Wakeskating?

Good or bad?..I love wakeboarding but always thought wakeskating would be really cool.

Personally I LOVE IT!! It is sooooooooo fun!!! Altho I would try a friends board b4 you go out and buy one, I don't know too many people that don't like, but then again some people enjoy, but not enuff to want a board. Something you can try just to get a feel for riding w/o bindings is to go out and pick up some surf wax, throw some wax down on your wakeboard (4 traction) in the general vicinity of where you'r bindings r and go out and try riding w/o bindings. Now, keep in mind that a wakeskate is signifcantly smaller and the design on the bottom is usually a lot more basic, so it will still feel really different, but at least his way you can get the feel for riding w/o bindings. To get the wax off, let your board sit out in the sun for like 10-15 min, or long enuff for the wax to get really soft and gooy, then take an old credit card and scrape it off. I'll be honest w/ u, you'll prob have a hard time getting it ALL off, so use an old board. It wont affect the ride at all, it just wont be as "pretty." Or you can just go out and buy a cheap beginner skate. When u biy your first skate you'll prob. want to buy a board thats on the bigger side, cause the more surface area there is the easier it is to get up/to adjust to. You can get a board like that for $100 or less. Another idea, if you liked the idea of trying to ride w/o bindings and didn't like the idea of using surf wax (which by the way is really cheap, u can get a bar, which will be WAY more than u need, for like a buck or two) then u can go out and buy some non-skid material, like the stuff u'd use on a boat to keep your plates from sliding arround n stuff, u can get it at Hannaford's. Use duct tape and tape sum 2 your board where ur bindings would usually go. The only thing with that is that the duct tape usually lets go after ur first or second fall. but, it gives u a little feel for it. I dunno, I would say defenitly give it a try. You've got nothing to lose!! Have fun and good luck, I hope this helped, if you need any more info let me know and I'll do the best I can. Good luck!!

Wakeskating require more patients than most people are willing to commit to. Learning and increasing your skill level takes lots of practice and lots of crashing!

Yeah thats what I thought that it wou;d be really difficult to do tricks and all but I was just trying to decide if i should ask for a wakeskate for xmas or not. My dad said to focus mostly on just wakeboarding but I thought that wakeskating would help with wakeboarding also will it?

I bought my first wakeskate this summer and had never been before, and bought a Cassette concave and a size that i thgouth would suit me. And it was prolly the best purchase i could have made this summer, i got up first try and even did a lipside on the wake. In only wakeskateing for 3 months i learned a lot(w2w's, indy grabs, boardslides of the wake and ollies and switch ollies) It does take some patients and learning new tricks does take time, but i have the most fun on it and its perfect to fool around on after a wake session.
i'd ask for one...if its a concave or flat deck, whatever you get you'll have a blast on.

I agree with Tim, also I know wakeskating has helped my wakeboarding a lot, its taught me a lot about board control. It's perfect for when u hit those pleateaus in wakeboarding where u feel like your not progressing and you start to get a little frustrated, you break out the skate and go at it. I went for a couple weeks w/o even touching my wakeboard and when I went back to it I rode the best I had ridden all summer. I noticed an immediate difference. Just my .02

Sweet thanks for the info

So are Cassetes teh best?

Its all personal preference, Casset is defenitly an awesome place to start cause they do make a kick a$$ product and are very affordable. A great beginners board is the casset 43 inch linear perspective, its got a lot of surface area and has no concave to, and its fairly cheap, should last u a while. Good luck

I dunno if cassettes are the best, its all personal preference, If i were to get a new skate today i would be looking at Mutiny Concaves, 04 Cassette concave, and maybe some hyperlite's? BUt i am pretty stoked on my cassette, Horrels pro model the 41'...there are some decent deals ebay as of late!

Luke, I wouldn't go blow'n like a couple hundred bucks on a hyperlite gate or nething until u get a chance to try it out. Unless u can find a good deal on e-bay...

I think I'll try the wakeboard with no bindings first haha

Wakeskating is only gonna increase your wakeboard skills if you are a beginner wakeboarder. It will help about as much as a skateboard would help your wakeboarding. If you want a cross over sport, then ask for a skateboard or something. I personally am not a big fan of wakeskating. Try it before you get one. Wakeboarding and wakeskating are like apples and oranges - they are totally different.

Bess - you should write a novel or someting.... Oh wait, you could just publish your first post on this thread as a novel.

(Message edited by rootc on October 20, 2003)

(Message edited by rootc on October 20, 2003)

lol, yeah sorry bout that, just try'n to help the guy out.

I agree with Rootc, I dont think wakeskating is going to help your wakeboarding out any. You use different style to do a wakeskate jump than you do a wakeboard, but that is where the agreeing stops. Wakeskating is a blast, I love it. As a matter of fact I have all but stopped wakeboarding for wakeskating. Give it a try and you will more than likely want one. It only took me one try on one, and I was sold. It will put a smile on your face....

Wakeskating will without a doubt improve your Wakeboarding. Wakeskating forces you to edge properly and removes any slop from your technique. If you don't edge properly on the skate, it will come out from under you. This will teach you how to edge harder into the wake on your wakeboard. Wake jumps are a toally different story.

Rootc and Jason, I´m gonna have to completely disagree with you. Wakeskating makes you really master your board control (see J-Rod´s above post). Any kind of crossover sport will help with wakeboarding, but wakeskating especially. As for only helping beginners, I´m definitely not a beginner and I have improved enormously since I started wakeskating a lot. Even Aaron Reed says that he is significantly better at wakeboarding now (on the seldom occasion that he straps in) than when he wakeboarded exclusively. Wakeskating is just awesome. I love it.

Try blind surface 180's on the skate, then try it with an ollie. Then see if it helps with your wakeboarding.

I don't think you'll be dissapointed.

I meant it more for wake jumps. For me when I go out and wakeskate, then try to wakeboard my jumping is way off. Maybe it is just me, but wakeskating has not helped my wakeboarding, although like I said above I have almost stopped wakeboarding through this summer. Probably only wakeboarded a hand full of times, so that I am sure has something to do with it also. I guess I can see where it would help with ollie tricks on the wakeboard.