Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs? - Edit: Yes I can!

[Bilgamesh]

I am 48 years old, 6'2" and 240 lbs. I tried to wakeboard yesterday, and I could not get out of the water. I think I am just too heavy. I ended up nearly pulling my arms out of the sockets while the board just dug into the water. I think the problem may be that too much of my body is under water to begin with. My PFD kind of rides high. I bought a different kind that has the pads mostly around the waist, and I think it will keep more of my body up out of the water. I am going to try again in the next couple days. I would appreciate any other ideas you may have to keep me from drowning or killing myself. - Thanks

 

[smitty1258]

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

I am 48 years old, 6'2" and 240 lbs. I tried to wakeboard yesterday, and I could not get out of the water. I think I am just too heavy. I ended up nearly pulling my arms out of the sockets while the board just dug into the water. I think the problem may be that too much of my body is under water to begin with. My PFD kind of rides high. I bought a different kind that has the pads mostly around the waist, and I think it will keep more of my body up out of the water. I am going to try again in the next couple days. I would appreciate any other ideas you may have to keep me from drowning or killing myself. - Thanks

#1 way to learn right here:

Sit in the water with the board in front of you parallel to your shoulders, grasp the handle with two hands palms down. Place your elbows on the outside of your knees for stability. When the boat takes off it needs to get up to plane fairly quickly, don't snatch your arms off but a steady constant pull. The water should push the board towards you. don't fight it let it bend your knees to your chest, when the board gets to your but roll up to a sqwatting position, don't try to stand all the way up, when you feel the board is on plane then try to stand up, put a little weight on your back foot and let the board swing around so you are following the oat, pull the handle down to your front hip and you are on your way. REMEBER DON'T FIGHT THE BOAT IT WILL WIN.

recap

1. Squat like a frog
2. Let the boat pull you up so that you are still squatting like a frog while the board is on plane
3. When you think you are ready to stand up, count to 3
4. Stand up.

http://forums.wakeboarder.com/viewtopic.php?t=82382

 

[walk-on]

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

My BIL had the same problem. He's 6 ft, 220 lbs. I only have a 90 hp on 17ft boat that will pull me (150lbs) up with little trouble. Just make sure the boat is powerful enough and that your wakeboard is big enough for you. If all checks out then you just need to practice.

When starting we pull the wakeboarder as slow as possible through the water and allow them to get stable. With a nod of the head I am at full power. We started doing that because at idle (not in gear) we had to much trouble trying to keep the line taught and board in proper position. Hope this helps.

 

[Bigdave196]

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

Ok, First and formost. If you are determined then you will wakeboard. Now that's out of the way lets talk basics.

1. What type of board are you using? Please tell me its not a $200 cheapo thingy that looks like a funky shaped water ski and has a strap that goes over your foot and not a boot ....I have been wakeboarding for 8 years and have trouble attempting to get out of the water on one of those. FYI- i'm 6'4" and 200 pounds. Go into a reputable boat/water sports supply store. Believe me when I say that a $350-$400 entry level board makes all the difference. Where you really start to spend $$$ is in the bindings/boots.

I would reccomend a CWB brand board and most likely the PURE model. You can get a good package for around $350. The board is set up for your height and weight. Using the wrong board (i.e. a board for a smaller person or a board designed for a female rider makes life hell) and will hinder your chances of getting out of the water.

2. I assume you have water ski'd before. Wake boarding is different but so much the same as getting up on a single ski. Instead of fighting the boat until it planes and then coming out of the water with the boat(as on a single ski) the wake board should almost POP you out of the water easily within the legnth of the ropes legnth from you to the boat.

youtube.com has several videos on how to wakeboard, people and pro'shave made good tutorials and kinda gives you an idea on what "RIGHT" looks like.

Once you get up and feel what right feels like then its almost like riding a bike.
You never really forget, you just look funny till you remember fully.

3. Once you are up remember to turn the board twards the boat, kind of like a skateboard going down hill. You cant change the enevitable and the boat is your prefered path of direction. The boat will always win this tug of war if you keep the board intersecting the direction of travel. You will be very unstable and once you catch a fin or edge then your going to face plant the lake. Easiest way to get straitened out is to place weight on your back leg (like waterskiing) and steer with your leading foot. Also remember that you have fins and edges that will also help you turn and move within the limits of the rope.

4. What engine/outdrive/prop/boat are you running?? If your trying to pull yourself up behind a 50hp outboard, 16' old ski boat then good luck. Your prop and motor most likely will not get you out of the water.

Lets face it, those honda commercials where the RAV4 tows the broken down Semi truck and the guy laughs as he tells the driver to make sure the E-brake is off are BULL Poo-Poo. Same concept with the boat. Most V-6/V-8 ski boats or run-abouts can usually get the person out of the water.

I hope some of this helps, and good luck with it. Im 31 and I love to wakeboard because its less physically demanding then water skiing IMHO, that is until you want to start jumping the wake. Eating water never feels pleasent.

