Will Wakesurfing go full circle and eventually turn back into wakeboarding?
 

So I'm sure by now we have all seen some of the new wakesurfers with straps on them and Noah Flegel doing some flips behind the surf wave. My first thought was "hey they might be on to something with this!" then I realized that this had been invented a long time ago, it was called a SKURFER which was literally a surfboard with straps!!! Back in the day guys where getting only a few feet of air and doing small 360s and a few inverts (very similar to wakesurfing now). I'm not sure how big these surf waves are gonna get but they are never gonna be catching any serious height at just 10 mph. As surfing progresses and people land new tricks they are gonna be pushing to go bigger and I bet soon we start seeing some big tricks (for surfing) over the transition. Then all you need is more speed, better straps for bigger landings, longer line length for more hangtime and boom your back to wakeboarding! Surfing already has two somewhat distinct styles (surf/skim) with I think have similar qualities to wakeboard and wakeskate. The more I thought about it seems that surfing will turn into a training tool for beginners to learn wakeboarding without the hard falls until they are ready to go big.

Surfing is very popular now but almost everybody agrees it's boring and lacks intensity/skill. I highly doubt it will stay extremely popular for very long if it doesn't progress because people will loose interest.

Anyways I may be totally wrong and just hoping it turns out this way. Anyways I would like to hear some other opinions on this.

I highly doubt it.

Who even watches wakesurfing? Wakesurfing isn't popular because of what the pro's do. It's popular because it is so easy and low impact that the general public of all ages (especially the boat buying ages) can do it. That's literally the only reason its so much more popular than all the other water sports.

Yep skerfer. I hope it does. With these waves getting so big the people with money that dont want there dock and shore tore up will evetually get there way. I hope it doesn't come to that. We need to be considerate of other and have fun.

No chance. Wakeboarding behind the boat has been almost completely replaced by the low impact of wakesurfing. Low impact is what the people who can afford boats want, and I highly doubt they have any interest in strapping in or trying to go big.

Cable wakeboarding is where wakeboarding will go. With over 400 cableparks world wide, wakeboarding is more accessible than ever.

Pass the handle to new riders as often as you can and wakeboarding will stay alive and healthy.

For me, it has come full circle. Been surfing for something to do pre/post ACL replacement surgery. Got back on the wakeboard recently, wow, surfing is really boring.

Yes it is. I hopped on a surf board a few months ago at the end of the day. First time in many years. It was fun, I enjoyed it, and it was a cool way to kill time on the water, however I would never buy/own a boat just to do that, and sitting in the boat watching other people do it is just awful.

That part had me laughing. Watching people surf can be downright painful at times.
Generally we only surf when people are exhausted from wakeboarding or just after we eat and everyone is too full to do anything.

I understand its popularity, easy to get up, low impact.

I am in my 40s, and will never wake board again. Surfing will never die for that reason. Plus, who really cares? LOL

I never said surfing will die. There will always be a lot of beginner/recreational surfers on every lake. But I think as people spend more time surfing, they will get better and start to push back towards wakeboarding.

Said the slalom skier!

I'm not taking anything away from wake surfing. Its fun factor is through the roof. It just has limited potential on the high-end. I know guys that 2 years ago "hung up their wakeboard" to surf exclusively only to be back out on them again for no other reason than the enthusiasm started to wear off surfing all the time. At a certain point wake surfing tricks become super difficult, but they never become super impressive. It is still just a thigh-high wave and a great way to have some fun behind the boat.

That said, I truly believe it is here to stay because it is a lot of fun.

For me the biggest factor in surfing vs. wakeboarding has come from growing older, and I'm only 29. My body hates me if a try to learn new tricks or more than one set ever two days. Some of that is my fault for getting out of shape, but even when younger, this sport was not easy on the body.

The other factor in growing older is timing when I can get on the lake. When I was younger and had "summer jobs" I was working a lot of nights and weekends at restaurants or bars... so days/nights during the week I had tons of time to get on the water. Our lake has no-wake restrictions after 8pm / 1 hr before sunset, so after getting home from work doesn't leave a ton of time... so I'm stuck with weekends... and after years of having the lake to myself during weekdays, I've gotten spoiled with that calm water. On the weekends it can be a zoo but wakesurfing is still okay, or if the wind is really blowing we can still surf.

Did you just admit you wakesurfed .... the world is coming to an end:D

I was just thinking the same thing the other day... If/When people start to get bored of surfing will they look into something different or go back to wakeboarding.
I just took my wakeboard off the wall after a couple years of no use since surfing mostly and had a blast like old times.
I've put lots of hours into surfing and enjoy it but i wanted to try something else for a change, wakeboarding def has a much higher level of excitement but much harder on bod but anything physically straining will be if you are not in reasonable in shape.
Most of the people we get out with are in mid to late 30's now with jobs and kids so boarding isnt gunna beat out the low impact surf popularity on board

I am gonna try foiling.

Any time on the water is a good time... and I'm sure I should be on one of them wake surf board thingies... but F it, I'm 50...had knee surgery... and can't wait to wakeboard tomorrow! My sons definitely go longer and recover quicker, but I still got 'em!! Lol Cheerz from the old boyz!

That's the spirit! F... it! :D
I'm always amazed by 30-something year olds that say that they can't handle the impact of wakeboarding. Man up you wuzzies! :p It's SO worth it to crash hard sometimes for the fun that wakeboarding is...
I'm 43 and learning new stuff still. Not quickly, but I'm still improving my riding.

And for those that really don't want to take any impact on the knees, go get a Sky Ski/Air Chair! 10 million times more fun than wakesurfing, at least, and soft on the knees. Yes much harder to learn than surfing, obviously, but that's the challenge and the fun! Can't wait to get one myself.

And yes, one can only hope that some of the surfers will eventually get bored with getting 1.5 inch of air and start going upside down on the long rope.

I'm 49 and just recently started wakesurfing, because last year I had surgery on both shoulders to repair torn labrum, caused by waterskiing and wakeboarding crashes over the years. Only surfing for me from now on. Super fun and low impact.

Yeah man! I'm with you.

I'm also with you! I'm almost 45 years old, have lost tricks over the years but still rather wakeboard than surf. I've only done one surf set this whole summer & that was only to give a potential buyer of a boat an opportunity to drive the boat while towing someone. After 5min, I was over it, but let her pull me as long as she wanted to drive the boat.

Surf definitely doesn't have the fun factor for me like wakeboarding does. I'll always prefer feeling the boost of the wake & floating through the air. So yeah, F it! LOL