GETTING UP ON A WAKEBOARD

Welcome to wakeboarding and your first maneuver, how to get up. First get into your binding and slip into the water with the wakeboard in front of you. If you are regular foot (left foot forward) the board will be pointing to your left. If you are goofy foot (right foot forward), the board will be pointing to your right. (Photo 1). Yell "hit it" to the boat driver and as the boat starts to pull, keep your legs bent and the board pointed toward one side (Photo 2). As the speed increases, keep your legs bent and lean a little forward to keep the board flat. (Photo 3).

As the board begins to plane, keep you weight lightly forward which is unlike waterskiing where weight is usually back (Photo 4). Since a wakeboard is so wide, it is less likely to take a tip dive when compared to a water-ski. If you sit back too much when getting up on a wake board, it can become unstable and may slide out from under you. As speed increases, slowly stand up over the board into the riding position(Photo 5).

________Photo 6_____________________________Photo 7________

Shown above is rear view of the rider. Photo 6 shows the ready position. Photo 7 shows the initial pull as the boat starts to speed up.

________Photo 8_____________________________Photo 9________

Rotate the board slowly in the direction of travel while keeping the knees and ankles bent (Photo 8). As you start to rise from the water the resistance decreases and you should stand more over the board (Photo 9)

________Photo 10_____________________________Photo 11________

Stand up more as shown in Photo 10 and finally lean back in the riding position as how in Photo 11. Photo 12 shows the rider out side the wake in a relaxed position.

_______________Photo 12_____________

________Photo 13_____________________________Photo 14________

Photo 13 shows the one handed riding position which allows the lower body to be less twisted but is tiring to the holding arm. Photo 14 shows the two handed rope holding position which shares the load between the arms but does require some body twist to hold the position. Both position are typically used by riders.

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