Ok. heres the deal. I have been riding now for a few years. Up until this year I was only getting to ride one day a week and only rode in the summer <BR>months. I was making good progression, or atleast I felt I was, but now that I am getting the opportunity to ride twice a week and am now able to ride in the winter months(drysuit), I still feel like am not getting any better. Any ideas for me or am I just stuck in a learning curve road block? Also has anyone else ever had this issue, if so a little feedback and advise would be great. <BR> <BR>(Message edited by big x-star on January 24, 2005)

I've felt relatively stuck for the past three years. Although each year in retrospect I am getting better. I just have to look at old footage to realize that I'm going bigger, I'm stylin things out more. This past season I finally felt like I started moving forward again learning a handful of new tricks and starting to hit up sliders. Landing my first wrap three at the end of the season was definatly a boost too. Sometimes the Canadian season makes it hard. After not riding for months it can take half the season just to dial everything in like you wanted and then you have half a season to try and push yourself.

I started to have the problem a while ago, then I seached out some new crew from my regular bro's. People with a different style, and people that where better than me. That really helped. When I ride somebody with a different style or that is better than me it pushed me to try new moves. That and I have really started to visualize wakeboarding tricks, try to feel it through in my head, I bet that 50% of learning new moves is in are heads, if you anticapate crashing your gunna crash. I am starting to babble. Sorry. ~nintzel

i agree with Andy ,that will help a lot...

That happened to me years ago. I decided to succumb to mediocrity.

If you are really wanting to push your riding, set goals for each set out on the water. Don't just go for a board... Go out with specific things/goals that you want to work on for the set. Try somthing new each set. <BR>As well, switch things up a bit. Take a set and only ride switch. Try tricks that you have dialed regular and gor for it switch. Add different grabs to tricks that you have dialed in. <BR>All of these things will help progress your riding this season if you want to push yourself. <BR> <BR>Jeffery, Spend some time in the gym this winter (maybe you do already), but I find that it cuts 3/4 off of the time that it takes to get back into mid season form and start working on some new tricks. <BR>B <BR>

When this happens, it's time to take a week or two off. As much as I love the sport I can get a little burnt out. Go snowboarding, go surfing, go play tiddly winks, hit the gym extra hard for a few weeks, just don't ride. Trust me when you come back you are amped and ready to learn!! I haven't ridden since December &amp; have been going to the gym 4 days a week &amp; running on weekends, I can not wait for my next ride, I'm gonna kill!!

Hmmm.. interesting thoughts Stephen, I never actually thought of it that way, but I dont think I am burnt out yet, since I dont really get to ride all that often, but I do see your point. <BR>Thanks for the advise. <BR>

I tend to agree with Stephen alittle because,Not that you don't wanna go WB but the fire might not be there! <BR> <BR>(Message edited by Big_Ed_X2 on January 24, 2005)

Kevin, progression IS mental. Think about what it takes to progress. It takes sucking up and commiting to a new trick followed by a bad spill. Then subsequent bad spills until you start getting your bearings. The only block to progression is fear of bad spills and fear of injury from bad spills. <BR> <BR>Much of wakeboarding is taking some dingers. I feel my most progressive summers are the ones where dingers are an everyday occurance. The more you take, the less they bother you. Its like that first week of football practice where everytime you hit helmets its hurts, but after a couple of weeks you are a custom to it and it isnt bad. <BR> <BR>When you ride conservative as to avoid pain, the dingers you do take are brutal and reinforce the behavior of avoiding them. <BR> <BR>Go out and use the fundamentals you know and commit to a new trick. By commit, I mean go at it and stay in it trying to land it. Dont let go til you crash. Hucking some flip and throwing the handle isnt going to help you. Stay in it and learn from how it feels. the first time you do a new move, its very disorienting. Next time, not so much and the next even less. Once you got your barings, start working on body position to stick it.

