Critique my Wakeboarding (video link)

Hello everyone,

I want to get everyone's advice on how to improve my wakeboarding. Although I've been boarding on-and-off for a couple of years, this is my first season attempting to start jumping more. I've read all the advice about cutting into the wake with a progressive edge and standing tall at the top of the wake, but for me, it's one thing to read it and another to actually do it.

I realize I just kind of threw the rope in this jump, but it still gives you an idea of my current level. I tried to go big on this one, but kind of freaked out I guess. When I don't go as big I can land it every time, but I seem to always case the wake.

Any advice or suggestions are welcome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bi05jWApPM

first off, looks like your driver is turning to the right. get a straight pull.

you need to keep the rope at your hips, and you need to stand up off the wake.

go buy some wake videos and watch how they ride, it will help big time. pay attention to technique, youll get it.

since you said you freaked out in the air, chill out! Get more comfortable riding a board. you would be surprised how much skating or training on an indo board can help you. You need to raise your comfort level and that will boost your confidence a ton.

best advice i ever got came from a grumpy old trick skiing coach. 2 things...

1. the rope is where all the power comes from, keep it low and keep from bending your arms to pull in - this is especially true when in trouble. your control of the board lessens with every inch farther the rope is from it.

2. where your head goes, body follows. if you look down once you jump you will always land as if youre crashing forward. when doing jumps, always look up and out... ALWAYS. youll notice in vids that you crash forward when you look down forward

on regular jumps look above the horizon youre headed fo and slowly pull the rope downward through the jump.

That water seemed kind rough. Learn to know when you just shouldn't go for a trick. Once you build up a strong base and become more confident then its easier to ride in rougher water and rollers.
The same goes for when the boat's turning. Become conscious of the area you're riding in and when the boat has to turn to avoid shoreline or other boats. When the boat's turning the wake changes as if there's loads of weight on one side and none on the other.

From the start it looked like a decent edge but then you sat down. Remember to keep you body position almost constant throughout the whole approach and don't sit down as much. You don't need to squat to jump, the wake does that for you. Proper technique and timing are way more important.

For learning you should be using a progressive edge to jump the wake. Start out maybe a touch wider and let the boat start to pull you in. Slowly build up your edge as you approach the wake, being conscious not to break at the hip. The angle between your torso and thighs shouldn't be straight but it shouldn't change. The closer you get to the wake the more on edge you should be, reaching the climax at the top of the wake. That doesn't mean that you should be edging as hard as you can at the top of the wake. It should just be the hardest edge of that approach that one time.

At the top of the wake push off with your legs. Like I said before you don't need to be squatting down, but your knees should be bent between 90 and 135 degrees. Push off with them but don't hyper-extend them. As you push off the top of the wake push the handle down and look at the horizon in your direction, not the boats. Bend you knees to absorb the landing and ride away.

Finally I can't tell from the video but please don't become a heelside hero. A lot of people starting out are guilty of this and they miss out loads.
Here's a couple links that could help.
http://wakeboardingmag.com/features/...better-boater/
http://wakeboardingmag.com/how-to/hi...-toeside-edge/
http://wakeboardingmag.com/how-to/hi...ur-foundation/
http://wakeboardingmag.com/how-to/hi...and-every-180/
http://wakeboardingmag.com/how-to/20...ore-with-less/

You could also check out the trick tips forum here for loads of advice on progressing

Originally Posted by irishrider92

That water seemed kind rough. Learn to know when you just shouldn't go for a trick. Once you build up a strong base and become more confident then its easier to ride in rougher water and rollers.
The same goes for when the boat's turning. Become conscious of the area you're riding in and when the boat has to turn to avoid shoreline or other boats. When the boat's turning the wake changes as if there's loads of weight on one side and none on the other.

From the start it looked like a decent edge but then you sat down. Remember to keep you body position almost constant throughout the whole approach and don't sit down as much. You don't need to squat to jump, the wake does that for you. Proper technique and timing are way more important.

For learning you should be using a progressive edge to jump the wake. Start out maybe a touch wider and let the boat start to pull you in. Slowly build up your edge as you approach the wake, being conscious not to break at the hip. The angle between your torso and thighs shouldn't be straight but it shouldn't change. The closer you get to the wake the more on edge you should be, reaching the climax at the top of the wake. That doesn't mean that you should be edging as hard as you can at the top of the wake. It should just be the hardest edge of that approach that one time.

At the top of the wake push off with your legs. Like I said before you don't need to be squatting down, but your knees should be bent between 90 and 135 degrees. Push off with them but don't hyper-extend them. As you push off the top of the wake push the handle down and look at the horizon in your direction, not the boats. Bend you knees to absorb the landing and ride away.

Finally I can't tell from the video but please don't become a heelside hero. A lot of people starting out are guilty of this and they miss out loads.
Here's a couple links that could help.
http://wakeboardingmag.com/features/...better-boater/
http://wakeboardingmag.com/how-to/hi...-toeside-edge/
http://wakeboardingmag.com/how-to/hi...ur-foundation/
http://wakeboardingmag.com/how-to/hi...and-every-180/
http://wakeboardingmag.com/how-to/20...ore-with-less/

You could also check out the trick tips forum here for loads of advice on progressing

Thanks. Those vids are really usefull

Thanks for all the great advice so far everyone. Any other advice is always helpful and appreciated.

http://www.wakeworld.com/news/featur...ariations.html

Slow down the boat and shorten the rope so your w2w distance is shorter. Work on getting comfortable with small w2w jumps. When the w2w jumps are small its less intimidating and you won't be trying to go balls to the wall to clear the wake. It looks like you're trying to spring off the wake more than you're comfortable with and its throwing you off balance. As you progress speed up and let more line out.