I can jump...but how do I land?

I'm a beginner and can do little heelside jumps. And I know exactly what I need to do in order to jump bigger, but I'm a little scared -- lame, I know.

All the articles I see on the internet tell you how to jump, but none of them really say what to do next -- what should I be doing in the air? And what should I know about landing? Maybe if I learn a little, I'll stop being chicken and just go for it.

let me define some terms for you so you can better understand what you should be doing.

PROGRESSIVE EDGING: taking a progressive edge is when you build more speed the closer you get to the wake. think of it as turning up the volume knob on your radio, just keeps getting louder and louder. How do you do this?

STANDING TALL: Have you ever done squats with weights? this is basically the second half of doing a squat, standing back up. Standing tall at the wake is one of the key elements in getting more "air, pop, fly time," or whatever you want to call it.

EDGING POSITION: This is a very common mistake many people make, even people who have been riding for years. do you ever notice yourself edging away from the wake then abruptly changing your edge back toward the wake and getting that slack in the rope? DON'T DO THAT! There are basically 3 edging positions; tall, seated, and in between those two, we will just call it "middle." whenever you are about to take your edge back in toward the wake you need to decide which position you will be doing that coincides with the trick you will be doing before you start edging toward it. for beginners your best approach is the middle edging position.

HANDLE POSITION: Keeping the handle close to your body gives you more control than letting the boat pull your arms out of socket and throw you off axis. Ride with both hands palms facing the water, remember this isnt a slalom ski.

Here are some steps that you should use as a guideline to make your technique better.

1) Edge away from the wake as you would normally.

2) Once you reach your desired distance from the wake let the boat start to pull you back toward the wake with your arms slightly bent, but at the same time get into your edging position and STAY IN YOUR EDGING POSITION! (changing the position only creates a bad habbit).

3) You will ride up the wake, and on your way up to the top, just stand tall (straighten out your legs).

4) Right as you pop off the wake, pull the handle in closer to your body with both hands.

5) Its time to put down your landing gear. absorb your landing with your knees. by this, i mean; your knees should simulate shock absorbers (like on a car). Do NOT land with your legs still straight like they were when you popped off the wake! this is how many knee injuries happen, bad news bears.

6) as you are absorbing the landing with your knees you want to keep edging away from the 2nd wake (keep going in the direction you were flying).

something good to practice would be edgeing real hard toward and away from the wake on your hs of the wake and your ts, then do it switch. this will give you a feel for edging and how your board reacts on the water.
6 steps to getting better technique. The only other thing i can reccomend is riding with people that are better than you. Soak all the info up like a sponge and learn the mechanics of wakeboarding.

Keep it cool in the motor pool!

Thank you so much for all the info! That was awesome. I'll give it a try as soon as possible and let you know how I do!

nice job cody. landings are really pretty easy, just keep the rope in at your hip (like cody said). and absorb the landing while edging a little. And I would say keep the rope in all the way up the wake so that when you pop, its already there. If you pull it as you pop, you may faceplant. you'll get it....

Cody, very well said. Nacho, I agree, but sometimes pulling the rope in a little at the top of the wake can take off some line tension.