Okay, I finally got back on the water last week and have gone twice and it feels great to be back on the water, but does anyone have any tips on the following... <BR> <BR>How can I clear the wake? <BR>I'm almost there on heel side, but landing on the 2nd wake and it's not a good thing (crash afterwards) <BR> <BR>Should I be trying TS 180 and HS 180 even though I'm not clearing the wake on either side? <BR> <BR>How do I do a TS 180 properly? Should I try small ones first? Is their some sort of drill I can ease myself into it? <BR> <BR>What's the best way to learn surface tricks? (I mean last year I did them and now this year I'm scaried?) <BR> <BR>What are so other things I can do that just look cool? <BR> <BR>Thanks ladies!!! <BR> <BR>P.S. I got my lesson with Billy Garica next weekend and I'm hoping I learn alot!

Audrey, <BR> <BR>Slow the boat down to like 18 mph to work on surface tricks. You might want to remove center fins if you have them also. <BR> <BR>The TS180 should be your easiest trick to learn one wake. Take a short approach &amp; all you need is a tiny bit of pop. You literally just let go with your front hand and you will "unwind" naturally to land switch. On HS180, I found them less intimidating to learn from inside the wake to out. Cut to far R (if left foot forward) &amp; take your cut to go outside the wake. Stand tall as you hit the lip going outside &amp; pull the handle with both hands to your rear hip. To work on HS W2W, ride your normal speed but bring the rope in as short as possible. You can lengthen as they get easy for you. <BR> <BR>You will learn a lot and have a BLAST riding with Billy G! Tell him I said Hello! <BR> <BR>Oh, and don't forget the most important thing...HAVE FUN!!

The fins are removed, but I will definetly try less pop while still learning TS180. I'm going out tomorrow afterwork and will attempt before I head out w/Billy. <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":-)" BORDER=0> Thanks Kat

You can clear the wake with almost no pop. I know its probably not the best method but edging harder to cross the wake and get the feel of landing W2W makes it easier. Then add pop.

Also try the HS 180 one wake. Same as what Kat said but try to put the handle (with your back hand)in your back pocket (of your back leg.) Haha thats kinda confusing but hope it made sense.

So with a TS 180, you don't let go of the handle with 1 hand at all at any point?

You need to let go with your front hand to unwind.

you can let go with your front hand, but you don't need to. whatever works for you. letting go with one hand may be easier in the beginning, but once you're trying them wake to wake you'll probably be better off using both hands.

Thanks!!!! <BR> <BR>Also any tips on trying ollie's inside to outside wake?

if you haven't got a reasonable ollie already, i'd probably start off on the flat water. cut out nice and far on your heels, then flatten off. pump your front foot (ie push down a few times to get the board bucking a little), then pull up front foot then pull up back foot - that's your ollie! <BR>so, in slow motion, an ollie is meant to be: press front foot down, pull front foot up, thenback foot up. (all this happens quite fast though!) <BR>i'm not sure that will make any sense to you, but i hope it helps a little...

Alice, that's makes sense!! I'll try it!

Alice, I think that Everything in wakeboarding happens extremely fast! Giving an idea of what the moves are in slo-mo is actually very helpful! It made perfect sense! Thanks!

Glad I could help! (i was thinking you'd all think i was crazy...) <BR> <BR>Make sure you both let us know how you go! <IMG SRC="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":-)" BORDER=0>

I didn't do an ollie yet (this season but plan too soon! lol) But I got more questions. <BR> <BR>I'm working on going back to basics and technique.... <BR> <BR>1. how can I get that handle to my hip on TS and HS. I'm now having trouble "lifting" the handle as I jump. <BR> <BR>2. On TS cut, I tend to stick out my butt, how can I prevent this? <BR> <BR>3. How fast does the boat need to be while doing surface tricks? <BR> <BR>4. How do you ollie inside to outside the wake? <BR> <BR>5. How can I add variety to my riding? I mean I don't know much stuff, but is their any cool style stuff?

<a href="http://test.waketrix.com/" target="_blank">http://test.waketrix.com/</a> <BR> <BR>this has helped me progress faster and i showed my gf these and she is progressing really fast now.

hey audrey, I'm not sure what you mean by 'lifting' the handle when you jump?! sounds very strange to me. if anything you should be pushing the handle down as you take off, so that the rope stays nice and tight when you're in the air. <BR>2. on your ts, to get a good cut, you need to twist your front hip around so it's pointing out away from the boat, in the direction you want to cut. this makes sure the board is at a 45 degree angle to the boat, and gets the best possible edge through the water. now, when people first start trying to do this, they will often keep their front leg too straight, which means the weight can't transfer to that ts edge. to try and get some kind of weight over on that edge, people will break at their hips and try to lean their whole upper body over the front of the board! this is what makes you bum stick out. <BR>so, 1st, twist that front hip around to get your edge, then make your both your knees are still equally bent, and transfer your weight to your toes. then, pull that handle right in and tuck it just behind that front hip. if you're in the right position, you'll know what i'm talking about. <BR>3. when you're learning surface tricks, get the boat to go as slow as it can without you sinking - around 16mph probably. once you can nail them without faceplanting, gradually try them at faster sppeds. eventually you'll be able to do them at normal riding speeds. cable parks are great for trying surface tricks, if you get a chance to go to one. <BR>4. sort out your flat water ollie (as in the posts above) before you try to ollie inside to out. an iside to out jump will depend on the shape of your wake really anyway. for some wakes if will just be the same technique as a wake jump - you won't actually need to ollie. <BR>5.i don't really know?! just try to get your basics down, and ride switch a lot. the style will come once you're comfortable doing what you're doing!

Alice, do you have any more slow-mo movements that we can picture in our minds, or act out with our feet? I actually did appreciate that!

so did you give the ollie a try Rachel? did it work?! <BR>the ollie is really easy to break down like that, cos it comes from skateboarding and is broken down the same way (not that i can skateboard!) <BR>if you have anything particular you'd like tips for, i can always try...