New to wakeboarding

[firemedicjoe]

Hello all,

In the offseason this year i would like to buy a wakeboard and I have a few questions about it before I buy one.

1. Will my boat handle it? I have an 18ft larson with a 4.3L engine in it.

2. Am I too big? I'm 6ft 230lbs.

3. What is a good beginner wake board?

4. Do I need any special equipment to wakeboard? Tower etc.

5. What are some good conditioning exercises to do in the offseason to better prepare me?

Any advice would be great!!

 

[340demon]

Re: New to wakeboarding

I just learned this summer to wakeboard, actually getting up on the board consistantly for the first time 2 weeks ago.
I believe I can help answer your questions but I am sure you will get plenty of excellent advice. Now for my experiance.

1. You are a little light on the details about you boat but the short answer is yes it will handle it. I have a Chaparral 180 ssi with the 190 hp 4.3. It is the first boat that got me out of the water. One thing I did for it though was put a 4 blade prop on it. Kept the same RPM as the previous 3 blade and lost 2 MPH at top. Made a ton of difference out of the hole.

2. I am 6'3" and 250lbs so you are not to big.

3. This is what I cannot answer for you. I found a board big enough for me, you will want to research size charts, on craigslist with bindings, rope and handle for a really good price. My friends who have been wakeboarding for years have said it is not a good beginners board, very aggressive. Others hear should be able to answer this for you or go to some boat dealers that sale boards.

4. You will need a none stretch rope. You don't need a tower. I would also recomend water gloves. While learning I had the rope ripped out of my hands many times and they got torn up. You may be lucky and not have that problem but why take the chance.

5. After my first weekend of attemps the first thing I realized was that I could not get in a tight ball to get up. I would recomend doing squats with no weight and make sure to go as low as possible with your feet at least shoulder width apart. Once your up you will feel it in your back and hands. Any grip excersizes should help and rows will help condition your back.

These are just what I have found from my summer of learning. Notice I said summer, I first tried Memorial Weekend. We went out probably 5 other day trips and 3 days into a week vacation before I was up on the water consitantly. You may get frustrated, you may also get right up after a few times, my 16 year old got up after 3 mornings of attemps. You will get tired, I don't think any conditioning can help with that as I go to the gym regularly, running up to 2 miles at a time, weight training, other cardio and it still kicked my butt.

My best piece of advice, watch every YouTube video on getting up on the board you can find. There are a few technics to getting up, I used some pieces of a couple different videos to get up. My friends have never seen anyone get up the way I do, I couldn't get up the way they were telling me to. Everybody is different. Hopefully at least some of this will help.

 

[firemedicjoe]

Re: New to wakeboarding

I found this one on Craig's list..... Any thoughts?

ROMIX WAKEBOARD

It's 56inches

 

[deejaycee_2000]

Re: New to wakeboarding

That's a good board, go for it (",)

 

[skydiveD30571]

Re: New to wakeboarding

Surprised the owner can't even spell Ronix right. Anyways, everything they make is top notch and that's a good price. Enjoy!

 

[slothman]

Re: New to wakeboarding

just remember: Use you back leg as the main controller. Heel and toe for turning. Lean back a little and don't lock your legs up !

 

[theBrownskull]

Re: New to wakeboarding

I would get a beginner/intermediate board first. If you get better at it then you can try a different model. If you don't like it you are not out a bunch of cash. Hydroslide makes a good board and it is not expensive. Ronix and Liquid Force are good boards but more costly. Check out the links below.

Welcome to Nash Manufacturing // Nash Manufacturing

The House

Beginner-Intermediate Wakeboards | evo

 

[Liquid_force]

Re: New to wakeboarding

1. Wakeboarding is very low stress on both the boat and the rider.
I learned behind my brother's Seadoo SP (2 seater, 40hp). We spent several seasons behind a 16' glassmaster with a 115 OB. That boat STRUGGLED to get slalom skiers up. WB is not an issue at all. Grandpa's flat bottom 40hp bass boat would pull wakeboarder w/o a problem.

2. I'm 5'11", 205 and love it. At 230 it just means you need a board on the larger end of the scale. I'd stick to 140cm+, 142-145 preferably.

