Slingshot board - cursed? Done for the year...

[bergermaister]

So I picked up a great deal on a Slingshot 142 Response a week or two ago. First day riding it I catch an edge during a board slide and do a backwards head plant. Full on seeing stars, whiplash, probably a mild concussion. I lay off the board for a few days to recover.

Wednesday this last week, second time riding the board, I'm able to go W2W on it with no ballast - just passengers. Feeling pretty good but want to get smoother. My last attempt I barely miss clearing it, catch the tip and wham - the board edge catches, board stops immediately and unfortunately I kept going. Foot came out of the front binding (rare for me) and I totally rip all my stomach muscles. Can't breathe, can't talk, just burning and gasping.

4 hours of emergency room xrays and CT scans later they tell me that I over or hyper-extended my abdomen. Nothing looks ripped or broken but I'm going to be hurting for a while. Dope me up on a few shots and some vicodin and send me on my way...

I'm thinking this damn board is cursed! No wonder they were so willing to wheel and deal on it. I'm done wakeboarding for at least the season, maybe even more. Hope to do a little surfing after some more recovery but time is running out...

[mmandley]

Wow man that sucks.
Sounds like that board and you dont play nice together.

I can only imagine abs injury as when you over work your abs when at the gym and they hurt real bad except in your case the pain is much worse and doesnt go away.

I generaly have nexk, lower back, and knee pain after wake boarding and wakesurfing. Went out yesterday and i feel like i got beat up LOL. Kink in my neck, back hurts and both knees hurt but im pretty beat up from playing ball from 16 to 20 and then being a prison officer from 21 to 28 and being in one of the most violent prisons in AZ at the time. Was fun but took a lot of injuries LOL.

Hope you feel better bro and yea id take the wake board and put in the Craigs List lol.

[bergermaister]

I'm only 37 - wonder if I'm getting too old for this shtuff... Then seeing me get banged up my kids want to do it even less which sucks. I was trying to tell them I was fine and just needed to catch my breath but they apparently could see right through that bluff.

[you da man]

If you take a digger on a Slingshot it'll be over before you know it was happening. I love my Slingshot Reflex but if you do catch an edge it's not very forgiving to say the least. They are very thin boards with sharp edges. Don't give up on it, it's never the boards fault (kind of like a golfer cussing the golfball). I hyperextended my abs earlier this year as well after I caught a heelside digger trying my first 360. Not a good feeling being 6 feet in the air going backwards after loosing the handle knowing you're going to back slam. I couldn't wakeboard for about 3 weeks. By the way, I'll be 40 in Sept so you're not too old

[cab13367]

Berg, sorry to hear that. Hope you heel up fast. And you are NOT too old - let's just say I have a few years on you and I still wakeboard every time I take the boat out (unless it's too rough). It's still my favorite thing to do behind the boat.

[harmsway]

Berg the exact same thing happened to me earlier in the year going w2w. I'm pretty stubborn though so after a couple of weeks taking it easy on the water, still hurting I did the exact same thing a second time, took me about 30 minutes just to get up on the back deck. Just a suggestion hit the slalom ski & the surfboard hard, but take it easy on the wakeboard until things heal up. It took me about 5 weeks to build my confidence back up and were my stomach muscle felt 100%. I'm pushing 46.

[viking]

OUCH Berg! Your right. That board is cursed.........for you! You should sell it.
Shipping zip is 59106 and I'll take it off your hands :)

I know how it feels to be getting older. I'm 38 and a little over 2 weeks ago I pulled my Anterior Hip muscle off the bone. I was just slalom skiing and going at it pretty hard when I heard and felt a "pop" on my right hip. Down I went. I couldn't walk for a week and my whole leg turned black and blue and had hematoma pretty bad. I can walk now but my quad, hamstring, abs, and knee ache like you can't believe. Physical therapist says 8-9 weeks recovery at best. I've been reduced to being the driver for the last 2 outings. Maybe a surf before I put the boat away........but we'll see!!

[brain_rinse]

Sorry to hear! You gotta be careful with the brain sprains though... Getting a couple in a row can be more than season ending. Check out shredready.com if you haven't already.

Slingshot boards are still #1 in my book, even the cursed ones. :)

[jester]

I have also taking some bad falls with my Slingshot board. Now i always put on a helmet. Have to have somthing to keep the brains in. I do enjoy the board and will keep on using it until somthing better comes a long.

