Taking it to the flats - Minimizing impact?

Been riding for about 6 months. Beg or Beggining Int rider. W2W Heelside both reg and switch..and just starting to get toeside down. Doing grabs Reg...and just did my first grab switch HS W2W today. I have a good progressive edge, and can clear W2W with good height using a very short approach.

I usually ride behind my Sanger V210...and have never purposesly tried to take it out into the flats. With the weight I run in the 210, to take it out into the flats...I will be way higher than I am comfortable with, given my experience.

Today I rode behind a Malibu...and it had a very nice, gradual wake, without as much lip at the top...so I could hit it with a lot more speed without getting crazy high. So I took a few really wide cuts and jumped out into the flats (over the uphill of the trough) to get a feel for it.

As much as I aspire to do the big power moves out into the flats (front to fakie, raley, big tantrums), I am not sure that taking out into the flats is for me. The hits were pretty hard. Any tips on softening the impact?..and yes I bend my knees. Should I land a bit tail first?

landing on an edge and not the flat of your board is important and the more speed u carry the easier the landing i do some on my clip- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW4fKqnYkYA

have you thought about working on technique prior to landing, such as shortening your cut and standing taller, concentrating on taking it up rather than out? maybe lengthening your rope another 5 feet?

There are a few things that can be done to lessen the impact of taking your tricks into the flats. Obviously absorbing the impact with your knees/back. Backing the rope out some. Use a board with a "spine" that won't land so flat.

The simple fact is though, that the physics of coming down and landing on a flat surface is always going to be a lot more abusive on your body than using the opposing wake as a landing ramp. I'm 25 yrs old and have been riding over 10 years. I used to do everything I could as large as I could go (it might be worth mentioning I didn't always ride behind a tower/pylon and wakes werent half the size they are now), but even at my age i have begun to do a lot more of my stuff wake to wake. I'd like to still be doing this when Im 40 and if that means not taking a raley edge into everything, that's something Im willing to sacrifice.

Also, at 18 I weighed in somewhere in the range of 170 and right now Im 6'1" and about 200 lbs. 7 more years of beating my body up behind the boat + an additional 30 lbs. also influences my 'wake to wake'ing' a lot more often now as well.


EDIT: For an example of this - Go watch Parks Bonifay's section in 12 Honkeys and look at the knee troubles hes had in recent years. You WILL indeed pay a price for those 30 foot high Indy Glides

(Message edited by focker on June 23, 2009)

There is some good advice going on here. If you want to practice the into the flats stuff behind your sanger you can give it a try with no ballast. I also tend to like the boat to speed up about 1 mph but that also depends on what board im riding. My biggest piece of advice though comes from my experience riding steep wakes like nautiques. That is, either bomb them way into the flats or go wake to wake. The hardest landings typically are right outside the downside of the wake. It helps to ride a board that carries some speed on the landings. Speed and line tension are your friend so it might not be a terrible idea to take your normal line legnth with no ballast or a little less than normal and just get after it

First congrats on the progression.

Always spot your landings. Being able to exactly time the landing is critical for your body to soak it up. My worse hits are when I did not or could not spot my landing early enough. Do not land flat and try to land on an edge or a little more on the tail. If you ride a flex board, landing tail heavy will absorb a lot of the impact.

You can try different boards and to me the softness of the landing is the most important factor when I shop a deck. Look for spines, more continuous rockers, and flex to soften the landings.

im suprised byrom isnt on this thread saying get a slingshot!!!!!!
hahahahahaha just messing with ya dude
i hate to say it but theres not much you can do, just land on edge and if your trying to tke it to the flats id stick with a continuous rocker because they will land faster therefore reducing the amount of stress you will have with a 3 stage rocker coming straight down on the water out there thats my .02 but i probably got something wrong in that statement.

I'm going to stick my neck out on this one and say that I disagree with a lot of the advice being offered.

STRONG LEGS = SOFT LANDINGS.

There is no infomercial answer to this problem. Just put in a little work 2-3 times a week at the gym.

Tony/bmartin, I think those are some good pointers for me. I was not really anticipating my landing edge, and not really spotting my landing. I think I was landing a little bit tail first, but with the board not on edge at all/flat side to side.

Prehaps I will do some W2W jumps and try to really land with a strong edge, to build the muscle memory...then take that out into the flats.

I do know this...every time I have thought about going out there on my V210 I was scared to death...but behind the Bu...I did not even worry...I just did it.

Always good to regularly ride behind different types of boats I think....

What kind of board do you ride? If you get a CWB Marius, hard landings will NEVER be an issue. Although, any board with a center spine should work pretty well.

Hey no Problem Kyle,... but since you mentioned it.... ;)

what has been said already i think is great. and here is a little quote from the last Randall Replies about his first (Randall) experiences on the Company wakeboards that feature flex. we all know how big randall goes into the flats...

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quote:

I immediately noticed that the board had a much more lively feel. The amount of flex enabled me to load the tip or tail up on tricks and, in some cases, create more pop. Another huge benefit for me was that upon landing, the board would flatten out somewhat and rocket forward, hence faster landings.

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if you want to read more into it check it out here
http://www.wakeworld.com/getarticle.asp?articleid=2173

you might also consider SINE. flex AND a center spine

personally i have not ridden a company board or a sine board, only slingshot when it comes to boards with flex. not only do they land soft but just make the ride generally more fun in my opinion, even for a guy of a humble pocket of tricks like me

(Message edited by wakerider111 on June 24, 2009)

Harrelson, I gotta give it to ya. You always have good contribution in any technical or knowledge thread.

I ride a LF Witness 140 with SlingShot D2's

x2 for center spine helps a ton

Ride a board that is wider and larger in size...softer landings fasho.

If youre looking to a different board to soften up landings, I definitely reccommend any of the new flex boards or the CWB Marius in a 140. Extremely wide through the tip and tail and has 2 center spines...

Tony,

What did you shoot that video with?

I would definitely have to agree with Harrelson on this one. You have to have strong legs. Stay trim, lose a few pounds and build up your leg muscles. I personally think that landing in the flats is actually pretty soft. What really hurts is not quite making the w2w. If you have strong legs and absorb the impact with knees and waist you won't even notice it.

Interesting stuff
I never purposefully jump into the flats because it always hurts my old knees.
I ride an new ERA that has a very aggressive 3-Stage rocker.
I have never been a fan of continuous shapes, maybe I should reconsider.
The local Pro's on my lake all ride continuous rockers and go big and way out into the flats.
I wonder if an Aggressive - Continuous might be a good idea for improving my sessions?

I moved from the Watson 142 (3 stage) to the 09 Legend 145 (continuous) and with the small problem of catching the end of my board on the wake every once in awhile on load and release tricks I have been very happy. The damn board is so long it seems to catch sometimes, which my Watson did not. IMO they seem to land about the same in the flats. (Which I rarely do.)