Wakesurfing is great fun and really quite easy to master. I find that many people that come from a wakeboarding or skiing background place too much weight on their rear foot. This is like applying the brake when wakesurfing.
If you are having trouble dropping the rope and think that you need more ballast, please review this post first:
http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/87668/237507.html?1120658447 As a quick guide. Try these things:
Compare your position in the "wave" to the riders above. If you are TOO far back, you can't catch the wave. Pull yourself forward towards the boat, into the pocket or power zone.
If you feel you are positioned in the pocket, next check your speed. This photo was taken with a Perfect Pass speed setting of 9 mph. Fully weighted we set PP at 9.5 mph. It's HARD to surf faster than this, requiring pumping the board OR significant ballast. If your speed is faster than 9.5 or so, try slowing the boat down. If you slow down too much your wake will turn to wash. While it's possible to surf in the wash, it's hard also. Go just fast enough to clean up the wake.
If the two previous conditions are met, next try moving your position on the board forward. That is, move BOTH FEET forward towards the nose of the board. Keep "inching" forward until you feel the board shoot forward - you're surfing at that point. IF you bury the nose (pearling) while doing this, you need to lose some weight
or alternatively, get a board with more bounancy. Once your skill level increases, you'll be able to ride that trick style board without a problem.
In my experience, the most common problem is positioning on the board or a too small board for a beginning rider. The second most common problem is a too fast boat speed.
Please folks, forgive my subject line on this thread, I just wanted to grab attention. Let's get these folks up and riding!