[bergermaister]

Yeah I was thinking it was a more forgiving board too until it tried to kill me. Definitely easier to pop over the wake than my LF Team 142 was though. I was on a shorter rope, but going W2W with no ballast, just peeps. Couldn't do that with the LF.

Looking back it could have had something to do with cranking my bindings down beyond tight to "stupid" that did me in...

[you da man]

I just got the Hyperlite System bindings for my Slingshot. We'll see how they do with releasing on those hard diggers we all hate.

[KG's Supra24]

Are yall using SS boards with the track system? It only took about 2 hard falls and I shredded that track system all to hell.

[bergermaister]

You talking about the quick release/adjustment little puck thing on the Slingshot bindings?

[KG's Supra24]

Im talking about how you mount the boots to the board. Instead of 6 or 8 holes you have a track so essentially there are endless possibilities on where/how you can mount your boots.

I believe this was new in 2011.

Here is mine busted ....

http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i401/kwgarner24/Slingshot.jpg

[bergermaister]

Ah gotcha. No I believe my SS is a year or two old - just has the basic mounting holes.

[KG's Supra24]

Thats bueno for you! I was really wanting to stay with slingshot bc i liked the board (the hour it lasted), however, i was too impatient for them to warranty me with a 2012 so I went elsewhere.

[Inliner]

I am not familiar with that board. I did look into it and it is an older technology board (I am surprised to hear about the number of people riding it here based on that) from the photos with a continuous rocker and no molded fins. My questions would be how long was your line length and at what speed was the boat? On my gfs board (a 137 O'Brien Oasis) with a 3 stage rocker and a little short for me, I can pop a wake to wake with no ballast, no bodies in my boat (other than driver and spotter) at 24 mph on a 55 foot line. With 500lbs of ballast I can do it at the same speed on a 60 foot line. At 1,100-1,400 lbs the sky is the limit. I would like to know all the circumstances because doing a back plant in a front slide is pretty difficult. I have done back slide back plants and they hurt. But every time I have done a front (toe) side slide crash it has resulted in a face plant from dipping the toe side edge because I didn't lift my toes.

[loudsubz]

I love my liquid force groove

its a little squirley as the fins are short, which makes it great for surface spins etc, but its super forgiving if you don't land 100% and you can usually slide right out of it. All my other ronix boards were very planted and made it a little tougher on uncertain landings

[brain_rinse]

I am not familiar with that board. I did look into it and it is an older technology board (I am surprised to hear about the number of people riding it here based on that) from the photos with a continuous rocker and no molded fins. My questions would be how long was your line length and at what speed was the boat? On my gfs board (a 137 O'Brien Oasis) with a 3 stage rocker and a little short for me, I can pop a wake to wake with no ballast, no bodies in my boat (other than driver and spotter) at 24 mph on a 55 foot line. With 500lbs of ballast I can do it at the same speed on a 60 foot line. At 1,100-1,400 lbs the sky is the limit. I would like to know all the circumstances because doing a back plant in a front slide is pretty difficult. I have done back slide back plants and they hurt. But every time I have done a front (toe) side slide crash it has resulted in a face plant from dipping the toe side edge because I didn't lift my toes.
Even though they've been around for awhile for kite boarding, flex boards like the Slingshot are relatively new on the wake scene. Nothing dated about their technology - demo one if you can. I've ridden nothing but flex for 2 years now and have never looked back. I don't think he's seriously blaming the equipment for his crash, just a joke.

Glad you're having fun out there behind the boat. Curious why you're riding so fast on such a short line though. Have you GPS calibrated your speedometer?

[bergermaister]

I rarely take myself seriously... Love the board actually - just need to ease into it a bit more apparently. Oh, and start doing more situps in preparation for next year!

[Inliner]

Even though they've been around for awhile for kite boarding, flex boards like the Slingshot are relatively new on the wake scene. Nothing dated about their technology - demo one if you can. I've ridden nothing but flex for 2 years now and have never looked back. I don't think he's seriously blaming the equipment for his crash, just a joke.

Glad you're having fun out there behind the boat. Curious why you're riding so fast on such a short line though. Have you GPS calibrated your speedometer?

