My personal biggest photographed air

would love some advice from everyone... i've been working on getting air all year ... finally .. now ... i figured that part out... would like to add some poked out grabs and some 180s ... next year inverts... any advice on how to add in the grabs this year??

i'm a big dude ... played bball in HS but kinda clumsly .. definitely coachable with some solid advice...

looks good. Tell whoever is pulling you to drive straight. They are turning in this picture, and the direction they are turning will flatten that heelside wake (giving you less vertical pop) and also increase line tension on you in the air and when you land.

Grabs. Jump with both hands on the handle until you get up in the air, then reach with your back hand (right hand) wherever is most comfortable, probably indy or tail grab.

Every trick is easier if you have the right approach to and through the wake (progressive edge, trip, ollie, etc.). The more comfortable you are with that part, the easier all tricks will become. Pop will become second nature, giving you more time to grab, spin, land inverts etc. I know when I went back to the basics and ironed out the problems on my approach and launch off the wake, almost every trick that I was consistently missing on became a ton easier to dial in. Just my 0.02$ not to try to rush things and forget about the basics from this point forward.

bend your legs to bring the board up to your hand. don't let your back do all the work. keep the handle close to your hip to maintain your center of gravity.
some grabs took me longer to learn than a backroll so don't get frustrated thinking that "something as easy as a grab shouldn't take me so long."
play around with different grabs and pokes and angles, and have FUN

I also second Eric, but will also add to work on riding switch. being able to ride your board more symmetrically the way it was designed to be ridden, will make you a stronger rider overall. this is something i regret most delaying.

I also say start with backhand grabs! Stalefish was the first one I learned...and it's still my favorite. If you're looking to poke out a grab though, sucking up the back leg to poke out a tail grab is probably the way you wanna go. Stalefish/Tailgrabs are things that, once you do them a few times, you'll always be able to do them but never stop perfecting them. Recently I started leaning back on my Stalefish grabs and trying to hit the rope with my board. Something fun when I'm tired of landing on my face lol.

ALSO something else fun to do with grabs and straight airs. -> cut into the edge with a consistent speed, pop normally, when in the air pull the handle to your hips and let go! Flex/make a superman pose/grab your board/doublegrab your board and then reach for the handle again. I lost a bet and was trying an osmosis trick when I realized how much fun this is. Catching the handle again is like the best feeling hahaha
Post some pictures of your grabs/airs next time you've been out!

i'm surprised no one else has focused on this but the line tension is pretty tight. im guessing theres a few different things going on to cause that but to speculatre exactly what you are doing without a video is useless. You can boot a mile with tension but you'll never have a solid control to progress on.

heres a screen grab to show how LOOSE the line is on a wake to wake indy poke. Having a loose line gives you the control and freedom to grab and poke and spin, too much tension will make a handle pass an impossibility so its important to learn the proper technique now. A long mellow approach with a solid progressive edge with the handle held in a constant position helps release the tension when you boot off the wake.

Boarder 42, see in Simples photo how the driver is putting the boat on a perfectly straight line. You can tell by watching the prop wash, his is straight all the way back, yours is curving.

Yeah, your driver was either turning while you were approaching the wake, or that boat had some weight dispersement issues. Even a slight turn will mess the wake up. And if its washing on one side like yours is on the port side in this pic, then you need more weight on that side, usually in the form of passengers that you can easily tell to move, but if all you had was a driver you'll need some extra ballast on the port side to offset the drivers body weight.

boat was weighted properly... we were turning. So to get that slack in the line i just need to pull in a litlle after i get in the air??

Stand tall at the wake. The boat driver turning isn't helping your case with line tension either...

jeez, simplej above said exactly what to work on, "A long mellow approach with a solid progressive edge with the handle held in a constant position helps release the tension when you boot off the wake".