Help a newby

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Originally Posted by mmandley

I got Detention 2012 i think its called. I was under the impression this is just as good as The Book.

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I have both. Well, I've seen both. Some's got my Detention 2012 and I cannot remember who it is. Anyway, The Book has some more technical detail in certain areas.

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The problem is when i watch this sort of thing it leaves those critical parts out.

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I hear you. Both Detention 2012 and The Book leave out some detail on getting pop while jumping, and it's leaving me frustrated.

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Like when you start in deep water, boat pulls tension on the line, you bring the board under the water and brings your heels of your feet to you butt. Then you ride up and out of the water.

That so doesn't work for me. I try and try that and all i do is get pulled over my board or drag out and lose my handle.

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Unless you are amazingly double-jointed (meaning that your ankles aren't holding your board in a slight incline to bring you to the surface), the most likely cause for your issue is extending your legs. Have a friend watch or video you from the side. When teaching beginners who have trouble, I jump in the water with them and it's almost always a subconcious leg extension. They don't know that they are doing it, and will swear up and down that they aren't... but they are.

The Book has some animations that show exactly what should be happening above and below the waterline.

It is also possible that the driver is applying too much power. Tell him that the target speed is 15 MPH and you want a fairly light acceleration to that speed. After you are up, then signal him to go to your usual riding speed.

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I ended up turning the board as the boat pulls me up and i come up out of the water almost in regular position.

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Before learning to come up in a slide, I spent years doing this, because it was the only instruction that I could find on the Internet when I started. If it works for you, great. However, it actually requires board control in three dimensions (tipping your leading toe toward the boat). So, I do not recommend trying to teach this to anyone else.

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The video wants you to come up in a side slide basically. This would be great if i can learn this as it will help me get to a switch position as well.

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Side slides are an excellent way to prepare you to ride switch and to land jumps. If you have any removeable fins, remove them and do some prolonged sliding exercises. This will teach you to use edging for control, rather than the crutch of steering with fins. You should eventually be able to turn around and do blindside slides in reverse (toeside).

Sliding can be scarey (because of face-planting) to do at regular riding speeds. However, sliding exercises can be done at very low speed. I am 165 lbs and can slide at 11 MPH.

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Originally Posted by JesseC

This may also be due to the drive taking off to hard. When I pull newer riders or some of my buddies that have shoulders that have hit their prime I pull them out really slow. If you have your board sideways in a slide position and they gun the throttle you are going to faceplant or lose the handle. Pay close attention to the videos, when they pull a rider out of the water notice how slow the boat is going. With the large surface area of the board it does not take a lot to get out of the water. Driving the boat properly is almost more important than the rider being in the correct position. When my rider begins to slide and I see them start to pop out of the water I apply a little more throttle. I DO NOT give more throttle until my rider starts to break the surface of the water.

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This is great advise. I'll add this - there is NO reason to stand up immediately. Have your driver pull you up slowly and only top out the speed at 13-15mph. You can stay squatted, sideways for ages behind the boat.

Also, try this on your wakesurf board, or try it on your wakeboard with a really short rope.

Once you can get up sideways, try this drill - keep the board sideways, speed 15mph or so and by shifting your weight from one foot to other, slide the board sideways from wake to wake, staying inside the wake. This is a good drill for teaching board control, weight shifting and leveraging rope tension.

The next progression of this same drill is surface 180s.

We tell beginners to think about it like they are playing bball and got knocked on their butt. A teammate comes over, grabs you by the hand and pulls you back up standing. You do nothing but hold on, the teammate (boat) does all the work.

Lots of good advice already posted. I would just add that when cutting across the wake the board should be facing the direction you are traveling (sideways.) The trick though, as already mentioned, is to initiate your turns by edging the board, not by pointing it.

Thanks everyone. I will be trying this all out pretty soon. I will look into the Book. I did pretty good i think last year but i want to do a lot better and more things this year.

We even got some helmets for ridding so the crashes don't hurt so much lol.

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Originally Posted by mmandley

We even got some helmets for ridding so the crashes don't hurt so much lol.

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I also recommend watersport goggles (specifically vented for crashes -- not diving goggles) and a Neck Roll (like what hydrofoilers use).

http://www.bartswatersports.com/catalog.asp?P=4427

http://cinchmax.com/_wsn/page3.html

Best wishes!

Now those water goggles i like the idea of them. I bought claudia 2 pairs of goggles last year but she hated them. They would fog up and or get uncomfortable. She wears contacts when we are on the boat and i realy want something to help protect her eyes and contacts.

Those things arnt cheap and last year she lost a few ridding.

DO you have them? Or does anyone? How are they compared to normal goggles for swimming and such.

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Originally Posted by mmandley

Now those water goggles i like the idea of them. I bought claudia 2 pairs of goggles last year but she hated them. They would fog up and or get uncomfortable. She wears contacts when we are on the boat and i realy want something to help protect her eyes and contacts.

Those things arnt cheap and last year she lost a few ridding.

DO you have them? Or does anyone? How are they compared to normal goggles for swimming and such.

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I have one pair. The strap goes under my helmet, so the goggles cannot get lost. However, they have occasionally flipped up during an oblique crash, so contact lense protection is not 100%. I would like it if they had a bit more padding for the cheek bone, which would enable me to slightly tighten the strap and maintain comfort. However, they are very effective at preventing "eye openers" during a face plant, which is their very welcome purpose. You'll be justifiably braver if you are wearing them.

The "Bug Eye" model to which I linked are vented at the sides. This way, they will not transmit the water pressure to your eyes during a crash. They will fog up while you are still in the water, but the vents will allow air movement to immediately clear the fog when you start riding. If I get bothered by any fogging while waiting for the boat to start moving, I just dunk my face in the lake, which is conveniently located at chin level. Fogging simply isn't a significant problem.

Between goggles and the Neck Roll, I'd say that the Neck Roll is the more important item to have.

On the subject of safety - I'm going to buy a helmet for myself and the rest of the family this summer. Didn't use one last year but want to set an example for my kiddo's (plus daddy's not as young as he used to be :)
What do you recommend??

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Originally Posted by viking

On the subject of safety - I'm going to buy a helmet for myself and the rest of the family this summer. Didn't use one last year but want to set an example for my kiddo's (plus daddy's not as young as he used to be :)
What do you recommend??

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Protec and Shred Ready

I tried Protec they run a small helmet and i wear an XL in those.

We tried getting those before the close out sale for 40 each and missed the deal.

We have Liquid Force ones we got a deal on for 40. They run as a larger helmet and i wear a S and Claudia wears XS. They also came with the snap in ear flaps if you so desire.

We went with Black and Red lettering.