Hi, <BR> <BR>I'm new to this forum, but was just wanting to share my experience, and see if this is an uncommon injury, or if I'm doing something wrong. <BR> <BR>I'm pretty new to wakeboarding, so haven't got into doing tricks or anything really yet. <BR> <BR>When the skipper was fooling around a bit, the rope got a lot of slack and then he suddenly took off, I fell back at some point and the wakeboard boots slipped off and the board hit me in the face, leaving me concussed for a moment and I later found out it fractured, a bone above, below and behind my right eye. I presume I just fell on a bad angle for the boots to slip off, but are they supposed to be a lot tighter than this? <BR> <BR>Here's a pic. - <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/660169.jpg" alt="Upload">

Personally I don't like my board to ever come off. So my bindings are very tight but there has been a lot of discussion on which is safer. Some people prefer to come out of the bindings on a hard wreck but most like to stay attached to the board. It's kind of personal preference but either way you don't want to have one foot out and one in. This can really tear up knees.

That doesn't look like fun. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/uhoh.gif" border=0> <BR> <BR>I'm glad you're ok.

Your skipper is doing something wrong. He shouldn't be fooling around when somebody is riding. He should be concentrating on driving in a straight course at a constant speed. <BR> <BR>Be safe out there.

DANG! OUCH! <BR> <BR>Tell us, What board and boots are you riding with? what is the size of boots and your foot size too? post some pics of the wake gear if your not sure. I have a suspicion you were using an incorrect size of boots and/or older style boots that might not be very good period.

Yeah, I know the skipper wasn't doing the right thing, and he has appologised for that, let's hope it won't happen again <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" border=0>. <BR> <BR>It was my friends wakeboard, so I'll get back to you on the board details. Thanks for your support/ assistance.

did banging a board off your face make you forget you were wake boarding and not sailing?? skipper, hahah

You should let Gilligan drive the boat if that's how the skipper drives.

You need a ' recreational skippers ticket' to drive a boat here (in Western Australia), so I thought that's what I'd call it. Yeh, it doesn't sound right though, but driver jut doesn't either, on water.

Gnarly eye patch... <BR> <BR>I only trust a couple "skippers" driving my boat. <BR> <BR>Glad to see you're ok.

Instant Raiders fan.

i cant say ive had it that bad but a couple years ago i got a black eye from something like that. i was cutting out heelside and then went into a butterslide and was dragging my but in the water (i really wanted to try a tumble turn but just wanted to play around with it first.) anyways somehow caught my toeside edge and got ejected head first like a raley. I was wearing ultra suctions and when they released the board didnt flip over it just kept going and i just remember looking up after i fell and having the board come flying into my eye. im guessing the wake pushed it into me. i only ended up with a minor black eye though

Okay, we wen't out today, so I took a few photo's as you suggested to make it a little easier to explain. Oh and I have about size US 12 foot. <BR> <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/660505.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/660506.jpg" alt="Upload">

u may want to duck those bindings out equally. it should give u more stability. like this " / \ ", not this " l \".

a good way to decide how much to duck 'em out is to jump off the boat trailer, or a step &amp; look down at ur feet after u land. that should show u ur natural stance width &amp; angle for the bindings.

Those bindings are also mounted too far to the tow side edge. Move them back towards the heel side edge a couple of holes. <BR> <BR>Angle each boot out equally like Chuck says above.

Thanx for the pics that is helpful. <BR> <BR>I have a suspicion that those are a "one size fits all/many boot". I was trying to find the exact bindings to confirm this, but could not find the exact colors. I did find some others that had similar design with three lace loops and such. one of which was called the "system," same as the board you are using. Lower end boards and boots are commonly sold as a package. I am guessing this is how your friend got it. <BR> <BR>Anyway, the bindings are not bad, for entry level riding only that is, but a more specific-to-your-size boot would provide a better fit and control and would be more comfortable too. with a size 12US foot i imagine the boots still fit pretty snug and maybe the same incident would have occurred with more "higher end bindings" anyway, so i wont try to claim it 100% would not have happened. in the future you might want to upgrade the boots, especially if you are serious about progressing, but for now they will be ok. <BR> <BR>Take the suggestions above: duck the boots out more, especially on the right boot. and move the boots closer to the heel-side edge too. think about where your feet actually sit in relation to the board and move the boots so your feet (not necessarily the boot itself) will be centered over it. <BR> <BR>ONE LAST QUESTION: i want to make sure... were you riding with your left foot forward or your right? because the board is specifically set up for left foot forward riding in the pics. riding right foot forward on those angles would prove uncomfortable. i have seen people do it before so that is why i ask, not to have you feel silly or anything.

