Getting hurt... BAD!

Hi,

I'm new to wakeboarding... I'm all set to go out for the first time .. but today i read about all these people who blow out their knees and tore ALC's and stuff like that.. no i have no idea what to expect.. What causes this to happen and what do i do to avoid getting seriously hurt.. I don't care about pain if it goes away within a week.. but i don't want to get seriously hurt.. at least not for the first few rides.. once i go for the big stunts I expect to get hurt every now and then.. but what do i watch for?


kindest regards,
Scott Graham

What to watch out for...

1) Stray skis in the Delta
2) Ronix Ones Breaking
3) CWB Customer service
4) Tubers and Power-turners whiners

(what else am I forgetting?)

Running out of gas and hurting your ego! That takes some time to heal...

The chances of you blowing out your knee on your first trip out are pretty slim. Wakeboarding can be very taxing on your body and you have to be prepared for that, you gotta pay to play. I watched my buddy tear his ACL in half the first trip out this summer... It's a very fun sport but there are risks.

When your first starting out your going to take a few to the face from catching your edge but it's no big deal. just pull your eye lids back from over the top of your head and move on.

Thinking about injury will have a negative impact on your riding and might even increase your chances of getting hurt. I say that because you have to commit to the tricks your doing and that's not likely to happen if getting hurt is on your mind.

Stay within your ability. Don't go out and try tricks that are beyond your skill level until you have the basic tricks mastered or you feel comfortable doing.

Thats great advise David B.

Peel your eye lids back from behind your head LOL damn that's true.....

....scott the sport is pretty safe but not without risks.

we have been riding for 8 years with no injuries on my boat other than myself my first few years. We usually ride 4-6 people in my boat....so thats a pretty good record (knock on wood...lol!)

but we do follow some basic rules

1 learn all your fundamentals well, first
2 keep your session to around 15 min.
3 don't try tricks that are beyond your ability meaning you cant do some tricks which are simpler than the one your trying to attemt
4 ride the best gear you can get....more support...softer landings etc....
5 learn how to fall for example diving with your hands to break the water on a face plant....although this is harder done than said at first.

Matt, what's up on the dig on CWB Customer Service?

I would guess Matt is listing things that people complain about on this site. Also watch out for fisherman, ballast limits on a lake, wakesurfers, and people grabbing tindy.

and wear a helmet.

cool okay.. I thought it was easier to get hurt than that.. i mean its no big deal.. I ride bmx and stuff so i know there's risks in these sports.. I just don't want to go out for the first time and be in a wheelchair hahahaha


my last question in how is it people blow out their knees? is it a certain way they land that rips it? or just the combination of falling from a hight and spinning, like eating it on a scarecrow? hahaha



and Also.. is a Liquid Force PS3 137 any good? I wanted a bored thats for an advanced rider because i plan on getting into this sport fast and hard.. I'm not looking for any 700's hahah but I.s like to do a flip or two.. and the bored looks SICK!!! hahaha OH!! and I wear a size 13 shoe.. is that a large binding? sorry about all the questions haha I'm just so excited to get going hahaha =]

Scott, dont land with your knees locked.

BTW, I have not heard anyone complain about CBW's Customer Service, that is why I was questioning it.

There is nothing wrong with CWB'S customer service and there nothing wrong with Ronix Wakeboards.

Scott, the PS3 is a great board, I would think that a size 13 would be an xl or xxl Binding.

great thanks guys!

The PS3 is a great board.

For saftety:
Get an instructional video and/or go out with someone who is an experienced rider.

Ride a boat with minimal ballast and slower speeds (20MPH range) until you could solidly clear the wake TS and HS. Add ballast, speed, and line length as skills progress.

Keep the handle in close to your lead hip.

Ride with a helmet.

Know when to hit the eject button. If you feel you are way off balance or are going to crash, try to find a safe exit strategy instead of trying to ride it out on the slim chance of recovery.

awesome!

yea ill keep it around 20 for a while haha..

cool I cant w8 ... this weekend will be my first ever time out on it so.. we'll see how it goes.. =] you guys rock! thanks for the help!

if you're new i seriously doubt that anything like that will happen to you... the worst i'd say to worry about is a sprained ankle if you have bad bindings

Like Byrd said; the key thing to not blowing your knee is to not land with your leg locked. But sometimes, this just happens. I had done tantrums 100's of times and then one day.....landed leg locked and tore LCL. It's just like any other sport, there will always be injuries. I will be back though!!

(Message edited by hayes on August 30, 2007)

If you put on motocross knee braces would that prevent knee injuries? just a though...

knee braces help for when you go big into the flats or if you have a bad knee problem, but your 17, your gonna be fine i don't know why you are so worried about all this

i seriously doubt you will get any serious injury... your neck is gonna feel sore the next day, your face is gonna hurt learning to edge on your toes, or your arms are gonna be tired if you can't get up
really, just man up and go, you got nothing to really worry about

and make sure to tell us how it was....

IMHO wakeboarding is one of the few sports that offers a false sense of skill level. By this what I mean is that I see a lot of kids throwing inverts that really shouldnt be thrown they essentially skip the basic steps on their way to inverts.

I was one of them, I landed my first whirly long before ever learning a backside 180. This gave me a false sense of accomplishment, ego boost and most importantly a false perception of my skills on a wakeboard. I didnt really have control of my riding, my body and my board. Take every step when learning DO NOT skip steps. Many people are so excited to get upside down that they forget even the basic wake to wake 180's on the way. As a result their riding is sloppy and out of control, eventually leading to an injury. If you master the basics first, your wakeboard career will last a lot longer with fewer trips to the orthopedic surgeon.

Just my .02

......nicely said matt!.....and so true

I think CWB has GREAT customer service. I recently experienced it myself! Learn your board 1st, how it works. Make sure you ride it and don't let it take you for a ride.

Submerged trees.....thats coming from experience...ouch..

ouch hhaha tomorrow im going out so ill let you guys know how it goes hahah thanks for the help!!!

that was awesome!!!!! I FELL ON MY FACE HAHAHAHAHA LMAO!!!! I LOVE THIS!!! hahahha

hahaha... do you have pics or video? i just started this year too (i know it says i joined last year, but thats because i was getting a board for my first time and asking about wakeboarding)

what all did you accomplish? get outside the wake? do a small jump?

its funny to see how some people do compared to others, especially if they have boardsports backgrounds or more guts than others

CWB has amazing customer service and Ronix has amazing wakeboards.


Ive had a Ronix ONE board since january, and i have entered 3 double up contests, coutnless tournaments, and i hit at least 3 double ups every time i ride, which is 4-5 times a week.


TRY to break my Ronix board, try

um.. It took me 2 tries to stay on.. then about 30 min to get the feel of the board.. I tryed a jump and fell.. then the 3rd try I got 1/2 way across the wake.. almost w2w.. lmao but not quite.. haha ill try to get w2w next weekend =D I then tried a fakie ... I landed it for like a second then fell on my face hahahhaaha =] it was awesome lmao.. i didnt get any pix or video this time.. ill have some for next week though!!!