WAKE CHALLENGE (Week Sept 25)
 

Who is going to land or at least try something new this week-weekend? If you want to play, you have to make a commitment to progress below and report back in within a week (Good, bad or ugly). This is open to Wake riders, Cable riders, wakeboard/wakeskate, (wake surfers too, I guess).

It doesn't have to be top-end, It can be, "I should have learned this a long time ago" too. This is a chance to set up some accountability. I will follow up with loads of trash talk if you commit and don't report. This is a chance to get tips and advice from guys that can do the tricks you're trying and encouragement from others trying it. Videos/pictures of success and fails are awesome and there is no shame in admitting to wimping out as long as to tried something else. You can go out thinking 360 and report that you learned how to power slide--whatever.

I really have two goals here: 1.) Keep me busy doing something wakeboard related while I'm in between surgeries. 2.) Turn the tide on the negativity.

I really encourage strong riders who are lurking pros and strong riders who have been turned-off by this forum to get involved and share some knowledge and encouragement. I've been wakeboarding for a long time. If you are short on ideas, you can PM me and I have loads of little nifty tricks for all levels: Ballers, ski-lines, oies, etc.

Let's see how this goes and I will do another thread next week. Good luck and don't be scared to challenge yourself a bit.:D

Last month I broke the ice on my first invert, the backroll. Will try some more of them tonight and report back :)

I tried a roll to blind at Terminus last month because the height of the cable and the length of the ropes gave me a lot of confidence. Got it on video, but in the spirit of the thread I will get the camera out and give it a try at OWC this week. Also tried a crow mobe off the kicker at Revolution cable earlier this year, but haven't tried it since. So that's on my list to give a try. The camera gives me the motivation to try harder. My two new tricks this year were a HS 540 and a backside 3 off the kicker. Hope to land those behind the boat as well.

I will be back home and having the opportunity to ride this weekend. I am committing myself to trying all of the following and I figure I will try one of these more than once depending how the attempts go:
HS R2R - have landed once, often over rotate to my butt/back or can't stop the rotation
TS Frontroll - have trouble getting over my toes for the landing - understand I am opening up too soon. Haven't tried this yet this year. I'd really love to add these two invert to my repertoire
Switch toeside wake jump
Heel 5
Maybe something else...

Yeah John! Still progressing!! Love it!

This year I learned a TS BS 180, HS Indy to blind, Heel back 3, and TS FS Indy 360 (without handle pass).

This weekend I'm planning on hucking my first Toe 7! I'll video and post.

Great thread!

Bum knee, hoping to walk out of my brace this weekend. That count? Lol

Chase, "Mark it an 8, Dude." It is not in the rules, but we'll allow it. Congratulations.

Good Ideas
 

Great idea for a thread skiboarder! haha

I landed my first Back 5 at the cable on Tuesday. Went ride behind the boat Wednesday and thought - hey that was easy on the cable, I could prob get it behind the boat without any issues.

Promptly got ejected and dazed(and confused) when I caught my back edge. I wish we would've had it on video.
If I try it again this weekend I'll get some video.

Great thread plan!! :) Season's almost over here :(, just trying to get someone to go out is a challenge in itself. Were all up for beginner trick ideas though :)

Shoot me a PM with what you can do, what you are working on and I'll come up with something.

Don't think I'll have a chance to ride this week, sure hope so. If I do, I should try switch HS BS 180 again. Can do 'm 1W inside out (most of the time) and tried a few w2w on short rope some time ago, but haven't stuck one yet.

Like I said in the other thread; great thread-idea!

This is awesome. My head isn't in the game right now but this thread might help that. Thanks

Jarrod you got that toe 7

Landed my first crow mobe Sunday... Thinking about working on Tammy to b or moby dick now... I'll play

Currently in a cast with a broken foot.

Trying to walk down the hallway with my crutches in 4 seconds for about 20 feet

this is a GREAT idea

I'm with you on the HS BS 180. I tried a few last week. So far I am only trying them landing blind, but think I will have more success passing the handle. I ripped my shoulder pretty good last week. I also really need to suck it up and hold on to the handle on a HS FS 360. Let's keep it positive.

Didn't go for any backrolls last night due to time restraints, but I landed a TS FS 180 which I've been stuggling with on account of SUCKING at riding switch. Obviously I'm not as advanced as some of you guys but I'm trying!

J-Rod you got that toe Seven man! Just think 7 from the start and not 540 with an extra 180, that will keep your head in the spin and you wont spot your landing at 540. Plus you can always cheat it and pull it off axis to speed up the rotation.

I'll Play!

I want a Switch Pete! I tried a few earlier this summer and they were uggo, ungrabbed, and felt crazy hucked, but I landed on my feet and would pop the handle. I want to get them on lock so I can Pete to switch Pete, I been loving to Mute roll to revert to switch mute roll to revert, it'd be fun to link pete's the same way. Guess we will be shooting some video this weekend.

