Wakeboarding is one of the most fun and adrenaline-inducing sports you can ever try out. While it’s fast, furious, and exciting, it can be intimidating and difficult for first-timers. Sometimes it can be painful since you’ll experience getting wiped out several times.

However, don’t let that deter you. All you need is the right wakeboard gear and some confidence you need to acquire within you to get started. This article will give you some basic tips on how to wakeboard.

What is Wakeboarding?

Wakeboarding is an amalgamation of water skiing, surfing, and snowboarding. The wakeboarder stands on a wakeboard (that looks similar to a snowboard) while being towed behind a Skicraft boat (or any other motor boat, specifically a wakeboarding boat) across the wake (just like water skiing). With the big waves caused by the boat helping you glide along the water, it can also allow you to maneuver in different directions and even perform aerial tricks. Now that you know what wakeboarding is in a basic sense, now it’s time to delve more into details about doing the sport and the equipment you need for it:

Choose the Right-Sized Wakeboard

The secret to nailing the wakeboarding sport, you need to find the right wakeboard size for you. When choosing a wakeboard, consider your height, weight, and wakeboarding skill level. Find a wakeboard that fits you and the type of expert level it is used for. Finding the right wakeboard size can help you balance yourself on the water’s surface. You can shop for wakeboards in marine boat stores.

Tie the Rope to the Motorboat

For you to glide along the water, you need a good tow rope to hold on to. You need a rope that is sturdy enough to hold you. When you have the two ropes already, here’s how you will tie them to the motorboat; tie up the rope as short as you can to the boat. It’ll increase the amount of upward pull from the boat, allowing you to stand steadily when gliding.

Set Your Wakeboard Properly

The next thing to do is to set up your wakeboard. Ensure your feet are shoulder-width apart and slightly turned out. This will help you be more stable when you glide through the water. You also need to stand facing outwards toward the back of the boat. This allows you to sit on the swim step and squat your way into the water.

Get Lined Up With the Wakeboard Boat

When wakeboarding, you need to let the boat do the hard work for you. To start, get lined up with the boat with your arms straight, resting on your knees. Once the boat starts moving, let your knees bent toward your chest. This will help you get up while on the water. Resist the temptation to straighten your legs, hold this position until you’re over the top of your wakeboard.

Getting Up on a Wakeboard

Now, this is the tricky part. It’s okay if you don’t get it the first time or second time or third time or even the fourth time. As long as you don’t give up it’s fine, eventually, you will master this and the succeeding steps will be a breeze for you.All right, so the first step is to stand up slowly once you’re completely over the top of your wakeboard. Once you’re standing up, gently rotate your dominant foot to the back and away from the boat. Once you get the hang of it, you can shift your rotation direction to another. Now you’re finally wakeboarding.

Turning on a Wakeboard

If you can easily get up on a wakeboard, it’s time to your skill by turning. There are two techniques for doing this; they are called toe side and heel side. To do a heel-side turn, put pressure on your heels to dig the back edge of the board into the water. To do a toe-side turn, put pressure on your toes to dig the front edge of the board into the water. Toe-side turns are quite difficult to do for novice wakeboarders but the trick is to stand up straight (as much as you can) and lean into the rope. If you have trouble maintaining your balance, arch your back to increase the leverage. Avoid leaning in the direction you’re turning to.