WakeWorld Article Ideas
 

I'm looking for ideas for articles and whatnot that you guys want to see on WakeWorld. Let me know if you have any clever ideas for interesting content and maybe we can put it together for you. Let's do some online brainstorming! Thanks!

Always love a good DIY / How-To.

How about something like get to know a pro rider like what they ride, how fast, what they like to do besides wakeboarding. Things we wouldn't normally know about them. I think that would be pretty cool! Just throwing ideas out haha

How about some features on little-known, or best kept secret, places to ride around the U.S. Of course they would no longer be a secret, but just give others in the region another option.

how about some stuff specific to other territories - UK for example?

x2 for DIY... Beginners to boating permalink?

A general lake etiquette might be a good one!

How-to go 5 mph in no wake zones. Otherwise I say "a day in the life" of a rider

Maybe a history lesson every now and then complete with video and pics? Maybe info on old boards, brands, "innovations", advertisements... etc? Might be hard due to riders switching sponsors and all that... just a thought.

I always like "Where are they now" articles/videos. And videos like what Alliance just put out with Kyle Alberts was really cool.

Also, maybe some behind the scenes with some wake manufacturers showing/talking about the R&D process and maybe a factory tour showing how boards are built (overseas and USA)

+1 for behind the scenes.

this one would be cool!

Progression of popular wakeboat models, for example , all the different wakesetter hulls and years with attributes and new features.

How about articles on different lakes / areas. Possibly some member written pieces about their home lakes.

Another could be ballast set-ups/tow vehicle set ups.

A Pro's boat video section. In depth look at his boat, his setup(gear, weight,etc) , the wake, then him riding to end it . Highlight would be the boat though.
Maybe like 1 a month.

a little attention on the northeast might be nice. we get almost no coverage except an article 3 years...

Collegiate wakeboarding. More than just a little run up to nationals. The top 10 riders thing was good, but I'm thinking more along the lines of the teams. How they came to be, their home lake, that kind of stuff.

Always like the history/tradition perspectives on the sport type stories. Gives people perspective and understanding.

Would like to see boats that most of us buy. I don't buy new boats so it would be nice to see what boats pros would choose or ride if they are not sponsored. So 30k and under.

How the pro's weight their specific boats, would be useful for when you go out and ride another brand of boat with people that don't weight it usually

Maybe a board comparison. You could compare boards and say what each board is better at

As editor of Australia's 'Wake magazine' a few years ago we would continually get great response's to both

a) Wake boarding history lessons / trick names history / old school boards history and so forth and so on

b) 'Readers rides' was also a great hit that incorporated the everyday weekend warrior people who make up this amazing lifestyle sport and featured an article about them and their rides....

it seemed to be a good formula at the time :)

+1 for the history lesson.
I would like to see a (where are they now?) article. i would be great to see guys or girls that rode at a top level way back when but have nothing to do with wake anymore.

I really enjoy opinion articles written by athletes. Example Tom Fooshee's "Air it out". They don't always have to be as controversial to be enjoyable but I think that any piece of literature that allows us insight to the pros we watch/see 24/7 is really nice. instead of just asking riders to write essays willy nilly they could simply answer an editor's question like;1. "what is your favorite trick to watch and why? Does a particular rider do this trick in a way that you really enjoy to watch? What makes their way of doing it special? Do you want to change the way you do this trick to be more like theirs? Or do you enjoy the difference in the two?" 2. "if we asked you to pick one photo that embodies wakeboarding what would it be?" 3. "Does ability ever outshine steez? will the competition scene ever gain the respect of people who think wakeboarding should be all about style? Or do the two worlds need to coexist so that there is a place for ability and a separate place for steez? 4. In wake history, if you could isolate one moment that truly changed the direction of wakeboarding what would it be? 5. What is your favorite action sports film not wakeboarding and how does that influence your riding? Pros often times say their inspiration comes from other action sports such as skateboarding/snowboarding, do you participate in those other sports often? Are you proficient? If you could take one thing from that vidoe and apply it to wakeboarding what would it be? 'The search' element of snowboarding in looking for that perfect run? as exemplified in the art of flight and semi explored in red bull's upstream web videos? or the crazy variety of spots in skate movies like Chaz Ortiz's Zoo York Video part? or the ability of a surf movie to really portray the rider's style and attitude towards what they're doing." Of course it may not be easy as these are all ideas for essay style articles-> but putting thoughts out there and defending them when people disagree in the comments section is something I think wakeboarding needs more of.

How about "state of the sport" articles. Take a different industry person each month and have them give their impression of where the sport is now and where it is headed. Grab a pro rider, boat mfg, shop sales guy, boat detailer, online retailer, clothing rep, etc. Try to go out of the box in terms of who reports, not just grabbing pro riders or guys that normally speak out. I would love to hear from the owner of wake island to a salesman from Axis or Skylon to one of the CIE guys,etc.. Of course if you can grab a person that has been around since the beginning or the early days, maybe guy Like Mike Brendel or HO Joe, that would have a small history lesson with their vision of the future. Maybe one of the guys from Fox or Red Bull who stay behind the scenes, but are heavily involved with the athletes and wake events. That would also include surfing, wakeskate, and cable. I am not in the know as far as those other things so it would be great to learn more about them from someone that is involved.

Just a thought...

How about a wakeboard specific work out guide written by Rusty Malinoski himself? With the recent web videos out of him it seems like he'd be the expert. I know ww already has a workout article (and I follow it ^_^) but another one with a "Written by Rusty Malinoski" couldn't hurt.

I am always a fan of history lessons. Heck, just have esnow write an article for you!
Where are they now? For example, just found out shelby kantar is a physical therapist where i am getting my pt stuff done. Thought that was cool.

Also, i love the profiles on non industry folks. Musicians, football players, etc. always enjoy reading about those guys/gals and their wakeboarding experiences.