Wakeboarding - No respect???

Why does it seem like wakeboarding does not get much respect? From the X-Games to other board sports frowning on it <---- this does not mean everyone in the other board sports frown on it... I am interested in reading what others may say about this subject.

As far as the X-Games is it a lack of respect or just matter of $$$ ?

DO you guys remember the first time you started to wakeboard.I remember it was on a T2 and it was 9 years ago..I thought to myself "I hate this damn handle thing...."I use to snowboard and was pretty good at it. So When I started to wakeboard I thought what a dumb ass sport...9 years later I still ride and when I am doing off axis 7s I rely on that rope. It took a while for snowboarding to be accepted and it will take a while for wakeboarding to be accepted. (What if there were no snowboard mountains? Only people who lived in the back country would ride. Not every one is fotunate enough to have a 70K boat. Until there are more cable parks. and at least 1 in cali wakeboarding is on a platue. The sport has remaind flat for a while now.

I think it's because it's inherently different from other board sports in the amount of money it takes to do it. In my opinion, the richer you have to be and the more gear you have to buy, the less core a sport is. Skateboarding is the ultimate core sport. Buy a board for $100 and go ride it in your front yard. Wakeboarding is at the other end of the spectrum. I think it's a sport that, given the opportunity, most people would say I want to try that, even the ones that say it's "uncool." However, for most people, it will never be a regular sport for them. It's just too far out of reach for most.

I think it's kind of embarassing the way some in our sport want so badly for it to "get respect from other board sports" or try to compare/link it to other board sports. It's different. It will always be different. Some will think it's better and some will think it's worse, but until we have cable parks covering the nation, it will always be the rich kid's board sport.

Or...I could be totally wrong.

yea if you look at all the snowboard parks in so cal alone Mt high, Bear, Summit, exc there are like 5 parks. I know I would never ride again on a snowboard if they took the parks away. no rail table tops half pipes..just carving..that why we wakeboard and dont ski...j/k I think skiers cut the best. they always charge it

Wakeboarding is closer to polo than it is to skateboarding in many ways. Especially the cultural and financial aspects.

DW, as much as I would like to say that you are wrong, I think you hit the nail on the head or something like that.

Spin...that's because the parks are the only good thing about Socal mountains!

I snowboard for different reasons I guess. I crave powder days in the back woods with natural drops and hits. It's just a completely different sport for me.

I totally agree with David. Wakeboarding is a privilege sport. I really dont think it has anything to do with the "coolness" of it or anything like that. It all comes down to the money. If you were giving out free pulls and offered the use of free equipment all over the country, wakeboarding would be everywhere. If you look at the sport and totally dissect it, there really is no way to cut the cost down to the average family's spending level. When I first began to ride I bought a $200 HO with sandals on it and rode behind my Rinker. It was great! But even then, at the bear minimum expense, I still was riding my 200 dollar board behind our family boat, and we had to put gas in it. How many families out there even own a boat or can afford another gas expense? Everything related to the sport is a privilege item, thats why wakeboarding will never be at the same level, or even near the same level, as other board sports. When I think about it though, I kind of like it like that. Not because people might see me as rich because I ride, because I really am not at all. But because of the smaller tight knit group I belong to as a wakeboarder. I totally love randomly running into another rider who is just as passionate about the sport as I am, and talking nothing but wakeboarding. If the sport were in every magazine and every channel, I think it would loose some of its luster.

Thats just what I think though....

yea so cal mounains suck....way to crowded.same with the lakes on the other hand the real wakeboard season just started this month. No crowds and butter water. I love the off season (so called) that is the only good thing about so cal.

Oops, I missed. I meant to hit YOU on the head!

Hmmmm i don't know there are alot of kids out there trying to get it done behind an old jet ski or john boat that are by no means rich. Look at how many people are on the lake that don't board. Out of reach for many.... agreed. privileged..... I don't think so.

wakeboarding is just not "core." its fun and its challenging but its just not legit if you want to compare it with other board sports. i think most people that are fairly good at wakeboarding and are experienced in other board sports would probably agree with me. most of the time you are just kicking it in the boat, throwing back a couple beers enjoying the sun and tunes. then you start riding and if you fall you land in water, yes i know it can hurt but i would take water over cement or icy snow any day, oh ya and you surf in water too but there are reefs and the chance of drowning.

Why would anyone care if they got respect from the skateboarders? I have no problem with them but I could care less if a 13 year old street punk thinks I am cool. I know that it is an over generalization.

