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-   -   Anyone care to give me some pointers? Newbie here with video. (http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=798864)

phathom 06-30-2013 2:27 PM

Anyone care to give me some pointers? Newbie here with video.
 
Hi, I'm new here and new to wakesurfing. I'll give you a little background first.
I'm a 28 and a bigger guy, about 5'11-6'0" and about 230-240lbs.
I have wakeboarded casually for the last 14 years, normally about a dozen times out a year, within the last 6 years, only been out once or twice a season. This season I have been getting out a lot more and it's just the beginning.
This year I was introduced to wake surfing when my friend bought a 92 Supra Sunsport. We go out at least once a week, if not more and go wakeboarding and wakesurfing.
We are surfing on a Broadcast 4'9 and a Fish 5'6.
We have the stock under seat ballast full as well as a fat sack on the rear floor, port side floor, and one in the bow. I believe we're about 1200lbs of ballast total.

Anyways we both new to the sport, he's been doing it a little longer, but I would like to get some pointers and advice from people who have been doing it more and can offer some sage wisdom in my direction.

Here is the youtube video of me yesterday. I was riding the Fish 5'6 and we had one person in the stern port seat other than the driver.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Mrj512O6u3A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Chaos 06-30-2013 2:55 PM

Right off the bat you look to be traveling a bit too fast and you are too rear footed for the board. You need to get more comfortable with shifting more weight over your front foot.
There is quite a bit more, but this is a start.
Nick

phathom 06-30-2013 3:02 PM

Thanks for the reply. What speed is typically best for wakesurfing? Currently we have the perfect pass set to 10.5mph

Midnightv10 06-30-2013 3:13 PM

try not holding the rope with 2 hands, the rope should only be to get you up and then something to hang on too as you figure out your balance.. hold the rope with you left hand only and use your right hand to help balance yourself.. I would say your feet look positioned ok but you are definitely putting too much weight on your back foot.. try easing yourself into the pocket and then practice SLIGHT shifts in your weight forward and backward to get a feel for how your weight changes the speed of the board.. just do this for a while in a straight line. don't worry about making big slashes or riding up on top of the wave until you get a feel for the push of the wave...

10.5 is a good start for speed.. sounds like you have plenty of sacks for trying in different spots.. I think I would try not using any bow ballast. your wave may be a little shorter but it will be taller and stronger..

cwb4me 06-30-2013 4:35 PM

Also try putting your right hand on the top of the wave this will help you get more weight on your toes.[That keeps you in the wave] Keep your hips and legs in line with the board[This will help you make smaller shifts to the front to speed up or the rear to slow down]. Remember slow small increments will give you a better feel for the push.Just try riding with slack in the rope several minutes before you throw the rope in too. Good Luck!

nailem 06-30-2013 7:24 PM

I think it is wake 9 web site has a 101 that is good .superman you might feel stupid at first but it is how I teach newbies.

Chaos 06-30-2013 7:59 PM

10.5 and around that is generally good, but it looks fast on the video and your wave is messy and does not seem to have much push. You will need to play with the ballast more and square up more over the board, less leaning back.

zap 06-30-2013 9:09 PM

Nail and Rusty are 100% correct you have to have your weight on your toes, in your video you are heel heavy putting all the pressure on the outside rail (bad), in your case you are using the rope as a crutch and your upper body is leaning back and away from the wave (wake boarder afraid to sink the toe edge). I can say with certainty that if you let go of the rope you would fall over backwards.

To fix this:

Get your body in an athletic position, an athletic position is one where your knees are bent and when you look down your knees are over your toe. Imagine your a boxer, sprinter, volleyball player, batter, basketball player... This is the start position. When you only hang on to the rope with one hand, it helps promote this position.

Get on the wave! You are trying to surf the flats in front of the wave. There is only two ways to generate speed with a surfboard (well there is three but rocker shape is complicated) one is by going up and down the wave like a ramp ( save that for later) the second is using the force of the wave to propel you forward. With a Wakesurf wave the water wants to go up, and gravity wants you to go down, the board acts like an airplanes wing and you squirt forward. So to take advantage of this you inside rail has to be IN the face of the wave, the best way to do this is ride on the bottom third of the face, with of course your weight on your toes. ( I hope that made sence)

To learn the balance point, get closer to the platform and practice on the hard water right behind the swim platform and then slowly work your way back as you get more comfortable.

As a bigger guy also try moving your front foot towards the inside rail to promote sinking it in the wave. I am 195 lbs and when I ride some of our smaller boards this is so exaggerated that the big toe on my rear foot is in the water, and my big toe on my front foot is on the inside rail.

