Wakeboarding, rider and the driver question?

Question

Bought a wakeboard and our family knows how to waterski.

With the wakeboard, does the driver of the boat need to gun it to get you out of the water, or should it be done slowly.

What other tips do you have to help get a beginner out of the water?

Hubby tried 4 times and our son tried several times, and neither one could get out of the water.

*************Saw an advertisment that one should never learn how to wakeboard from the back of the boat, but a boom that sticks out the side of the boat. Opinion on that one, please.

Answer 1

Yes you need to punch it in order for them to be able to get up, there is a fine line between hitting it too hard and not giving it enough.  It also depends what kind of boat you have.  Getting up is tricky but once they acomplish it once they'll alawyas be able to.  The toe edge of the board needs to be facing upwards and the boarders knees need to bent bent like they're sitting in a chair and once the boat takes off they need to stand up and pull the rope to their waist.

Answer 2

All right, the best thing to do is gun it. Have the ride yell "Hit it!" And when they do that gun it until they get up, then let off a little.  If you don't gun it, they're gonna hold on for as long as they can, and then they're gonna face plant. (experience)

Also to get out of the water, it's much different than waterskiing, you don't pull yourself up and out. If you do that, it's going to end in a face plant. You have to be patient and just hold on. Let the boat pull you up. Just keep your grip until you're up.

The rope should be between your  knees with your arms on the inside of your knees also. If your arms are outside your legs, you're gonna fall.  

Your board should be straight up at a 90º  angle in the water. If it's not, you may fall.

It does help if you learn on a boom, but that really doesn't do much but get you used to being up on the water and holding on, which waterskiing  should have done.

I learned behind a boat. And truthfully, getting up is the hardest thing until you start trying to pull off tricks. So don't worry about the boom, because if you learn on that, you're still going to have problems getting up behind a boat.

Good luck! Stick with the sport! It's truthfully fun. You'll get up eventually, my 50 year old father  did! : ]

Answer 3

booms are sweet... but only for girlie boys. its an unnecessary thing in the sport. your driver doesn't want to gun it, or hit it, or anything else that is too extreme a change in speed. the term needed here is finesse. the driver, ideally, should watch in the rear-view mirror the boarder. you can see when to give it a bit more or a bit less. I learned this lesson well Sunday. I am used to pulling my 230+ lb hubbie out of the water and was teaching a 130 lb woman. I gave it entirely too much and then realized that it was driver error. next time up I just eased her out. I looked down and I was traveling a whopping 6 MPH!     the main thing i see when teaching newbies is the board and body going under. that means the boarder is laying too far back. keep in a compact form. as the boat moves just lock yourself in and be pulled. I think "stomach crunch" to gain the proper body position

Answer 4

The term I use when pulling a wake-boarder up is "roll-it".  We gun it more for big men on water-ski's, but you roll the throttle for a wake boarder.  It's gentle and you really will be pulling your boarder under 18 mph so you don't have to hit it hard.  We generally have our boarder say "drag" when their ready and I give them just a little drag to cause tension in the rope then "hit-it" with the roll on the throttle.  It's easier than hitting it from a stand still.  Have your boarder think the process through so they mentally have an idea of what their bodies should do.  Like the others have mentioned, put your knees in a sitting position, your arms will be pulled up then your legs, then the board will turn once your up.  You don't have to fight the board like you do a ski, allow yourself to just stand up once you have tension and some drag.  I've pulled up many boarders that couldn't get up from other boats, be gentle.  (we're pulling with a centerion water ski boat) Good Luck, you'll all get it.