Should I be able to surf without extra ballast?

I'm more into wakeboarding but my boat came with a surfboard so I figured I'd give it a shot.

It's an '00 MasterCraft 230 VRS (23') and we had 3 adults and 3 small kids in the boat along with a full tank of gas (61 gallons).

Got up on the 2nd try but have never surfed before and my driver had never driven for a surfer.

Went about 9 mph and I experimented with body position on the board and distance from the boat but could never generate enough consistent slack in the rope to throw it in the boat.

Wave was about knee high. I've seen it done behind a SAN before with lots of ballast and it was about waist high.

The other thing is that I have a regular 5' 11" surf board (See attached). Not a wake specific board. Not sure how that affects the ride.

So, is my problem my equipment or my skillz?

I'm not super stoked about surfing though so I will buy a tower before I buy ballast. Ballast is in the long term plan though.

BTW, I'm 6'1" and about 195 lbs. I'm sure that comes into play.