Wakeboard Q

[jsta281]

I'm no wakeboarder. My brother in law fancies himself a wakeboarder. He is about 5'8" and 170. He thinks he wants a shorter board then he has, his CWB. Board is 141 or something like that. It looks to me like the pros are riding longer boards. For example if you go to hyperlite web page and look at sizes for Merek Nova the board length options are 135 140 and 145.

Have the pros decided that longer boards are better for some reason?

[Quinner]

Has he widened his stance at all? Beyond his shoulders will tell him if his board is too short or not

[jsta281]

I'll ask. What's the significance of widening his stance?

[s_kelley2000]

What's the significance of widening his stance?

Most if not all board companies move the binding inserts out wider on longer boards so some taller people need to ride longer boards in order to get the right stance width. At 5' 8" I doubt your brother in law will have a problem with stance width if he goes to a smaller board. In general bigger boards will land a little softer and ride a lil faster but the trade off is more swing weight and more potential edge to catch on sketchy landings.

I'm 5' 11" and about 185 and I love riding a 137-140 and I currently ride a LF S4 138. I never could get comfortable on a 142-145 but to be fair I haven't ridden the same board in two different sizes in a few years. Sounds like your brother in law could definitely go a little smaller if he wants.

[perry386]

Im 5'8 145lbs. and I ride a LF trip 138 and feel that it is perfect. My buddie has a 141 CWB and its a little big whivh doesn't make sense considering he's like 5'5 120lbs!