New to Wakeboarding

[jdawwggin25]

We have a 20' Center console with the outboard and are just getting into wakeboarding off it. I was wondering how i should be driving the boat for those who are wakeboarding. Not sure what i should be doing to get the boarder started and popping up. Should i be hitting the throttle pretty quick or just slowly pickup speed. I realize with the outboard and not having a tower it is much harder to get someone to standup and pop out of the water. We seemed to do okay with just slowly throttling up but seemed to be really hard and stressed to stand up. Any ideas or suggestions, i dont want to wear the riders out to quickly and not let them have any fun. Thanks for any input or advice.

 

[brick75]

Re: New to Wakeboarding

There is some technique for the driver, but it's really most important that the person wakeboarding knows what to do with their body. The first time I did it, I basically tried to muscle my way up fighting against the boat and water the whole time. Needless to say, I didn't get too far.

I watched some instructional videos on you tube, and my first try after that, I got up with ease. It's really about letting the boat do all the work and once you get the mechanics of it, it's pretty easy.

But as far as the driver goes, what I do is get the boat and wakeboarder moving just a little bit to start with (this only takes about 2-3 seconds), then really dig in on the throttle to pop them up out of the water. You obviously don't want to go so hard that it rips their arms off, but enough so it pulls them up and they're not struggling to stand up and stay on top of the water. You definitely don't want to drag them at low speed though. That will just make them fight to hang on, and wear them out. Once they are up, it's best to run between 18-20 mph.

 

[Hansolo99]

Re: New to Wakeboarding

There is some technique for the driver, but it's really most important that the person wakeboarding knows what to do with their body. The first time I did it, I basically tried to muscle my way up fighting against the boat and water the whole time. Needless to say, I didn't get too far.

I watched some instructional videos on you tube, and my first try after that, I got up with ease. It's really about letting the boat do all the work and once you get the mechanics of it, it's pretty easy.

But as far as the driver goes, what I do is get the boat and wakeboarder moving just a little bit to start with (this only takes about 2-3 seconds), then really dig in on the throttle to pop them up out of the water. You obviously don't want to go so hard that it rips their arms off, but enough so it pulls them up and they're not struggling to stand up and stay on top of the water. You definitely don't want to drag them at low speed though. That will just make them fight to hang on, and wear them out. Once they are up, it's best to run between 18-20 mph.

VERY WELL said! I do the same thing for someone just starting out or new to it. When someone knows how to wakeboard it is easy to get up no matter what, but newbies take time to learn. Like was mentioned 2-3 seconds slowly (to get them straight and take the slack out) then jump on it (again not all wild you don't want to hurt someone) to help them pop out.

 

[Dave.Mishchenko]

Re: New to Wakeboarding

We seemed to do okay with just slowly throttling up but seemed to be really hard and stressed to stand up. Any ideas or suggestions, i dont want to wear the riders out to quickly and not let them have any fun.

You don't have to hit it hard to get someone, but as mentioned their body position plays a critical role. I found the below videos helpful to get body position right.

http://1hourwaterskiing.com/video1/
http://1hourwaterskiing.com/video2
http://1hourwaterskiing.com/video3
http://1hourwaterskiing.com/video4

You mention that they're getting out but having trouble standing up? Are they falling forward? If so they're likely trying to pull themselves out. You have to let the boat get you onto the water before you think about standing up. Once you have it down it becomes a fluid action of coming up and turning your body, but there's nothing wrong with just letting the boat get you up on the water while you're still squating and then trying to stand and turn the board.

 

[jdawwggin25]

Re: New to Wakeboarding

I appreciate the help. We were running the boat at to low of a speed and really not allowing the boat to do the work.

 

[smartwork]

Re: New to Wakeboarding

but seemed to be really hard and stressed to stand up.

Then, don't stand up. Sounds wrong, but can actually help the boarder realize how to allow the boat to do the work for them. They don't HAVE to immediately stand up. They can get up on the squatting position and then stand up once on top of the water.

When I started and was trying to get up, I found that I was starting TOO compressed in the water. I had my knees up in my chest (which is successful for many), but I found it was better for me to actually have the board a little further away from me and then allow the boat to PULL me into the compressed position. I found that it allowed me to more easily tilt the board with my ankles and that it didn't present so much of a "plowing" action for someone who was new to it.

Like others, my guess is also that they are trying to pull themselves up. When it comes time to stand up, they should be able to do just that... easily stand up. If they're working too hard, they're probably standing too early. (assuming they are being given good boat speed)