Advice on Fail Proof Instructions for First Time Wake Surfer

[truckjunky87]

My family never surfed until we got our boat and we ended up teaching ourselves on how to get up and do it.  We all had experience in similar sports, both water and snow, so it came somewhat natural to us and we were all up and surfing within a try or two.  Since then I've had a few beginners with us and manage to get them all up as well, eventually.  Fast forward to last week and we had a friend of my high school daughter with us and just couldn't get her up.  We tried explaining things several different ways and she would just keep doing the same thing so I'm guessing our instructions were just not something she could easily relate to.  As easy as this sport is I'm thinking the failure is on my part and my ability to communicate a few basic concepts without making it too difficult.

 

So, anyone have fool proof instructions they rely on for someone with no water sports background?

[shawndoggy]

Some people are just spazzy when it comes to board sports, even folks who could otherwise be deemed athletes in other disciplines. 

[BCJohnsontx]

@truckjunky87 I have the same question as you. We love taking out new friends and their kids and some adults and kids just seem to not get it no matter how hard we try to explain it. 

It would be great if there was an easier way to step 1, 2, 3 this if someone has any advice for how they explain surfing for noobies.  

[justgary]

Are you guys doing any shore work with the newbies, or just chunking them in the water and telling them what to do?  Demonstrating the motion on a solid surface can go a long way, as can pulling them up with their heels very close to their butts as opposed to pushed out from their bodies.  Once the light bulb goes off about keeping their heels in on land (you can demonstrate pulling them up with one finger to drive the point home), they tend to do much better in the water.

[shawndoggy]

I asked this question 6 years ago, and here are the answers I got then:

 

[malibudog]

Getting up: 

1.  put the heels of your feet on the very EDGE of the board closest to you, shoulder width apart.  TOES MUST POINT STRAIGHT UP AT THE SKY.  If you point them at the boat. you are toast.  Bend knees, arms are straight out, and relax.  Once you can sit comfortably in the water in this position, you are ready for step 2

2.  put the boat just into gear, Rider keeps LEGS BENT AND ARMS STRAIGHT, and has to move handle back and forth between their knees so that BOARD STAYS PERPENDICULAR TO THE ROPE.    Only when rider can cruise at idle speed with feet on the board (toes pointing straight up), and board perfectly perpendicular to the rope, can you go to step 3.

3.  Rider should then push down on their heels, so that the BOARD FLIPS UP TO MEET YOUR TOES, which are still pointed right at the sky.  If you point your toes down to the board, rather than letting the board flip up to meet your feet, you are toast.  Only when rider can get the board to flip up to meet their feet do you go to step 4.  At this point, board should be standing on edge, still perpendicular to the rope, and rider should be in a very relaxed crouch, with knees bent and arms out.  If you relax, you should be able to get your hands above the board.  Biggest mistake is tensing up, pulling in with your arms and pushing out with your legs.  If you don't relax into a ball, your head is going to be way back, and you are going to get water over your face.  Relax and let the boat compress you into a ball behind the board.  

4.  Once the rider gets the board to flip up in front of them, and is in a ball, only then should the driver accelerate the boat up to surfing speed.  The only thing the rider needs to do is stay in a ball (crouch), and point the nose of the board in the direction they want to go.  Standing up too quickly (PBL = premature butt lift) before the boat gets up to speed will sink the board, and the rider will fall.  Stay in a ball until the boat can get up to speed, then, slowly stand up.

 

Riding:  

1.  People naturally lean back against the rope.  The most important thing to do is to get the rider to stand up more vertically, so that they are not leaning way back

2.  Once the rider is standing up straight and tall, they should let go of the rope with just their back hand, and face their chest toward the wake (not the boat).

3.  Now you need the rider to get weight over the balls of their feet.  When you tell most people to do this, they crouch down, and push their butt out, which moves weight to their heels.  Instead, it is much better to stand almost straight up, and push your knees out over your toes, so you can't see your toes.  Leaning forward is not intuitive, but if you don't get your weight off of your heels, the heel side of the board is going to dig into the channel below the wake, and you will fall

4.  The board should point toward the rear corner of the boat.  The best way to stay in the pocket is to move weight over your front foot TOES to speed up, and over your back foot TOES to slow down.  You can also speed up by turning the board into the wave, and slow down by pointing the board out, but using this technique to change speed produces speed changes that are too much for most beginners.

5.  We have a 20 second rule.  You have to show me that you can keep slack in the rope for 20 seconds, before you can try letting go.  Lots of people let go as soon as they are in the pocket.  If you don't learn how to speed up and slow down while you are holding the rope, it is going to take you 10 times as long to learn it if you drop the rope.  Have people in the boat count out how much time the rider keeps the rope slack.

 

I usually get in and demonstrate all of these steps for beginners.  I also hold the board at the back of the boat and help them position their feet, toes up, and show them how the board flips up to meet their toes, and they need to be in a ball, with their legs bent and arms straight and relaxed.  We are now well over 200 people we have taught to wakesurf, and if you use steps similar to these, you will get about 75% of the riders up on their first try, and get about a quarter of them riding ropeless before they are exhausted.

 

Good luck.  Nothing is more fun than seeing people learn and succeed at something they have never done before.  

[truckjunky87]

4 hours ago, malibudog said:

 If you don't relax into a ball, your head is going to be way back, and you are going to get water over your face.  Relax and let the boat compress you into a ball behind the board.  

 

This is what she couldn't achieve now matter our instructions.  Probably my fault a bit for trying to speed through the process because the wind was picking up.   I think she felt like she was getting water boarded after 4-5 tries and called it a day.  Good input and I'll try to slow the process down for her next time she comes out and see if we can't get her up and having fun.

 

Can a board be too big for a beginner?  I wonder if that was making it difficult for her to get the board to flip up to her feet.

[shawndoggy]

4 minutes ago, truckjunky87 said:

Can a board be too big for a beginner?  I wonder if that was making it difficult for her to get the board to flip up to her feet.

YES!!!!!

An appropriately sized skim is usually the easiest to teach on, especially if the rider is having trouble flipping the board up.  

Most riders should be able to get the board flipped under idle or very light throttle.  If you do some practice tries, where you tell the rider you aren't going to "hit it," but rather just put them under forward motion to get the board flipped up first, that can help.   It definitely DOES NOT help to water board someone (throttle up while the board is flat on the water) who is struggling to flip the board up.   Hahaha I find that those same people then turn into gumby even once the board is under them, and the board goes skating out in an unpredictible direction because they cannot hold the board under themselves.  

[NWBU]

Great advice above and in the link.

As a driver, paying attention to when someone is not doing the all caps items mentioned above is huge in helping to successfully teach new folks, and shortening their time to get up. If toes aren’t pointing to the sky or arms are pulling into their chest, they aren’t getting up that try.

[Sunsetter]

I am assuming you guys are pulling them on the platform first- if not put them in the water and hold the board up against the platform( you may have to have someone else hold the board in correct position) then give them the rope- get their feet in the right spot - then you stand up on the sun deck and pull the rope- you can correct the tendency to not bend knees all the way and also pulling arms into chest- make sure they stay in a ball- explain that it will be slightly different under power but you can at least see if they are in correct form and they get to feel what the correct position is before being pulled by the boat-