hmm, i'd have to say i disagree with j-rod. i didn't think waketrix was close to higher education. dentention is good too - but has the disadvantage (like waketrix), of having the majority of the tricks being demonstrated and explained by one person (shaun murray in dentention, darin shapiro in waketrix).
certainly in terms of amount of content waketrix doesn't hold a candle to either. well less than half the amount of tricks are covered. dentention and higher education were both originally two volumes on vhs, so you're getting a LOT more instruction on tricks - although granted the majority of the tricks are far beyond the average rider.
here's the waketrix trick list:
bunch of basic stuff (getting up, carving, etc.)
fs 180s
ts/hs/fs 3s (no backside spins other than the hs 180 are explained)
bs hs 180
back roll
ts back roll
roll2revert
ts roll2revert
tantrum
ts front
scarecrow
raley
and that's it. no mobes. no tantrum to revert. no bs spins or fs spins more than 3s. no hs front. no ts bs 180. no inverts with grabs.
they list a ton of other tricks on the jacket because they show up in the "progression" section of each trick section - but the progression sections are just riding footage of riders doing more advanced versions of the trick you just learned (sometimes just with grabs, other times, like with the tantrum, the progression section includes t2bs, moby
, etc.). they're not instruction.
there is a feature that gives you a quick bit of extra instruction from mike ferraro, who i know from personal experience (having attended darin shapiro's the spot where mike subbed for him a couple of days), is an excellent coach. however i don't feel much of his expertise comes thru in these short vignettes.
to be honest, so far the best instructionals i've found are free and right
here on this site. especially the ones by mike mclin and the blind 180 with dave briscoe. these are much more step by step and include excellent hints and techniques.
for instance, although he demonstrates it while performing the trick, neither darin nor mike explain that on the hs bs 180 (and ts fs 3s), one major mistake folks do is land trying to look at the boat. watch most of the pros on their hs bs 180s. they land looking back at the shore or even back (as mike mclin suggests), at the boat wake. that has been the most helpful hint i've discovered for myself and others in attempting this trick (overrotation being one of the biggest mistakes in those tricks). yet it's not mentioned by darin or mike in the explanation for those tricks. but it is on both instructionals on wakeworld.
personally i can't wait for kyle schmidts "the book." that full dvd set looks awesome.