top, chance are he isn't keeping his legs bent. The first reaction to the boat pull is to straighted the legs. In addition, when this happens there is no way he will be able to hold onto the handle for long, it will just rip out of his hands.

It is possible to get up without step 6 above (the lift of the foot), then he will probably get up doing a "board slide". It's very easy to catch a fin or toe side edge when doing this which will lead to a face plant. I suggest trying to get the board in the correct position right away.

Finally, when done right, he should be out of the water on the board before he even hits the wake from the boat.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

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If he really wants to learn, invest in a DVD called "the book". It includes instructions for pulling wakeboarders as well.

In order to get him up, a couple of quick questions, do you have a tower? He'll be able to get up without it, but the tower will make it easier.

Does he know if he is left foot or right foot forward? The following assumes left, substitute right if he is right foot forward.

1. The pull is a LOT slower with a wakeboard than with skiing.

2. Have him in the water with the rope over the top of the wakeboard, bottom of the board facing the boat

3. Eventually he will be able to get up from anywhere, but when learning have the line straight behind the boat

4. Have his legs bent... a lot... and arms straight. The "V" from the handle should be right at the edge of the board

Also, before you begin his board should be showing above the water. This usually isn't a problem.

5. When he's ready start to pull, again much slower than slalom skiing, there is a huge surface area to the wakeboard

Once you see the board is on top of the water, you can accelerate a little more to get him up to speed

6. As soon as he feels the pull have him lift his "left" (or right if right foot forward) foot. The object here

is to get the wakeboard to "tilt" torward the surface of the water (like a ramp). by lifting the left foot up the

pull of the boat will do this automatically

7. He should still be crouched down, but the board should pop to the surface. At this point he can start standing up.

There are four sides to the board (front, back, toe side, heel side). When he initially stands up he wants to stay centered between toe and heel side, but keep the weight torwards the back. This keeps the front edge out of the water. Once the boat is up to speed he can just get in a balanced position. This is similar to getting up on the ski.

Some tell-tale signs and problems

If you pull and the board becomes an anchor with water pouring over the top, chance are he isn't keeping his legs bent. The first reaction to the boat pull is to straighted the legs. In addition, when this happens there is no way he will be able to hold onto the handle for long, it will just rip out of his hands.

It is possible to get up without step 6 above (the lift of the foot), then he will probably get up doing a "board slide". It's very easy to catch a fin or toe side edge when doing this which will lead to a face plant. I suggest trying to get the board in the correct position right away.

Finally, when done right, he should be out of the water on the board before he even hits the wake from the boat.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

That all makes perfect sense but is alot to digest as a newby. I suck and the only thing I'm consistant at is getting up :crazy: My advice would be:

Crouch in the water, knees bent, elbows squeezed tight against the outside of your knees, and try to get your butt close to the heelside of the board. Let the boat do most of the rest, you can even stay in that crouched position while on top of the water until you feel comfortable enough to stand up.

Boat speed around 15-17 mph.

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Has he snowboarded? If so, he'll get up on the first try. Has he slalomed? Wakeboarding is way easier. It will feel weird to him at first, but after a couple tries he'll get up. Again, if he's snowboarded, that will overcome it.

Know which foot is going forward, plan on that before even getting in the water. Keep knees bent. Turn the board in the desired direction as soon as he says READY! It doesn't take much to get up, so go easy on the throttle, depending on weight.

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That all makes perfect sense but is alot to digest as a newby. I suck and the only thing I'm consistant at is getting up :crazy: My advice would be:

Crouch in the water, knees bent, elbows squeezed tight against the outside of your knees, and try to get your butt close to the heelside of the board. Let the boat do most of the rest, you can even stay in that crouched position while on top of the water until you feel comfortable enough to stand up.

Boat speed around 15-17 mph.

No on the bold. Arms should be between your legs and straight. The old "hug the knees" technique for teaching skiers will make getting up on a wakeboard really hard as it makes it harder to turn your hips properly when starting off.

If you've been a life-long skier, remember, with a wakeboard, you're not supposed to have your hips facing the boat. This is a common mistake amongst newbies. They'll get up and immediately take off to their left if LFF or right if RFF. They do this by holding both arms straight and turning their hips towards the boat. On a wake board, you should have your back arm straight and front arm bent in order to keep your hips pointed in the right direction.

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This is another really good video...