Thanks for all your suggestions, At the time the board wasn't set up for me (got a few more weeks before I should get on the wakeboard again), and my stance is goofy (right foot forward). I have usually used a stance of | / but will try your suggestions, for more of a duck stance. <BR> <BR>Your right, this was bought as a combo (bindings and board). I have my own wakeboard that was given to me when I bought a second hand boat, an older style wakeboard (probably early Ninties) without proper bindings, just some velcro and elastic kind of thing (but the accident didn't happen on this). When I purchase a new wakeboard - I'll look at getting some good, and well fitting bindings. Thanks. <BR> <BR>I'm sure it would not have happened if the driver was being more responsible, and I'm sure we'll take more care from now on.

bottom line this accident was due to driver and rider inexperience and poor gear. Those are def. cheap bindings and wont hold you in no matter what. If you want to keep boarding have you and your friends go to learnwake.com and learn some basics about riding and driving etc. <BR> <BR>...sorry about your accident...wakeboarding really is fun....but you need to start with the basics and educate yourself ,otherwise your odds of accidents will go up.

you should buy the video waketrix, when i was first learning it helped me progress quickly, ive heard the dvd "the book" is way better, but waketrix is perfect when your just learning to ride. good luck man. like michael said it really is fun

Rough! Here's a pic of the same injury but ummm...not from wakeboarding. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/660758.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR>Did you damage the nerve at all? I'm still gaining feeling around my eye and cheek 8 months later. Good luck bud!

^^^^^I agree. when a person learns to drive a car they have to practice. When it comes to boating... well obviously there's no formal training. Further the weekend warriors experience with boats is often just with tubing... Drive as many crazy circles and see if they can hang on. Unfortunately when you buy boards and other water gear it doesn't come with instructions either. So bad drivers do what they know. <BR>Sorry about your experience. Wakeboarding is awesome. The experience you have depends on the driver and also your equipment. I agree with everyone that says to tweak your setup and fire that driver.

You ride goofy foot with the board set up like that?!?!? Can you even get up on it? Is that not very uncomfortable? I couldn't imagine riding with my front foot square and back foot ducked out like that picture. <BR> <BR>Listen to what the others said and take time to change the setup if you need to change it. That board looks like it's set up for somebody riding regular foot that doesn't know what they are doing. <BR> <BR>Try centering the bindings on the board and ducking the feet out a little. You will be much more comfortable and your riding will be a lot easier. Like someone said in one of the posts, they are too close to the toeside edge. Move them towards the heelside edge a little more.

You are going to have some incredibly absurd falls with a binding setup like that!

Hey Zack, I was saying the board was set up for my friend who rides regular, so I suppose normally I've been having it pretty much reversed, but slightly tweaked but I'm going to try the more natural stance everyone's suggested. <BR> <BR>When I'm looking for a board and bindings, I might ask for some suggestions, but at the moment I'll just look at making these adjustments. Thanks

That setup looks like a good way to wreck your knee.

Man I did the same thing on a double back roll this summer. I landed on my board but I absorbed the landing a little to much and my knee smashed into my face, broke two bones in my eye socket and two in my cheek bone. I started coughing up blood the next day so I went to the doctor. I had a gnarly black eye like that too, haha not fun.

get new boots those are about 5 years behind. Those tiny laces won't hold tight at all. Sorry to hear about your accident. Try getting some Liquid Force (Shane, Shawn or Vantage models) boots from BoardsBestBuy or BoardersMall for only $130 they are the best boots on the market IMHO. <BR> <BR>One of my female friends had the edge near the tail of the board hit her under her eye and she needed six stitches. She was pissed she couldn't ride anymore. Boots stayed on.

There is nothing wrong with those bindings (except they're on backwards, not important) they might not be the prettiest but they'll work. Buy new ones if you want them those LFs Mikey posted are a sweet deal and they are a lot nicer with the new tech. <BR> <BR>If you have decent board control then you might want to duck out your bindings, but if you're really only just starting that kind of set up doesn't hurt. I started out with my left foot straight on and my right slightly angled forward but after a few rides I decided to change that up and now I ride left and right ducked equally, about 10 degrees. Not a lot but that's how I feel comfortable, set them up how you feel comfortable, play around with them and try the board on you'll quickly find out what is right for you. I've never liked my bindings tight, so I wear them loose and usually my feet come out in a fall, others crank them up as hard as they can because that's what they like. <BR> <BR>Back to the original question (ouch by the way, nasty bro) I've never seen that happen, worst I've ever had was a mean slap in the face, or the nads, but I've heard plenty of stories of people breaking noses and so on. <BR> <BR>Sensible driving makes for a more enjoyable day. <BR> <BR>(Message edited by jtnz on February 02, 2009)

i would use this as a good opportunity to upgrade setups... <BR> <BR>yep had a friend jump and either his knee or the board (we're thinking knee) hit him in the face and punched his bottom teeth through his bottom lip and loosened up a couple of teeth and had a nasty fat upper lip... G-narred it up... it happens