Teaching my son to wakeboard *video*
 

My family went to Lake Powell last week and I thought of an easy way to teach little kids to wakeboard. It worked great for my son and my nephew. Because they are so little, they can plane out at very low speeds, so I figured I could just pull them along the shore. They sat on the ground in about 6 inches of water and I pulled on the rope a few times so they could feel the tension. I then told them to put their heels to their butt and I would pull them up. It worked like a charm, and I got a nice little workout too! :) Later that day we took it to the boat, and they both got up on their second try! Here's a short video of me and my 7 year old son, Ethan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or004C9UIno

And a nice workout for Dad too.

Similar to what I just did this weekend. I didn't have a shallow beach to run along like that, so I had to substitute a skateboard pulled across the lawn to simulate getting pulled with your hips parallel to the boat (all the kids I've tried to get up in the past have problems letting their hips turn and want to keep facing the boat straight on like a skier). To simulate getting pulled up, I pulled the kids in close where the wakeboard hits the swim platform, then I pull the rope to lift them like the boat was pulling and use the platform almost like a fulcrum for them to pivot around and eventually stand up. That way I'm right there to coach them, keep them in a seated position, etc. Somewhere I also remember seeing a video of somebody pulling their youngster through the pool in the yard... Same idea as the dad pulling down the beach here.

Somebody with more motivation than me should put together some video or pictorial instructionals on training youngsters.

There's nothing like the father-son high five! I still remember mine from when I was younger!

riding buddy of mine did that for a couple of months with his 3 yo, seemed to really help, wore us out though running up and down the sandbar