Low Rope Tension
 

What is the best way to get less tension on the rope? I always feel when I jump the wake I am getting pulled forward in the air and when I land?

It really depends on your approach, body positioning, and arm location (handle position). A video would be very helpful to be able to be more specific with ya. A couple things that may help though:

1. Progressive edge. Start with a light edge and ensure that you edge ALL the way through the wake. Hardest part of the edge should be at the top of the wake.

2. Handle positions, a lot of people will jump with their arms out. Handle should be nice and low, around the belly button with arms fairly flexed, 90 degrees or close as you can get. (I'm assuming this is heel side as most start with heel w2w).

3. Stance, athletic, I tend to ride with 60% weight on my back foot especially when jumping. Nice low squat like you are sitting in a chair before you hit the wake. A lot of people will squat mid-cut on approach, I would highly suggest cutting out, squat then initiate your edge back to the wake. When you squat mid-cut you tend to lose your edge.

Hey aaron, the best thing to do is check out something like LearnWake.com or Shaun Murray's Detention series. They shows you the proper edge control and handle position. I think if you look online you can find some of the tutorials for free. It is mostly due to edge control and body position.

Than have one of your buddies film you and compare it to the videos you see online.

Another thought is a 1 day lesson and a wakeboard camp. They will be able to square you up in one set.

Reducing line tension happens when you accelerate faster on your board than the boat, and then back off of edge (coast). And by pulling the handle hard to your body to advance yourself toward the boat.

For example....edge out into the flats as hard as you can, then back off of your edge quickly and stand straight up. Notice how the line goes slack. The same concept is used when jumping.....which is why I disagree with the whole progressive edge....edge your hardest as you go up the wake thing. That's something you tell a beginner to get them to start going wake to wake.

For most tricks requiring low tension, the rider take a smooth edge into the wake, backs off at the last second, pops, tugs the handle as they pop to advance toward the boat, and get the slack they need.

I do agree that attempting a wake jump with your arms / handle way out in front of you can also create the high tension feel, which sounds like your problem. Proper technique is to pull the handle to your belt line as you pop. This reduces that pulling forward feel, and also creates more of a floating, more time in the air feel.

It's because you are coming off edge as you approach the wake.

I was stuck with this problem for years (not kidding).

For me, I would edge out, and start cutting back in, by the time I was approaching the wake, it felt like I was traveling at warp speed. I would roll off my edge, not consciously, but when I watched a video, I could see it.

What helped me fix the issue was edge out like normal but take no effort to cut back in, allow the boat to start pulling you towards the wake. Wait until you are half way back to the wake (or until you feel you need to start edging) and then start your progressive edge.

This approach slows down the entire process, it takes the feeling of speed out of the jump and stops the line tension that pulls out in the air / as you land.

Everyone is spot on here, I really like J-Rods explanation. I would like to offer up one more opinion, not knowing your level of ability. I see lots or people riding to slow on a short rope. They have to really work to gain speed to clear the wake, this means a very aggressive edge. Body position plays a lot into line tension, as does how your edging. Typically I already know the rider is going to have issues when they put the rope at 65 feet and have me pull them a 19 mph. As I got better at this sport I quickly realized on more advanced tricks I could not get the speed I needed to clear the wake and maintain the proper body position to execute the trick. A HS BS 5 is a perfect example of this. I'll get to the point. So when I hear people complain about line tension it usually goes hand-in-hand with early fatigue, the rider is simple working to hard. I usually will drop the person back farther form boat from say 65 to 75' and speed the boat up. This does two things quickly, the first is that the wake get firmer and has more punch, the second is with a longer line you can take a more mellow approach while still gaining tons of speed and maintain a better body position. Like Jon Doe(Kane) said, a wide slow approach, let the boat speed you up, the longer line allows for a longer run into the wake to gain more speed without line tension. If you have to take a Raley cut at the wake everytime to clear the wake you should drop back father and speed the boat up.

Hope this make sense.

Not being able to see how you are jumping im gonna offer some advice. When going for a wake jump you want minimal body movement. What this means is a preogressive edge once the boat begins to pull you back into the wake. When you reach the top of the wake is when you want to be at your strongest edge. This is an issue for many people because they like to come off edge, but this is the key for getting slack in the line. Keeping your arm slightly bent too, but not too much. Finally keeping your legs strong at the wake... just do as said. Hope this helps, if you having any questions email me at wakeboarderlandon@gmail.com.

Good Luck

Landon

You obviously know way more than me on this topic, so I'm not doubting that you know what you are talking about. However it seems like what your saying is going directly against what they teach over at learnwake. They say that you should never pull the handlebar to your hip and that the saying is one of the biggest spread myths. That at best it's masking bad body position and screwing with the line tension. They say the correct thing is to move your hips to the handlebar (and not vice versa). Also, I'm assuming by "never" it is meant to mean on regular type jumps and not when it is specifically required by more advance tricks.

Comments?

I have the same problem as many have had with flattening off. As you are finding on learnwake and from the rest of the teaching resources out there you need to build a edge that is hardest at the wake. You can easily clear a wake by building speed and treating the wake like a ramp, but being on edge is what leads to the correct vertical pop. I rode with Danny Harf a week or two ago and that is exactly what he told me.
You can go decently high and far into the flats by building speed and then flattening, almost like a tantrum cut without squaring your body, but the dominant opinion is that learning to edge progressively and standing tall at the peak of the wake without flattening is the best way to learn to go wake to wake and then build to new tricks.

yup. I'm aware that is the common opinion. Pull up some videos of the pros riding and watch closely. They are still on edge up the wake, but there is a slight (in some cases more than slight) back off of the edge before the pop. Especially on spins.

A lot of my friends who are good boarders do come off edge a bit right at the wake. Wakeboarding is really all about extremely subtle changes in edge and body position. This issue with many beginners is that they come off edge too much which is probably why all the instructors teach you to build that progressive edge.

IMO, a rider should learn the progressive edge and work on getting extremely good board control since those small changes in position make massive differences how much pop and line tension there is. Some people pick it up right away but for many it's all about time on the water and building proper muscle memory (not bad technique). If you ever get a chance go to Florida and spend a week at a camp - I recommend the Boarding School - best $$ I ever spent.

Agreed.