New to forum - hello! Also hoping for some advice.

Hi. I just started wakeboarding last summer. I bought a 94 sanger dxII and put a monster tower on it. My buddy and I are both clearing the wake heelside and toeside with a 180 ( I cant land toeside). Also been riding switch quite a bit, but no big jumps yet. I was wondering what the kind of normal progression of tricks is? Id like to start trying flips, but are there other tricks I should learn first?

Also, Im already thinking of upgrading the boat to something with an open bow, perfect pass, ballast, and preferrably a Vdrive. Are there any boats in particular you would recommend? I would like to stay around the 20K mark. Ive been talking to a guy with a well set up 99 wakesetter for around 22K. Is this a good boat? Price?

Thanks for any advice.

ps. This sport is REALLY addicting!

This is just my opinion, but I think You should get Really solid on your fundamentals before going upsidedown. There are a lot of tricks that you can work on such as half cab, two wake 180, toe side 2 wake. Also work a bunch on switch riding. A good way to identify progression of tricks is to go to the INT website and look at the different divisions starting with entro, then novice, then intermediate etc. It sounds like right now you are between entro and novice so concentrate on mastering those tricks first. Also to spice up your heelside and to keep from getting bored just add some simple grabs. Good luck and have fun... By the way...Welcome!

I can not agree more with what Mike said. Fundamentals are key to wakeboarding long term success. I always tell noobs to learn to ride switch right away, when I teach lesson I make people take whole sets riding switch.

Buy this Dvd!!
http://www.thebookdvd.com/

Mike nailed it. My son started with the INT as a novice rider (in 2006 there was no entro division). When he started, he could barely get one wake air. By the end of the season, he had the 6 highest point tricks dialed. Now when he rides with people who have been riding 2 or 3 times longer, he has much better fundamentals and larger trick list (heel side and toe side) than they do. By the end of his 2nd year, he had landed 2 wake 180s (HS & TS), half cabs, basic inverts and a 360. He has riden with guys that can do a basic invert, but can't do 2 wake 180s or any TS tricks. Take baby steps and you'll be thankful after riding for a few years.

word....fundamentals! everything that was said above plus get out there and ride with more experienced riders. You'll learn a lot by watching others....

Just wanted to say
WELCOME!
also, i second a lot of what has been said. Whatever you do and however you do it. #1................................................ .................................................. ......................................HAVE FUN!

Dean, Learn all the basics first. Once you get all those basics dialed you will have some amazing days! Days where you learn 3-4 tricks in a couple of sets. Those basics are what keep you safe as well. I recently "outed" myself through the december alliance post of the year. What essentially happened was that I skipped the basics and got in way over my head. I had a false perception of my skill set (since I had all these inverts in the bag) and ended up getting injured commonly when trying to progress beyond those basic inverts. Everything comes down to basics. If you have a switch healside bs180 dialed, your ts 3 and 7 will come SOOOOO much easier. Same thing with Pete Rose's, Crow Mobes, etc. Hopefully you get the point. My common response now is 1 step back = 3 steps forward.

Thanks guys for all the great feedback. Ive been looking around here quite a bit, and I have to say WOW. What an awesome forum. Tonnes of great info, and no bashing from what I could see! What a refreshing change. Im on a couple of mountain snowmobiling forums, and it seems like half of the threads end up ruined by people bashing or making ignorant comments.

The advice so far is perfect. That was exactly what I was wondering......whether I should keep working on fundamentals, or just start going for stuff. I think I might pick up some instructional DVDs as well.

Thanks again.

Watch out for that Joe Umali guy!