My only complaint is that while he is shooting the video he is wasting perflect glass for slolam :rockon:

No on the bold. Arms should be between your legs and straight. The old "hug the knees" technique for teaching skiers will make getting up on a wakeboard really hard as it makes it harder to turn your hips properly when starting off.

If you've been a life-long skier, remember, with a wakeboard, you're not supposed to have your hips facing the boat. This is a common mistake amongst newbies. They'll get up and immediately take off to their left if LFF or right if RFF. They do this by holding both arms straight and turning their hips towards the boat. On a wake board, you should have your back arm straight and front arm bent in order to keep your hips pointed in the right direction.

Most people don't turn the board until they're starting to stand up especially newby's, by then turning your hips would have nothing to do with where your elbows are. Skier 87's attached video is what I watched when I started to board and it worked for me, like I said, I've got the starts figured out, but that's about it :crazy:

Edited by Ndawg12
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I by no means am an expert or compared to some even good, but I have a pretty good track record for getting people up on a wakeboard, people that have never been pulled by a boat will get up in there first 2-3 times some even their first, skiers and other watersport junkies seem to put way to much thought into it and struggle. Since having my Bu I have gotten a 9 yr old girl up 2nd shot, my wife 2nd shot, her friend 1st attempt and rode for a while and her soon to be 7 yr old son on his 3rd attempt rode about 10', but i think my wife's board was just to heavy for him (but it was still really cool and he got an xbox game out of it for trying) anyway they had never been behind a boat.

I saw it on youtube it may be one of the video's already posted (Im on my phone so I didn't check) it is very short and sweet:

1.figure out what foot goes forward

2.Pretending the board is a wall or a rail on a fence, use the boat to pull or roll you on top of the wall. Knees bent, arms straight and a nice easy pull and believe me they'll be up

And from there skateboarding or snowboarding will help but my wife and her friend didn't have either and they were able to figured the rest out.

I have video of the 9 yr old girl I'll try to post it when i get home. It was really funny she got spun around different direction from the boat and didn't have the strength to turn herself so I jumped in faced her the right direction and got in the boat quickly to go and like i said the 2nd shot she was up and going

anyway it has been working for my crew hope it helps, don't over think it "roll up on to that wall" and they'll get up

Edited by Scotty's Sporty
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By far the simplest explanation on how to get up is this:

Have them lay on the ground on their back with their knees bent (just just like they are doing a sit up)

Then stand in front of them and reach out your hand to help them up.

The motion they use to get up off the ground is the exact motion they should be using to get up on a wakeboard. (once they are up they will naturally swivel their feet/hips to straighten the board)

**some people put a board on the learner's feet and an actual wakeboard handle in the 'helpers' hand to make it more realistic.

As far as driving:

Always, always, always drive in a straight line

+/- 20mph

+/- 70 ft (non stretch) rope

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By far the simplest explanation on how to get up is this:

Have them lay on the ground on their back with their knees bent (just just like they are doing a sit up)

Then stand in front of them and reach out your hand to help them up.

The motion they use to get up off the ground is the exact motion they should be using to get up on a wakeboard. (once they are up they will naturally swivel their feet/hips to straighten the board)

**some people put a board on the learner's feet and an actual wakeboard handle in the 'helpers' hand to make it more realistic.

As far as driving:

Always, always, always drive in a straight line

+/- 20mph

+/- 70 ft (non stretch) rope

YEP! THATS IT! I thought it had something to do with a wall or a fence but either way it really is that easy :yahoo:

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I've been wakeboarding for a couple years, but when my friends asked me to teach them I was suddenly at a loss for words. I posted on WakeWorld (How do you teach others to get up on a wakeboard? asking others how they teach others how to wakeboard and I got this comprehensive guide to teaching others how to wakeboard. Hope it helps!

Give them a quick safety brief; Put them at ease; tell them about the signals to be used between them and the boat driver.

Tell them you will be in the water with them when they start and at anytime they feel concerned or threatened just let go of the rope etc.

1. find out if they are regular or goofy footed (to determine use, tug of war, push from behind with their eyes closed, skateboard foot push off methods etc)

2. Spread out the bindings on the board, with dominant foot at about 9 degrees ducked out and on the first set of binding holes and back foot at 90 degrees to the board and all the way at the back set of binding holes. What this does is cause 30% of your weight to be on the front of the board and about 70% of your weight on the back foot. This stance also helps the first timer from being pulled out the front once they get up. (this stance is just for getting up and doing some cruising no tricks using this stance as injury could result.)

