John, it sounds like you have most everything under control. From this point on it's really just a matter of "mileage". Get some more hours under your belt and you'll be shredding. Something I can recommend that might help. Don't try tossing the rope at this stage. Keep the handle in your hands and just focus on creating slack in the rope. If there is SLACK, you're surfing. The benefit is that if you loose the pocket your ride isn't over, you fall back, the rope goes taught and you pull yourself back in. It's truly just a matter of getting the muscle memory to weight and unweight the nose. It's a constant adjustment, like steering a car, little adjustments left and right, only you're shifting your weight front and back. If you find that you can't create slack in the rope without pearling the board (burying the nose underwater) trying shifting your weight a bit closer to the inside rail (toes closer to the wake). Then again try creating slack...if THOSE adjustments don't work, I would suggest to look for a slightly larger board to get started on. Once you master staying in the pocket, you can pretty much ride any sized board available. Keep us posted on your progress!
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