Landing Big - Going Small

Hey All,
I'm 6'3", 225 #'s. I board behind either a stock SAN or a SAN with about 1800 #'s in additional ballast. Can anyone tell me how to land? Lately I can't land anything. Everytime I go W2W I end up going way BIG and just crumble when I land about 5-10' out in the flats. My knees buckle and butt goes straight to the board and then I flop over. I have tried to go small and lately every jump is huge. I have several boards to ride, including an '03 Byerly, a Motive, a platy Absolute, and a big honkin' Era 147. I can't land anything but the Era. NE1 have any suggestions? On the Era I can do W2W 180's and what not...but can't land on anything else.

Stick with what board is comfy...obviously it is the ERA. I am a tall rider as well and learning to absorb the impact is what it takes. Shorten the rope up so the wake is smaller and thus you will not get launched as high. This should help you some.

Have you thought about a Malibu or a nice Tige. Maybe a MC. J/K

Ya, I think TAPS will solve all my problems.

Shouldn't you be talking to some guy about a Jay Ohh Bee??

Bocephus, Have you tried lengthing your rope? At my normal length (75ft)I would launch into the flats like you behind the SANTE, but behind my boat(X-10) the lenght is fine. I normally add 5ft when I ride behind a SANTE.

I also start my cut into the wake much sooner behind a SANTE so I don't geneate as much speed. I'm talking 15-25ft behind the SANTE. Behind my boat I would normally be out 35-40ft. You will still get the pop off the wake but the reduction in speed should keep you out of the flats.

Hope this helps,
KG

This afternoon interview beotch.

I think KG is right, BTW. IMO you need to find the rope length and speed that sets your "normal" jump down on the wake. That'll be hard to do on Big R's boat w/o PP, but yours should be no problem. Later

That's the funny part, now matter how slow I go or how soon I cut in I still get the same big pop. If I don't generate enough speed I end up going straight up and case the wake. The only way I used to be able to land was by going as fast I could and keeping the line as taught as I could and then land on edge with full line tension.

If I ride 77.5' or 80' I still land in the flats. At 85' the wake is pretty small but I can still clear as long as I go like mad.

Keep the rope long (less than 85 though unless it's heavily weighted), shorten your cuts, and load the line. I mostly ride wake to wake behind a SAN and that's how I minimize impact to my body. Unfortunately the SAN is just brutal on the landings unless you hit that downramp perfectly.

Blabel's got it.

When I ride behind my boat, I shorten my cut to about half of what I would behind other brands. It's helped my landings big time.

You need to learn to use the board instead of speed to clear the wake. Simple drill, cut out to the edge of the boat spray, approx 8-10' from the wake. Take a slow progressive cut into the wake and concentrate on popping smooth, not an explosive pop, if that makes sense...

Landing requires a little finesse and confidence. You can line everything up perfectly, but if you don't anticipate the landing and stomp down with confidence, you won't get it.

Hard to explain...but don't just wait for the water to contact your board, meet it half way and stomp the board down. Don't forget to bend your knees. Get low to keep balance, absorb the impact to maintain control.