Wakeboarding without tower

[marcoalza]

My son is about to start wakeboarding this weekend off the back of our boat.

Are there any major issues I should watch out for as we dont have a tower, just the ski hook.

 

[bigpoppakdog]

Re: Wakeboarding without tower

Nope. Just understand it will be a little more difficult getting out of the hole and getting air will be minimal.

 

[ThreeMileBayWaker]

Re: Wakeboarding without tower

Nope. Just understand it will be a little more difficult getting out of the hole and getting air will be minimal.

This!

 

[scooper77515]

Re: Wakeboarding without tower

I waked off the back of a seadoo jetboat for a while, on the hook just above the swim platform. Then later, I built a stainless ski pylon to replace the aluminum one that came with it, lifting the line up about 3-4 feet. i didn't notice much difference. Still pretty easy to get up. no wake behind a jet boat so getting air wasn't possible either way.

Now have a Glastron 185 and a tower, and I still don't notice much difference, except I have a bit of a wake to play with now.

It will be no problem to wake behind that boat without a pylon or tower.

good luck with teaching! He will have a blast when he finally learns to get up!

Attached a pic of jet boat pylon for height reference.

 

[rallyart]

Re: Wakeboarding without tower

It is possible to jump from wake to wake and to do rolls without a tower. Your technique just has to be very good. For anyone starting out it will not affect them in learning how to edge, do slides and other surface tricks, nor learning how to jump out of or into the wake.
Of course, if they are like my son, the 'cool' factor of a tower means you'll get lots of comments on how impossible everything is until you buy that necessary equipment. Frankly, using a good zero stretch rope will do more than a tower.

 

[mxfever]

Re: Wakeboarding without tower

I learned from a ski hook, then we installed a tower. Big difference. Getting up was easier and getting air was easier. On the plus side, if you learn how to get up and edge on a ski hook, you will be able to get up on a trolling motor. Well maybe not a trolling motor but you'll see what I mean.

 

[shoestring]

Re: Wakeboarding without tower

educate him on the term "catching an edge" before he does it.

 

[electricjohn]

Re: Wakeboarding without tower

I've seen the pro's pull all their moves off a pylon when they boarded behind a boat without a tower or any wake enhancement devices. So it is not impossible.

 

[marcoalza]

Re: Wakeboarding without tower

educate him on the term "catching an edge" before he does it.

Educate me!

 

[shoestring]

Re: Wakeboarding without tower

Educate me!

catching an edge is not a good thing! it is where your toe side edge of the board dips below the water line. the water rips the board right out from under you and you do an instant faceplant. my daughter did this a few years back while learning. she is an avid snowboarder which has the same danger of catching an edge. when she did it on a wakeboard, i actually heard the smack from the drivers seat, it knocked her a little loopy and finished her for the day. she had back and neck pain for a couple of weeks, and was gun shy for a while getting back in the wake board. when i heard the smack, i instantly looked over my shoulder to see and she was face down, i flipped around, almost breaking the throttle of by hammering it full open to get back to her, but she came to and was able to turn herself back over by the time i got there. it's an eye opener for sure. i've posted a vid for you to watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iV8pqATtLU

 

[mxfever]

Re: Wakeboarding without tower

Educate me!

It sucks. My first experience "catching an edge" was my first attempt at clearing wake to wake. I carved hard heal side and popped. When I landed on the other side of the wake, the back of the board hit the lip of the wake pushing the front of my board under. Faceplant! My brother was piloting the boat and heard me smack the water. The smack was hard enough that once I made my way back into the boat and took my life jacket off you could see blood blisters in my chest from the seam in the vest. It made me gun shy for the rest of the season. Now, it's going to happen and it sucks. It's just a part of the learning curve. I've done it at least half a dozen times since then but it's like anything else and it sounds wierd but you "learn" how to crash. My bindings are tight and I've had the board ripped off my feet numerous times. Granted I'm getting older and it takes a week or more to recover but you learn from your mistakes.

 

[sharps45]

Re: Wakeboarding without tower

As bad as it is to faceplant on a wakeboard, it is much worse on a snowboard! I did it this winter and separated the cartilage from my sternum and ribs. Very Painful! Six weeks later I'm finally healed up. Water is much softer.

 

[GoneBoatN]

Re: Wakeboarding without tower

There is more to it than just the tower. A lot is about the wake you produce (how clean it is, how wide it is, where it breaks...). If just beginning, get an instructional DVD for him. I got my son Detention 2012 by Shaun Murray - instructional and entertaining; there are others as well. You can adjust the wake (make it slightly bigger or clean it up) a little by changing the trim - that is limited without destroying your coupler so be careful with that. You can also adjust the wake with more weight in the rear of the boat - fat sacks, adding/moving passengers to the rear, etc.

I took a bunch of scout?s wakeboarding and got everyone up and going for a pretty good run - with my old boat which has no tower. Take it easy on the throttle the first couple of times to get some success getting up. Each time getting a little more aggressive. After a little experience your son will be asking you to hammer the throttle. Depending upon your son's weight you might find that he gets out of the water at slower speeds. I had a little guy who was up going about 8 MPH and was "on plane" quite nicely around 12 MPH. He had snow boarding experience and took to wakeboarding really fast. My son eventually settled on around 19 MPH. Use a mirror so that you can see the effect of your driving easier - this will help you adjust your driving quicker and more appropriately.

For just starting out a boat that produces a smooth flat wake is just as good. A bigger wake is for good pop when jumping wake-to-wake which comes later. Yea a tower with a little more upward pull helps but proper technique (not standing up but rather letting the boat pull you up, heels down - toes up until you are out of the water, not to rush turning the board after you get up, arms straight while the boat is pulling you out of the water rather than you pulling on the rope, proper body position) helps much more than having a tower does.

The one think I really love about a tower is that it is a great place to stow the boards when not in use.

 

[marcoalza]

Re: Wakeboarding without tower

There is more to it than just the tower. A lot is about the wake you produce (how clean it is, how wide it is, where it breaks...). If just beginning, get an instructional DVD for him. I got my son Detention 2012 by Shaun Murray ....................

Excellent GoneBoatN.

Thanks so much for the comprehensive advice.
I'll also look for the video here but I don't hold out much hope.

 

[veritas honus]

Re: Wakeboarding without tower

Hey Marcoalza,

Google the video and order it online if you can't find it locally.

 

[scooper77515]

Re: Wakeboarding without tower

I also seemed to settle on 19 mph. Keep GPS going so the wife can do the best to keep it right there. Any faster and I am just slaloming, and any slower and I am fighting to keep from sinking (I weigh 195).

I really need to invest in a good low-no stretch rope. I am using regular ski rope and I cannot seem to get any pop. With a tower and decent (but not GOOD) wake.

 

[JGregory614]

Re: Wakeboarding without tower

It's 100 times easier to get up behind a boat...heck I learned to get up and all behind a jet ski. Obviously no air there but it is tough getting up, makes it simple when behind a boat.

 

[oceanbarrel]

Re: Wakeboarding without tower

Unless you have a wakeboard specific boat, I dont feel a tower makes much difference. The main benefit you get is the racks, so you can store your boards outside of the boat. I have a 19ft sea ray, and I do have a tower. I dont think its much more difficult to get up either. Getting up on a slalom ski is way harder and people were doing that long before towers came along. Ive seen people do tantrums and front rolls behind a jon boat with an outboard and no tower. There are advance tricks that your not going to pull off without a tower, but for the recreational wakeboarder its not a huge deal.