Jason G, <BR> <BR>Couldn't have said it any better: <BR> <BR>"When you ride conservative as to avoid pain, the dingers you do take are brutal and reinforce the behavior of avoiding them." <BR> <BR>I was always charging behind my old boat with a small wake and a shorter line. As soon as I started riding with the big boys/big wakes/long lines I've taken some spills that prevent me from a 100% commit. Result has been a substanial degradation in my riding due to well, fear of injury. The net result is greater injury when you don't commit 100%. I've come to realize either commit 100% or don't even try. <BR> <BR>Kevin, from the last pics on previous threads this may not be your problem (I believe I saw you pull a big Raley off) but it's definitely common.

Good post Jason G. I definitely have had that mentality lately. <BR> <BR>I totally agree on progression being mental.

Hey Tyler, you didnt get to see the sad attempt to stick that raley. SAD!!! I do have to agree with the 100% commit thing. Thanks for the input. <BR> <BR>P.S. TSO check your email dude.

Kevin, <BR> <BR>Having trouble getting PM's on this board. I've got an email into a moderator. Hit me up on my outside address. Thanks, <BR> <BR>Tyler

is that this one?? <BR> <BR>'<a href="mailto:tsowen@san.rr.com">tsowen@san.rr.com</a>'

Yes.

Great posts guys. My biggest problem is inconsistency. I'll go out with goals, then I'll start missing the tricks I have landed 100 times. Next thing I know I'm spending weeks trying to get them back. Sometimes I feel like if I can't stick my usual stuff, I shouldn't be moving on to anything new. I'm stuck right now too.

J-Rod, <BR>Sometimes when you feel like you cant stick your usual stuff it is a great time to try somthing new. Try somthing that you have the fundamentals down for ( don't try somthing too far above your level), but sometimes shaking it up is just what you need. <BR>When I'm frustrated with a trick, sometimes it helps to leave it alone for a day and work on some new things. <BR>As well, when you are really trying a new trick, give it at least 3 - 4 tries /set. Simelar to what Jason said, it takes a few times to get your bearings out there. If you learn somthing new (ie. realized where to position the handle or somthing), do it a few more times to really get the feel of it (and really focus on the particular element you felt the last attempt). If you wait until next set to try again, you will have forgotten what it feels like, and you will be right back where you started. <BR>If you are still frustrated with inconsistancy, break your tricks down into the fundamentals. For a hs/fs540, break it back down to a hs/fs3 and a hs/fs1. Try to figure out why it isn't going your way. Think about the basic foundation of every trick (axis, rotation, edging, handle position). It is more than likely you are forgetting somthing that you should be doing. Often watching yourself on video helps too, or recruit someone to watch and give you some critical feedback (instead of just "wow that was huge" or "ouch, that looked like it hurt!") <BR>If all else fails, just go for some huge air and blame your bad day on work/school/girlfriend/previous night at the bar/boat driver (you get the picture!!!!) <BR>B

i've been stuck for the last 3 years! talk about frustration! <BR> <BR>when i was in norcal, i had a decent list of tricks; raley, batwing, tantrum, hs/fs 3, broll, 180s, grabs. i was also trying/close on a couple tricks; ts/fs 3, roll2revert, hs/bs 180. <BR> <BR>then i moved to seattle. though i rode some during the season, i didn't ride during the winter, so i lost all my tricks! i literally had to learn to ride all over again! how pathetic is that??? <BR> <BR>when i moved to socal, my goal was to get my tricks back. here we are, 1 year later, and i'm not even close! <BR> <BR>for a while, i'd go 2, sometimes 3 weeks w/o riding. i'm riding quite a bit now...2 to 3 times a week. hopefully, that'll get me back to where i was when i was in norcal, and maybe learn a few tricks along the way.

Brad: great advice. Thanks man.

Joe I used to go months without riding. When we rode over Memorial (at Canyon) I hadn't ridden in 3 weeks. How do you like them apples? I stuck my first two HS 5's that day, admittedly it was a better than average day!

not everyone's as bad ass as Hiltschioueoqirupoiniadpoivapnvoie! <BR> <BR>plus, i think i got 15 years on you!

