Unexperienced Dad Needs Help Teaching Son

I have a 14 year old (as well as an 11 and 8 year old) that started wakeboarding late last year. We bought a monster Tower for our boat a few months ago and have been out about once a week since we got it.

The 14 year old is doing great with wakeboarding (IMO). He was able to clear the wake the second time out after we got the Monster Tower. And today, he clear it Toe Side for the first time.

He can do some surface tricks - ollie, 180 switch, grind the wake, power slides on top of the wake, etc (I probably have most of these names wrong!!).

My problem is I am new to boating (and brand new to wakeboarding). I don't know anything about it. I have been visiting this site all summer and watching videos on U-tube - that's about it.

I don't know anyone else that does this and we live in Iowa, which isn't exactly the wakeboarding capital! Trying to find someone at the lake to help out hasn't worked out. Our schedule is tight and we usually go out last minute.

I want to encourage the kids to do well but not pressure them. I want to keep this fun for them so it is something they want to do.

What are some of the next steps my son should try? I want him to progress safely but they are high energy kids and they will get bored if they don't have something to challenge them.

Thanks!!

the book, learnwake.com are just a couple instructional tools you could all learn from including yourself. i say let your kids set there own pace of progression, if they are having fun what else matters!

also start filming them, that is a great way to see what your doing, that has help me alot.

Also, have you any information on "powerturning" and the proper way to pick up a downed rider?

Where at in Iowa by the way?

I have heard about The Book but haven't dropped the money down for it yet. We have a bunch of pictures, getting a few videos is a good idea.

What do you mean by "Powerturning"? - that is a new one to me.

I have just been picking them up like you would a downed skier?? Circle around with them on the driver side and and "S" curve the rope back to them.

I am in the Des Moines area.

How to NOT powerturn with a downed rider:

"If someone falls, cut the throttle and out of gear and let the boat settle still going straight then spin the wheel ingear at idle and idle back without making more rollers(turning under power is what sends unwanted wake action up or down your course)"

Yea, we are good with the no powerturns. I can go back and pick them up keeping the water pretty clean.

My son was talking about trying to do a Tantrum. He has been doing backflips on a neighbors trampoline and can land them. I thought that might be a bit advanced??

I thought he should try doing a 180 ollie then try it jumping into the center of the wake. He can ollie a good foot and a half (or more) out of the water already.

But I don't know the difficulty of these tricks and have no idea of the progression he should take.

I would discourage him from trying a tantrum with his skill set. There are a lot of fundamentals that he should have locked down before going to any invert. Ollie 180 is a good example. He should work on riding switch so w2w half cabs and 180s will come easier. Go to the INT League website and look at the trick lists for entro, novice, and intermediate. That will show you a natural progression of what he should be working on, but if he can't do an ollie 180, he should NOT be attempting Tantrums IMO.

have him try ollie 180s as said........one wake jump 180's toeside and heel side, surface 360's.


these are to start.....and he should be able to do them comfortably.

also start wake to wake jumps with grabs....hand in middle of board, andboth tail grabs.


what has to happen here is he needs to improve on these basics to improve his balance and awareness.

once he gets these then he will be better prepared to go to the next round of tricks.

the problem with doing tricks to advanced without the fundamentals is that he is going to increase his likelyhood of getting hurt. He just hasn't got the balance and awareness to pull these off safely (although he could get lucky....but its a risk nonetheless)

I'd reccomend picking up a copy of Detention 2012. Its a 3 disk set with tons of good tips and really good explanation of how to do things. It also gives a good idea of the order that you should be doing things in. Its cheap too, like $30 for all 3 disks.

Try both a Tantrum and a hop 180. No reason to not try something. There's plenty of good riders in your area, local clubs, orgs and shops should know someone to help you out.

Get a wetsuit, you all will be able to extend your season and the lakes will be empty, and in my experience tricks go down easier in this environment.

He is doing grabs now but not wake to wake, we can start there. He is doing other stuff as well but I don't know what it all is.

How does the Detention 2012 compare to The Book? I would be OK with picking one of the 2 up for him.

We also already have a wet suit, so we will be out as long as we can

What is a half cab?

sitch 180. so take off switch do a 180 and land regular.

Check out www.waketrix.com they have some video you can watch.Just click on "The Tricks" to enter.