First comp next weekend...got some tips?

Hello all,

I wakeboarded off and on over the years, then went to college and got married and let go of it. I'm 23 now and I've gotten back into the sport with a lot of enthusiasm. I've been doing some trampoline training for handle passes and working on some inverts. Getting a couple sets/week in.

-I've got hs and ts 180s down pat with all sorts of grabs. Taking them to the w2w and to the flats.
-Backside 180s and 360s I've been landing fairly consistently as well.

Overall at my first comp next week I don't expect to impress anyone there....but I am hoping to set down a solid run for me. If the weather works out it will be my first comp on Saturday. What are some tips you have for me? Anyone have a pre-run ritual they go through? I can get kind of intense at times so I'm really hoping that I'll still make this a lot of fun for me.

Maybe you guys have some good stories of riding in a comp you could share?

Dwight

one thing i used to do was visualize every trick and walk the course planning where you are going to throw each trick, it helps you to go out and nail it, if you are throwing your bs 180 and 360 into your pass i would recommend throwing them last on each pass so you can get as many of your down pat tricks in since if you fall midway through your pass you will most likely lose a trick or two. Anyways good luck comps were always fun for me when I used to ride in them met so many awesome people through it too.

Dwight,

The best advice is to just have fun.

My first local contest was 3 years ago, my only "trick" was a HS180, i could not even clear the wake toeside yet, it was my first year riding. I just showed up with my girlfriend and signed up. Rode behind a slumpin 07 vlx, first time behind a boat with real weight, it was so fun, I still remember blasting out into the flats my first HS jump. (That evening I was online trying to get info on how to dump by boat best). No warm up rides, just 2 passes, and 2 falls... If you stand up both passes you are looking at a 5 minute ride. Its short, but very exciting and fun. Everybody was super chill when I would approach them, being the new guy, you just have to take the initiative to go and introduce yourself.We met a couple people there that are still friends today. Bring your wife, chairs, umbrella (shade) food, and drinks just incase you need that stuff, sometimes you don't.

As for the riding, I will assume that you will not have any practice time behind the boat, and it will probably be a boat/wake that is new to you and it will most likely be heavily weighted (depends on what "class" you sign up for). I would recommend stretching heavily before you ride, there is no "loosening up" or "warming up" behind the boat, you have to come out banging. Start off with hs and ts jumps/tricks that you know you can land so that you can see how the wake feels. I will assume the rules are 2 falls and your done. Save a trick (bs 180) that you may not land as the last trick at the very end of your first pass, that way if you fall, the boat will have plenty of time to get you up and give you a full second pass. Then again, save another trick you may not land (bs360 or an invert) for the last trick at the end of your run... this is what I do to maximize the course. Where we ride you may only get 5 or 6 tricks in each pass.

Again, have fun, you will love it.

I like to go with the mindset that the tourney is just a fun run and a good time to hang with other riders which takes the pressure off the riding, but eventually you will have to get to the starting dock . Some people like to have a set run with tricks set up in a fixed order, others take a free ride and do what feels right on the water. Pros and cons with each approach, but now I favor the free ride and just bust out whatever strikes me, but do like to save the hardest tricks for the end of the pass . If you can get a practice run behind the tourney boat that will help so you know what line length to ride and get the speed dialed in. To me that is the hardest part of a tourney is dealing with a new wake and have had to ride with lines shorter or longer tor going faster or slower than was idea. In general. If you ar enot sure, talk to other riders that have gone before you and see what they normally ride to get an idea how fast you want to go. In general, better to go a little to fast than too slow.

When you practice, a couple of things that will help is to get used to throwing tricks in pretty quick order. Every tournament I have been has a shorter pass length than I usually throw 6 trricks. Having been the PWC volunteer to pick up fallen riders, it is always nicer to pick up riders that are not too mad at themselves for falling and a lot of people do fall so it is not that big of a deal if you do have a couple of falls. Not everyone will have their best runs in a tourney and is refreshing to pick up riders that do not take themselves too seriously....so basically have fun.

comps are nerve wracking, especially your first one as normally people build way too much expectation into how they will or should perform. Have a realistic goal of what you expect of yourself, plan your run and practice your comp run, cant stress that enough. If you cant manage your comp run without any pressure there is little chance you will do it on the day with stacks more pressure and people watching. Lastly ya still gotta have fun with it, if u get too stressed out it will make it much less fun and you probably wont perform as well. Listening to some beats on your ipod is a good way to chill out before your run. Have a few laughs, joke around with the other guys. Comps are awesome, I think the key is taking it seriously and preparing but also being able to relax and have fun on the day no matter what happens.

I always used to get really nervous and fall on the first or second trick haha. then after that all the nervousness was out of my body and I stomped every trick after that. Did this at 3 or 4 tournaments haha

slow down!!!! your gunna be so excited youll rush everything!