I guess wakeboarding is elite but it seems the ski lodge has a lot more rich people than my lake.

I can't believe what I'm reading. Maybe where you all are from it's not core. Down here in the holy lands of wakeboarding there are alot of core riders. A kid that rides with me started behind a ski and now competes. He rips. I'm a core rider along with everyone I ride with. We are constantly getting better. The sport is just hard to get into because the kids and,or parents dont have 350$ for a board and bindings let alone a 60k boat. Money is the reason. I can't tell you how many times I've heard I went riding once and it was rad. But I dont have a board or anyone to go with.Our sport is just not accessible as other sports. I feel blessed I can ride and have a nice boat. I love this sport and I don't care what others think.

I had never thought about wakeboarding as a priviledge sport but now I think about it you could be at least partially right. I am new to wakeboarding and got into it a little bit late to say the least. My brother bought me a board for my 37th birthday this year. It was great to get it as we had both spoken about trying it. We have both been surfers for years. Anyway I live on Tenerife in the canary islands, no lakes just the atlantic ocean. Tried to find someone to take us out and ended up with a ski rental boat taking us out it cost me 300 dollars to take me and my two kids out for 30 minutes!!!! the guy did not know how to wakeboard so could give us no tips. Thinking about that then I have a new board 600 dollars and I ahve spent 200 dollars on one session which none of us even got to our feet. We just had no idea what to do. IN the end I decided to start with a seadoo, 8,000 dollars to at least get the basics learned. Two weeks ago I took delivery of my new boat with tower etc. None of my family woudl be enjoying the sport if I had been unable to buy the boat. My friends are now into the sport because they can come with me every week. It is the social apsect that I love about wakeboarding. surfing is becoming an aggressive sport in the water with fights and arguments about waves. That too is a mainstream sport now or at least is exploding in popularity. So now I have about 7 friends who love wakeboarding because they have been out with me and my brother who is my main wakeboarding and driving buddy. Is it a privelidge sport? well no. but someone you know has to be doing OK!!!

"surfing is becoming an aggressive sport in the water with fights and arguments about waves."

Becoming??? It's tame right now compared to the 70's!

GO BACK TO THE VALLEY!

(and it seems there's a valley everywhere!)

Sorry for the hijack Arun!

I think it is location more than anything else. Here in Cent. Fla its pretty much a core sport. We can board year round and almost everyone knows someone that has a boat and extra boards. I dont know anyone who is crazy about snowboarding as they are wakeboarding because we dont have mountains here. As long as we are comparing snowboarding to wakeboarding, the only friend I have that goes snowboarding every year says that the fatigue factor in wakeboarding is a lot higher. So there might be higher conditioning needed with our sport. So snowboarders might feel a fall more, but it takes more strength and conditioning for wakeboarding. Either way, it doesnt matter what others think is core or not because I personally dont care what others think. In fact I wish less around here were into it because the lakes are getting crowded with people that dont know how to drive.

rich, ' go back to the valley' WTF. I started surfing in the mid 80's and surfed in various places, Australia and the North shore being the two most famous places ( I am from UK). When I visited these places for the first time it was cool and reasonably laid back. In the last ten years surfing as a sport has become more mainstream where everyone wants to be a surfer. Surfing is cool, clothes are now mainstream fashions etc. As the water gets busier the arguments pick up. There are more and more learners and surf schools in top spots nowdays so the aggression gets worse. In the 70's the line ups were not packed as they are today.

The point for this thread was that if wakeboarding goes the way of surfing when you get the lake there will be a traffic jam of boats trying to get into the water, boats will be trying to dodge eachother all day as there will be so many poeple trying to do their thing in the same place. There is something to be said for the sport being a bit more behind the scenes.

i dont really care at all about what snowboarders and skaters think of wakeboarding. what other people think of me simply does not motivate me.

Snowboarding was not always accepted by skateboarders, and it was not always a 100+ foot gap type of sport (and whatever gnarly street rails you see nowadays as well). Many have come around, but from my experience, a lot of skaters seem "core" in that skating is the only thing they want to do and everything else sucks. I had one dude say that wakeskating looked dumb because of the spray that came from the board--"It just doesn't look right." that's when I realized that it was all total BS and if someone has to poke fun at water spray when they just saw a noseslide on a dock, they're closed minded and not worth my time.

