Barefoot How To

[lucky7t]

OK guys im not gonna chicken out at all. I dont know if i can video though but will beg wife to take a pic or two. She thinks im crazy but...
Well maybe I am.

I have to admit that I have tried in my youth off kneeboard with no success. I got up but couldnt shake the kneeboard, it was like it was glued to me. I did it about 25 times.


Im getting butterflies as its Thursday already. Im going to have to wait till Friday evening or saturday evening for calm water in the cove we hang in..

I have a barefoot suit and shorts already.

Im ready!

[AirTool]

wake rope is the same as BF rope.

Here is my favorite footer:

Longline: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNNAexTcNPo
Shortline: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L87dILw4ag4

Here is my second favorite footer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8puz4s8430

This video shows you how to do it without a suit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJj8SSHNh1U

The camera guy was late with the start so you don't see the entry.

Lucky7t may soon be my third favorite. I just need to see the video....hopefully on YouTube and not on the news.

[CradGen2]

Not to overly debate with Airtool, but not all wakeboard ropes are the same as barefoot lines. We use a barefoot international jump line most of the time which is like a steel cable. I do have a couple other Barefoot international ropes, but they have a little give. I'm not sure I would use a Liquid Force line OR materline rope that is for Wakeboarding. They seem to have a lot more stretch.

Might I suggest one thing. Since you have shorts and a suit. Have your wife pull you just on your butt 12 times or so. She won't need to go faster then 20 MPH. try steering while sitting on your but. don't take your feet off the rope. Also remeber to lay your aches over the rope NOT your heels. Most people make this mistake. I find when teaching, people don't feel comfortable riding on their butts and quickly want to jam their feet in the water and stand. You can ride on your butt all day.

Last year I took a fall at 40 mph that ripped my suit completely off. I'm not sure what happened. I had to be lifted on the boat and was done for 3 weeks.

What lake do you boat on. I might fly over this weekend just to watch. Maybe I can video this for the group.

[AirTool]

Not to overly debate with Airtool, but not all wakeboard ropes are the same as barefoot lines.

Very little debate if any required....you might agree. On the day lucky7t ends his ability to walk or the kneeboard rips his scrotum off, he will not notice the difference between wake rope and BF rope. He probably would like a stiff BF handle. Maybe even the leather tag he can use to hold on with his teeth....may be the last day he has them.

I'll agree better BF ropes are tighter than even the best of wake ropes. There are also lots (too many) choices it seems. Before a guy buys some bf rope, he needs to understand all the materials, core/no core, and all that biz. Even the lengths can be confusing because there are some rules on that IIRC. And i remember the cheap stuff ain't very cheap $$$.

Great job keeping me honest Crad. I was really just in a hurry.

[jdmoore59]

I just recently taught my Son-In-Law how to barefoot, but we used a boom:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HLNg7sT1IE

Definately the way to learn.

Back when I was a young man and learning how to barefoot (the early '80's) our only options at the time were off a kneeboard or drop a ski. None of us had a barefoot suit. I really did not like the kneeboard start. It was difficult to get positioned on the board and once the board got over about 16 mph it would start to porpoise because too much weight would be on the back of the board. Since you have a barefoot suite and barefoot shorts (and I hope a cup) I would just go ahead and try the deep water start and practice a lot of butt gliding. Do not be in too much of a hurry to plant your feet.

You should watch these videos:
The Boom Swing method
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...l8JUPGE_8&NR=1

The 3 point stance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_3_zaoltqo

The slalom step off method
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-I3l...feature=relmfu

The Kneeboard Start Method
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXhRUEhwnFc

The Deep Water Start
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJhREDhx99E


Best of luck to you and please be sure to post some video.

Jim

[bsb4fsu]

Very little debate if any required....you might agree. On the day lucky7t ends his ability to walk or the kneeboard rips his scrotum off, he will not notice the difference between wake rope and BF rope. He probably would like a stiff BF handle. Maybe even the leather tag he can use to hold on with his teeth....may be the last day he has them.

I'll agree better BF ropes are tighter than even the best of wake ropes. There are also lots (too many) choices it seems. Before a guy buys some bf rope, he needs to understand all the materials, core/no core, and all that biz. Even the lengths can be confusing because there are some rules on that IIRC. And i remember the cheap stuff ain't very cheap $$$.

Great job keeping me honest Crad. I was really just in a hurry.

Very funny. Good times...

[swankster]

Lucky7t, I've had a harder fall wakeboarding (three weeks ago) than trying to barefoot off a kneeboard (20 years ago), but we will put you on the prayer request list anyway. Good luck!

[lucky7t]

Not to overly debate with Airtool, but not all wakeboard ropes are the same as barefoot lines. We use a barefoot international jump line most of the time which is like a steel cable. I do have a couple other Barefoot international ropes, but they have a little give. I'm not sure I would use a Liquid Force line OR materline rope that is for Wakeboarding. They seem to have a lot more stretch.

Might I suggest one thing. Since you have shorts and a suit. Have your wife pull you just on your butt 12 times or so. She won't need to go faster then 20 MPH. try steering while sitting on your but. don't take your feet off the rope. Also remeber to lay your aches over the rope NOT your heels. Most people make this mistake. I find when teaching, people don't feel comfortable riding on their butts and quickly want to jam their feet in the water and stand. You can ride on your butt all day.

Last year I took a fall at 40 mph that ripped my suit completely off. I'm not sure what happened. I had to be lifted on the boat and was done for 3 weeks.

What lake do you boat on. I might fly over this weekend just to watch. Maybe I can video this for the group.

Ill be at lake Eufaula in Oklahoma this weekend. We have a home near number 9 marina. I plan on going into an area called three fingers. I like the idea of riding around on my butt first. Ill give that a try.

