Wakeboarding Need advise

[OKANAGANGUY]

I have a 1992 Canaventure 17.5' Bowrider with a 4.3L V-6. I have installed a tower and bought a hyperlite 140 cm board with a nice set of bindings. I have been out on the lake twice now and am having no troubles getting out of the water on the board. As soon as the boat starts to plane and it picks up speed quickly I am getting slingshoted forward and can't seem to hold onto the rope. I am looking for advise on a few things:

1- What legnth should the rope be?

2-What is the best speed to run at once up on the board.

3- What is the best settings for the bindings for beginners.

4- Should I be holding on with one hand or two once I am up.

5- How do I do back flips (Kidding!!)

Thanks in advance to all who reply. I am greatful to have found this site and appreciate all the great things poeple have taught me on here.

 

[johnson1989]

Re: Wakeboarding Need advise

ITs like riding a bike, once you learn its a piece of cake. Here is some vids to watch due to that is better then me rambling on about it.

http://www.expertvillage.com/interviews/wakeboarding-tips.htm

 

[johnson1989]

Re: Wakeboarding Need advise

1- What lenth should the rope be? - Depends on boat and wake but usually out about so that it would be easy to clear the wake. So judge your wake cruising at 20 MPH A normal ski rope is way to long, get an adjustable one.

2-What is the best speed to run at once up on the board. right around 18-23 MPH but it varies by what the rider prefers

3- What is the best settings for the bindings for beginners. - Whatever is confortable for you. Start with the slip in Velcro and move up to boots.

4- Should I be holding on with one hand or two once I am up -- Unless doing tricks ect always two hands

 

[Devious]

Re: Wakeboarding Need advise

I have only been wakeboarding for about a month now, but all the trials of learning how to get up are fresh in my mind.

1- What legnth should the rope be?

for learning how to get up and finding the edges of your board, it doesn't really matter. once youre ready to use the wake, adjust the length of your rope so youre being towed at a distance where the wake is crisp and not washed out.

2-What is the best speed to run at once up on the board.

depends on the person. with my girl riding, i drive about 13-15mph. she says i tell her to drive around 18-19. while youre learning you want to go fast enough to stay on top of the water, but slow enough to think about carving.

3- What is the best settings for the bindings for beginners.

my board is symeterical so i set my binding up symenterical while i'm learning. they're in the middle of the board shoulder width apart, ducked out 20ish degrees.

4- Should I be holding on with one hand or two once I am up.

normal cruising is 2 hands. push out your front hip and bring the handle down near your hip.

5- you don't have to go fast to get up out of the water. going slower you have to fight a little more but it helps you feel what the board is doing.

here is what i do:
start with your heals down, toes out of the water, level. as the boat takes up the slack<idle> and starts to pull you along, you'll plow the water in front of you. tuck you butt down to your heels and start to bring the board over and parallel to the waters surface. <boat starts to power onto plane> as long as the front side is higher than the back side, you'll pull up to the surface and ride on your heels. <boat is nearly on plane> when i feel there is enough resistance from the water i'm plowing up, i'll push my left foot down and back, and "surf" the board up to the surface.

i board behind a jetski (for now) so it may be slightly different for you but hopefully that helps.
good luck and stick with it.

 

[sabastianunf]

Re: Wakeboarding Need advise

The above comments are pretty much on the mark. I would just reccomend buying the video series called "the book" It covers all this and more. Watch it before you develop too many bad habits and you will progress faster now and latter on.

 

[TahoeBlue]

Re: Wakeboarding Need advise

Well first off if you are getting flipped head over heals turn the board to normal riding position quicker and or slow the boat down. As for the rest of your questions.....

1- There is no rope length for all boats. Its determined by how far back the good spot on your wake is. For beginning it don't really matter but once you want to start jumping i would estimate you would want to be about 8 to 10feet behind where your prop wash ends and your V of the wake starts. It all matters on your boat tho so check it out.

2- 18 to 20 mph is where you are supposed to be but i have held on at like 10 so it is possible to go really slow if you want to try and figure it out slow at first.

3- The bindings should be tight enough to keep you into them but not as to where its hurting your foot. Hyperlite doesn't make many bad bindings so just get them comfortable.

4- Once you are up hold on with 2 hands unless you need to reach down to tighten your bindings or pull your shorts up

5- hahah right

 

[sabastianunf]

Re: Wakeboarding Need advise

18-20 is probably good for a beginner but as you get better you probably want to bump the speed up a little. some pro's will ride as much as 70' of rope and 25 mph. Most people ride @ 55-60' of line and 20-22 mph. It all really depends on the boat, the wake and the rider preference. If you get good and are ridding behind a real wakeboat it can be very difficult to go wake 2 wake at 18 mph.

 

[Wotam]

Re: Wakeboarding Need advise

"[boat is on plane]... quickly I am getting slingshoted forward and can't seem to hold onto the rope"

If the driver is NOT an experienced wakeboard driver they may be trying to pull you up like a waterskier. For wakeboarding you do not want to hit the throttle hard!

Ease into the gas and let the boat come up on plane gently. A big holeshot is NOT desirable for a beginning wakeboarder... it will pull the rope out of your hands, pull you over on your face etc.

Betcha that's what's happening.

 

[hal2814]

Re: Wakeboarding Need advise

You must always always always always keep the board in front on you when getting up. I've been teaching my brother to get up on the board and I can tell when he's going to get up because I can still see the logo on the bottom of the board when his backside is starting to get out of the water. You can never lean back too much for too long while first getting up. Get on a rowing machine and notice your body's starting (compressed) position. This is roughly how you want your body to be positioned in the water. If your head gets in front of the board before you're out of the water, you've already lost. And don't worry about standing up. The board will force you to stand up eventually. And depending on your board, you may be able to ride the starting position indefinitely.

And since someone mentioned driving, here's what I do fo new riders. I pull 1/4 throttle until I see their rear end out of the water. Then I count to 3 and on 3 I punch it. When they get better at riding, I just full throttle them up.

 

[sabastianunf]

Re: Wakeboarding Need advise

^Like he said keep the nose of the board up by leaning back and keep your knee's bent and let the boat pull you up - don't try to stand up until you are on plane- you can actually ride with your knees bent for as long as you want.

 

[OKANAGANGUY]

Re: Wakeboarding Need advise

Thanks a bunch folks. I really appreciate all of your help. I now am getting out of the water on the first try. I can stay up for as long as I like now. I have not left the wake yet but and enjoying just being up. I will take biger risks as the confidence grows. Hyperlite board works great.

 

[oops!]

Re: Wakeboarding Need advise

i agree about thr driver. once the boat is on plane you gotta throttle back a bit cause the boat wants to rocket foward. speaking of rockets! (hockey)
where u out of? vern, pent, or kelowna? or do u go to kal?
best waters on kal/woods. but the tourists found kal last season. it got really busy and it was hard to find flatt glass. the okanagan lake was not as busy and lots of glass could be found by the okanagan lk resort.
next season ill show you how to drive on my boat.