Wake size Dan. I use an Outback (2003) that is a DD, not a V-drive. Produces a smaller wake. On my trick ski I can w2w with no ballast and only the driver and spotter at 24 mph on a 45 foot line. As I add ballast, the boat speed drops, so at 500lbs I drop the speed to 23 mph using the same line length and at 1,100 to 1,400 lbs drop the speed to 21-22 to accomplish the same thing. Odds are behind a straight wakeboarding boat like a Supra V or Air Nautique I could take the speed down more, but my line length on the trick ski never changes. Also I found on the Oasis 137 below 22 mph the board sinks on landing. I would be interested now in trying that board. If I ever come across one I will have to.

[you da man]

. Curious why you're riding so fast on such a short line though. Have you GPS calibrated your speedometer?

I was wondering the same thing...24mph at 55' line...why? There's no wake at 24mph at 55'. 55' line is more for 18-21mph to be in the meaty part of the wake

[Inliner]

I was wondering the same thing...24mph at 55' line...why? There's no wake at 24mph at 55'. 55' line is more for 18-21mph to be in the meaty part of the wake

I can't carry enough speed on the smaller board to get a good hit. To make matters worse, I tried at slower speeds but when I landed the smaller board sunk on landing. Odds are on a longer board it would be different. Optimum board length for me is the 141-up range. Also you guys are all running the V-drives with the integrated sack systems and much better wake production. I am used to hitting wakes fast on my trick ski. Working on better pop on it now to see if I can accomplish the same thing at lower speeds, but the trick ski doesn't fly like a wake board does. It is a little more difficult. I can even pop it wake to wake behind barefoot and slalom boats. I don't need to tell you how small those wakes are. Like I said, behind a serious wake board boat I am sure the numbers would be MUCH different.

[zegm]

So I picked up a great deal on a Slingshot 142 Response a week or two ago. First day riding it I catch an edge during a board slide and do a backwards head plant. Full on seeing stars, whiplash, probably a mild concussion. I lay off the board for a few days to recover.

If anyone ever wonders why my wakeboard is sitting in the garage with an inch of dust on it, well this explains it very well.

Now the Radar Senate is always in the boat!!! :)

[brain_rinse]

I can't carry enough speed on the smaller board to get a good hit. To make matters worse, I tried at slower speeds but when I landed the smaller board sunk on landing. Odds are on a longer board it would be different. Optimum board length for me is the 141-up range. Also you guys are all running the V-drives with the integrated sack systems and much better wake production. I am used to hitting wakes fast on my trick ski. Working on better pop on it now to see if I can accomplish the same thing at lower speeds, but the trick ski doesn't fly like a wake board does. It is a little more difficult. I can even pop it wake to wake behind barefoot and slalom boats. I don't need to tell you how small those wakes are. Like I said, behind a serious wake board boat I am sure the numbers would be MUCH different.
Ah, trick skis! Makes more sense now. I get the small wake thing because 2 of my normal riding crew have direct drive MC Prostars. We still ride at 22-23 mph and 65-75' of rope though. Any shorter and the wake is so narrow that you don't get any real hang time.

[bergermaister]

Turns out my dad was shooting a few pictures during my set and has impeccable timing - just dropped off a CD last night....

This.....

http://i326.photobucket.com/albums/k414/grberglund/MoombaMobiusV/W2W1.jpg

Lead to this....

http://i326.photobucket.com/albums/k414/grberglund/MoombaMobiusV/W2W2.jpg

He said he wished he had video... Haha, thanks Dad...

[Inliner]

Ah, trick skis! Makes more sense now. I get the small wake thing because 2 of my normal riding crew have direct drive MC Prostars. We still ride at 22-23 mph and 65-75' of rope though. Any shorter and the wake is so narrow that you don't get any real hang time.

Behind my friend's Malibu Barefoot boat (talk about crappy wake) I can pop w2ws on the trick ski at 23 with precision. At 24 I fly into the flats about 4-6 feet out. I am going to work on dropping boat speed back to 20-22 behind my boat by putting more pop behind my take-off. I started working harder on it last weekend but ran into more off-axis landings from it. Once I master it, I should be in better shape.

I wouldn't mind seeing some video of you behind the Prostars to see your launches to get a perspective of what you are doing behind the boats with no weight. That will give me something to look at behind my boat with no weight.