 

[bigpoppakdog]

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

I am 48 years old, 6'2" and 240 lbs. I tried to wakeboard yesterday, and I could not get out of the water. I think I am just too heavy. I ended up nearly pulling my arms out of the sockets while the board just dug into the water. I think the problem may be that too much of my body is under water to begin with. My PFD kind of rides high. I bought a different kind that has the pads mostly around the waist, and I think it will keep more of my body up out of the water. I am going to try again in the next couple days. I would appreciate any other ideas you may have to keep me from drowning or killing myself. - Thanks

If I may respectfully ask, 240 lb like a Nebraska Cornhusker or 240 like brock lesnar? 48 years old...not a checkmark in your favor either. I would say one thing you need to find out is which foot is your dominate foot? You need to know that first. Are you behind a pylon or tower or just using the ski hooks? Here's how I teach people to wakeboard...been successfull with 10 year old children to 40 year old mothers. Not saying it's the only way, but in my opinion easier when you are starting out.

1. Have your dominate foot pointing up while the rest of the board is under the water.

2. Have the rope on the inside of your board as you are getting ready to be pulled up. Left foot up then rope on the right of board, right foot up rope on the left of the board.

3. Squat like you are pooping in the water. Hold this position in the hole shot(first second or two at wide open throttle...at your size the motor needs to be gunned to start).

4. Now as you are getting pulled you need to keep the front of the board facing towards the boat and keep the nose up. The board will momentarily go under water, just keep weight on back foot. Once you are up you will be able to stay up easier as there will be no rotation like you would have to if you used the other method(which is what you will do eventually as you get used to getting up.)

Wakeboarding using the ski hooks is substantially more difficult than if you had a pylon or tower. Especially getting up.

Again, if you are just starting, it is in my opinion starting with your dominate foot forward is easier to get up than the method where you have both feet square to the boat.

 

[Bigdave196]

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

I would also reccomend Full throttle until the boat planes (of course) then start slowly feeling for the speed that you like to be pulled behind. I can comfortably wake board between 23-25mph and get a fun pass and some decent air jumping the wake. (My wife loves 22 mph and I dont use nearly the amount of throttle to pull her up, full throttle literally rips the rope out of her hands.) Anything under 23mph and I just dont feel comfortable on the water and I feel like I am sinking into the wake instead of riding it. Too fast causes me to literally skip across the surface and then I have little controll over myself in the water.

I also like to water ski at 28-32 depending on conditions and which ski I am using.

 

[Bilgamesh]

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

240 more like Brock Lesnar. I think it is a board positioning thing. The thing just digs in. It is like the board is never trying to move toward planing. I may be underpowered, as I am running a 135HP Mercruiser, however, the boat pulls me right up on skis.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Bigdave196]

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

240 more like Brock Lesnar. I think it is a board positioning thing. The thing just digs in. It is like the board is never trying to move toward planing. I may be underpowered, as I am running a 135HP Mercruiser, however, the boat pulls me right up on skis.

Thanks for the replies.

If its pulling you right up on skis then you need to learn how to get up on a wake board, and make sure that you have the proper set up on a wake board.

 

[bigpoppakdog]

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

Yes, once you get up, you need to throttle down. Not too slow as I too don't like going as slow as recommended. Too me, it's a little too slow. But in your case you are experiencing beginner troubles. Basically two ways of getting up. One is where you sitting in the water with the board and your feet both in front of you. As the boat starts pulling you you stay in the "pooping" position and have the weight back to keep the front edge up. As you get on top of the water you stand up and rotate to your dominate position. The other method you start with your dominate foot up, so when it pulls you up you are already in wakeboarding position. But again, are you using a tower/pylon or ski hooks to attach your rope to? If you don't have a tower or pylon you need to get one. They make a huge difference. youtube.com/bigpoppakdog if you want to look at the one I built for under $100

 

[Trevornollmeyer]

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

As another 240lber and also a new wakeboarder I can only tell you what works for me. I boarded once a few years ago behind my friend's new shiny V8 boat with a tower. This year I bought a non-shiny well used boat with a 120 horse Force outboard. I wakeboard successfully behind that towing from the transom hooks.

That said, with our motor wide open, I usually wrestle for a few seconds trying to get up. I usually do okay unless my wife forgets to drop back down to about 22 mph. Smitty1258's advice for getting up is right on.

I bought a new Hyperlite Skate 145 board. It's big enough to handle my weight and has a mellow 3 stage rocker for handling the wake easier. The best thing I bought is a pair of $20 watersports gloves from a sports outlet store. It's really saved my forearms because I'm not having to grip as hard.

Hope this helps.

 

[Dr. Boat Master]

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

It is not your weight, it is your skill/power combination. A bigger motor will make up for a lot of lack of skill.