Consistency is what seperates the men from the boys and from what I'm learning it takes time and the correct mental state. J-Rod and I have gone through the same thing: forgetting how to do tricks that you thought you had down. For some reason it takes tons of repetition to get a trick completely down (at least that's how it is for me). Right now the only trick that I say I have down is a HS/FS 3. I can go out and land a tantrum, scarecrow, bs 180 (toe and heel), but sometimes it takes more than one try and I don't know if I could do any of them back to back, over and over. The 3 is my trick. I could go ride and do 20 of them in a row... It's also the trick I've been doing the longest. <BR> <BR>Point being: I know I can do that trick. For me riding is as much of a mental game as it is physical. Get it out of your head that you can't do something. If you question yourself you'll never get it. The best riders I know are guys that can go out and ride and never question whether or not they can do something. They may ask you how to do it, but they never say they cant do it. Go out and ride and have fun. Over time the tricks will come and they will then take a while to perfect. If it was easy to be a good wakeboarder it wouldn't be any fun, because it wouldn't be a challange. <BR> <BR>Just my .02. I think we all need psychologists more than we need coaches.

<i>"not everyone's as bad ass as Hiltschioueoqirupoiniadpoivapnvoie!"</i> <BR> <BR>LOL! <BR> <BR><i>"Consistency is what seperates the men from the boys..."</i> <BR> <BR>Dang... 49 years old and I'm still a boy. Who knew?<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/lol.gif" border=0> <BR> <BR>Actually I do have a few nearly 100% tricks. Roll and Roll2Revert on the cable. Scarecrow off the ramp, and backroll on the boat.

The only trick have down 100% is umm....deep water starts LOL. Dont feel too bad<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/biggrin.gif" border=0>

MAN this is turning out to be a good post!!LOTS OF KNOWLEDGE!!<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" border=0>

Who notices a diffrence in their riding between summer and winter? Since I have started putting on a drysuit my riding has gone to sh*t. Not that I bring any bag of tricks but just the basics that I was consisitent with is no longer working. I feel like i have started all over again.

For everyone on this post, i think the most true statement is you are always progressing, maybe not getting new tricks or going bigger but simply getting more comfortable on the board is progression. I'd like to think i gave kevin the wakeboarding bug, he was into it when i met him, but the he got sick and has to board now. He has def progressed from where he was 9 months ago and looks ten times smoother and is oh SOO close to his first backroll and even looking at raley's and 3's. Nine months ago i would have told him yea right!!! I should be the last person saying this but everyone needs a little confidence in themselves.

this is what you should have said JG <BR> <BR> YOU can give up on the sport and switch to KIteBoarding like JG did <IMG SRC="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":-)" BORDER=0> so when you slump or loose the stoke give up and change sports..its easier that way.. <BR> <BR>JG whens the last time you actually wakeboarded behind a boat??<IMG SRC="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":-)" BORDER=0>

Gary <BR> <BR>This is my second year winter riding and I feel the same way that it is good for maintaining what you know, not really for learning new tricks. Maybe one or two or some variation of what you have but for me it is hard to learn new tricks like I do in the summer. <BR> <BR>It's nice though in march-april when the monkey suit comes off and you are not at all rusty like everyone else. <BR> <BR>Chad

I found a new stoke ride switch. Chad, march and april are you sure it not June<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/uhoh.gif" border=0>

Injurys can set you back too! Not only are you laid up for a period of time, but the recovery and rehab prolongs your riding too. Once you're able to start riding, overcoming anxiety, "cobwebs" in your head, and the possible pain from the injury...oops another injury occurs. Yes, I'm accident prone! My riding has been stagnate for years and my injury's don't help. Poor me.<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/uhoh.gif" border=0>

I kiteboard every time the wind blows here, and I hit the coast quite a bit to ride in steady wind and hit some wave sessions. I can do all the tricks I could do behind a boat on the kite and I can do a few tricks I cant do behind a boat on a kite. I havent owned a boat or a wakeboard in 5 months. I havent been behind a boat in 15 months. I COULD still come off the couch and give you a run for your money.<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/wink.gif" border=0> <BR> <BR>When are you going to take the trip down to Padre and expand your mind? Its alot more intense, and alot less brutal on the body. Your getting old, better make the jump while you still can!

hahah maybe sometime the GF would probrably like the trip more then me but if i can get something out of it as well ,it might be worth it ..maybe in the spring or early summer.....

So Jason what's your advice when I've been getting spanked on certain tricks for years, and every time I get a little bit closer, they stay just as far away?