3. Use only one fin at the back of the board, take the front fin off. (This helps turn the board when they first get up) Also try to use a larger fin in the back than normal if you have one. On our Sol and Rhythm we have several over-sized fins that we use in place of the stock fin to help make the board more stable for the newbie.

4. Test getting up using line in the boat first. Give handle to newbie put them in the correct position, ie tucked with heels to buttocks, shoulders back, chest up, knees bent, arms straight with knees inside arms. Fit the wakeboard to the rider, a 133cm board probably wont work for somebody 6'3' at 235 lbs (you get the drift). Generally for a newbie the bigger the board the better because: it slows things down once they get up and "generally" a bigger board creates more lift making it easier to get up for the first time which is all we are trying to do at this point.

5. Have someone that knows how to ride get in the water with them to assist them getting them into the correct position and to put them at ease (this probably helps more than anything else we do for the rider)

6. In the water put them in the proper stance, have the driver take up extra slack and put the new rider under "slight" tension and when they are ready tell them to holler out "hit it" or whatever signal you use.

It is also important to diagnose what they are doing wrong if they don't get up the first 3-4 attempts so you know what to tell them to correct the issue. There is nothing worse than an eager rider asking you "What am I doing wrong" and you not being able to articulate to them what to do. Here are a few common problems and fixes I found on the net that have been helpful to us;

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.

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 by a couple of inches, 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 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.

What if you got up alright, but just can't seem to stay up? Here are some common mistakes that may be causing your problem...

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.

Again Being pulled out the front may also result in a 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.

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The helping hand to get up is spot on. I usually tell people arms straight, no pulling. Let the boat do all the work and pull you up into that squat position on the water. If you pull too much you skid out under the handle, and if you try to stand up too soon the boat will pull you out the front side....very similar to skiing in that respect.

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That all makes perfect sense but is alot to digest as a newby. I suck and the only thing I'm consistant at is getting up :crazy: My advice would be:

Crouch in the water, knees bent, elbows squeezed tight against the outside of your knees, and try to get your butt close to the heelside of the board. Let the boat do most of the rest, you can even stay in that crouched position while on top of the water until you feel comfortable enough to stand up.

Boat speed around 15-17 mph.

Agreed, I wouldn't tell someone all of that at once, especially the driving parts. They don't need to know that. I just figured better to have more information than not enough once you get out there on the water.

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ok I will ad my two cents.

Boarder: Inside of elbows to the outside of your knees, allow the board to go 6-8 inches below the water at a 45 degree angle. Only muscle required is to stay in that form. WAIT and then stand up.

Driver: Slight tension on rope, allows the board to go slightly under water and makes it easier to get into proper form for the boarder. When boarder is ready gently ease into the throttle don't rip the handle out of the boarders hand. Once boarder is up come up to speed nice fluent motion. Remember wakeboards have a lot more surface area then a ski so it will get the rider up easier then a ski.

Good Luck

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Wow!! That is more advice than I have had time to try (let alone check back) Thanks a ton. I like the suggestions of comparing it to getting up on a wall etc, it will give him something to visualize.

FWIW, I don't have a tower (what would I do with that...?)

One other question, to which I am pretty sure I know the answer but...

I have a boom. It isn't safe to have him try it on the boom with a rope is it?

Thanks again for all of the advice!

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The helping hand to get up is spot on. I usually tell people arms straight, no pulling. Let the boat do all the work and pull you up into that squat position on the water. If you pull too much you skid out under the handle, and if you try to stand up too soon the boat will pull you out the front side....very similar to skiing in that respect.

Simple, but excellent advice. The thing you need to know for every water sport is: arms straight, knees bent.

Just like he said, if the board is getting slippy, skidding out, or they are doing fine and suddenly they get all wobbly, that means they are pulling with their arms, rather then keeping them straight and letting the board pull.

If they flop over the board and do a faceplant, they are trying to stand up too fast. Have them keep their knees bent longer and their butt close to backside heel.

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MalibuNation

Towers help you get air and do tricks ... it also does a better job of pulling you up in the beginning.

Certainly nice to have but not required. This summer I got up behind a 1985 Four Winns with a rickity 85 hp that wasn't running well with no tower and I'm 240 lbs.

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