3. I'd consider any of the entry-intermediate level boards from the reputable brands -- Hyperlite, Liquid Force, CWB -- a few others. Good bindings are critical, and good bindings for a beginner won't be the most expensive. I would look mainly for an easy entry/exit boot. Laces are a bit tedious IMO, but in the beginner boots you'll find a lot of them -- they're fine.
Liquid Force Index boots come to mind. That's what I'm using. Not quite enough support for me, but easy in/out -- a boot I think most beginners would like.

4. Towers are way over-rated IMO. I have one. It's handy, it looks cool and it's a convenient place to store boards. But having the rope up high makes little to no difference your actual riding. It might amount to another inch or two of height once you get to jumping, but for a beginner virtually no improvement.
Just get a good rope with removable sections. Ideal length varies with the boat's wake and your preferred speed, but typically something around 60' works best. It doesn't have to be a NO stretch rope, but LOW stretch would be nice. Wide handles are nice, but not really a factor until you're ready to start learning tricks.

5. Running of any kind -- cardio in general. I consider myself to be in pretty good shape, but when I'm not in "lake" shape all it takes is a minute (literally) of hard riding and I'm winded. This year I've been running a lot and my endurance is greatly improved. Wakeboarding isn't that physically demanding of all the tow sports, but strength in all the obvious areas would be helpful. Back, shoulders, upper leg muscles etc.

 

[Liquid_force]

Re: New to wakeboarding

I found this one on Craig's list..... Any thoughts?

ROMIX WAKEBOARD

It's 56inches

That would be the RoNix Arcade 142. Should be big enough for you. A little bit of an advanced style, but I seriously doubt it would impede your learning curve. Boots look pretty standard beginner-intermediate. As long as they fit they should be fine.

 

[theBrownskull]

Re: New to wakeboarding

That would be the RoNix Arcade 142. Should be big enough for you. A little bit of an advanced style, but I seriously doubt it would impede your learning curve. Boots look pretty standard beginner-intermediate. As long as they fit they should be fine.

I agree. I would go for it. If it doesn't work for you just sell it for $160.00..lol

 

[firemedicjoe]

Re: New to wakeboarding

So I've been out for the past couple of weeks trying to get up on my wakeboard and am having some problems. Here is what i'm running into. I cant get the board on top of the water. It generally stay about 1 inch below the waterline. I'm guessing the problem is me. I have had my wife try starting out slow and I've also had her "give it the beans" when starting out. No matter fast or slow same problem. Any thoughts?

 

[theBrownskull]

Re: New to wakeboarding

It sounds like you are doing it correctly. Just make sure your legs are bent. I have the boat driver, once in gear, move the throttle forward at a medium pace so that I can get up on the water without having my arms pulled out of my sockets. Once up on the surface of the water, depending upon conditions, I have the driver speed up until I am at 20-22 MPH which is my preferred speed. Your boat should have more that enough power to get you up. I am wondering how the boat does without pulling a person. If it is slow to plane without pulling a person maybe it is over propped and you don't have a "hole shot." If the boat planes out fine it will just take practice which is frustrating but gives you time to have a beer between trys..lol.

I sent a link to a couple of Youtube videos that can help. One of the videos is old but it will give you the idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvB98KAatK8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdsXbWfagHc

 

[340demon]

Re: New to wakeboarding

It sounds like you are having the same issue that I was fighting when I started this summer. 2 things I started doing that I feel helped the most was to push my toes forward, then when the boat pulls let my body compress so my rear was as close to the boots as it could get. My drivers always start full on.

This is the video that helped me the most. It has good graphical visuals.
Wakeboard Instructional - Getting Up - YouTube

 

[mendler]

Re: New to wakeboarding

You're not too big, I have no problem going behind my 16' boat with a 3.0L and I'm 6'3" 200lbs. Starting out of the water will be your biggest challenge. Remember to keep your board perpendicular to the rope to start and once your butt lifts out of the water to start turning your board. LET THE BOAT PULL YOU, don't try to bring yourself up with your arms.
A tower is helpful to get you out of the water on start and when you begin to hit the wake but not a necessity. Don't get frustrated when you fall, it's pretty much the nature of the sport.
You could do lunges to strengthen your quads on the offseason, you back leg is an important muscle for the sport.
Enjoy!