You have been wakeboarding for a little while and now you find yourself comfortable on the water, able to get up and stay up on the board easily, and having generally mastered the wakeboarding basics. With confidence on the board, you feel ready to take on new, more challenging, tricks. Intermediate wakeboarding tricks use almost everything you learned as a beginner and take it a step further (sometimes literally), to add more complexity, bigger airs, and a greater sense of satisfaction. This guide is going to walk you through a few key wakeboarding tricks you may want to pick up at the intermediate level, but first we will briefly go over how to transition from the beginner to intermediate stages, and then give an overview of the setup you need as you advance your wakeboarding skills.
Transitioning from Beginner to Intermediate Wakeboarding
An intermediate wakeboarder is one who has mastered those wakeboarding basics, such as heelside, toeside and jumping wake-to-wake. This requires proper body positioning, footing and stance, so be sure that you have these skills down before you attempt anything on this list. And be prepared to go back to the beginning – remember splashing into the water more often than not? This very well might be your wakeboarding experience again as you tackle these new tricks, but as long as you have followed the steps we outlined in our guide to transitioning from beginner to intermediate wakeboarding, then you just have to remind yourself that practice makes perfect. Be patient with yourself – you know you can do this, or you would not be here!
Wake Setup for Intermediate Wakeboarding
Your setup for intermediate wakeboarding will be similar to the one you used as a beginner, but there are some key points worth mentioning here. First, you should try to increase your wake size slightly by adding a ballast or friends (for additional body weight on the boat). This will increase your wake size and make landing these new tricks easier. Second, you might want to increase the boat’s speed and let out the rope a little longer as this will give you more freedom to successfully pull off these tricks. Take note that while this can help you get more air, it can also make wakeboarding a little more dangerous and add a bit more sting should the tricks fail. Be sure to wear proper safety gear any time you are on the water. Other than that, you should already have everything else you need, so you are ready to take on some new tricks!
Intermediate Wakeboarding Tricks
Once you’ve mastered the basic wakeboarding moves and tricks and you’ve adjusted your wake setup to accommodate more advanced tricks it’s time to begin practicing some intermediate wakeboarding tricks. Here are just a few of the tricks we’d recommend trying:
Scarecrow
The Scarecrow might seem a bit intimidating at first, but many wakeboarders will tell you they actually find this one to be relatively easy to pull off. Basically, you are going to combine a toeside front roll with a frontside 180. Start by keeping your chest up with your shoulders turned into the wake as you edge out wide. At the wake, turn your head towards the boat and over your front shoulder to start the rotation.
Tip: Keep both hands on the handle at all times throughout the rotation and hold it tight to your body.
Tantrum
The tantrum is a heelside backflip and is a crucial trick to master if you plan to move on to advanced wakeboarding. Start by cutting out wide, approaching the wake with a little bit of aggression to get air. As you approach the wake, square your shoulders toward it and prepare to let off your edge. The goal is to go backwards, feet over head in the air, so you will need to let go of the handle with your back hand and throw it up and over your head to start the motion. Remember to bend your knees and keep our chest up for landing.
Tip: Practice doing a backflip on a trampoline or off a diving board to help get a feel for the movements.
Back Roll
The heelside back roll is one of the first wakeboard flips you should learn. It looks similar to a cartwheel as you rotate sideways over the water. To do it, start by going hard and wide then shift your weight into your back foot, throwing your head and shoulders up and to the right. Maintain your hold on the handle as you bring your knees up to your chest throughout the rotation, landing with your knees bent before straightening out. You can also do a similar move with a toeside revert.
Roll to Revert
You might already be familiar with a roll, which is essentially what it sounds like, but if you are unfamiliar with the term revert, just know that it means landing with your opposite foot forward. In a roll to revert, you are going to start off moving towards the wake in a squat-like position, holding the heelside edge. You are then going to move through the wake and pop up at the top, extending your body while holding the handle down and throwing your lead side up into the air.
Tip: When learning this move, wakeboarders often pop up too early, so you may need to practice the timing of this move a few times before you get it right.
Heelside Frontside 360
A very popular trick for wakeboarders, the heelside frontside 360 looks great on the water and is a fundamental spin you want to perfect. You will start the trick by approaching the wake, standing tall as you near the top and edging through. As you launch into the air, turn your shoulders toward the boat. Pull the handle to your back hip and let go of it with your front hand, passing it to your lead hand behind your back. Keep your chest tall and bend your knees as you prepare for landing.
Pro Tip for Learning Wakeboarding Tricks: Learning is best done by doing, but sometimes it can be difficult to envision exactly what a wakeboarding trick should look like from reading alone. We recommend looking up videos online of other wakeboarders sharing their moves so you can get a better image of what you should be doing when you perform a move on the water. On Monster Tower’s YouTube channel you’ll find a variety of wakeboarding trick tutorials with professional wakeboarders, Cobe and Tarah Mikacich.
Advanced Wakeboarding Tricks
Once you have worked through this list and can successfully land each one, you might be craving more. We want to note here that this list was curated to suggest only some of the most popular wakeboarding tricks, and it is far from being comprehensive. There are many more tricks out there you can learn at this level before you move on to tackling even more advanced wakeboarding moves – and we recommend taking your time before you progress. Check that you have your foundation built with reliable, solid basics and core skills and tricks. This is what will help you achieve success in the long run!
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