I suck at wakeboarding

There, I said it. I admit that I'm horrible and have not progressed at all this season. But I have fun and I love it. I'm having a huge problem dropping the handle and can't shake it. Last year I was sticking some grabs, this year I can't even land a W2W jump with the handle. It's getting really frustrating and I'm about to put my head through the wall. I've got my edge dialed and I'm getting good pop off the wake. I land perfectly almost every time, just without the handle. I know most of you will say sweep the sand out of your vag, but it has nothing to do with being scared. I just have a huge mental block and cant break it. Anyone else ever run into this and what did you do to get past it?

I did also find out yesterday that I have a post labral tear in my right shoulder that's going to require surgery. It's a 4 to 6 month recovery time. I doesn't bother me wakeboarding though, it's an old injury from when I raced motocross.

(Message edited by pickle311 on August 26, 2008)

Start trying two handed grabs if you aren't going to hold onto the handle anyway. Anyway it would be fair to say that I feel you and have been there myself.

Do progressive jumps. Start by not edging at all just let the boat pull you in and do a one wake jump. Keep adding a foot or so to that until you are wake to wake. Also, ride up the wake TOWARDS (not yelling just emphasizing) the boat not perpendicular like a slalom cut. Being a skier of old that is a mistake that puts me in a rut at least one or two sessions a summer.

My brother had your problem... He rode half this year droping the handle and was getting really frustrated. He got passed it though...he just kept trying. Not sure what it is that he was doing wrong but im sure youll get over it. Everybody has there hang ups.

Have a driver you trust and use duct tape....seriously. It's not safe, but works.

My wife had been doing the same thing all year and the best thing I told her to try was bend your arms and put your elbows at your hips and keep them there until you land on the other side. She did it perfect the first time and is getting more and more comfortable with here wake to wake jumps. Hope that helps. Good Luck!

I second the cut towards the boat comment
I sometimes have a problem with my W to W 180's 'cause I land at to much of an angle

handle pops almost every time

do something else. ride switch or work on surface stuff a few sets. take your mind off of it.

ahhh... don't listen to Sam about the duct tape... SERIOUSLY.... bad idea.

UJ

To clarify "jumping toward the boat" for you a little more. The easiest way to describe this is take your progresive edge in and as you stand tall while riding up the wake keep the handle in close and as you and being your hips up to the handle as your straightening your knees. Dont let your chest come down

duct taping your hand to the handle is a good way to get badly hurt.

If you do duct tape your hands I think a video of the resulting carnage is a must.

go into the flats and practice advancing yourself on the rope and creating slack...do this about twenty times in the flats, and then take the technique and apply it to your wake jump. this will help you build line control, and if you are doing it right, you should land with some slack in the rope. this is also a great exercise when learning spins, especially BS spins. try to land on the trough of the wake with a cpl. feet of slack in the rope. i have found that this has helped a lot of my students with the "popping the handle problem". don't forget, of course, to maintain that progressive edge through the wake, then give the rope a little tug and advance yourself over the wake. you would be surprised at how little of a cut it takes to clear even the biggest wakes, once you have this technique down. hope it works for you!

Duct tape yourself to a handle? Honestly, Sam, just a friendly word of advice here but you may want to consider the liability of offering such advice.

it happened to me when i was learning tantrums...i got so used to landed on my face that i learned to just drop the rope assuming i was gonna break the fall again with my face. Then i started landing on my board without the handle. The trick is to just only concentrate on keeping it in your hands. If you know how to do everything else....it should happen without you thinking about it.