How good are you at riding......

[polar21]

How good are you at riding switch? How long did it take for you to become comfortable to ride that way? I just got back into the sport, and can cruise around goofy footed all day (natural for me) but if I 180 to left front forward I feel like I belong to the little yellow bus club. Have you done anything to help get you better at riding switch, other than just putting alot of time in on the water?

Some of my buddies way back in high school could ride both rather proficiently and it made the tricks look sweet because they could jump both sides of the wake and get good air.

[sandm]

took me many hours of riding to get somewhat comfortable at switch, and still not great at it.
it really takes time and time and time. some are more natural than others and don't require as much...

my biggest issue is I'm sooo much better at surfing, so I spend most of the time on the water doing that, and then you don't get better at the other since you don't spend the time doing it.

my goal next year is to spend more than 50% of my time boarding and limit surfing, but we'll see.

[yearround]

after 30 years of skiing regular, learning to wake was tough, switch has been even more difficult. i started wake about 4 years ago. this year i finished off being able to w2w switch hs and occasionally ts, 180's fine either way, 3's usually don't work out.

so far i am staying away from inverts so i don't get hurt any worse.

[mmandley]

I ride regular normally, being my first year ridding it took most of the summer before i felt comfortable doing that. Everyone tells me learn switch now while im new.

So to force this habit this summer im going to learn to start on switch and ride like that. Take a few pulls that way then see if i can switch from goofy to regular without a face plant.

Surfing i can ride on the goofy side but not to well yet. Pretty shaky, its weird how the muscles for balance arnt as strong on goofy as regular even though you all the same muscles to walk.

[maxpower220]

Only practice will make you better. When you first started, you probably weren't very good on your normal side either, it took practice.
I am comfortable switch, but I still take a long ride only in switch every time that I go out.

[Diver14]

I signed up for the Learn Wake site and there are several drills for learning to ride switch. It was the best $9 I ever spent in regards to wakeboarding. The link is www.learnwake.com and they walk you through everything from getting up all the way to more advanced tricks like the KGB.

You may have heard of the DVD called the Book. It is a 5 DVD set that breaks wakeboarding down. The entire collection is available online in their members area and it comes as part of their program. I cant say enough about that site.

[Jeff W]

Sometimes I just drop all ballast and cruise around with just my wife driving me and take sets riding switch. I'm not really cutting or jumping - just riding. Take one set a week riding fully switch - don't try to get too fancy. After about a half dozen full sets of riding switch you'll get your stance and balance figured out.

[Jeff W]

I signed up for the Learn Wake site and there are several drills for learning to ride switch. It was the best $9 I ever spent in regards to wakeboarding. The link is www.learnwake.com and they walk you through everything from getting up all the way to more advanced tricks like the KGB.

You may have heard of the DVD called the Book. It is a 5 DVD set that breaks wakeboarding down. The entire collection is available online in their members area and it comes as part of their program. I cant say enough about that site.

Is that $9 a one time deal or is it monthly? I've heard GREAT reviews on learn wake and the videos they put on youtube are top notch.

[polar21]

I have heard of "The Book", just havent gotten around to buying it yet. Riding switch more comfortably this summer is my main goal. I can do rotational tricks but the inverts I have not attempted yet. I think the suggestion about just riding switch for a while is pretty good...no jumping, just cruising around and gaining that muscle memory.

[Diver14]

The $9 is monthly however you can go through the whole site in a month. Personally I continue the subscription. You can post videos and Kyle will critique them and he is very responsive. In some respects its better than taking a lesson because there is the video component and he can slow it down and break down exactly what you are doing and what adjustments you need to make. Regarding the inverts, Kyle has a great low impact way to learn a backroll.

[Jeff W]

The $9 is monthly however you can go through the whole site in a month. Personally I continue the subscription. You can post videos and Kyle will critique them and he is very responsive. In some respects its better than taking a lesson because there is the video component and he can slow it down and break down exactly what you are doing and what adjustments you need to make. Regarding the inverts, Kyle has a great low impact way to learn a backroll.

I used his inverts method when I started throwing tantrums and rolls. Worked great.

[kaneboats]

Skied regular my whole life and started wakeboarding only a couple of years ago. Switch is one of those things I can do but still never feel comfortable with.

[polar21]

^^^^^^^
"just waiting for the time when I can ride both just as comfortable"--That is the point where I want to get to. I think once you get comfortable riding that way then your bag of tricks really opens up and you can make your riding much more smooth. I definitely need to invest in the book...sounds like a worthwhile investment.

[deerfield]

No action on the Skiing and Slalom forum, so thought I would interlop on the Wakeboard forum. On the subject of switch, I mix up my slalom grip from time to time. Left hand sometime is palm up, otherwsie palm down. I'm a rightie, so most of the time it's laft hand palm down. Either way, I'm still stuck at 22' off @ 36. Always ski left foot forward. No switch there. Glad I could contribute.

[Jeff W]

No action on the Skiing and Slalom forum, so thought I would interlop on the Wakeboard forum. On the subject of switch, I mix up my slalom grip from time to time. Left hand sometime is palm up, otherwsie palm down. I'm a rightie, so most of the time it's laft hand palm down. Either way, I'm still stuck at 22' off @ 36. Always ski left foot forward. No switch there. Glad I could contribute.


Haha.. Try switching riding left foot forward or right foot forward (opposite) - THEN you are riding switch!

[yearround]

Hey Deerfield. Thanks for the meaningful contri! I tried skiing right forward once. Won't bother that again. So what difference does it make to switch your grip while skiing? Sometimes I ski with Both hands down.

Learning to ride wake switch I found iteasiest to get up wrong and ride that way for a while then switch to regular. When I was comfortable I would go back.