So that's the kind of retarded BS you're up against, and I wouldn't worry too much about it. Wakeboarding has progressed SO much since the days of small wakes (sand bucket balast) and 55 foot ropes. JD jumping over that fountain is the real deal, and if that's not important to some people, then they probably aren't worth impressing anyway.

i'm amazed by any sport that anyone can do well ... wakeboarding, skateboarding, snowboarding, kiteboarding, kayaking, whatever it is. but i agree that wakeboarding keeps itself pretty exclusive because of the cost involved. p.s. i like the 55 foot rope ... that's the only way i can get w2w!!

Yea I think the exclusive part is ultimately good. I sure as hell don't want to start really fighting over the good water with wakeboarders and not just wally's and fisherman.

I think part of its the fact that, to the uneducated eye, a lot of the tricks look the same. I think non-boarding people get tired of watching it.

I think part of it is that too many wakeboarders care what others think of them.

Definately something to that untrained eye comment. After the initial wow factor of nonboarders being impressed wears off they are like "yea I saw that" because they cannot relate to how difficult it is to do certain things. One of my girlfriends said one time "once you have seen one flip on the water you have seen them all" Paraphrasing of course.

I think one of the reason's people would say wakeboarding isn't "core" atleast in miami is because most of the people you see wakeboarding have no clue what they are doing. Like if you see a kid skatboarding theyr usually pretty good or you can tell they wan't to atleast progress. Wkaeboarding on the other hand has a big mix you have the people that go out and progress our sport and then you have the people that you see out their spending half the time wakeboarding doing power turns and then the other half tubing. I mean these people are out ther representing wakeboarding but then right after they do what wakeboarders hate most. I also agree that wakeboarding is a privilage sport, atleast down here in miami. I dont know many people down here that wakeboard and the most of the ones that do are or have parents that are pretty well off. Lats face wakeboarding is expensive as ••••

Chef, I'm betting the guy who made fun of the spray would jump at the chance for a day out on the boat.

at least wakeboarding gets more respect then kiteboarding!

I agree with what most have said thus far. Mostly the fact that wakeboarders are way to into impressing people as stated by Tim. How many people own serious wakeboard boats purely for the show off factor? How many other people choose to "show off" around other boats? The main reason snow and skate are "core" is that they do their thing without seeking acceptance or showing off. They dont care what others think or whether or not that tindy grab was "cool, core or whatever". They hike backcountry for the pure enjoyment of riding. They poach rails and keep locations secret so they can enjoy them WITHOUT the mainstream watching.

Wakeboarding has always been a show off your money type situation for the main population. Look at wakeboats: all bling mostly. Yes some of the boats have a good wake stock but "almost" none of the companies are building a boat thats truly "core". For most of us who ride regularly we need to still add sacks/lead to a BRAND NEW BOAT to get a good wake out of it.

I think wakeskating holds the possibility to bring a "core" aspect to the water, but thats about it.

It could be worse, we could be discussing why "Riverboarding" is not getting the recognition it so truly deserves....

Matt, well said well spoken. That is probably what keeps alot of people away.
Fireboy, kite boarding doesn't need respect. It is ridiculously fun without anyone!

I don't know why people think Central FL is "core" spot for wakeboarding. I can go up to 20 people and ask them about wakeboarding- they won't have a clue what I'm talking about. They certainly know about water skiing, but wakeboarding still needs to be explained.

I had a heated discussion about wakeboarding with one of my buddies that I grew up surfing with who happens to surf Mavericks on big gnarly days and I told him about the gap that JD Webb did and how that is something that would have people's jaw dropping. That is pretty crazy! Another one that comes to mind is Parks charging Teahpoo on a wakeboard. How could you not respect that kind of stuff. I must say that it did open his eyes a bit... he had no idea that wakebaorders were doing that kind of stuff. That was a big step for me to accomplish with him cause he is stubborn.

My point is that wakeboarding is only seen by outsiders on the surface, as a sport where people are rolling around in their 60K plus boats just riding around the lake. What they don't see are all the crazy rails, gaps, winches, etc... that take some skillz and balls to do. This is just my opinion!

"The main reason snow and skate are "core" is that they do their thing without seeking acceptance or showing off."

Skaters don't try to show off? I don't know what skaters you're thinking about but the kids I see in skate parks, university campuses, etc most certainly are trying to show off. The only difference is that they're trying to show off their skills instead of their boat.

If you want to talk about lack of respect, it's a two way street. You have to realize that most new wakeboarders are going to be folks who go out to the lake anyways. Those tubers and fishermen and pontooners you complain about so loudly are your potential peers in this sport. You might say you hate f'ing tubers but those tubers are the most likely converts to wakeboarding you have. Show a little respect to them and they might return it even if they are mucking up the water in the meantime.

