The ultimate goal when you’re first learning how to wakeboard is getting up and staying up on the board. There are many factors to learning how to accomplish these goals, and we want to share them with you! Keep reading to find out how to get up and stay up on your wakeboard.
Getting Up on the Wakeboard
Before you can perform tricks on the water, you have to learn how to get up on your board. First, you’ll want to get in the water with your feet in the bindings. Relax in the water and sit upright. The board will float out in front of you, and you should be holding onto the row rope. To get up on the board when the boat starts to pull you, you should remember to do these 3 things:
- Keep your arms straight
- Keep your knees bent
- Let the board do the work of pulling you out of the water
When the rope gets tight and the boat slowly accelerates, really focus on keeping your knees as bent as possible. You want to roll your heels down under your bottom, while keeping your knees at your chest. Keep your feet, knees, and shoulders facing the boat. Look straight ahead and not at your feet. You’ll stay in this crouched position until the board rises completely out of the water.
When it comes to a deep water start, getting up on the board is a little different than a regular water start. Unlike a regular water start, with a deep water start, your board will be underwater. You’ll have to balance your board under you before the boat starts moving and the rope you are holding onto tightens. You should be facing the boat so your board is parallel to it. Once the boat starts pulling you, put slight pressure and weight on your heels to create a positive angle of the board so it slices through the water and you slowly get up to the surface of the water. By creating this angle, you will rise out of the water and glide on its surface.
One of the best ways to ensure you can easily get up on your board is to use a wakeboard tower on your boat. By using one of these towers, you elevate the tow point of the tow rope. When the tow point is elevated, you can get up on your board much more easily than if you didn’t use a wakeboard tower. You also get more air with an elevated tow point when you do tricks.
Staying Up on the Wakeboard
Once you’re up on the board, you’ll need to learn how to stay up on the wakeboard. Most of the tips we have for preventing you from falling involve proper body positioning. You should evenly distribute your weight on your board while you put a little more pressure on your rear foot. Once you’re up, you should keep your knees slightly bent instead of making them straight. By keeping your knees bent, you will absorb impact from the water. Your elbows should stay straight as you hold onto the tow rope. The tow rope should be held in front of your hips. Keep your head up and your eyes up.
Mistakes Beginners Make When Getting Up and Staying Up on the Board
You want to be sure you avoid these mistakes when you’re learning how to get up on your wakeboard.
Standing Up Too Quickly
Many riders try to stand up too quickly, which will cause them to fall forward. Once you are on top of the water, stand up slowly, like you are rising from a squat. This will help reduce your chances of falling.
Improper Board Placement
Another mistake new riders make is keeping the board in front of them and it plows too much water. If you bring your heels down to create a position angle with the board and stay balled up for longer than you think you need to, there should be very little resistance coming out of the water. If you keep your weight and pressure on the board even, you’ll stay at that level in the water. If you put more pressure on your toes to create a negative angle, you will sink back into the water.
Bending Elbows
If you have your elbows slightly bent as you’re trying to come out of the water, you will fall forwards. You will want to straighten your arms as you hold onto the tow rope yet keep them relaxed.
Straightening Legs
You may think you need to straighten your legs as you come up out of the water, but this is another newbie mistake. The entire time you are getting up on the board and on the water, you’ll want to keep your knees bent towards your chest until you are almost all the way up. Then you’ll want to stand up slowly but keep your knees slightly bent once you’re on the board.
We hope these tips for getting up and staying up on the wakeboard help you! Want to know even more about how your body should be positioning when you’re on the water? Check out our proper positioning for wakeboarding beginners guide.
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