Teaching Toddlers to Ride
 

Hi Everyone! I have been a long time lurker and decided to finally officially join.

I have a 2 year old that is really interested in wakeboarding. I saw a great youtube video of a 2 year 4 month old riding right off the platform, similar to wakesurfing. It was amazing and got me excited to get my little girl out there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW5nGF49GRE

I found some used Ronix kids bindings for $25 and just ordered a liquid force star off Evo for $100. Still waiting on the board to arrive and the water to warm up, but in the meantime, my daughter had a blast having me tow her around on the lawn.

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If anyone has any advice on how they worked with their toddlers to get them out on the water, I would really appreciate it. I want to make sure she isn't scared and am hoping to get her out by August...

Thanks!

if you have a beach-like area, you can pull her along the beach in shallow water, just by running with the rope. that would probably be the best way to start her off. I'm not a fan of how that kid was so close to the boat in the last video. The child didn't seem to realize that they shouldn't be going toward the center of the wake and avoiding the boat. I would have rather seen some more line out, and have the child inside the wake.

Do you by chance have a cablepark near you who may have a 2tower beginners cable? We taught several 2yr olds to get up then they transfer that over to boat.

Barefoot boom..
But I think 2 is too young.
Just let her ride between your legs for a couple years more then move her to the boom. Once she is ready you can teach her to get up and ride, do butter switches and start deep all in one day. When she is ready.
She will have more fun.

Buy her a skateboard for now. Do you even know what direction of stance she favors?

I can't see in the video well enough how they tied rope from the handle to the toeside edge of the board. Is it wrapped under the binding?

Great idea, but no cable park near us. I have always wanted to try that though, so maybe that would be a good excuse to make the trip.

I am not sure. I might try to email the guy. I think that maybe he drilled a hole on the toe side edge, but its really hard to tell. It also might be running through the binding...

She rides my skateboard, well, stands on it and does the same on an indo board. I think she is a regular stance since she usually kicks balls with her right foot. She seems to be left handed though, so who knows.

That's pretty young and it might be too much for them to handle. The last thing you want to do is put a bad taste in his/her mouth and/or discourage your child. Unless he/she is absolutely begging to do it, I would hold off and just let them get a feel for it by riding between your legs for another year or two. Make sure they want to do it as much as you want them to do it! :)

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My brother and I both started out behind the boat around age 2. Before we went behind the boat my dad would run up and down the beach with us teaching us how the skis and boards would feel in the water. This was long before the wakeboard came around. I would look into starting her on a kneeboard behind the boat. After doing that for awhile she can try to stand on the kneeboard so she has the feel for standing behind the boat with a more forgiving board under her. Our baby is due this august and this is how I plan on getting them used to the water.

This is like what Tom was talking about. Here's me and my boy last summer at Powell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or004C9UIno

Hahaha>>. Do it again Daddy! Do it again!!

They don't seem to sell it anymore, but the obrien Jimmy Jam was a cool thing. It's basically a floaty surfboard (kind of soft) that has a hook on the nose to grab a handle loosely. Kids can sit/kneel/stand and just get used to being pulled around by the boat. My older kid started on it at 3ish.. my younger one uses it now (also 3).

The older one has graduated to a real board/bindings.. but she could barely fit into it before she was about five or six. The stance is just too wide for little kids, and the bindings come up to their knees (smallest bindings available).

My friend's little boy started out the summer before he turned three getting pulled up and down the sandbar in our boards. He got a wakeboard for Christmas then went out in March at just over three and was able to ride significant distances (like 15+ minutes at a time) by the end of April. At the end of last year he would ride back and forth across the wakes and we would have to stop the boat each time to get him to quit (which ticked him off). This spring he started out trying to get a little air jumping inside out and was getting the whole board off the water. A couple of weeks ago he hit a roller and took a dinger. He hasn't been back on the board since though. So just make sure it's fun for them.

Awesome videos!!! I have no kids but 2 nephews that I would love to teach how to wakeboard. They are 4 & 7 years old.. They like to watch me board but are kinda gun shy about actually trying it or riding on the board with me. I started kneeboarding when I was like 4 and have been on the water ever since. My parents were big skiers and I pretty much grew up on a boat. They have not had that kinda time on the water and i think that's where them Being nervous comes from. Any tips on how to convince them to try it??

With my two boys, we tried at 3 or 4 and it was just too much.

You have to ask yourself, does the child really want to, or are you making them want to because you think it would be cool?

My oldest is 8 now and is nearly going wake to wake. He just started really getting into it this year. This is after me trying to get him riding for the last 4 years. I had to buy a new board and bindings, because he outgrew the tiny LF set I bought when he was 4.

Yea I may be pushing them to try bc I know how much they will enjoy it and I wanna teach them really bad....

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totally this.. when they're young, getting a face full of water (and a 'spicy nose') is enough to scare them off for a long time. My daughter is now old enough that if she takes a hard fall, she usually tries to get back up and do ONE more so she ends on a good note.

When my youngest was barely 2 we had him riding by sliding him off the swim deck while I sat down there and held his board for balance. Someone in the boat would hold tension on the rope while he held the handle (I have a video somewhere I'll try to find). He loved it.

Fast forward 8 months to April when we got our new boat. He insisted on riding even though the water was still a little cold. Once he fell, he was done and even though he just turned 4, he still says he's not ready. He finally asked to ride in the tube a couple weeks ago by himself. He says he is ready to do the trainer skis now which he said he needs to do before he wakeboards.

My 5yr old is another story. He will ride until we have to just stop the boat on him. Last week he took a huge roller from another boat, straightened his knees out and got booted pretty high into the air. His board actually came off completely!

He got up smiling and laughing saying, 'Did you see that? I kicked my board off like Shaun Murray!'

He was referring to the part in 'Defy' where Shaun Murray kicks off his board and starts barefooting. It was pretty funny. It couldn't have felt good but he sure was happy!

My

That's some gold right there Dave.

remember exhaust comes out the back of the boat at the water and can cause unconciousness and death...kids have died...just sayin...


maybe the boom is better to teach on and they don't have to suck exhaust.

He still wouldn't ride this weekend. I almost had him talked into it if I rode doubles with him but didn't press much. He wants to ride again but only if there aren't any other boats around. They plan on taking him on a weekday where the river is calm. I figure a set or two in smooth water he'll back in the saddle. His dad asked me what to do to get him back out there. I said just back off and let him do his thing. So to reiterate don't push them too hard too young. Plan on riding my 3yo on the board with me when he turns three in August. Getting him happy jumping off platform and playing on the sandbar so he's used to water in his face when I take him.