The other problem this sport faces is overall popularity. Compare what it takes to go out and skate to what it takes to go out and wakeboard. With a wakeboard, you have to get a crew lined up, a boat, the equipment, gas, nice weather, and calm water just to make a decent go of it. That's just not going to happen as much as a skater picking up their board and heading to the skatepark or even their own back yard. Even snowboarding isn't that hard to get together for. Wakeboarding will always be a less popular boardsport from that angle. And without popularity, it will be hard to garner respect.

And money is an issue but not much of one. You don't need a $50k boat and $300 board and bindings to learn to ride or even to get good.

But personally, I don't care abou respect. I go out and board because it's fun.

Mark,

I know what the line ups are like in Santa Cruz these days, I still live there. What I haven't seen since the 70's is:

A buddy's car getting set on fire (in Carmel)

Having to hide our pants in the bushes so we'd have something to wear home after a go out at Pleasure Point. You didn't dare lock your car.

Another friend getting beaten to within an inch of his life at Makaha.

Being on the trail going down to Lunada Bay and having locals throwing boulders at us off the cliff above.

Getting beat up for sneaking into the Hollister Ranch by local surfers and then getting arrested for trespassing by the local sheriff after the beating.

And lastly getting shot at north of the Lane padddling over to Secrets. (and yes you do hear the bullet whiz by well before you hear the gunshot!)

Those are just some of the things I was around for. I can tell you the line ups in most of California are not that way anymore, there may be attitude but a lot of the people going out now are older or are women. (There was like 1 girl and 2 guys over 30 that surfed Santa Cruz back then) and that in itself has calmed things down alot.

But my point was not trying to link Wakeboarding to this or condone it in any way, it was really just to say that IMHO surfing has gotten better over the years not worse.

So does that mean I shouldn't bring my glock to defend against getting a fishing hook caught in my back when boarding by the local damn?

Bill one of the locals here actually got run over by a fisherman when he was in the water! Then they called the sheriff and he ticketed them for boating to close!

I went and bought a paint gun for pricks like that!

I don't know about anyone else, but when I wake up to go riding, there isn't normally anyone else awake and on the lake to impress. So I would have to disagree with the statement of wakeboarders are way to into impressing people. Although it could just be me, and I doubt I would impress anyone with the way I ride anyway!

Daniel I was not making that point towards you or really anyone else on this site. I am making a much more generalized statement about the population of wakeboarding. I dont think that ww makes up the main portion of "wakeboarders". Most of my statements were derived from the general population I see at the lakes and delta. I am sure most of us here dont fall into the generalizations I made, but the majority of the wakeboarder population I have seen do.

Dante: I skated for 6-8 yrs but that was 5-10 years ago; things may have changed but back then we used to build ramps, run from cops and keep locations private due to the skater haters. Stepping back in time I would have said "to show your skills off is core, you love the sport. To show off your board/gear is not core, its your desire to fit in: poser."

(Message edited by liquidmx on October 17, 2006)

The main difference between snowboarding and wakeboarding is that with snowboarding I just buy my season pass every year and I'm good to go, with wakeboarding I had to buy the resort (boat).

Even with that you have to assemble a team to ride, it's not a solitary venture like snowboarding, skating or surfing can be and as such is limiting to those trying to get in the sport. You either know someone who owns a boat or you wait, post & pray to get a pull. Hard enough by yourself but try to get you and a few friends on a boat that you don't know the owner.

Maybe with more cable parks coming up, you'll see more acceptance as individuals and groups can participate in the sport without the daunting costs and coordination issues involved.

David, Im going to have to disagree with you.

Your argument seems to imply that to be a wakeboarder you need a boat......you really only need rich friends OR wakeworld to be a part of this sport.

This past summer I met a lot of guys who couldnt afford a boat but bought cheap boards online or on Ebay and could afford to throw someone 20 bucks for gas once in awhile to ride.

While it is a good assumption that it takes some affluence to get that first oppurtunity to wakeboard.....it really only takes a friend. Or a friend of a friend, and we all know it only takes one pull to get hooked.

Proho.... yea right....

"keep locations private due to the skater haters"

Funny, we kept locations private to keep out the posers I was more of a BMX guy but I was into skating for a year or so. Things have changed a LOT since then (mid-80's for me). Even the little kids nowadays can do some pretty cool stuff but they do like to show it off more than we ever did.

