I've read through several threads about all the horror stories of wakeboarding related injuries. Understandably the sport has inherent risks. Having said that...what can be learned from those who have suffered pain? What are the common causes/mistakes/scenarios that led to the injury. Is anyone doing anything differently after the experience?

avoid a wakeskate...

If you're going to try something new, COMMIT to the trick 100%. Not doing so has gotten me injured twice - neither required surgery, but they were still injuries nonetheless. <BR> <BR>

Yeah, there's nothing that you can really do except have bindings that are snug &amp; will not release unless in a big fall. You don't want one foot coming out &amp; the other staying in. People kinda learn how to fall but there is so much force involved that that doesn't really help all the time. I usually just ride out the big wipeouts &amp; hope for the best. Fighting it will get you hurt. Work on flexibility &amp; strength and you will stay together that much longer. I know I haven't tried a HS Front Flip since I broke my ankle doing one, but that is about to be revisited soon.

Workout, stretch, and do it regularly. It's the only way to be proactive about avoiding injury. <BR> <BR>Don't ride beyond your capabilities.

There are other threads about it, but I beleive in helmets. Brain cells don't repair, bone and tendon cells do.

If you want to avoid injury- Play chess or something. <BR>It's inevitable : you will get hurt at this sport. Evrybody I know has had there problems , weather it be minor or like Clubmike- Major. <BR>

"It's inevitable " <BR>Amen. <BR> <BR>I have to disagree with Big heavy however. The tighter your bindings, the harder you will SMACK. <BR> <BR>Also, the only joint injury I ever had was to my ankle when my foot only came half way out, from having that damn option 2 strap cranked down too tight. No matter how tight you have your binding, eventually you're going to dig an edge hard enough to get ripped out. When you do, and your bindings are tight, you're going to tear <font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font> <BR> <BR>Of course half of the people here will disagree with me and that's okay. <BR> <BR>I believe the opposite. I ride with both boots super loose. When my board catches, both feet slip right out. I'm going to knock on wood now and hope I didn't jinx myself. <BR> <BR>I do agree with the strengthening and flexibility thing. Stretching certainly helps prevent injury. <BR>

don't limit your physical activities to wakeboarding only. work out, play other sports, etc. stretch before each run. don't ride drunk. don't fight the falls...tuck and roll, if anything.

I was reading this thread from Joes post backwards and I was thinking about how dangerous I think Wakeskates are and then I seen Clubmykes post and had to laugh. I have a like new Grubb Skate signed by him if anyone is interested. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/lol.gif" border=0> <BR>The potential for injury scares the hell out of me.

oh yeah...don't try any tricks above your current level.

I do my best to stay IN my bindings. I'll take the head smacks. I want no part of the "one in, one out" scenario. So far, the wake to wake wakeskate jump where my back foot slipped off upon landing, has rang me up the hardest. I'm off to the boat show! <BR> <BR>(Message edited by wake upppp on April 08, 2005)

If there is no pain you aint trying. Sack up and go for it.

Four years in this sport, hundreds of hours on boats. Seen tons of injuries, some really ugly. <BR> <BR>Stuff I've gleaned: <BR>1. Land going down the other wake. Yep, you'll need a steep wake; learn to ride it; chuck boats that don't have them; constantly landing in the flats will weaken you making injury more likely; <BR>2. Wear a helmet; <BR>3. Ride only smooth water if at all possible; <BR>4. Play soccer, hike or bike. Keep your legs strong so leg muscles absorb stresses not knee ligaments. <BR>5. Don't ride tired-- especially on bad water. <BR>6. Chuck the handle if you hit a wake and things go at all wrong; toss the handle and your speed slows considerable and you drop; <BR>7. Build upper body strength; if you go up and the handle gets pulled out you increase your chances of major trouble when you land (this and lack of leg muscle strength is why I've seen so many girls get hammered); <BR>8. Don't throw tricks above your paygrade.

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1><b>quote:</b></font><p>6. Chuck the handle if you hit a wake and things go at all wrong; toss the handle and your speed slows considerable and you drop; <!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote> <BR> <BR>i kind of disagree with this. sure, there are times when you just need to chuck the handle. but, more often than not, you will have a <i>controlled</i> fall with the handle in your hand. without the handle, you're flailing about not knowing which way you're going to fall.

wear a helmet for sure! I cut my head open and had to get stitches, no fun!

walt, <BR> <BR>i find it really ironic how many people have been hurt by injurys on a wakeskate after i hurt myself...( didnt parks blew his knee out on a skate ??) <BR> <BR>a recent instructor at the sad diego aquatic center suffered a fractured femur ( that is a really big bone !!!!) <BR> <BR>its too bad, because i really, really, really enjoyed the skate... it has a totally different "feeL" than a board/bindings. <BR> <BR>but "if" i come back to full recovery( i hope i do) i wont be trying a skate again.. its simply not worth it...

