What Gives A Wakeboard Best Pop Off the Wake

(brody) · (brody) **Join Date: Jul 2006** 02-21-2007, 8:18 PM

Doing a School project and am wondering what gives a wakeboard the highest and farthest pop. Need help and will look at other sites.

Example Question- Does a 3 stage rocker go higher than continuous rocker?

In my project I will answer these kinds of questions.

(ponyh8r) · (ponyh8r) **Join Date: Dec 2004** 02-21-2007, 8:27 PM

3 stage generally will go higher w/ a shorter arc

continuous will usually have a longer arc but less straight up pop

Hybrids mix the two.

(kel_dub) · (kel_dub) **Join Date: Feb 2006** 02-21-2007, 11:16 PM

Also, wider boards are designed for more pop.

(partyb) · (partyb) **Join Date: Dec 2001** 02-22-2007, 5:59 AM

The rider has the most influence on how high a board pops.

(magellan) · (magellan) **Join Date: Feb 2003** 02-22-2007, 6:21 AM

The most influence is flex and rider. The softer a board is, the less it will snap off the wake. You can get softer boards to pop, it just takes far more effort.
This far outweighs rocker, width, etc..

(sunsport) · (sunsport) **Join Date: Sep 2002** 02-22-2007, 9:51 AM

Maybe take a step back; you always hear, "The rider must learn to load the line." What happens when you load the line? Are you storing energy in something? How does the rider release that energy? How does the board shape affect that release of energy? Where does the energy go?

Skiing made me board,
Lyle
Chrome Dome Industries

(da_moose) · (da_moose) **Join Date: Feb 2004** 02-22-2007, 12:05 PM

A Flat Rocker

(jason_ssr) · (jason_ssr) **Join Date: Apr 2001** 02-22-2007, 12:16 PM

A board doesnt have more pop, its just a leverage device. Pop is in the rope tension, so the board that "pops" better is the one that allows for smooth loading of the rope (aka not too fast and not too slow), and a quick release, which will cause the least amount of energy loss when it transitions into the air. Surface area also plays a part depending on the weight of the rider. More surface area means more pop, but also requires more stregnth and weight to gain leverage with it.

IMO the rope and the bindings are the most important pieces of gear you can own. Boards all all pretty much the same at this point. They can all ride tight, or loose; fast or slow.

(thane_dogg) · (thane_dogg) **Join Date: Jun 2002** 02-22-2007, 12:42 PM

I was thinking about something the other day when I was talking to a customer about ropes. A wakeboard ropes is designed to have no stretch. With the expression "load the line" you would have to have a rope that would expand or contract to store energy in it.

With the concept of "loading the line" what you're really doing is loading the board. The energy is stored in the water. The more pressure you put on the edge, the lower the board is going to to into the water. The lower it goes the more energy, it's going to have. Once the board goes into the air, the load is released, the result is the jump.

What magellan said about a softer board not popping as well, is correct, because a soft board will absorb the energy used for the "pop" negatively.

Jason, what you said about the quick release is very relevant, but the rest of your theory doesn't make sense; because, in theory, you can't store energy in something that doesn't expand or contract, i.e. the rope.

(Message edited by thane_dogg on February 22, 2007)

(knarbar) · (knarbar) **Join Date: Nov 2006** 02-22-2007, 1:16 PM

That makes alot a sense thanne dogg. I never looked at it that way. I def agree that the stiffness in the board affects how the board pops and how the board carries to the wake. This summer i rode the shane 136 and after about a month or two of hard riding felt the board start having a wierd push off the wake. A week or two later at Lake Redinger i came down on a landing hard and the tail of my board literally just drug through the water. I got out and sure enough my board had fractures through the center.

(jason_ssr) · (jason_ssr) **Join Date: Apr 2001** 02-22-2007, 2:09 PM

Thane, I cannot debate this as Im not that well versed in physics, but IMO the tension is felt in the rope, or strings if you are kiteboarding. You see guys load up the line and pop off starting dock at the cable yet the is no water under them storing energy.

(thane_dogg) · (thane_dogg) **Join Date: Jun 2002** 02-22-2007, 3:09 PM

I'm not well versed in physics either. usually when you see someone "pop" off the dock, they're jumping straight up and letting the rope yank them off the dock. If there is anything that they're loading there, it's their own arms. I'm not calling you out, I'm just stating my theory, which is just that....a theory.

(sunsport) · (sunsport) **Join Date: Sep 2002** 02-23-2007, 1:09 PM

Hey Thane Dogg,
Did you get my PM about this subject? I am actually trying to write a formula to calculate how high a rider jumps, one component of the formula is exactly what you are talking about.

Skiing made me board,
Lyle
Chrome Dome Industries

(hydeout22) · (hydeout22) **Join Date: May 2006** 02-23-2007, 1:46 PM

oh yeah, cool, send me that formula when you get it sorta close. I want to compare my old board and my new one and see how much of a difference there will be. You gona post it on here sunsport?

I imagine you are going to include board length, width at middle and tips, rocker, rider weigth, speed of boat, speed of cut, angle of board relative to water on cut and through the wake, shape of wake (steep vs mellow) and maybe the tension the rider has on the line? That would be the main factor in the height from what everyone is saying, no?

Can you post what you have so far :-)

For people that can ride all year long there isn't as much as an off season where you ponder and wonder how things will work when you finally get on the water in May.

(bulletlines) · (bulletlines) **Join Date: Apr 2005** 02-23-2007, 5:54 PM

I just replied the same thing to another thread on hang time - Sorry for duplicating it, but it is relevant.

The 3 stage rocker definately pops higher than a continous rocker. The only bad thing about the 3 stage rocker is that it's very unforgiving. To enjoy a 3 stage you have to learn to become very consistent on your edge, become very familiar with how the board reacts to different weighting (front and back foot), and become very comfortable with the lift that it creates.

The rope is the best upgrade you can make for big air.

I've found on my Parks that I get more air by quickly flattening the board, and giving my front foot a little more weight right as I hit the wake (this is a very quick manuever). I have not tried this on any other board than my Parks, but it is huge when I edge hard into the wake. I've been riding over 10 years, and I just found out this little trick by accident 2 seasons ago. I've been reading and learning for years, and I've never found an trick tip or video that has mentioned this.

BTW... I've even tried to bury my knose into the wake, and it still popped me really hard.

Thanks,

Ken Land
Bullet Lines
www.bulletlines.com
kland@bulletlines.com

(attila916) · (attila916) **Join Date: Oct 2005** 02-23-2007, 6:10 PM

The guy in the boots

(sunsport) · (sunsport) **Join Date: Sep 2002** 02-26-2007, 1:08 PM

And why does more rocker give you more pop? Why does a 3 stage give you more pop than continuous?

Skiing made me board,
Lyle
Chrome Dome Industries