Point the nose of the board towards the wave, again this promotes keeping the rail in the wave, quite often your nose is pointed away from the wave which causes you to slow down.

Finally enjoy! Keep at it, it will come

R

trayson 07-01-2013 1:44 PM

Good insight guys.

Just so ya'all know it's my boat and I had it weighted as follows:

probably around 200 under the rear seat.
another 350ish on the floor between the rear seat and the doghouse.
probably 600+ on the port side of the doghouse.
Around 100 or so in the cooler that's at the stern side of the playpen bow.
And probably over 3/4 of a tank of fuel.

We're definitely trying to sort out the ballast situation and what's optimal, as well as figuring out speed.

pprior 07-01-2013 6:14 PM

more weight on front foot big time is needed. You are "braking" almost the entire ride.

trayson 07-03-2013 8:18 AM

Thanks for all the insight for Desi that everyone gave. I used the pointers too, especially the description of how gravity is working with the upforce of the wave. I put my mind more in snowboarding mode and imagined a steep toeside ride on a powder day. that helped me a lot.

I was able to get 30 to 60 second freerides the very next session out. Desi is getting closer. He had a brief freeride--just needs a little more time on the water.

phathom 07-03-2013 9:02 AM

Yes, thank you. Here's a video of my improvements. I'll let Trayson post his up if he wants.

I found thinking of it more like skateboarding instead of wakeboarding helped me. When I used to skateboard I would always have my weight centered on the trucks with my front foot. Meanwhile I would push off with my back frequently, so I never really put much weight on it and kinda let it hang off the toeside edge.
You can see from my foot position is to the point where my front foot is about halfway forward off the grips centered and my back, I have my toes almost in the water.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/jAqQROzdZZY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/xp6Vg9ZBu_M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

and the longest freeride I have so far

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/z9CLxzHk2mI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

petrie141 07-03-2013 9:41 AM

Get more comfortable. All of the tips help, but until you finally have an "ah ha!" moment, there's nothing you can do to instantly stay with the wake ropeless. If you're still open to suggestions, here's how I got comfortable. I would hang on to the rope and carve around like crazy. At first I wasn't comfortable on the board, but after splashing around and moving from side to side, and pumping enough with the rope, it seemed very natural once I finally dropped it. The better I got at pumping, the easier recovering became. Just my .02

trayson 07-03-2013 9:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by petrie141 (Post 1831568)
Get more comfortable. All of the tips help, but until you finally have an "ah ha!" moment, there's nothing you can do to instantly stay with the wake ropeless. If you're still open to suggestions, here's how I got comfortable. I would hang on to the rope and carve around like crazy. At first I wasn't comfortable on the board, but after splashing around and moving from side to side, and pumping enough with the rope, it seemed very natural once I finally dropped it. The better I got at pumping, the easier recovering became. Just my .02

Yeah, Petrie has a point. one of the things I did last night was to ramp up my confidence level. There's something to basically just telling yourself you got this. Of course 20 years of snowboarding also helps IMO.

tuneman 07-03-2013 11:11 AM

Lookin' good! Try to always be moving toward the boat and not stay in one spot. When you think you're getting too close to the transom, shift just a little weight back to slow down. But at the very second you start going back, transfer all your weight on the front again (You'll still be close to the boat when you make this transfer).

simook 07-03-2013 11:23 AM

Looking good bro!

phathom 07-03-2013 11:30 AM

Thanks guys. Definitely wanting to get as much water time as possible. Taking all the advice to heart.
As a side note, watching videos and reading forums, apparently larger guys have more trouble than smaller guys. Because of that, I have actually changed up my diet quite a bit, mainly dropping the beer and other carbs. I hope to drop some pounds to reduce the weight being pushed and get me in better shape.
After all these years now I actually have something that motivates me enough to REALLY want to get in better shape.

petrie141 07-03-2013 1:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phathom (Post 1831599)
Thanks guys. Definitely wanting to get as much water time as possible. Taking all the advice to heart.
As a side note, watching videos and reading forums, apparently larger guys have more trouble than smaller guys. Because of that, I have actually changed up my diet quite a bit, mainly dropping the beer and other carbs. I hope to drop some pounds to reduce the weight being pushed and get me in better shape.
After all these years now I actually have something that motivates me enough to REALLY want to get in better shape.

Not even kidding, I started eating better last month because I thought it would help me ride and feel better as well. I didn't have too much to lose, but I'll I've done is start portion controlling my intake. (according to my pharmacist wife I was just a hair out the the "normal" range). :banghead:

Good luck! Maybe put a swimcap on that beard. The drag from the wind can slow you down (jk)


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