tips to free riding

[gus 08 mobius lsv]

ok went out on the boat today and it was the first time i tried to wakesurf. got up everytime with no issues so thats a huge plus but i couldn't get slack in the rope to try to free ride. i had the 750 bag in the back filled and the 300 in the ski locker filled along with a 250 lb and 150 lb guys sittin on the front left side and then tried rear left side and didn't seem to matter much. i'm thinking it might be something i'm doing wrong any help guys. by the way i'm using a cwb ride surfer. still had fun going on top of the wake and coming back down but wanna try to let go of the rope now.

[jeffrogge]

Riding the surfboard is much different that any other ski or board because you really have to lean forward. Most of your weight is on your front foot, more or less depending on if you need to speed up or slow down. Keep practicing you will get it. We also set the perfectpass at 9.8mph.

[kaneboats]

If you are a skier or wakeboarder your tendency is to have your weight back, way back. You have to lean forward 60% or more almost all the time (for me it's more like 70%). When you need to brake you have to lean back for only part of a second or "touch" the brakes just to break the momentum a bit. You also have to get a lot closer to the boat than you are comfortable with at first. You should feel like you are "catching the boat" when you brake. But, remember, brake just a tiny bit. Once you can free ride you should still hold on to the rope loosely for a while until you get real comfortable and can move back and forth in the wake. Good luck!

[gus 08 mobius lsv]

yes i'm a wakeboarder who is trying something new and played around with my foot stance and all that good stuff when i leaned forward too much my front end nose dived and the boat sank. i must say at 10 mph they are pretty soft landings lol! i couldn't get slack in the rope at all so i never attempted to let go of the rope cause i know what would happen. i didn't expect to get be a master at it the first time i'm just glad i got up with no issues it just getting the feel to the board and that size wake is very different being that close to the tail end my boat makes me a bit nerveous as well!
i never seen anyone at my wakesurf nor do i know anyone that does to pick their brain or invite them out to see first hand.

i guess i need to keep playing with the wakeplate and weight distribution with the people in the boat as well cause its new to me and not sure what a good wake surf wake looks like but thanks for the help guys

[kaneboats]

Look at the pics from the prop testing weekend. Good wake pics there.

[mmandley]

Hey Gus i just started surfing last summer two and spent the entire summer holding the rope. It was a bit frustrating but still a ton of fun.

I tend to like to lean back a lot two due to wake boarding.

Sunday i went with Al Cab to learn what i was doing wrong and see his wave. The wave looked a lot like mine as we ran the same weight.

What he told me was get used to standing on the front half of the board if your on a big board. 5.6 or so. Also keep the tip of the board pointed at the back of the boat. When your not paying attention you tend to let the tip point away from the boat and this pushes you out of the pocket.

Also what i really learned was the Liquid Force Board i have is all wrong for me. I rode his CWB Ride 5.4 board and i almost had free rope after only a couple minutes. Ride board was very responsive and i didn't have to lean to hard forward to make it speed up.

As for falling yea, surfing falls hurt fare less, and you can take more pulls, i generally have my hand or my legs finally give out on me lol. Now get up on the very top of that wave and fall backwards off it, that doesn't hurt but it can knock the wind out of you. < not as fun >

[kaneboats]

i never seen anyone at my wakesurf nor do i know anyone that does to pick their brain or invite them out to see first hand.

That does make it harder. Try checking out some of the info and video on this site. Good luck!

http://wake9.com/

[brain_rinse]

...when i leaned forward too much my front end nose dived and the boat sank...

WOW! Seriously though, I have the same problem.

[wbarksda]

all good advise so far but I would try moving closer to the back of the boat while you get the hang of it, like right behind the swim platform. Also, don't let go or attempt to throw the rope in until you can ride with slack in the rope for multiple minutes at a time. It freaking drives me nuts when my buddies stand there for 2 seconds with slack and throw the rope in. Another thing is standing on the board, front back, front back, you can't just stand there until you get really comfotable or have a monster wave.

[sandm]

lots of good advice. wbarksda sums up tho, ride for a while with slack before tossing rope.. practice a ways back with the rope tight, put weight on the front foot until the board starts to go fwd and you get slack, then weight back foot to get rope tight again. do this a ton until you have the feel of "working the wake". then focus on holding the slack for minutes at a time, and make sure you are in the face of the wake like ed is above...


on a side note, ed, you're standing the wrong way on the board