BAREFOOT ?

tommorrow i have a chance to go to a barefoot clinic all day. the guy running it is Tom Seipel. has anyone heard of him. I have never tried barefoot before, do you think i'll like it? what do you think about it? anything will help. thanks

His brother Mike was a world champion. They own Barefoot Int. and Fly Hi.

barefoot is alot of fun, esp. going off the boom. Long line starts kinda suck, I went last weekend and my head is still clogged up. Where we go there are alot of sticks, and if your not used to going on your bare feet it kinda burns. so what we do is take a pair of shoes that have a flat bottom and sand them down with a belt sander. works great.

I know there is a pro barefooter named Mike Seipel.

kinda off topic, but how do you deep water start barefooting, or is there an easy way to get up withought a boom

tom is mikes brother. he barefooted naked (well,orange vest)the night before footstock a couple years ago when I was there.

barefooting is a lot of fun, and I personally think it is pretty easy. simple tricks like one foots and tumble turns are pretty easy too.

Long line starts on a flotation type plastic(read old) kneeboard are real easy. I learned this way long time ago behind a jet boat. Read about it in water ski mag one day, rode a couple miles on my feet the next. But to really learn any tricks you need a boom.

How fast do you have to be going to Barefoot and do you need a special boat? What kind of line and How the hell do you deep water start???

Basic rule of barefooting is weight divided by 10 multiplied by 2.
So 180 lbs would need to go about 36.
If you start on a knee board and get outside the wake before you stand up, it can be done behind any boat that will go fast enough.

Troy, according to that rule I would need to go 51 mph. haha I usually go 40-42, can stay up at 32.

deepwater start goes like this. make sure you have a barefoot suit. lay down in the water on your back, put your feet on top of the rope. when the boat starts going, arch your back and stick your head back, in the water. once you start planing sit up a little. if you want, you can "cheek out" which basically is leaning on one of your buttcheeks to steer to the outside of the wake where the water is smoother. slowly bring your feet back towards your butt and knees up to your chest. then put your feet in the water gently. having your feet and butt in the water is commonly refered to as the "3-point" or "tripod" and it is a very stable position. once you are in 3 point and the boat is up to speed you can slowly sand up. stance is: shoulders back, chest out, your feet should be under you, knees together.

I have never done the kneeboard thing, seems like it would be hard to keep it stable. I have done it on a wakeboard on shortline (5ft handle section tied to the end of the boom)

I HIGHLY reccomend using a boom, and HIGHLY reccomend having a good footer teach you. It is pretty safe and not too hard if you do it right, if you wing it and don't know what you are doing you can get hurt pretty bad. Also, having a good falling instinct really helps cut down on painful falls. tuck and roll is so much better than faceplant at 40mph.

One other thing, I would never foot in water that has any debris floating in it. I know people who have shattered their leg bones doing such. I had a roommate who had a piece of soft marsh grass imbed itself (like a big sliver) in his foot.

You need to divided by 10 and add 20 to that number for your speed.

Go for it Tye.
It's a rush plowing through the water on just your bare feet. Like Tim said though the first thing they'll teach you is how to fall. Fetal position or pay the piper. The Hydroslide is easy, but most likely they'll have you hang on to the boom and lower yourself into the water once the boat gets up to speed. It's pretty easy from the boom cause you can basically hold yourself up and if you fall you most likely will remain hanging on to the boom and not face plant. Then when you get comfortable they'll add the pig tail (barefoot handle) and have you start on the Hydroslide or swing out from the boom. No worries.

Also, good idea to make a pass with just the boat if your worried about debris in the water, but Seipel will know what up.

Ok Tim, you called me on that one! Thats what i get for getting my info from a 1979 issue of Water Ski mag. HA. I guess adding 20 does seem better LEE.

Amazingly enough...I think faceplants wakeboarding at slower speeds have been much worse then the faceplants I did when trying to barefoot off the boom.
I think it's important to add that having a good boat driver...who knows how to drive for barefooting is key...shouldn't be a problem at the clinic. Good luck Tye...be sure to wear the padded suit

(Message edited by susieq on July 24, 2003)

I foot a lot and Tim's got it pretty much right on. I don't think you can have a formula for speed though. Depending on surface conditions, foot size and weight, everybody I know foots between 36-40. A little slower for backwards and a little faster for one foot.
Forget the kneeboards, its harder to ride one on your ass at 40, than it is to foot. Plus you have to keep going back for it.
I have footed with Mike several times and he's a great instructor. I learn more in a day with him than most summers on my own.

You don't have to hit any debris to fracture bones. While doing tumbleturns with a handle attached to the boom, I caught my leading edge while sideways,rolled, and my right knee caught the water and SNAP...femur fracture. I had done hundreds of them before and had never even considered this as a possibility.

Speed really depends on technique. I used to run at 38-41 depending on conditions. I could run backwards at 35 or so though.
Used to pull front to backs, back to fronts, slalom and jump when I was about 16.
Now I need a boat that does at least 45mph to feel happy on a long line and my 190 tops out at around 39 so I rarely foot anymore.
Shame cos the feel of the speed is awsome.

Barefoot jumping is crazy. I tell people about it that don't know any better and they look at me like "are you serious?".
What's even sicker is the front flip. We used to try them, but I don't think we ever rode away from one.