Foot Position on a Wakeboard

[marcoalza]

I need your advice and opinions on foot position on a wakeboard.

I assume that the best position to start with would be similar to your natural stance/angle while standing.
My son has just started boarding and can get up and stay up no problem but he has the bindings as they came out the box.
Straight and in the middle.

We would appreciate some experienced advice.

 

[ThreeMileBayWaker]

Re: Foot Position on a Wakeboard

Have him jump up in the air in place, and see how he naturally lands with his feet. Majority of people are going to land feet roughly shoulder width apart and duck footed ( feet angled outwards).

Having the bindings right in the middle is where I started with mine, and then angled my bindings to 15 degrees. Rode like this for about a year and did some reading and talking with other riders and adjusted my stance further. Height has a factor on binding placement, if your son is taller than average he might want to move his bindings wider. Its all about personal preference and where he feels comfortable. Bring a long a screw driver and tweak everything bit by bit and see if he feels more stable and comfortable. What works for me, might not work for the next guy.

 

[albs]

Re: Foot Position on a Wakeboard

The widest you can go and be comfortable is best, you want to be able to bend your knees as much as possible, like doing a squat. For just starting it helps to angle the front foot forward and leave the back foot straight. Once you start riding switch you can angle them both equally.

 

[tgell001]

Re: Foot Position on a Wakeboard

for beginners its helps to have the bindings set near the back of the board to keep the weight on the rear foot but if he's not go problem riding and staying up then he may be passed that point already. I'd say 15 degrees duck footed w/ both feet is the ideal stance to start with and just adjust from there. Soreness in the knees and ankles with be a tell tale sign that the bindings are set up wrong

 

[marcoalza]

Re: Foot Position on a Wakeboard

Soreness in the knees and ankles with be a tell tale sign that the bindings are set up wrong

Makes sense as he did complain of very sore ankles.

 

[tgell001]

Re: Foot Position on a Wakeboard

Also, when you compare cheap bindings to nicer bindings theres is a lot to be said about the ankle supports. My cheap O'brian brindings i started on only provided support 5-6 inches from the board. Where as my Liquid Force bindings are ~10inches tall. This matters a lot when it comes to comfort and support. So if this describes your scenerio than cheap "low top" bindings may be contributing to sore ankles. Look at www.the-house.com and go to their outlet store. Depending on your sons shoe size they may have a bunch of older model (but still new) bindings for cheap. I'm very average so I have no luck with the close out sales but I picked up a set of Liquid Force bindings for my girlfriend for under 50 bucks.

 

[ThreeMileBayWaker]

Re: Foot Position on a Wakeboard

www.evo.com also has an outlet section for wakeboarding. I scored my LF Answers on there for $180 bucks.

 

[tgell001]

Re: Foot Position on a Wakeboard

Nice! I've never browsed that site before. Always good to have one more site in my back pocket to browse for my next round of stupid purchases! Never heard of the Answer before.