Newb: Some things I learned this weekend
 

What up guys. I went out wakeboarding about three weeks ago with a buddy of mine and knew the first time I got up that I was hooked. Needless to say, the following week I had an 09 LF S4 LTD and some 09 LF Soven Bindings sitting in my living room :D. Well I got to take my board out for the first time this past weekend, and I just thought I would share some of the things I learned.

1. I prefer a "goofy" stance. I don't know how common this is, but I am right handed and naturally would rather ride with my right foot forward. Not a big deal I don't guess as riding switch isn't really too difficult.

2. The water hurts more than I originally thought it would. I got up first try and rode a little ways and then figured what the hell, let's go for it. I tried a w2w right off the bat and came up about 2 feet short and crashed hard haha. Shook it off and kept rollin though.

3. As with any sport, just because the pros make it look easy doesn't mean that it is.

4. It is by far the most addicting thing I've ever done in my life. All week long, the only thing I have thought about is when I can get back on my board. Headin out tomorrow!

Just wanted to share my experience with everyone. Me and my buddies had an awesome time and are for sure hooked after last weekend. None of us are very good yet, as a matter of fact none of us three can even w2w consistently at this point. We're getting there though and are having just as much fun as anyone on the lake. I bought my wakeboard just so that I would have something to do on the weekends when we're at the lake, sort of as a hobby to pass time. I can already tell though that it's turning into something much more addictive than that.

That is great man. This site is the next thing you'll be adicted to. You can find an answer to almost anything you can think of with the search section. Have a fun summer

Sweet dude, welcome to the lifestyle!!!!! One if not the most important things about wakeboarding is knowing your boat etiquette when youre out there on the water. It will make your experience better and all the people who know what they are doing out there will not hate you!! I think there is an article somewhere on here about boat etiquette. Lesson number 1: NO POWER TURNING!!! Class dismissed, now go shred!

Check out this video. If you already know what power turning is then disregard!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzvOsvrhR4M

Welcome! The "goofy" stance isnt a big deal at all, over half the guys I ride with are goofy, its just a preference. That second lesson you learned will get hammered home in the future. Took a couple solid slams myself tonight, you are going to have fun when you start learning 180s. I hope you keep riding as much as you can, and keep having as much fun as you can. Progression happens when you are having a blast. Good luck!

Thanks for all the replies guys. Yea we're good on the boat etiquette aspect I believe. My dad is usually our driver and he doesn't do anything stupid. Last weekend there was just one house boat in the middle of our bay and it was a huge bay so we pretty much just kept to a large oval path around the outside. We weren't disturbing anyone. We've been boating for about 7 years now, but have had a pontoon boat. This year we upgraded to a Sea Ray 230 Bowrider. I wasn't sure how wakeboarding behind it would be but turns out it's pretty good. The boat has plenty of acceleration to get you up and out of the water, and it puts out a pretty good wake with the trim tabs down... As for the water hurting, yea I was pretty surprised honestly. I figured your right on top of the water and only going a little over 20 mph, how bad can it be? Well, the first time I went down I figured our pretty quick just how bad it can be. After catching a lip on my landing, the board ended up somewhere over my head and I swallowed about half a gallon of water. Gotta love it!

oh boy, sea ray 230? we have a 220 select, and you can get a great wake out of it!
after youve got the basics down, then you can start throwing in fat sacs, and although it will take you a while to get up with the added weight, the wake is worth it. ive never met someone that rode behind our boat that wasnt impressed by the wake considering what it is, considering your boat is pretty simmilar to ours, im sure the outcome will be simmilar!

this is with 1600 lbs of water, plus 5 people in the boat,
sea rays throw great wakes for I/O's

i know many people that it had taken them quite a while to catch the bug, i caught it first time up, sounds similar to you, im glad you caught it early! tear it up and have a great time!

welcome to the world of wakeboarding man haha, theres no way out now.

Congrats on catching what should be the most addicting thing you have ever done if you have a competitive drive. One thing you can do for yourself if you plan on riding for awhile is maybe take a lesson or two from a real pro to get your basic body position and edging down. It will seem silly to you at first but trust me it pays dividends BIG TIME later on when you are progressing to more difficult tricks. Develop bad habits and you have to relearn stuff or change gradually over time if you want to push yourself later for inverts and spins.

Congrats of finding the passion of wakeboarding! One suggestion....lose the "oval" path in the bay and find a long line to drive, turn around and go right back where you came from. Driving an oval path will have you fighting your own rollers to get good water.

Yea good point Kat. We ran into that a couple times but like I said, this was a huge bay and was really long so by the time we got turned around our rollers were pretty well gone. The straight line path still would work better though... Thanks for all the support guys. Yea David, the wake behind our boat is sweet! We haven't added any ballast to it yet but with four people in it last week it was putting out a pretty good wake. The only problem was there was a little white wash on the lip but my understanding is that you can clean that up by trimming your motor up a bit, correct?... Once again, thanks for all the support guys. I've raced motocross my entire life and travelled all over the country doing it and I have always told people that I didn't think there was another sport out there where everybody was willing to help everybody or be that suppportive to a complete stranger. So far wakeboarding may give it a run for it's money though.

I come from a motocross background.... for years and years even after i stopped riding, I never thought i'd have as much desire for a sport. got into a few other sports casually, but I hear where your coming from. I NEVER thought i would be addicted to another sport like I was with racing bikes.

For the white wash, move weight to that side of the boat. My sign to the passengers while I'm riding is to point to my a$$ and then in the direction I want them to move theirs! ;-D Trimming up should make the wake bigger, but it won't cure the white wash. Have fun!!

i have to disagree kat, one of the reasons we trim, is it makes the wake bigger, as well as steeper, but no doubt, it cleans it right up. if you look at the pics i posted, those are trimmed, and that wake is very clean for an I/O. with the trim at 0, its got a bunch of white wash on both sides. Also, if when you trim it, it still has some white wash, moving water (or people in your case) into the bow, helps clean it up to. 65 feet, at 22.7 mph seems to be our sweet spot. but every boat is different, just experiment with the trim, and rope lengths, and of course, have fun!

Could be wrong for sure....I admit, its' been many years since I owned an I/O!

way to rub in the fact you don't get pulled by one! :p:D haha

David - that's not what I was trying to do. I apologize for it coming across that way. I would ride behind a tin boat with trolling motor if it would pull me.

Great thread man, and my only .02 has been said, "you will be addicted to this site next". This is an amazing resource. I am new as well, (one year boarding) and found this place this year and wow, the people here (except for LON) are awesome people and you can ask anything and get an answer. So ride on and try not to "knock yourself stupid"

oh no kat, i didnt mean for it to sound like you where trying to say something. i was basically just joking around saying im jealous you have a super air! sarcasm doesnt work to well online. haha. sorry for the misunderstanding. my dad is actually looking to get a super air 230 team edition next year!

Once again thanks for everything guys. I'm gonna have to try the trim and weight distribution ideas to clean up the wake some. Other than that I am very pleased with the performance of our boat. I was initially concerned that we wouldn't be able to wakeboard behind it because we had trouble getting it to plane at speeds under 25 mph, but once we figured the trim tabs out (first boat we've had with trim tabs) we can now plane at around 16 mph. My goal by the end of the summer is to be able to go w2w, which I think shouldn't be a problem. I started getting close towards the end of the day last time we went out but the hard landing accompanied with my lack of skill at the moment usually resulted in a crash haha. I'd get up, dust myself off, and go for it again. Shouldn't be too much longer before I get the w2w down I don't think. Once again, thanks for everything.