timing and body position help
 

I am up for any advice any intermediate/advance riders can give. I am able to admit I have not progressed as fast as I should and that I have basically had no major level of instruction. No issues with getting up, switching, getting (a little) air...but my timing and body position are never consistent. It is a struggle to consistently land w2k from heel side, once that's mastered I want to do the same toeside, then move to those same jumps in switch. In some pics you will see my hand position is too high, in some it is closer to my waist (where it should be) but then my knees are bent too much, then in most my head position is off...I'm ready to start a faster progression. I've got the Detention dvd, but don't know if that is truly helping...

Your knees/legs need to be straight or nearly straight at take off. Yours are bent in all the pics and you are probably absorbing all the wake when you hit it killing lift or pop. Make sure you are edging all the way through the wake. Some tips. Take a smaller approach to wake and try to clear it. That will force you to stay on edge longer. Keep handle in and push down on it and stand tall as you are going up the wake. It is a timing thing that can take a while to master. Good Luck.

good advice

keep that handle lower

also there is slack in the rope in mid-air which means you could be coming off your edge and hitting the wake flat, be sure to hold your edge

I too am interested in this same thing. And you guys always give the same advice and its good stuff. I know you understand what your saying and doing. Where I am confused is you say edge all the way but dont bend you knees but as far as I can tell you have to have your knees bent to have a good edge. can you post a good pic at top of wake so I can see a good edge at the top with legs/knees straight. I think this will help some of us trying to get a grasp on this proggesive egde thing thanx alot!
I did get some of the same advice in the tricks/tips section and put some of them to use this weekend an it helped alot. keeping the line tight was a big help for me. I landed 95% 0f W2W up from less than 50%. Had way more height. Started landing to far out in the flats so I lenghtend the rope and still went W2W with ease and even got in and landed my first grab. Tried some 180 at the end of the day but could not quite ride them out. But overall I was stoaked on my improvement. All of wich I owe to tips from this site.

kevin and jeremy have either of you ever jumped on a trampoline or jumped on a diving board? you get the reaction with a stiff straight body.it takes alot of different muscles to do this,so you only do it through the wake and not before. you can edge with body standing tall only its tilted to your toeside or heelside. depending on which side your on. stand on the floor next to the wall.stand straight thghten your quads[thigh muscles],tighten youglutes[butt cheeks] and push your chest up to the ceiling. thats the pop position less the lean. the lean is the forward angle needed to move you forward[toeside] while standing on your toes.like if you did that and leanedtowards the wall and started to fall into the wall.the same for heelside face you back to the wall and stand on your heels with toes pointed up lean back till your back fall to the wall.there your body is perfectly straight and you've leaned in toeside or back heelside BUT you have'nt BENT YOUR KNEES. thats how you POP! GOOD LUCK

Thanks again robert. Your tips from the other thread really helped me alot. I made a major improvement in just the first time out with these tips I know I am going to get even better with more handle time.

I guess mine is more timing on being more in the (standing tall) position when at the peak of the wake with the rope nearer my waist. I appreciate the comments/advice. Nice to finally know of a resource to move this progression along quicker...so ready to step up to some tricks.

Yep

Here is a pic edging through the wake. This is far from a perfect approach, I could be standing taller/firmer, but may give you an idea of a few things; board is on edge, line is tight, eyes on where I'm headed, and handle is low. Sticking your tongue out is optional. :D

Knee's are still bent, I want to see someone hit straight up..... I've tried,

You do not want to ride up the wake completely stiff legged, but it is the act of standing tall and pushing off the wake as your are riding up it. A solid straight HS jump, the rider will attain a near straight leg position just as they leaving the wake where their knees are becoming less and less bent as they are riding further up the wake. Kind of like the trampoline or diveboard jump - you are not bringing your knees up as you first make contact with the surface but are in the process of pushing down with your feet / stiffening your legs when you first make contact with the board to drive your body up and the legs become extended as your feet are leaving the surface. All this happens in incredibly small fractions of a second and it can take a long time to work out.

Ok so do you think I flatend out to much prior to take off? This is one of the better pics I have of a jump in sequence

you look like you have a lot of speed built up that is pulling you off edge some. the wake has a long ramp to it if you can get more weight in the very back of the boat it will make the wake steeper.then you won't have to edge in so hard.KEVIN what boat rope length and speed ?do you have any people or weight in the boat?

2003 tige 22v 60ft 21mph. No weight 3 people=400#. I have factory ballast but when I go with the wife and friends that dont wakeboard they kneeboard and kids=tubes. I dont fill ballast. Makes it easier for wife to drive and the kids get overwelmed by the wake. I went out this weekend and filled it. it does make a big diiference obviously..so I guess the wife is going to have to suck it up and learn to drive with the ballast. It makes it tuff because when I go out with the family we go to a small private lake and you have to make very sharp turns and she is still getting the hang of finessing the perfectpass through the sharp turns and driving in a straight line..she is getting better though.