The Raley

Hey guys, so I figured I wanted to try and learn a raley soon. I've never tried one. As far as skill level goes I have backrolls, tantrums, front 180's, cab 180's, front 360's, and a newly added scarecrow. I think I am ready for them (if I am not, let me know). The problem is, I have a few friends that can do them, but two of them have both gotten concussions when first learning them. I am kind of intimidated. I'm not usually a wuss with these kind of things, but I don't really feel like getting knocked out. I also hear that to do a raley, you have to fully commit...absolutely no hesitation allowed. So are there any pointers for being ready for one? I've heard all the trick tips...pretty much just go hard, go big, suck the handle back to your knees, etc.

...This might be a good thread to post some good raley stories too...I'm sure there are some good ones

Travis, try them on a wake skate first, a lot of the wakeboard camps teach them that way.

seriously? I've only wakeskated once and am not sure I could set a good edge, especially for a raley. Although, I was doing shuvits and tried a few kickflips my first day...but that's beside the point.

if that doesnt work try practicing on the trampoline.

Learning the Raley on a wakeskate works. It teaches you how to release your hips and extend your legs without getting worked coming down with a board on your feet. Once you learn pull your legs back under you and land in the water feet first, strap on the board and go for it. You will still get spanked for awhile, just not as bad

If anything goes wrong just dive in. Easier said then done but that's saved me a couple times.

I have also seen raley's taught by detaching your bindings from the board for the first few tries. You get the feel of extending and then pulling your feet down.

+1 one to learning them on the trampoline. The tramp teaches you the correct body position to carry your board up and away. I learned them on the trampoline over a winter and stuck my first raley attempt behind the boat.

I had never ridden a wakeskate until I tried my first raley on one. With the bag of tricks you have it shouldn't be an issue and you're definitely ready for it. I landed a raley before I rode away from any inverts. IMO, the skate actually helps you b/c it's harder to transition to a hard edge right away and on a raley cut you want to have your hardest cut at the wake. With a wakeboard I've seen people get on edge too hard too soon and then have to flatten out at the wake, ugly ending. So still think prorgressive edge when you strap that board on, just really hard progressive edge. It's not a hard trick, but the falls are hard.

Always use a tower or an extented pylon. Ten years ago I tried one without a tower on a friends boat and I got knocked out face down in the water. The boat had to come and roll me over and I had a serious concussion. The worst falls are the ones you almost land and you catch an edge.

One bit of advice is to use a barefoot suit or some other form of padding. I used a high impact jet ski life jacket that had 3 inches of padding on the chest. My last bit of advice is learn it before you are old. I learned it when I was 16 and would just eat 5 falls in a row and keep on going. Now, one raley fall puts me in the boat for a long while.

I went to a camp last year. A kid tried it on a wakeskate first and landed on his feet. I'd say hit it on a skate see if you can control your body then go strap those boots back on!

goodluck.