How to drive for wakeboarding?

[bwana50]

I imagine this has been asked/answered before, but I couldn't find it. How should one drive the boat for a wakeboard start? When I'm skiing, I like a strong, quick start - near full-throttle. We intend to learn to wakeboard this summer, but have neither 'boarded nor towed a 'boarder before.

[Bullet]

RE: How to drive for wakeboarding?

you need someone who can ride to go with you and give you some pointers--

a person who knows how to get up can get up barely above idle and rookie sometimes need some throttle poured on---it all depends on the person

you will also need to know how to drive patterns to keep you from fighting you own wake and rollers--

learning to respect otherriders around you and no screw up the water for both of you is helpful too


i hate nothing more than some rookie riders, whether they are in an I/O or a wake boat coming into our water and screwing it up for both of us

[Socbum]

RE: How to drive for wakeboarding?

Wakeboarding doesn't need the full throttle start to get a person up and going. Also, if you have PP, if you start up to fast the boat can take off beyond the riders speed comfort and then slows down. For begining riders this can cause some problems.

On the other side, you don't want to start out to slow because that will put a strain on the rider.

When I drive I find the throttle position for the riders requested speed (between 19 & 24 for us) and bring the throttle up to that position in a steady movement.

Hope that helps, it will take a few times to get the feel for what the rider wants, but it is not all that tricky. The wakeboard provides a lot of surface area to allow the rider to balance.

[Quinner]

RE: How to drive for wakeboarding?

Slow steady pull at the start, as beginners and depending on weight the speed may only need to be 18-20 or even slower for small riders, run straight lines as you would slaloming. I baseball grip the handle at the start and then knuckles up once riding, determine what your front foot should be, imagine running and sliding on ice, use that same front foot or standing up straight push the rider softly backwards, whichever foot they catch with should be front foot. At the start you can angle the board slightly with your front foot leading.

Good Luck and Have Fun!

[CAN'TSKI]

I agree...Nice slow steady pull up. The hardest people for me to get up initially are good skiers. They tend to try leaning back and fighting the boat. Ain't gonna happen on a wakeboard.
I start on with having them sit on the dock and I reach down and pull them up. All there is to it. If they try to force the board against the water instead of just letting the boat pull them up while slowly turning the board, it gets hard.
I may start some of the girls and smaller skiers at 12mph and gradually speed up. It is easier to work the board at higher speeds, but it may scare them.
Biggest point...Don't look down at the board!!

[skiswm]

For me, I find that I really have to work my back foot on the board where as the ski it's really using the front foot. Whatever foot you use "forward" on your ski will be the same as the board (think about as you fall fwd with foot do you put out first). As for speed it is a lot slower and when you begin the driver and the boarder will be using hand signals a lot. You usually max out between 18-22mph for most boarders. It is a much slower exceleration for boarding until the person gets up on the board, you surely don't "hit it" like you do on a ski.

[gride300]

the rider needs to sit in the water with their knees bent into their chest ALOT, elbows inside of knees. when ready the driver should accelerate enough to get the boat out of the water, but not rip the newb forward. as long as your doing about 18mph top end the rider can stay up. slower is better when learning. usually people try to stand up before the BOARD is on plane. think of it like getting out of a rocking chair almost. i mean you can get up on the board w/o ever actually standing from the crouched position. as for driving, just make adjustments/ trial and error

[Christopher-W.-Becker]

See "The Book" DVD one, its probably the best place to start

[bwana50]

Thanks guys. Now I just have to wait for summer...

[saceone]

you and me both!!

[ZANDERSANTE]

"THE BOOK" DVD

I agree with Becker.. I have any new rider coming out with me watch the first DVD from "The Book" before we go. I've seen it enough times to know exactly what to tell the rider to do. I taught 3 people this last summer (2 girls) how to wakeboard and they all got up by the 3rd try, some by the 1st! Some I had to pull alittle slower to start, but others worked best with a quicker start. Riders vary. The better you get, the slower your start can be. Pulling your heels to your butt and staying in that position till you ontop of the water seems to work best.. Most riders get anxious and stand up too soon. Patience is key!! Good luck!

[Chexi]

RE: "THE BOOK" DVD

Personally, I find that the sideways start taught in The Book is more difficult and requires more effort than starting with a board tip up at maybe a 10-20 degree angle toward the side of your front foot. So if you are regular footed, the board will almost be straight up with your left foot forward, but slightly tipped to the left. Reverse that for goofy. Also, I have my front leg mostly extended and my back leg mostly bent. This steadies the board in the water while you are waiting for the pull. Otherwise, the tip will bob left and right and generally not be in the correct position when the pull starts.

This is how I used to get up on a skurfboard many years ago. I re-learned how to get up sideways when I started wakeboarding, and got up sideways for 2 years. Last year I experimented with the old way while trying to help some beginners get up who were struggling mightily with getting up sideways and found that my old way was much easier to get up with. No strain at all. It was like butter. So now, unless I want to get up side sliding and stay side sliding for a while, I get up the old way (i.e., with my left tip up and slightly to the left). All of this is even amplified for wakeskating. Oh, and as far as speed goes... with this method it is highly irrelevant. I mean, do not go full on throttle, but just about anything less will pull the person right up. It is the way that the board wants to go.

The only issue that I have found with this method is that it will start you outside the wake... but that's not really an issue. A beginner will invariably shoot outside the wake anyway as soon as they get their front foot forward because they don't know how to torque their body enough to ride straight..

[gride300]

RE: "THE BOOK" DVD

you should absolutely NOT start with any sort of angle when getting up. just keep the handle low and close when you get up to prevent faceplant., though it's inevitable.

[SkiTower]

RE: "THE BOOK" DVD

First thing you do is floor it, then about 32 keep it steady...oh wait, that's skiing. Yellow_Flash_Colorz: