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New to surfing - What to work on to go ropeless?


Fish209

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I'm brand new to wakesurfing and have taken my kid out a few times. He can get up fine at this point, but I'm not sure what to work on to help him go ropeless. I've attached a video of one of his runs and another video of just the wave by itself to see if the wave itself might be part of the issue.

 

Boat: 2009 Wakesetter VLX

Ballast capacity: 200 hard tanks in each rear locker and 910 wakemakers piggyback bags in each rear locker (filled about 75%), 500 pounds hard tank in center, 300 hard tank in bow and 675 in bow bag (filled about 50%).

Actual Ballast weight for this run: I would say ballast was somewhere in the range of 1,650lbs (825lbs x 2 rear lockers) and about 900 in the center and front.

Passengers: 2 (just a spotter and the driver)

Power Wedge: Not deployed (not sure how to work it, or if it even works...boat is new to me)

Wakeshaper: Nauticurl

Speed: 11.0 mph

Board: Hyperlite Broadcast 5'4"

Water Depth: 8-12 feet in this particular spot

 

Would you change any of the above? Is it his positioning, the wave itself (not enough push?), the speed of the boat, the ballast setup? What would you suggest he work on to go ropeless?

 

THANKS FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS!!!!

 

 

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More weight on the front foot. 

And ask the guy in the boat to pull the rope to bring the surfer in the pocket. 

Main problem when you start wakesurfing is to find your balance. You are always pushing too much weigh on the front or on the back, and then you use the rope to recover. If the surfer keep a balance, and the guy in the boat bring him to the pocket it usually help a lot. I experienced it many time with friends and novice.

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@Fish209 when I was learning on my 21 VLX I had a similar setup as you.  I have recently added a bow bag, but at the time I was learning I did not have one.  I also had my speed just a little slower, maybe 10.6 - 10.8.  I also only had 550 pnp bags on each side in the rear full on top of the stock ballast.  That made my wave shorter but taller and I had a lot of push.

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Whats the depth of the water there?

Definitely needs more weight on front foot, turn front shoulder into the wave more instead of being open. 

I would also figured out how to use the wedge. 

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That looks like the channel between Village West, and the Main Channel, it is not deep enough. If you move more towards the levee, on a high tide it might get there. but definitely dont go any closer to the tules. It gets real shallow over there.

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It almost looks to me like you are going a little too fast. 
Also I have been on a few different Broadcasts before and never once liked the board, it always felt very slow to me. 

I would say try 10.6-10.8 for speed and see if that makes a difference. As for the surfer, learn that weight on the front foot = speed up, weight on the back foot = slow down. Its about finding a good balance. As one poster said earlier, pull yourself more into the pocket and see if that help with the push. Once you can start to ride with slack in the rope you will be ready to go ropeless.

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Agree - Slow down my friend. What's the hurry to lose the rope? Just makes for more falling and less ride time at the beginning, which is extending your learning time. I also agree that you need to slow it down a click or two on the speed - 10.6 is where we've landed for clean water.

Focus your eyes on the corner of the boat, and get so close that it feels uncomfortable to be that close. Work your grip up the rope until you get a feel for how close you need to be to get that "pushed" feel. 

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What Cole2000 said in regards to the front foot.  Also a tip that helped me was to raise my back foot onto the ball of my foot.  The raising and lowering of the foot helps transfer weight front and back. 

Edited by Racer21
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In addition to the other good advice already given, the rider needs to stand up. He is bent at the waist and is sticking his butt out.  That usually will put weight on the heels which doesn’t help either, because it means the board is being ridden flat instead of driving the rail into the face of the wave.