There was a thread on WW about a year or two ago about a young guy in SoCal that passed away from a WakeSkate injury. I believe he broke his femur and died from a blood clot. I can see how it could happen so My skate is just sitting there collecting dust

I agree with Joe. Chucking the handle will rarely EVER work to your benefit. Usually, it will help to complete or gain more rotation whether it be a spin or flip, and if used correctly will help get the board back under you before landing. Ditching the handle usually makes matters way worse. That's when your rotation stops.

Clarification: at my level (lame 180s and even lamer grabs) I chuck the handle if I hit the wake and things go bad. I'm 44; I ride because it keeps me in shape and in my teenager's world. <BR> <BR>J-Rod and Joe ride at a much, much higher level so I would definitely defer to them on whether or not to toss the handle when throwing spins or inverts. At the beginner level, though, I still think tossing the handle if you get all cattywampus going for your indy grab is a better idea than keeping the handle, dropping the nose of your board and eating it pretty hard. Just my opinion. <BR> <BR>9. Don't wakeskate. Murray was the one, I think, who almost crippeled himself at 80 feet going W2W on a wakeskate <BR>

Walt, how much for the Grubb skate?

yup, wakeskates are the devil....one exploded my knee...i tore my acl, mcl, and blew my meniscus in half doing the infamous one foot on one foot off landing made famous by none other than shaun murray. (I did it first though, so I am claiming it, haha) <BR> <BR>Only other major injuries were a severely dislocated shoulder on a crow mobe gone wrong, that required some painful surgery and rehab, and a herniated disk in my back, that requires me to walk like my grandfather, at the ripe old age of 20. <BR> <BR>To avoid injury, I rehabed my whole body at rehab, much to the dismay of the PT. I spent about 3 hours a day working out, kinda like preventative maintainance, at each of my 1 hour rehab appts after my re-constructive shoulder surgery. I only hit the gym about once a week for a hour or so now just to make sure that I am maintaining all my muscles and ligaments. It seems to have worked thus far, knock on wood!

It's not the potential for injury that scares me. The potential of how big the bill will be with no health insurance, now that scares me!

I got a concussion last year. <BR>I went w2we on a skate.I had no intension of landing on the skate on the otherside.I was just gonna throw it big,and crash on the otherside,and end my set.Instead,I actually landed on the skate with my feet,then the board came right out from under me.I slipped backwards,back of my head smacked the water.I felt like concrete.OUCH! <BR> <BR>Ride the skate,but don't go beyond your skills. <BR> <BR>Lots of good advice on here so far.

Go ride motocross! Man, Mother Earth is very unforgiving! Whenever I ride my cr500, I come back with a new aggression / appreciation for wakeboarding, and some more scabs to pick at from crashing my bike!

"It's not the potential for injury that scares me. The potential of how big the bill will be with no health insurance, now that scares me!" <BR> <BR>Just as a reference point, when everything was said and done, my broken leg and blown out knee cost my insurance company about 80k. I'm honestly not sure if I'd even right w/o insurance.

Being the detail freak that I am, somebody should start a post asking what trick a person was attempting when they were injured.

I have to agree with so many here... <BR>-Commit 100% to the trick. Bailing out before you finish, can cause a great deal of harm. <BR>-J-Rod said: Dont ride with the bindings too tight. AMEN. I want to come out of both. Also to add to that... Ride binding that fit! I was wearing laceups and they were 2 sizes too big. <BR>-DONT lock your knees on landing... <BR>-Exercise, run, work out and do every other sport you can to strengthen your muscles, both upper and lower body. You could have weak knees, and as long as other muscles are strong enough and can help absorb shock, and protect, you could be better off. <BR>-For the love of all thats right... dont ride with out insurance. You want to have to file medical banruptcy??? <BR> <BR>Clubmyke: You will come back... stronger than ever. Its the mental block that is so hard to get past. Getting up again after surgery was a rush, and just riding is awesome, but I have realized that now its more of a mental block to try any tricks than physical. <BR> <BR>08/04-W2W, cased the wake, blew ACL, MCL and miniscus in half. 11/04 surgery. May the old ligs rest in peace.

I have given up double ups. too much force put on my knees when I hit those.

"Don't ride without insurance". I wish it were that simple.

free health care . gotta love Canada! <BR>anways, I avoid injury by making sure my body is strong enough (knees especially) before i go for any tricks that are too stressful. jogging, going to the gym, and of course riding. <BR>I burst my eardrum on an invert once, and since then i wear a helmet primarily for the ear protection (wake ace helmet). on the other hand, I have not hurt my head since i started wearing it. I see no reason why EVERYONE wouldn't wear one. it's just good judgement. and the way i see it, alot of good riders are wearing them, and the helmets today are pretty stylish in my oppinion, and they're inexpensive.

one more thing. are all these wakeskate injuries happening when the board hits you??