Wake shaping for younger riders

[familytoy]

My 10 year old daughter is really getting into wakeboarding but I can't seem to get her a clean wake. She is currently at 16.5 MPH. I've tried running with all tanks empty ('09 216v), just the center tank and all tanks filled. She seems to think it's a cleaner wake with all tanks emptied but the wake is really small. I know with all tanks filled the wake starts to take shape around 18 - 18.5 MPH but I think this is a little fast for her.

1) should I slowly get her up to 18.5 MPH? I don't want to scare her at this point.
2) would adding additional weight help the wake form earlier?

I've posted a few pictures showing the current wake.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[74green]

I would just run with all the tanks empty until she progresses. the smaller cleaner wake would help her. i usually don’t run with ballast with the beginners as its not needed and makes it harder to learn wake jumps.

Just my opinion

[INVNO1]

I'm not familiar with that hull, but I would imagine it will be hard to get a clean wake at that speed with any hull. I'd maybe add a litttle water to the rear, but not the belly and see if it helps. What rope length are you running? Hydrogate? I would probably let her work on her fundamentals/edging , & surface tricks to build confidence. One she gets that stuff dialed, you should be able to bump up the speed over the course of a few days and she'll get used to it quick(don't tell her you're going faster), then start adding weight.

ETA : make sure if there are other people in the boat that they distribute their weight evenly throughout the seating

[familytoy]

74green - This weekend we are going to hit the lake early when it's calm and do some additional testing with no weight in the boat. Thanks for the info.

INVNO1 - we are running a 65' length rope. I'll try draining the center tank, my only worry is the bow rise. Will report back after the test this weekend.

[LT206]

If you are worried about scaring her by bumping up the speed, she definitely doesn't need ballast. Go with tanks empty and let her get comfortable with a clean wake as you increase the speed gradually up to a point where you have a clean wake. My son is 10 and I pull him at 21.5 behind my 206 with little or no ballast and he is charging the wake now.

[DanielC]

Run with the tanks empty, and let her learn to cut. Heaven forbid somebody actually learns some skills, instead of thinking they need 3000 pounds of ballast to do a single wake 180

[AirTool]

Run with the tanks empty, and let her learn to cut. Heaven forbid somebody actually learns some skills, instead of thinking they need 3000 pounds of ballast to do a single wake 180

Exactly. My wise a55 remark was going to be that the boat is too big.

Also mentioned above is passenger position. My 206 (no ballast) is extremely weight sensitive. Don't anyone nag at me, but I often slide over to the jump seat and steer from the middle to clean up both wakes. My son rides goofy so he always had good wake on his side as he learned...now he needs both to be good. My daughter is reg and with just me in the boat her wake is solid wash at 17/18 so I move to the middle.

I do have a sack I can lay on the port side but it is a lot of trouble and gets in the way.

Eventually, we are going to need two boats

[cedarcreek216]

We have a 216V and I usually pull my wife, in rougher water, at about 17 MPH with empty ballast. The wake is no where near that washed out. Do you have the hydrogate pulled back or pushed forward. I pull the gate back and it cleans up pretty nice. I also try vear a little to wich ever side she cutting to. If she's going outside the port side wake I turn slightly to the left and right for starboard cuts. It helps a little. I keep telling her she's not going to get a nice clean wake until about 19 MPH, but she does not feel safe in rough water going very fast so we just surf. We'll be out this weekend, I'm sure in rough water due to the holiday so I'll get some pictures at different speeds with empty tanks.

[obd666]

i second the no ballast, learn skills first concept ... but, i would go ahead and bump her up to around 18-19 mph to clean things up a bit. if you start her at 16.5 and slowly speed her up to that point, she'll never even notice. my 9 yr old son rides around 19.5 now and thats how we got him there, by not telling him

[teamenzo]

wash

Speed will be the key, the only other suggestion I used was cleaning up one side at a time. When my son was starting I would have him work on just one side at a time, like staying on the toe side for his first run, then switching to heel side on the next run, that way I could move people around and get one side nice a clean. I did this for a weekend and then bumped the speed up to 18.5 and all was good. In our 211, I was using empty or 1/2 tank full tanks and 1/2 hydro gate.

[AirTool]

My kids rode behind a big Master Craft and 230 at INT recently. Neither boat had the wake we wanted at 17 so they didn't do as well as they could have. One lake (INT Dallas) was really shallow so even the open riders didn't get what they wanted at 22.

I'm pulled my son at 19 before and he generally only slows me down when he can't get his surface tricks. May daughter is not ready for that yet but when I see her confidence and skill build, I'll inch her up when she's not looking.

[familytoy]

Thank you everyone for the feedback and ideas.

As some of you mentioned, "I do not need large amounts of ballast and a huge wake for a beginner". My goal was never to obtain a large wake, just cleaner for her. My thought was maybe with more weight the wake might cleanup sooner. I'll try tanks empty and work on getting the speed up a little.

I'll try and take some additional pictures this weekend at different speeds to compare.

Thanks again.

[familytoy]

Forgot to add, the handle on the hydro-gate is all the way back. If I push the gate handle forward, even at 19, the wake starts to wash out.

[LT206]

as a general rule, the "lighter" the boat, the slower you can go without washing the wake..... go with no ballast and you'll see better results at a slower speed - don't worry about wake size at this point. Good Luck!

[ers906]

I dont know if you have done this, but there are some really good technique building exercises on "The Book" DVD series. They teach you how to maintain your edge, etc. And usually they are done at 12 to 14 mph. When I teach new boarders, as soon as they can get up on a consistent basis, that is the next thing I go over with them. I have seen a much quicker progression in overall ability as they work through these skill sets. And I actually use them as a warm up during my first run of a morning. Not to hijack the thread, but since we are talking ultimately about teaching, it may be something you could be interested. I am sure that you could find, at least a sample of the videos, online.