getting a beginner up.info needed.

so this summer my youth group is coming to the lake with us so my youth minster is going to give wakeboarding a try, and i need some help on explaning how to get up,cause the way i come up is a little hard to do as a noob,because i come up with the board under me.so any info would be much appreciated.also how do you come up so i can compare techniques.

I've found riding dubs is the best form of instruction. Get next to them in the water and have the boat drag you both a little... talk them through exactly what you are doing and let them feel it. Then have the boat speed up and tell them to stand up when you do.

Never even thought of that Luker.... Will have to try that next time I have a new person riding...

The advice or phrase that has worked on our boat the most is "let the boat do the work," seems like the newbs always try to stand up too quickly. My 2 cents.

Good Idea Luker

Start with a dryland explanation. Get them to sit on the edge of the sundeck facing you and walk them through the following.

Squat in the water with the board perpendicular to the boat, knees high around the chest, hold the handle with your arms extended between the knees. Explain that the boat should be doing the work and that they are to stand up and move their lead leg forward when their butt starts to leave the water in a maintained squat position.

The idea is "it's just like when someone gives you a hand to help stand up from sitting on the floor"

Practice this squat rolling motion to feet on the sundeck and then move them to the water.

If the ropes being ripped from their hands chances are they're fighting the boat with their arms, legs, or back. If their coming out the front right away they're standing up too fast.

Another reference I've head is "squat like a girl taking a pee and let the boat roll you up"

Best of luck!

I agree with what Jeffrey said. Dry land teaching is very helpful. The only thing I do different is I have them pull their knees up to their chest and then put their arms on each side of their knees. Kind of like doing a cannonball. That way, when the boat starts to pull them, they don't get pulled out the front. I have found that with the arms between the legs, they don't ball up as well and fall over the front. Also, if they don't get it and get tired and frustrated, bring them back in and let them try it later. I have seen plenty of people get so irritated with the whole situation that it hinders them. Our crew has never tried doubles, but I have heard that alot from wakeworlders. I think it would help.

easiest way I have taught newbie's is to hold the handle against their knee caps and don't move it until the boat pulls them up and then simply pull the handle to either hip once up. By resting the handle on the knees it does not allow them to play tug of war with the boat...which they will always loose!

It has worked pretty good for me In the past to put them in the water behind the sundeck and have them hold onto the rope with the board up against it. Then you grab the rope and pull them up, like they're being pulled out of the water by the boat. Kinda gives them an idea of what to expect.

A shorter rope helps too.

I think the less you tell them the better. Just tell them to let boat do most of the work and most importantly relax and have fun. Once someone gets frustrated it doesn't matter whether it's standing up for the first time or trying a new trick, it will never work unless they are feeling good about themself and having fun.

3 steps.

1) Arms straight, elbows outside the knees
2) Butt to heels
3) knees to chest

As you are pulling them, tell them to "push" the handle to the back of the boat. (This will make their body roll forward)

Have them positioned behind the boat on the side that is their front foot. (left foot forward, left side of the boat)

Turn off your cruise control, the driver can make or break success by preventing a bad fall (throttle down before they fall, as you see them wobbling)

There is nothing wrong with riding at 12-14 mph, I'm sure you ride much faster, but your newbie wont know the difference.

Start them slow, really slow, dont just drop the throttle and hope they make it.

if you have some instructional video(s) you can show those first

I agree on minimalistic/ simple teaching directions. if you tell them what every joint in their body must be doing they will be focusing too much on the technicalities of it all and wont feel it out... and we all know there aint anything technical about gettin' up. (but then again, there is probably one person for every 500 who would prefer to know every detail of every action)

i also second the idea of getting out in the water with the person riding doubles, nothing teaches better than example right? plus if the rider gets all backwards or gets the board behind them then you can swim over next to them and manually help them out. The first time i thought of and used this method was as a wake instructor at powell. i had this french kid that knew almost no english and riding doubles was the only thing i could think of to bridge the language gap. used it ever since because of how well it worked and how much more fun it was. you can also teach them to edge better by riding with them i think.

one idea i have yet to use that i think might work as a Last Resort- would be to have the rider sit on a tube and then once the boat gets going stand up... maybe it is harder or stupid, but there is another idea (un-proven)

Have you not got a training bar? they are great to get newbies up pretty much first time every time.Got a pal up on ours and he has never ridden a board of any sort

The Detention 2012 video has a great section on getting up. My 70 year old Dad who has never done any boards sports got up on the 4th pull after watching it.

mike and andrew sorry but no bar,jeremy the tube is a good idea,and it does work my friend got up like that last summer,so if you want to use that techinique i would suggest telling the learney lean way back thats how we got my friend.thanks for all the info guys hopefully it will help me get my friends up.so feal free to keep it coming.

best advice i ever heard was

try to point your toes to the bottom of the lake

and

the board will sink before it planes, but only for a second

we do a couple things.

1. have the newbies watch a video on how to get up.

2. practice on land pulling them up and coaching them on proper body position.

3. Have someone who has wakeboarded before go first so they can see what success looks like.

3. Once out on the water practice on the back platform just like you did on land.

4. This may be the most important, but we only let one person give them instruction once they are out behind the boat. Many times you have 3 or 4 people shouting telling them what they are doing wrong and it just confuses them more.

5. After the first pull (assuming they don't get up) the question we like to ask first is "what do you think you did wrong?" most of the time they know exactly what they did wrong and you can just give them a little pointer instead of a huge explanation. I agree with the less information the better, again if there's too much info they will get confused and overwhelmed.

6. Stay positive, always tell them something they did well before giving more instruction. Like "you were in perfect position you just need to wait a little longer before trying to stand up."

7. I also agree with others who have said that once someone gets frustrated it's time to bring them in and have them try later. There seems to be a point where they either continue to progress and get up or they start getting worse.

This seems to work well for us. It may seem like we are wasting time with the video and the land training, but it seems to more than make up for the time that we would otherwise lose trying to get them up without it.

All this is good make sure you pull them up slow. I use the methods in Detention 2012 great video. I have gone back to working on some of the base moves. My riding has really improved. Pull the newbies slow I keep most around 15 if they are big 16ish. Really the best $25 I have paid since getting into boarding. Also if you know anyone with a barefoot boom get them started there!!! Thats the easiest.

(Message edited by tampawake on April 30, 2009)

One thing that I like to do that has not been discussed yet is once you have given a bit of advise in the boat, get them in the water with the board on and the handle in their hand. Then have him get into position right behind the boat with the board against the swim platform. If the person isn't too big you can simulate the pull of the boat by pulling the rope. The swim platform will act as the water pushing against the board. This way you can show him how leaning back will make it impossible to get up and to let the "boat"(you pulling the rope) do all the work. It works every time.