And for what its worth, there was some mutual respect between BMXers and skaters back then. BMX was the top dog and skating was more an up and coming thing. That made it easier to move from one to the other since the good skaters at the time were a lot more helpful to BMX converts. That seemed to end when skateboarding eclipsed BMX in popularity.

6 riders only need one boat.

"You might say you hate f'ing tubers but those tubers are the most likely converts to wakeboarding"

They haven't converted yet, when they do, that is when i will like them!

SPIN2WIN you said "T2" GREAT NAME DROP!!! That board was sick, except in rough water. Those were the days, honeycomb and carbon fiber boards, thanks that took me back.

Wakeboarding doesnt get repect from the media because it isnt a "spectators sport". If you line up on the shore, you get to see one or two tricks relatively up close. The moves are too technical to be distinguished by the average Joe. It isnt that impressive to see unless you understand it. Whats the big croud pleaser in wakeboarding, to the uninformed? A raley, why? because its big and simple and they understand it.

Here is another perspective. In the eyes of kiteboarders, wakeboarders are the sh|t. Every kiteboarder wants his stuff to look smooth like a wakeboarder. You remember old school vs newschool in wakeboarding? Well that whole thing in kiteboarding is going down now, and the new school is wakestyle riding. So, wakeboarders get TONS of respect from the kiteboard community. Its funny how the two run so closely, because technical kiteboarding isnt appreciated by the crowd at all, but if a guy jumps 50 feet in the air for 8 seconds (the equivient to a plain raley in in a pro wakeboard final) the crowd goes NUTS!! Why? because they dont get it. ESPN makes their money exploiting the things that the layman understands...like football, baseball, poker, and scrabble.

gene, what are you talking about?

here's the deal surfing is legit cuz its the first board sport. its way gnarlier and harder than the other board sports too. there is some debate over the legitness of skateboarding just cuz its so diverse(anyone got the video of the guy in tights skateboarding around a roller rink with a rainbow painted on the walls). basically freestyle skaters get no respect, i mean sure its cool that they can do 10 360s in a row and gazelle flips and what not but its still freestyle. i could get into other examples of who respects who in the skateboard world but i dont think anyone cares about the "back at the real combi" skaters and the "stunt men" skaters. skaters dont respect snowboarders because they are attached to the board and skaters really dont respect wakeboarders cuz we are attached to the board and we need a rope pulling us to do anything. so basically we are on the bottom of the boardsport totem pole and there is not really any way to change that. at least we get more respect than rollerbladers.

all that being said who the f*ck cares what other people think youre having fun and they can go f*ck themselves

I'm going to have to disagree with you there bud! I think the animosity between board sports is pretty minimal. I think that anybody who participates in any of the sports realizes that in one way or another each sport is unique. I see some of the new things that are being pulled off in each and every extreme sport...(the 1080 in wakeboarding, double back flip by Pastrana, and some of the things I’ve seen on a BMX is sick.) I respect each every one of those sports just for the simple fact of how much blood, sweat, and tears you have to put into it to succeed. However, like you did say, who cares what you do as long as you’re having a good time doing it!

it's bullsh*t if people don't think wakeboaridng is core. i wakeboard and surf (used to skate.) maybe i got bloodier skating, and it only cost $100, but compare that to years of dedication, channeling significant money into a sport I love, traveling, getting on the water season after season. aside from maybe the zoo york crew (or similar lifetime skaters), wakeboarders and surfers dedicate more time, money, and energy over their lifetime into doing something they love, more than most any other sport.

with that said i understand why those not involved don't give wakeboarding respect, and to that point.....i couldn't care less, not why i ride.

DW You hit a Grand Slam with your post.Its right on the money.

Wouldn't most riders want to experience most if all board sports? The only board sport I have not done is kiteboarding and I'm dying to try it. Wakeboarding animosity is probably an economics/politics issue imo. I'd put it close to snowboarding-a sport I've done for 22 years and see more and more poseurs and yuppies on the mountain every year. The better to do can afford the lift tickets, just like our fancy boats. No offense to everyone here, but I bet the majority of the wakeworld members are republicans and couldn't relate to the average stereotypical Spicoli surfer type(my idol). Oops, can of worms?

I agree with Jason

(Message edited by wakegenie on November 01, 2006)

"but I bet the majority of the wakeworld members are republicans and couldn't relate to the average stereotypical Spicoli surfer type(my idol)."

Watching Fast Times and PCU enough times doesn't make them real. Your idol is far from the average surfer.

"Your idol is far from the average surfer."

I hear that!

You'd be surprised at the vehicles I see cruising around Santa Cruz with racks/boards on top these days!