in the front page article about david cornwall he says this: <BR> <BR><blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1><b>quote:</b></font><p>Let's look at that again. No expensive boat, no gasoline, no maintenance, no air or water pollution, no traffic-clogged lake, no set up or cleanup necessary, less risk on your body and you can still become one of the top wakeboarders in the world, all while having a great time with your friends. Nice concept, wouldn't you think? <BR> <BR>Thing is, Europe and the rest of the world have known this for a long time. Here in the U.S., we're just only now beginning to get a clue.<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote> <BR> <BR>to which i would ask a two-part question: <BR> <BR>a) if that's the case, why don't european and asian riders dominate the pro events (at least those that the americans attend)? <BR> <BR>b) are we going to see a wave of new riders in the pro ranks that will have predominantly come up on cable parks rather than boats? <BR>

I think if you want to rise up the pro ranks you're going to need to ride behind a boat. Both TSR and OWC offer pulls behind top of the line wakeboard boats. So it's entirely possible that the new ranks will have riders that embrace both.

Good question. One of the top riders from wakeboarding's "first generation" was Shannon Best, an Aussie who had learned on the cable. He had sick style, appreciation for unique grabs, shifties, and blind spins, and INCREDIBLE edge control (invented the S-bend, effortless air front flips out in the flats, etc.). But true to your observation, he seemed to be an anomaly. <BR> <BR>I knew another guy in Atlanta who had learned on the cable. He also had incredible edge control - could throw raleys, hoochies, krypts (switch and regular), air roll to revert, and ollie 3s in the flats, all of these were as easy as pie to him. But interestingly, he could not do a tantrum (not that he needed it to win at comps). Seems to be something about the cable that leads to this style of riding. <BR> <BR>Who knows what the future will hold? It's interesting to watch evolution in progress. Mountain biking was invented just outside of San Francisco, and for a decade or two the Americans dominated the sport. But more recently, the dominant competitive riders seem to be Europeans to a large extent. I'm not suggesting this will happen with wakeboarding, but I suppose anything is possible given enough time.

sorry for sounding stupid, but what is a cable wakeboarder

just a wakeboarder who rides on a cable lake instead of behind a boat. check out this site for an example of a cable lake: <BR> <BR><a href="http://www.orlandowatersports.com/owccable.php" target="_blank">http://www.orlandowatersports.com/owccable.php</a> <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/185313.jpg" alt="owc">

look there I am doing a KGB off the camo, wait.....nevermind

Please explain how anyone can do a trick such as a raley with no wake to jump. Do you jump a ramp???

you can use a ramp or read the thread that talks about getting air off cables

how does that work, like what all pulls you?

It's all about learning optimal edge control and combining that with tension on the cable, especially as it "slings" you around the corners. This is why the cable riders I have known had better edge control than, well, than I do!

The Europan standard is very high, at my lake on friday night one of the groms landed a double s to blind. He is only 15!! and another guy landed a double hinterberger (like an s-bend but rotating the other way)he's 17 <BR> <BR>I guess that they don't go to the same comps that you guys do.

Ewan, are you talking about about cable riding or riding behind a boat?

i think cable riding, double s-bend to blind is very difficult on a boat. Not sure if anyone has done that yet.

Yeah that's what I was thinking. Campbell Smith (17) landed a double S to blind at the cable wakeboard tour's OWC stop in July.

Lyman or Lidberg, can't remember which "L" name,learned mostly on a cable lake. He's regular footed and was forced to ride mostly switch out at the cable, the way it turns forces this. And that's why they say he can do anything switch and some things better switch than regular. I think I read that in a wakeboard magazine. I'll have to try and look it up again.

Keith Lidberg

Lidberg still does a lot of the cable comps, but look at it this way, a lot of the top pros cross train on the cable, can anyone name a single pro that HASN'T ridden at OWC or any other cable park? I know one of the top wakeskaters, Brandon Thomas, rides cable all the time down at Ski Rixen. I think as more cables pop up the sport of cable riding will grow much more.