Scared to jump bigger

I'm a beginner, and I can do small heelside jumps into the wake. I know exactly what to do in order to jump bigger, but there's a problem -- I'm scared! Has anyone else had that problem, and do you have any tips on how to get over it?

Hey Julie,

Pull your rope in and start your w2w jumps narrow and slowly let the rope out as you get more comfortable.

Good luck and GO BIG!!!

Julie : just ride more...
Get confident doing smaller jumps, small 180° getting out of the wake, and just enjoy it. The time will come when you will just want to go higher for the un of it ;-)
Sometimes, I got hurt when falling and get scared again. And then I ask myself : do you really want to wakeboard, yes or not ? if the anwer is yes, then you should do it as best as you can... and go for it !
Enjoy...

Grow some boys, shorten the rope, and go out at 6am!! Lucy had the same problem, and would lose it in her head, then get off edge before hitting the wake, losing momentum.... After some lessons to check/clean her form, problem still there....

We go early for the smooth water, shortenened the rope a bit like Clarissa is suggesting, and gently beat on her about edging ALL the way in and not absorbing the pop with her legs. When she got 2/3 to 3/4 across (she crashed a lot) she left scared behind and wanted the last 3rd.

She cleared the wake 3-4 times but couldn't hold the rope (she wants it BAD now)....

Well she planted the last one HARD and had to stop before she could land it....She's chompin' at the bit to get back out!! BTW, I'm shoppin' for a helmet now, for new trick attempts.....

YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

I know this sounds insensitive, but as my wonderful encouraging little brother would say "dont be a pussy"... just for it! I think Joe is right about helmets.. when I starting riding I always wore one, it helps with the sting feeling.. I should take my own advice and wear one now.. but it does give you a little bit of a security blanket feeling. You'll do great and remember- post pics when you get it down!!

Still not huge, but getting better! Here's me:

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Try the "Grrrrr effect". As soon as you are about to hit the wake just yell REALLY loud and you will forget to be scared. Its all mental.

so heres my advice.. A while back i cut my head open attempting to go wake to wake. After that i got a helmet and continued to try but didn't get my confidence back for a year. Seriously, get a helmet it's a great "security blanket" as others have said. The one thing i'll tell you, is i'd always start off not edging hard and ofcourse i wouldn't make it all the way across. But now i always try to edge as hard as i can because it's SO SMOOTH on the other side! Trust me as soon as you land for the first time on that other side you'll be like wow i'm never going to half ass it again! Get a helmet go out there and just edge hard, now you got your head protected and yea the first time you may crash but you'll most likely feel that down slope and it will have you coming back for more. If you want to get to the other side you are going to have to endure a few good faceplants, but thats what all of us have to go through! And i'm sure you've had some pretty good face plants before so just go for it, you'll be happy you did!

Julie...basics look good. I agree with Nikki. I wear a helmet cause when I was learning w2w I crashed a lot and got massive headaches. Now I don't crash much anymore but when I do I never hurt my head. Check out shred ready. They make a really comfortable girls helmet. The landing on the other side is smooth but you have to edge all the way through the wake. It looks like you edge then get scared and back off your edge. I used to do this too. Can't get across that way. Also, bend your knees more and more as you get closer to the wake then at the wake stand up and you will pop up over the wake. Lastly, try shortening your line all the way. You will have less wake to cross and it will be easier for you. I still get scared when I am approaching the wake cause it seems like I am going so fast. And I get faster the closer I get to the wake. But I have just told myself it's ok and that I need the speed and pop to get across. But now I am more confident and get across everytime. Keep at it and don't give up. The more you do it the easier it will become.

great idea x-girl. I'm going to try that. This is me at beginning of summer. Not bad for an old lady, eh?

Oh yea definitely shorten the rope like everyone else said, like get it down to 65 feet (including the handle). Also, i don't know if it will help you.. But the people who were pulling me sped up for me just to get me across the wake the first few times. The speed got me across the wake and i felt the down slope so i was more comfortable edging hard to get there (i basically gained my confidence back because i knew if i did it once i could do it again). Now i can go slower because i know i can get over to the other side and i have my confidence. But i don't know just thought i'd mention that too. But speeding up could scare you too, thats just how i finally did it the first time! Good luck, keep us posted. I highly recommend the helmet, you may look kinda silly but it'll definitely help build your confidence.

Right...keep us posted on how you are doing.

Update: I don't have any photos, but I got my biggest air ever this past weekend -- about 3/4 across the wake. And I think I owe it all to...gulp...Madonna. Seriously, my husband starting pumping a great Madonna song on our tower speakers (I forget which one, but it was an old one, great for dancing) and it just got me so revved up that I forgot to be scared about jumping big. I think next time I'll try a little Janis Joplin...

The Grateful Dead can make you jump higher also

I think I got across the wake on this jump.

its all mental. Go for it I dealt with a lot of mental block too when I was learning. One thing that helped me (besides just going for it) was a lot of visualizing the night before.

The trick that read here on wakeworld, that helped get me past it was hitting the wake at a 45 degree angle rather than 90, if that makes any sense.