before xmas i was cutting, popping, grabbing and spinning pefectly. since the 3 months off, i've completely lost my cut and so can't do any of that. <BR>have a look at this, let me know what you think <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3184/150016.jpg" alt="">

You're sitting too low and not loading the line. Thats mostly b/c you are flattening out. Recommend you visit the basics for a little bit before you do tricks. The pic looks like you are going to do a 360 or something. Dont do that until you have your cut back

just look at the difference of the way the board sits in pics 2 and 3. Flattening out like jim said.

yeah i used to have the cut perfectly like i said, it was then that i used to the trix. But as i said, i've got no idea why my cut has gone and was looking for some tips on how to get it back cause its starting to bug me that i was doing it so well and now its gone. <BR> <BR>I posted this just cause i thought someone might be able to suggest something to think about as i cut in (other than the obvious, start from the beginning) <BR> <BR>

how do i stop the flattening out <BR>

Please help him for my sake as well as his!! I'm his roomate as well as going riding with him. He wasn't stopped moaning about this for ages - its starting to depress me as well! For a note despite the whole flattening out and sitting low thing he still manages pretty decent air alot of the time - doesnt make alot of sense I know but he does it somehow?

Harry <BR>just keeping edging all the way through the wake, you can practice like this <BR> <BR>Cut out into the flats on your heelside edge and feel how your board works this way, then use that same method for your wake to wake. Just keeping going all the way through the way on your edge <BR>how this helps

he gets air because he's standing up well at the wake, but he's not loading up much, and certainly isn't leaving the wake in a control position - that body position doesn't look right for anything. <BR> <BR>harry, when you cut in, think of leaning <i>back</i> against the rope and away from the boat, in the direction of those buoys behind you - not <i>down</i> into a seated position. <BR> <BR>see how in pic 3 you've actually moved your body forward and the board is flattening out? look how bent your arms are just to keep the line taut. you want to keep more than a 90 angle in your arms. the more you sit down the harder that will be to do. <BR> <BR>you can't load the line with your arms - you load it by leaning your <i>body</i> away from the boat. <BR> <BR>good luck. let us know how you do. post some more pics! <BR> <BR>(Message edited by deepstructure on April 17, 2004)

would it help if i tried to keep the handle alot lower? almost push it down to my hips?? <BR> <BR>Also, should i concentrate on getting alot of pressure on my heels? <BR> <BR>OR is there one thing that would sort all the problems out?

haha harry - ask kristian, there's no magic bullet. <IMG SRC="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":-)" BORDER=0> <BR> <BR>i don't think bringing the handle up is your problem. for the most part you keep it down and it only seems to rise up because you're sitting down so low. i would say your top priority would be to figure out how to lean back against the rope instead of sitting down. <BR> <BR>if you want to tie it to the rope (pun intended), think of moving your hips UP to the rope, not moving the rope down to your hips. see if that helps. that should help keep your body straighter and leaning back.

In picture 3 it looks like you are taking a crap -- thats not necessary. <BR> <BR>Kyle at TWC encourages "short approach pop" exercises. Approach slow, add edge, assert into the wake --> pop city.

just thought i'd show u guys another of the crapping pop technique, like rich says, the height i'm getting isn't bad, but looks dumb!! <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3184/150036.jpg" alt="">

carve around a lot. Get all feeling back.

Here's a thought for you.....think about showing the bottom of the board to the riders in the boat as you're edging into and through the wake. Ie, look at pic two and three. Pic two you can see it, pic three you can't. SO as a result, in pic four is that there is what actually looks like slack in the line. Hope that helps.

Harry: Quit edging so hard so early! Start out slower and build up. Look at pic two (in first sequence) you should be like that when you hit the wake, not that far out. From that point you have no-where to go, so you flaten out. Really start out slower, alot slower! and build up.

Harry, as Kristian just said you are initiating your edge way too agressively way too soon. When you cut out to set up for your jump just get out there and wait for the boat to start to pull you back towards the wake. What you are doing is getting out there and immediately ripping a huge turn and by the time you hit the wake there is no load left on the line. You should never look like the second picture above, ever! Think of a pendulum, it starts it's downward swing very gradually and reaches it peak at it's hardest edge. Wakeboarding is very similar, you don't want to edge your hardest at the wake but you need to hit it on edge after making a good progressive edge. Also do try and bring the handle in/down a little bit &amp; don't let it out in the air. hope that helps.

just been out again, tried the suggestion from chris stack <BR>'harry, when you cut in, think of leaning back against the rope and away from the boat, in the direction of those buoys behind you - not down into a seated position' <BR> <BR>and it worked, consistent every time, a couple of nice hs 180's and backroll attempts (bigger than usual). and getting some of the sweet old grabs back, <BR> <BR>cheers guys, i'll try post some pics of the improvement. <BR>

One of the tips I got from Josh Smith is to practice your cut away from the wake so you don't have to hit the wake. <BR> <BR>In other words to practice your cut and get the feel for loading the line again do the following: <BR>1. Start near the wake. <BR>2. Keep your back straight, line low (near mid-gut) <BR>3. Cut away from the wake and away from the boat and really feel the line load up. <BR> <BR>You can do this w/o having to concentrate on hitting the wake at the end of the cut since you're goint out twards the flats and you can concentrate more on the cut itself and regain your muscle memory.

John, as i've been boarding for just over a year, i've been cutting fine, but had that problem for a couple of months, it was pretty weird. <BR> <BR>I got my proper cut back yesterday, and can now tell everyone what the problem was. firstly i was going far to far outside the wake, and when i cut back in i started fairly hard and didn't hold my edge. In the end rather than taking my lean against the rope, i sat down into it, which made me loose all the tension. <BR> <BR>After loads of suggestions and thoughts from myself and other experienced boarders, my girlfriend said, why don't you just lean away from the rope rather than sitting down. <BR> <BR>i took her suggestion, and i'm back.........

The biggest problem area I see in the shot is your handle positioning. At first you're pulling toward your chest, then pushing it below your waist, next it's behind you, and then out in front of you. <BR>I suggest that you fix this problem first, the work on your cut. <BR>You want to ideally always have the pull of the rope directed at or below your hips. During your cut in you'll want to pull to be directed to the center of your hips. Once you've released from the wake and are in the air. Shift the pull from the center of your body, towards your right hip to initiate the rotation. You don't have to let go with your back if you don't want to. By keeping the rope stable, it should help correct your body positioning in the air. <BR>The other quick tip I have for you is to sit back (like when you used to balance on the back two legs of your chair in school) instead of squatting down.{as mentioned above} <BR>Give this a try, and get another sequence for us to continue to help you out. <BR>Mike Schwenne <BR><a href="http://www.westcoastcamps.com" target="_blank">www.westcoastcamps.com</a>

Mike that all sounds really good stuff, i'll give it a go, is it still good to sit back quite a bit then? i think my friends in the boat have got the wrong idea because now they're giving me the thumbs down when ever my butt gets to the same level as my knees even though i can really feel the pull of the boat coming through my back, and down to the board...