1 stand tall

2 weigh on balls of feet 

3 weight on front foot (lift rear foot heel to stand on ball/toes of rear foot to practice /exaggerate)  

 

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I had a 09 vlx and it made an awesome wave, however we ran it with 3000 extra over stock and listed. Looks to me like you are or were a wakeboarder. Too much weight on your rear foot. You need to learn the basic front foot is the gas, rear foot is the brakes. Face the wave more and watch the corner of the boat, like others said. Practice using the gas and brakes to stay in the sweet spot. Don’t get rid of the rope till you got this down and can move back and forth in the sweet spot with slack in the rope. We surf on a river alot and I’ve found 10ft depth is about the minimum depth that will work. I’ve taught a lot of people how to surf since 2007. Lots of them are better than me now 😂 also shorten your rope so it won’t let you go past the curl. Also use the wedge several clicks up from all the way down. Slow down to 9.6 mph

Edited by surfdude
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On rewatch — one GREAT thing your rider is doing is NOT pulling on the rope to advance on the wave. That is a terrible terrible habit and it looks like your rider isn’t doing it so that is fantastic. 

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Best thing to do is to get someone who knows how to surf and bring them out.  Surfers are generally junkies to the sport and will jump at an opportunity to burn someone elses gas. They will help dial in the wave and give good riding tips.  

 

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My 2 cents.  Just go straight,  at this point the side to side only hurts.

Everybody lets go of the rope too soon.  Don't even think about letting go of the rope until it is absolutely slack, dangling, for 30 seconds straight.

Slowing down does 2 good things.  The boat will be less on plane, so it is deeper in the water, so it makes a bigger wave, and you don't have to surf as fast to keep up with a boat that's going slower.

If you have a choice, go with the wind, it help push you along instead of slowing you down.

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Wow! Thanks for all the great tips everyone!!!! Quite a bit to work on...both the boat/wave and the riding technique.

 

I like the "slow down" advice and just learn to ride without worrying about going ropeless.

 

Thanks all!!!

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4 hours ago, shawndoggy said:

On rewatch — one GREAT thing your rider is doing is NOT pulling on the rope to advance on the wave. That is a terrible terrible habit and it looks like your rider isn’t doing it so that is fantastic. 

Just learned to surf in this year , big difference 

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I think utilizing your wedge will help get you a better wave as well. I have a 13 vlx and I go with 2 clicks from the bottom and speed is 10.6. Also a trick our dealership shared with me that has helped some riders is for the surfer to focus their eyes on the opposite corner of the boat. Allows them to keep the board the same angle as the wave. Or point the board to the corner of the boat more either one works well for new riders. Have fun!

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Great tips everyone!!! Here's my recap:

  • More weight on toes vs heels
  • Stay on the ball of your back foot at first (to exaggerate a little to get the feeling and get more weight on front foot)
  • Move feet slightly closer to the toe side to keep more weight into the wave
  • Move closer towards the boat (might feel a little uncomfortable at first being so close)
  • Face the wave more so board is at the same angle as the wave (helpful trick is to focus eyes on opposite back corner of boat)
  • Stand more upright

Boat:

  • 10 feet or deeper water is needed to produce a quality wave
  • Speed around 10.6mph (slowing down a bit will keep boat off plane a bit more producing a bigger wave and more push)
  • Wedge just a few clicks from all the way down
  • Go with the wind when possible to help push the surfer with the wave

 

Do these sound about right?

 

Thanks so much for all the great tips everyone!!!!!!

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Yes, we went out again. Made sure we were in deeper water and the wave did look bigger for sure. Not a ton, but definitely a noticeable difference.

My son is still trying to find the sweet spot. He was getting more slack in the rope, more often. Just not ready to go ropeless yet. Towards the end of one of his runs he did have slack for a while and let go. Lasted about 10-15 seconds before fading out the back of the wave.

I'm thinking it'll just take a few more sessions and he'll start to figure it out. How long does it typically take the average rider to get to the point of going ropeless?

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11 hours ago, Fish209 said:

Yes, we went out again. Made sure we were in deeper water and the wave did look bigger for sure. Not a ton, but definitely a noticeable difference.

My son is still trying to find the sweet spot. He was getting more slack in the rope, more often. Just not ready to go ropeless yet. Towards the end of one of his runs he did have slack for a while and let go. Lasted about 10-15 seconds before fading out the back of the wave.

I'm thinking it'll just take a few more sessions and he'll start to figure it out. How long does it typically take the average rider to get to the point of going ropeless?

I’d say 5 days on the water. Some are faster, some are slower, but that’s a good avg. 

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