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Wakeboarding Advice.


'07VLX

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Hey guys. Im a beginner wakeboarder. I can do a few very basic grabs but can't get very much pop. I run about 21-22 and just started using the wedge.

I was just wondering if anybody had any tips for pop, and what tricks should i do? Is there a special order? Also, how should i weight the boat? Should i fill the tanks? And how about the wedge?

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I'd practice riding switch any trying a few 180's.

There are other members here that are much better wakeboarders than I am so I'll let them give you the technical advice. Good luck, ride hard :).

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Toe side and 180's to start. for pop you need to stand tall as you are going up the wake. The wake and your legs should work in conjunction with each other. As for weighting the boat, work up to full, get used to the flight then add some more weight, and remember shape is important too, try to keep your weight distrabution 60/40 rear/front.

REW

grammer police needs to get ahold of this post!

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Hey guys. Im a beginner wakeboarder. I can do a few very basic grabs but can't get very much pop. I run about 21-22 and just started using the wedge.

I was just wondering if anybody had any tips for pop, and what tricks should i do? Is there a special order? Also, how should i weight the boat? Should i fill the tanks? And how about the wedge?

I would get comfortable riding switch. It's necessary when you start doing 180s because you are landing switch. There is a progression ladder for learning. A good and informative website is www.learnwake.com. It's worth the subscription fee. As far as ballast goes, I'd fill all the tanks and get comfortable with the size and then use the wedge to adjust the shape.

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Look through the archives in the ballast forums for weighting info. There is a lot of good info in there. REW is right though 60/40...

As far as getting pop:

1. Take a good hard cut at the wake. Make sure you are accelerating into the wake and at your maximum speed when you hit it.

2. As you are leaving the wake you should be pulling the handle towards your hip. It doesn't have to be at your hip but it should be moving towards your body.....NOT away

3. Stand tall and press down on your board at the wake. Do not absorb the wake at all. Keep your chin and chest up and your legs rigid.

In short: Accelerate into the wake. Pull the handle towards you. Stand tall and keep your legs rigid.

Good luck.

Edited by bs001
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If someone really wants to learn how to wakeboard (I always leave this up to the individual) I usually get them doing surface 180s and riding switch as soon as they're comfortable riding regular and edging both ways. Once they have that down, I start them out with 1 wake 180s, regular and half cab, toeside and heelside. The 1 wake 180s are confidence builders and the great thing about them is once you have them down one wake, and learn to go wake to wake properly, a wake to wake 180 is fairly easy.

As far as pop, teaching it can sometimes be tricky depending on the person. I sometimes even take people who can go wake to wake back a step and have them learn to pop and get a feel for loading the line and popping on 1 wake jumps. If you aren't getting much pop chances are you're doing one of two things if not both: not keeping an edge all the way trough the wake and absorbing the wake with your knees as you ride up it.

I usually have people just do 1 wake jumps with about an 8-10 ft cut and then stand tall at the top of the wake (pushing your lead hip towards the handle as you leave the wake is something else I tell people if they're not grasping the idea of standing tall - this forces you to extend your legs, effectively the same thing, just a different way of saying it). A shorter cut it makes it tougher for you to flatten out at the wake and takes the other variable for not having pop out of the equation (not keep an edge all the way through the wake). Doing this 1 wake also makes it a little more subtle in being able to feel how to pop. Learning how to ollie before you do any of this can also actually help as it's teaching you how to push off the water.

As far as tanks and wedge, I normally teach people with the equivilant of stock ballast plus the weight of whatever people are in the boat. I have the same hull as you and usually around 22mph or whatever will make the wake clean at 70ft (including handle). I teach at 70ft because I've spent some time with both Shaun Murray and Darin Shapiro in Florida and I can tell you they teach everyone at 70ft. Their philosophy is that's the distance where it's hard to get away with bad habits and still go wake to wake (although it can be done) and that line length gives you plenty of time to set up and build that progressive edge and time your pop. If you don't already have them a video set like the Book or Detention 2012 both do a pretty good job of breaking down fundamentals and explaining them to you. Riding with some people that are better than you is also another great way to learn and progress. Hope this helps...

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I do ride with my buddy who is pretty good. He can do backrolls, all kinds of grabs, etc.

So full ballast to start with? Also any i ride switch at the start of each run, and can do surface 180's. Any tips on jumping toeside?

I can just do 1 wake jumps.

And sorry, ment to post the in the water sports section.

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Hey guys. Im a beginner wakeboarder. I can do a few very basic grabs but can't get very much pop. I run about 21-22 and just started using the wedge.

I was just wondering if anybody had any tips for pop, and what tricks should i do? Is there a special order? Also, how should i weight the boat? Should i fill the tanks? And how about the wedge?

Pop = Mastering line tension.

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I would get comfortable riding switch. It's necessary when you start doing 180s because you are landing switch. There is a progression ladder for learning. A good and informative website is www.learnwake.com. It's worth the subscription fee. As far as ballast goes, I'd fill all the tanks and get comfortable with the size and then use the wedge to adjust the shape.

+1 for learnwake.com. They explain body position, edging etc. pretty well - they do a good job giving tips for beginner, intermediate and advanced riders.

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martinarcher

Pop = Mastering line tension.

Tension and standing tall. I'm with Tracie too, no ballast until you get your form right and learnt to create pop with form, not wake. Add weight after you have the form down and you'll be Rockon.gif

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<moving to appropriate forum>

I would argue that a beginner should start with no ballast. Beginners tend to pick up bad habits by relying on a big wake. Having a smaller wake will force you to pay more attention to your technique.

Sooooooo true (and once you learn these bad habits it's hard to go back and re-learn the right way or even tweak your style)

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<moving to appropriate forum>

I would argue that a beginner should start with no ballast. Beginners tend to pick up bad habits by relying on a big wake. Having a smaller wake will force you to pay more attention to your technique.

I think you can go either way on this one. IMO the stock wake with ballast full and no wedge on a VLX at 70ft isn't that big that you're gonna get away with much. Running empty certainly won't hurt and will save you some gas money, but I've had no issues getting people to pop and go wake to wake properly with the equivilant to stock and I've taught more than my fair share. For me running without weight really is not an option as I have almost the equivilant of stock ballast in lead in my boat, so if someone is learning on my boat, they're riding with stock ballast when the tanks are empty. I know Darin Shapiro has at least 900 lbs of lead in his boat, everyone he teaches starts at 70ft on a wake that has the equivilant of stock ballast, the Boarding School is pretty much the same, pretty sure those guys don't have any trouble teaching people either. To eacht their own, I don't have the option and obviously this guy does. But with stock at 70ft if you teach them to take short cuts and learn to pop first, and then just add a little cut to it each time, there shouldn't be any problems...

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