people say that wakeboarding is easier than waterskiing,well i got up on water skis first. <BR>Any tips?

yea, let the boat do ALL of tho work. keep the board perpendicular to the boat. stay in a crouched (heels to your butt) keep the rope over the top of your board with both hands on the handle and your arms outside your legs (inside works too, but i prefer outside. jjust sit there and let the boat pull you out of the water, once your board is on plane, you can stand up and pull the handle to your front hip (right if your goofy, left if your regular). after that, it should be easy. it is easier than waterskiing once you have it figured out, but if you don't have it down, it can be hard. <BR>-david

Sit down on a flat surface with you legs bent in front ( no board) of you and have someone hand you a rope. Hold the rope and have that person pull you up. You will know when you can stand without losing your balance. Then transfer that to the water as described above. Same thing, let the boat pull you this time and you will know when to stand up. Once you get up, turn the board by moving the handle to your lead hip and then enjoy.

The relaxing and letting the boat do the work is the best advice ever. I had to figure that out on my own (I kept leaning way back like a slalom ski) and it took me about 75 tries to get up. Pathetic.... But now I can get up every time!

Jennings is right about relaxing and letting the boat pull you up. I usually tell people to pull their knees to their chest and lock your arms around your knees (by locking your arms on your knees it doesn't wear down your upper body so bad, the force is distrubuted more), point your toes up and let the boat pull you up. <BR> <BR>Good Luck

i taught myself also. i learned on a big heavy skurfer (the new style of skurfer). it took me probobly 40 tries to get up becuase i had no idea how. at the time i was about 11 and pretty good at slalom. after that i quit for about 5 years and did something, but about 9 months ago i got back into wakeboarding. i could barely do a wake2wake, now im nearly pulling scarecrows and trying some whirlybirds (all learned on my own). so basically if you don't get it keep trying cuase you will have so much more fun than skiing.

i taught myself also. i learned on a big heavy skurfer (the new style of skurfer). it took me probobly 40 tries to get up becuase i had no idea how. at the time i was about 11 and pretty good at slalom. after that i quit for about 5 years and did something, but about 9 months ago i got back into wakeboarding. i could barely do a wake2wake, now im nearly pulling scarecrows and trying some whirlybirds (all learned on my own). so basically if you don't get it keep trying cuase you will have so much more fun than skiing.

I find that a lot of beginners are getting the rope ripped out of their hands. You need to remember to put pressure on your feet. Almost push with your legs. It also helps to start accelerating the boat a little slower 'til the rider gets up on top of the water, then get up to speed