Our 4 Year Old Without the Rope

[Atlanta1213]

Our daughter, who had her 4th birthday in July, has been learning to wakesurf this summer. Yesterday she went a short distance without the rope until she leaned herself out of the pocket. This was on Lake Ocoee in East Tennessee.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ITZUvYssHo

[dusty2221]

That was fantastic!

[KG's Supra24]

Wow, awesome!

[beat taco]

Very cool!

[rca]

That was very cool, she did great.

[Canuckle Head]

Ellie Appleby you rock! Congratulations and keep it up!

[kaneboats]

Yay, Ellie! Way to shred!!!!

[wolfeman131]

That is great! Been trying to convince my son all summer that he could do it.

How did she start on the board?

[Salyers]

That's very cool! Is Ocoee your home lake? We are out there from time to time. If you see a Red Mojo surfing stop and say hi!

[Atlanta1213]

wolfeman131:
Initially we had tried with both her and our 6 year old the same way that we surf. Board sideways - heels on top and then flip it up on its side when the rope is taught but the board was way too much for them to handle. So instead we had them lay on it like a kneeboard, then crawl to their knees staying way towards the back. Finally had them put the handle down on the board and bring up one foot and then the other. We also found in the beginning that having them stay crouched like a baseball catcher worked well so they could keep their balance more easily.

Salyers:
Ocoee is definitely our home lake even though we live in Chattanooga. I learned to ski in Sylco Inlet when I was 10 and have been in love with that place ever since. We have a black and white LSV we bought from Marine Distributors in Charleston TN, last summer and have put 180 hours on it, 95% of which has been on the Ocoee. We usually hang around the inlet and the Hwy 64 boat ramp end of the lake, we will keep an eye out for you.

[kaneboats]

So instead we had them lay on it like a kneeboard, then crawl to their knees staying way towards the back. Finally had them put the handle down on the board and bring up one foot and then the other. We also found in the beginning that having them stay crouched like a baseball catcher worked well so they could keep their balance more easily.

I sure hope you can get some video of the process and post it up. It would help a lot of us to show the kids a 4 year old getting up like that.

[Atlanta1213]

I sure hope you can get some video of the process and post it up. It would help a lot of us to show the kids a 4 year old getting up like that.

Here you go, as much great information as I have gleaned from this site its the least I can do...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omDvRiVqkjs

I will say that when we first started all this we really didn't expect the 4 year old to pick this up before the 6 year old who can already ski. They both also have quite a bit of time behind the boat on a kneeboard dating back to when Ellie was two, which helped as well. Early on I would go as slow as No Wake throttle even while they were standing up. Now I go No Wake until they are on their knees, 3-5 MPH until they got outside the wake and begin standing and then 10 MPH. Initially I used the same ballast we use and found out the wave was way to steep. Every time they would slide into the pocket they would back it up the wave and then bury the nose when they came back down. At 35 lbs. she doesn't need much of a wave to get rope slack. You may notice in the video that she reaches out for the wave with her left hand, this is something my wife has them do to get closer to the pocket. I think the biggest challenge for her now is going to be making those adjustments with the weight on her front and back foot in order to stay in the pocket for any length of time.

[Boonejeepin]

That is awesome!!!!

[jpetty3023]

Very nice. My girls have a homework assignment now. My 8 year old is close an maybe your video will get her the rest of the way


Sent from my home phone..

[kaneboats]

Thanks! You gotta be so proud of li'l Ellie. She looks like she has great balance and is having fun. Watch out for this one. She's gonna get real good with this head start.

[Brianinpdx]

This is absolutely awesome!~ I've got twin 4 year olds.

I was out with Al last weekend and took one of my boys. He kept aking me... Daddy, I want to surf! I think this might have just given me the inspiration to get him going. I'll have him watch this video tonight.

Thanks chief!

-Brian

[Stazi]

My 5 yo old son is scared shitless of riding the tube....I wish I could get him to do something like this. I have had him surf with me but he won't do anything on his own. LOL

[wolfeman131]

We were invited by the fine folks at Allatoona Adventures to go out for a surf 2 weekends ago and my son LOVED riding this contraption - The Wakesledz. He also LOVED riding the wooden ski trainer kaneboats brought to Sinclair. The middle section had been filled on so it was easy for him to get standing.

http://wakesledz.com/

[Atlanta1213]

I have six kids in all and the oldest three all learned to ski at 5 or 6. My 28 year old son was barefooting at 7. This time around with my youngest three (2, 4 and 6) I applied a lot of the things I learned from the first three. For example I stopped taking a tube with us to the lake. I noticed the kids were content to ride around in it forever it seemed like. It was helpful just to get them out of the boat and behind it but after that milestone was reached I stopped taking it with us to the lake. I also didn't let them attach the rope to the kneeboard but made them hold it instead. Rope management is really important no matter what you are trying to get up on. The sooner they learn how to handle the rope the better. Speed is meaningless when they are that small too, because of their light weight you can pull them at much slower speeds than adults need to get up and stay on top of the water. So much of what stands in their way is mental not physical, their smaller stature creates a much lower center of gravity and therefore better balance. Ever try to teach a real tall adult how to ski? Not very easy in my experience. There is no substitute for time behind the boat (tubes not included), sometimes I felt like they weren't progressing but everyone hits hurdles in their development and you just have to be patient and wait for them to get past it. Finally there is nothing like peer pressure from siblings or friends to motivate them to do things I could never talk them into (my 26 year old learned to ski on one at 5 which totally pi$$ed of his 6 year old brother who had until that day been relucant to drop a ski, but learned about 30 minutes after his younger brother). We also rely on a barefoot boom as a greating training tool for wakeboards and skis, it is a pain to setup and breakdown but is worth it. Every child is a little different but almost all of them are motivated by their own success to try new things.

[kaneboats]

I love showing them video of kids a couple years younger than they are doing stuff I want them to try next. Every kid knows if a kid a year younger than them can do it so can they.

[beat taco]

I love showing them video of kids a couple years younger than they are doing stuff I want them to try next. Every kid knows if a kid a year younger than them can do it so can they.

X2, works every time! The day my 4 y/o got up on the wakeboard by buddy's 8 y/o got up too, he had tried once the year before but had been unwilling this year until he saw that!


-Jake

[Atlanta1213]

Ok so I know this an old post but I thought I would resurrect it to post a link to my youngest who went without the rope this weekend. He was so excited to finally be able to do what his older sisters have been doing for as long as he can remember. For any of you trying to teach a young one to surf try having them get up kneeboard style.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzxpBm_na6Q

Also a clip of his older sister at 6.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIcQYukh9Mg

[jmvotto]

Very cool , I will definately show it to my 6 year old and 3 old .

Love the boat scheme to .

[drb59]

That was great.

[sivs1]

that's awesome, have any tips to share?

[jedandsara]

So awesome, I have a 5 and 3 year old that will be watching this tomorrow!

[bergermaister]

Very cool! Wish I would have started mine that young.

[smorris7]

That's awesome. Great job on the video edit also.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kaneboats]

Excellent fun vids!

[Woody929]

My 2 4 year olds love to go out with me, next year I'll start them on their own. My 8 year old tried all last summer to get up on her scamp & on the last trip out before school started she figured it out. This summer she pops right up. Her goal last weekend was to make it through a whole song which she did & the smile on her face went from ear to ear. She still isn't ropeless yet, but she's very close.

[996scott]

way cool, love it.