 

[dbok1]

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

I pull people as heavy as you behind an 18 1/2' I/O 135 hp 4 cyl. to get you up behind this boat, my experience has been that you driver must almost dump the throttle like skiing to get you up, the slow motion thing won't work since you are heavy. Stay to your knees, toes out so you do not plow through the water, board will go under water slightly as boat picks up speed. Don't give up, after 3-4 treis, give yourself a break.

 

[Bilgamesh]

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

I wasn't as sore as I thought I would be the day after. I'm gonna give it a shot again this weekend. I am optimistic, though at 48, my squatting position ain't what it used to be!

I hope I prove true to the lyrics:

"I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was!"

 

[salty87]

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

you're standing up too quick. the board is too deep and you're not going fast enough yet to support you and plane out. you end up wrestling the boat and getting dragged around.

with wakeboarding, if you're doing it the right way...you're doing it the easy way. by that i mean you're not trying to out-muscle the boat or defy the physics of fluid dynamics. you won't beat either of those. the path of least resistance is where you ride the best. the path of most resistance is called a faceplant, you want to avoid those.

anyway...back to standing up too early. you need to let the boat get some speed before pushing those 240lbs in the air. the vest doesn't matter, you don't even really need one except for safety and laws.

wait longer before standing up next time. count to 30 or something. you'll need to figure out exactly how long it takes...depends on the boat mostly.

another important thing....point your toes toward the boat instead of digging your heels in. that will help the board plane.

 

[Bilgamesh]

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

Actually I am not standing up at all. I am on my butt, with the board out in front of me, and it is just plowing through the water with me drowning and having my arms yanked off behind it. I think what I have gathered is that I need to ball up tighter, keep the top of the board under water, and point my toes toward the boat. I have been starting with the board about 1/4 of the way out of the water, with my the board something like 60-75 degrees to the water.

 

[salty87]

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

what i meant by standing up too quick was you're straightening your legs too early...trying to stand up.

you need a minimum amount of speed before you can rise out of the water. straightening your legs before that time will pull you kinda sideways in the water over the tips of the board.

just for grins...next time out, don't attempt to straighten your legs at all. see how far you can ride in a crouch (until your knees blow, ha...i'm not much younger). theoretically, you can ride forever in a crouch...it is not necessary to stand up to plane out. it helps with the having fun part though.

getting up is nearly identical to someone give you up a hand up off the ground by 1 hand. you have to lean back a little, start squatted down, pull yourself in with your arms a bit, then lean forward a little and straighten your legs....all in a coordinated, fluid movement or you'll just fall on yer butt again. the timing is important, straighten your legs before some of the others and you're not getting up on your feet.

smitty's list was good but i'll try to recap...

-start squatted down, arms around your knees. heels to your butt.
-the boat will pull you, point your toes and it will start to pull you over your board. stay in your crouch, this will require keeping the board slightly out in front of you so lean back against the pull of the boat a little bit...still crouched.
-wait, wait, wait, wait, wait....really...wait some more...you can't wait too long here
-slowly straighten up pulling the handle close in to your hips

girls and kids learn the easiest because they don't try to over-muscle it. guys try to straighten too early, the legs and board become an anchor and the boat pulls you all over the place.

 

[salty87]

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

ps...if someone has told you to lean back hard before the boat starts pulling, that's not good. you need to lean forward a bit when the boat starts pulling...go with the flow, don't fight the boat.

 

[SeanT]

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

My brother is 277lbs and 6'5" and wake boards quite a bit. He has funny problems starting out though, and it was no different behind my boat (probably a bit worse because of the lower pull point - his buddies have a tower and I don't), but got up on my board after I told him this part:

"grasp the handle with two hands palms down"

This goes a long way to help with stability on the way up. He is used to using the alternating grip - and still does, he just switches his hands once he's out of the water.

I'm an inch shorter than my brother and about 15lbs heavier, but have not successfully gotten up on any wakeboard. I believe it's my (lack of) technique though, I still fight the boat too much. I'm used to kneeboarding where you pull back hard out of the hole (or at least I do).

So, there's hope, keep at it! I know I will!

 

[xjcj3a]

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

it takes many hours of being pulled to learn your way of doing it, get the basic idea behind it. crouch,dont fight it, dont stand up early.

you can even try things like holding your front foot higher then your back foot while sitting in the water, thats how my buddy gets up. im 6'3 and 260. and cant do that. ive learned that i cant get up if im in an ultra tight ball, ive also learned to start with the board as close to 90 degrees to the water as possible and about 2-3 inches of board above the water. i also slide my hands to the insides of my legs the second i feel the boat start to pull me, and just wait to stand up till you cant feel water around your ankles still.

honestly just have to practice, build a pole system check out the diypylon thread. you can build one for less then 50 bucks. its not needed to get up, but it sure helps.

 

[Bilgamesh]

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

Re: Can I wakeboard at 240 lbs

the path of most resistance is called a faceplant, you want to avoid those.

it takes many hours of being pulled to learn your way of doing it,

Sounds like I have many hours of faceplants before I am successful...