i know its not technically a trick, but I need help! I need to edge in faster because my boyfriend says that when I edge in I need more speed. But the problem is that I am a little afraid! What do I do to edge faster?

all you have to do is just lean back like your sitting in a chair facing the boat. dont let off your progressive edge. that just makes you go slower. you want your board perpendicular to the wake when you leave it. also keep your handle close to your hips. this gives you much more control. you dont have to be afraid either. you cant get better if your are afraid. keep working at it. you'll get it. <BR> <BR>good luck

what are you trying to accomplish with the edging? are you trying to clear W2W? holding your edge thru the wake is key to jumps. how you leave the wake (off edge or on edge)is how you will land (off edge or on edge). It will be a determining factor on whether or not you break the water with your face. <BR> <BR>being afraid will make or break your <BR>progression. accepting the fact that you will fall will help you focus more on accomplishing your goal (i.e. landing that first W2W). if you are afraid, imagine what would happen if you took that focus off of crashing and applied it to focusing on your riding. instant progression, guaranteed. easier said than done I know, but, dont give up and dont let others pressure you. just let'em know they are No.1 if they give you a hard time.

thanks for the tips... ill try them tomorrow if I go riding. i will clear all my w2w jumps!

Cristina, the best tips I got were at the Wakeboard camp. To develop a great edge, simply go out from the wake before the jump and then wait there for 2-3 seconds for there to be no slack in the line. Get into a good stance before you even cut in (knees slightly bent but firm), then shift your weight over the heel side edge and roll into the wake. You don't need alot of speed, just be sure to not absorb the wake, rather keep the knees firm and the same position you started with. That's it! <BR> <BR>Good Luck.

Cristina, there is a lot more to clearing a w2w than speed. The higher the boat speed, the narrower the wake. The shorter the line, the narrower the wake. It may be that one or both of those can be adjusted to help you clear the second wake. Also what you do when you jump the wake is instrumental. When you leave the wake you should extend your legs and stand tall. This will help you get pop. When you are in the air you can use your arms to pull yourself to the other wake. So stand tall and pull the handle towards your waist. <BR> <BR>Too much speed is counter to performing the trick correctly. Not only does speed throw off your timing but it also causes you to lose tension on the rope. Sure you might clear the wake, but at the expense of height and control. Instead of increasing speed, try increasing edge. Do this by starting your edge very smoothly and easy, then build up more quickly right before the wake. This will give you the tension on the rope that you need to launch the trick without building up too much speed. You should not be using speed as a goal to achieving your w2w.

Try to bring the handle down into your hips right when you begin to sit back for your cut. This helped me lock down the rail and speed up the board for good pop and in-the-air position.

get your butt as close the water as possible. keep the handle as clost to your hips as possible. shoulders back. chest facing up. legs out. try to keep your back foot as deep into the water as possible. and like everyone said, hold your edge all the way throught the wake. just be sure that if you edge really really hard, that you'll be able to get back into an upright position once you're in the air. have fun.

I'm trying w2w also and have a pretty good edge up until I get to the wake, then I flatten out and end up about 1-2 feet inside the wake. Pretty positive the reason is because I tend to look down at the wake at the last minute. So my (hopefully not) stupid question is . . . what am I supposed to be looking at? B/C I think if I don't look down to see where the wake is in reference to my body, how do I know when I'm about to get air and how do I spot my landing? Thanks for any help!

Kylie, think about how getting air works. All that occurs is that you pull alot of tension in the line, and release it causing you to go into the air. the more tension, the more air. Many can do all these tricks without using the wake at all, because it really doesnt have much to do with the wake. <BR> <BR>so, how do you put tension on the line? Well, you use your edge to pull against it. But, if you just edge and yank on it as hard as you can, you break the board loose. So, how can you put tension on the line, AND keep the board on edge moving towards the wake? It has been figured out that if you gradually add the tension to the line, you can still maintain the boards hold. This is called the progressive edge. <BR> <BR>Now, as you progressively edge and add tension, it also makes you accellerate. This is good, but you will eventually get going to fast and be out of control. So, you need to time your progressive edge so that you accelerate towards the wake and keep accelerating, but always get to the wake and pop before you get going too fast and out of control. You can do this by taking your progressive edge slower, and shortening how far you cut out. As you get more confortable with more speed, then you can get out farther. <BR> <BR>So, what does the wake do? the wake helps you release the tensino instantly. See, if you are just on flat water, you have release some of the tension while you use your legs to release the board from the water. The wake is a ripple in the water you can use to release the board without having to release any tension in the line. it also gets you popping in the right direction. <BR> <BR>Ok, so you are flattening off at the wake. this isnt neccesarily bad, as long as you are accelerating and maintaining the laod in the line. feel it with your arms. If you feel the tension leave when you flatten off, then you are letting the load out of the line and you wont pop. no matter what you are doing with the board, the most pull on your arms should be when you go up the wake and pop. Focus on keeping the pull on your arms all the way up the wake and into the air. you will be suprised at how high you will go.

Jason - thanks for the info! I rode yesterday and made a little progress and I'm taking a class on Saturday. So hopefully all that plus your additional information will get me progressing more ... thanks again!