[scott resick]

although these guys are correct about the ropes, its not going to matter to you. BF ropes do not stretch. Your not 3 eventing saturday. A ski rope will due. BF ropes help when your doing front to backs, back to fronts or wakes. Advanced stuff. Youll never know the difference if your starting on a kneeboard. your gonna be fine. When you stand up, and feel your feet on the glass and hear the spray land behind you youre gonna be hooked. But indeed drop the few bucks for the boom. Learn your tricks on it.

[Quinner]

I love the fact that you are ready to go and will skip the boom. The boom is so easy that is should be called something other than barefooting. Its cool to learn long line and you will always have bragging rights to that. I always enjoyed trying to ride anything new and the process is part of the experience.

I learned off a kneeboard it works great. The difficult part for most is just getting up and in position on the kneeboard. I'll give a couple quick tips.

I sit with my legs on either side of the kneeboard, like a surfer waiting on a wave, and once the boat starts to move I put my feet on the front of the board. Have the driver take you smoothly to about 15MPH. Having your feet on the front of the board will give you balance and control of the board and it will not bounce...because your butt and center of gravity is toward the rear.

Scoot forward on the board once you are up and stable so your weight is more forward, your knees should be at your chest. With the boat traveling at 15 pull yourself outside the wake, take your time, the curl outside the wake is the best place to ride. A good driver can give you a little turn to help push you outside the wake.

Once outside, lightly place your feet on top of the water and have the driver accelerate to footing speed. With your feet on the water the kneeboard will become very stable as you gain speed. Do not stand but let the acceleration of the boat lift you into the proper footing position (you got from Lanes video). You will feel the water become hard as you gain speed and you can transfer more weight to your feet. No hurry do everything slow there is no rush. The kneeboard will put you into the perfect footing position and the board will continue to ride with you under your butt on the spray from your feet. It really does put you into the correct position and you many even need to wiggle your butt to free the board.

If you crash with the kneeboard near you stay under water or hide your face for a second, the kneeboard may be following you and bump you in the head. I have that happen even when just riding the kneeboard...

Don't bother with all those posts telling you that will "die". If you crash just tuck your head and take it on the shoulder. You do not need a barefoot suit for this method but you always need flotation. Go for it and have fun.

Read the above if you want to try a kneeboard start, great advice. One thing I would add is start with the boat in gear, meaning with idle speed forward, if at that point you are wobbling you are not ready, do that until you can ride straight and easy. After that go, once up and going don't exceed 15mph, cross the wake to the edge of the curl, then hop your butt forward until just before it feels unstable, then give your driver the signal to throttle up to 36mp or so and follow the directions above.

Much of it really does depend on where your skiing strengths are however, if you are a very solid slalom skier stepping off a ski may be easier. Either way,kneeboard, step off or deep start, all the other recommendations are really not ideal and I would strongly recommend disregarding them.

The importance of using a barefoot specific line comes in to play on deep water starts, so you don't rubber band and then loose the handle, first thing the handle hits is your feet, not good. If stepping off or doing a kneeboard start any long line will do but a true BF line is always best.

Use your suit, wearing a vest is fine on a step off or kneeboard start until you take a fall, if you end up feet first when you finally penetrate the water any vest can move right up you torso, worse yet only above your head which can be very dangourous.

Been footing since I was 12 or so, 48 now and still foot regularly, it's not as bad as so many mentioned in this thread.

[DanielC]

I would strongly suggest getting a boom. It is so much easier, and less painful.
Here is the deal. On a boom, if you catch a toe, and it will happen, if you keep hanging on to the boom, your feet go behind you, and you then just roll over to a hip, pull your feet back in front, and foot some more.
Another advantage of the boom, your coach is right there, and can see and correct little nuances in your form. It is really hard to see the exact angle of your foot from 75 to 90 feet away.
If you catch a toe on long line, you face plant, going 35 to 40 MPH. Sometimes your chest stops immediately, and your feet continue over your back, and you end up doing a fall commonly known as a scorpion.

[TRIP]

Here's me starting off a wakesurfer. Same idea. Good luck!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C6rEXid0p4&feature=plcp

[CradGen2]

although these guys are correct about the ropes, its not going to matter to you. BF ropes do not stretch. Your not 3 eventing saturday. A ski rope will due. BF ropes help when your doing front to backs, back to fronts or wakes. Advanced stuff. Youll never know the difference if your starting on a kneeboard. your gonna be fine. When you stand up, and feel your feet on the glass and hear the spray land behind you youre gonna be hooked. But indeed drop the few bucks for the boom. Learn your tricks on it.

I was going to type a long message, but I'm not. Using a ski rope yes will work but you can injury a person the boat. I use to have a photo showing a broken nose, smashed mirror and every gauge in the dashboard taken out. All because a person used a ski rope to foot. Also when you plant the rope will stretch and sling you out the front.

[shag]

I personally like a non-stretch rope, even for learning. It takes the stretch factor out of the equation, and you get a better 'feel', of the pull. imo

[srock]

I'm going to counter those negative vibes. I learned off a kneeboard and rode across the lake on my first and second attempts. The first fall could best be described as incredibly fast. You will understand that once it happens. However it was so awesome I could have broken my arm and would not have known it. Three years later I rode a boom and could not believe how easy it was to learn on. Its a great training tool and fun to mess around on but I love it when someone new comes on my boat carrying a 100 feet of rope and suit for the days outing.

Like every aspect of towed water sports the initial falls can be brutal then you kind of learn how to fall and they become less brutal. Then once you become a little more accomplished you think you can recover from mistakes and the bad falls are really brutal.