There is a simple formula to become a really good wakeboarder: Ride more and ride harder. You stick to those rules and it doesn't matter how good you are now, you'll only get better.

Tom, I have a switch tip. Don't do switch sets, but instead start sprinkling in a little switch riding into your regular riding at ever opportunity. When you land your TS 180 make sure you mix in a few switch surf turns and charge the switch 180 ASAP. Riding switch will never become normal until you make it part of what you do. One day you will wake up and realize that some tricks are easier switch than regular. On top of that, when you're switch, lie to yourself. If it feels weird, just play cool.

THANKS FOR THE REPORT.

Thanks for the tip! Usually I try to get up and ride switch while the boat settles into speed. Will start doing some 1-wake switch 180s next time.

In fact, I think that will be my next Ice Breaker, 1-wake switch HS 180.

I like the spirit of this thread! I just started riding again pretty heavily after so many injuries so I have been scared to try new stuff but if I can't get my crew to start pushing I guess I will have to.....
I need to start learning new switch inverts. Start with a switch crow or tantrum? And lock down my switch toe 5 which I have not landed since last year.

I've never even tried a switch tantrum, that would be a cool one. It is a trick that is on my list as soon as I am well. It is one of those that I should have done.

The switch crow should be pretty easy. If you have your BS 180s down, it goes to a switch crowmobe pretty smooth too.

I'm in for two things this week!
- TS W2W
- Some consistency on W2W HS FS 180

Tomorrow I'm getting a tantrum or hs fs 360.

I am surprised we never rode together at some point Justin. We know and even rode with alot of the same people at some point. I remember a broken bow trip a few years back but never rode the same boat.

I had so many injuries and got kinda deflated after recovering plus divorce, business failure etc.....so i didn't ride for awhile. Now I am ready to ramp it up but not many people ride near me unless I trek it up to Lewisville.

Corey, I battled the tantrum for 3 years. Two things that really helped me with the trick were spotting the landing early and really just deciding that I was going to land it. Once you are in the air, really look for the other side of the wake as soon as your head is back. Once you see it, your legs kind of take over and know where to put the board.

Thanks for the advice. I have hs back rolls pretty consistent now and have been real close on hs fs 360s but have only tried a tantrum twice. I got the trip right the second time but wasn't really expecting it haha. We will see tomorrow.

Riding in a comp tomorrow, I told myself that if I stick everything in my run and I have time at the end, I'd try taking my R2R into mobe.. We'll see. If not that, then I'll be trying Tanny to B and TS 7 at the cable on sunday. Will report back on Sunday night or Monday with results from the weekend.

So I got the hs fs 360 today w2w! Pretty psyched to finally nail that one. If I can get out next week, I'm working on tantrum. Tried two today and am spotting the landing but I was whipped from crashing a hundred times getting the 360 so that was it.

It is Monday, and you have until Thursday, but who did what? Corey stomped a 360. That is a great start.

I gave the BS 180's another go this weekend. Turns out, passing the handle was not the trick. I ended up taking one 270. I think most of it is in my head.

Mark, I wrote this to a guy in a PM about ollie BS 180s landed wrapped.

They call it blind for a reason. The proper position for riding blind is with the handle tight to the small of your back and you spot your landing/look where you are going off the tail of your board (looking backwards away from the boat). If you are wrapped and try to look at the boat or even the shore, you'll tend to sit down on your butt.

I'd go straight to ollie to blind. Edge out, flatten off, then hop. Put your free hand right there to make the pass and extend the time you ride blind little by little. Being able to ride blind the entire length of the lake won't really help you land new tricks. You just need to be comfortable enough to land compose yourself and the pass it to the other hand. It will also help if you have a skilled driver that will give you a little throttle love as soon as the board touches back down.

If you can do this trick, and have a tip, please chime in.

Only got about one set in this weekend. However, it was the best water of the year!

Did get both tricks, but they still need work :)!

- TS W2W!
https://vimeo.com/107496943

- HS FS 180, only tried about 4, made the second one:
https://vimeo.com/107495819

Uploads in progress when posting this...

Good job!

I wussed out this weekend, but I'm blaming my buddy who didn't show up to work the camera.:D

I wimped out. Water conditions were real tough yesterday + I ran 8.7mi road race and mountain biked beforehand. Had a tough time sticking my ts3s so I didn't move past that.

Saturday I was riding my friends 03 X-2 with 2000lbs ballast. Never ridden that boat like that before, or that boat since 2005 period. It was a sick wake, I stomped a pretty big for me grabbed 3 into the flats. Did not feel comfortable front rolling although I think it would have been doable. Feel sub par about wimping out but you win some lose some, especially when it comes to the water conditions and everyone and their mother out and about playing on these two nice 77 degree Indian Summer days in the Northeast...

Oh, one victory. I haven't performed a solid tweaked out roast beef grab all summer. I did a really big tail bone roast beef yesterday when it was choppy. It felt awesome, and a HS tail grab FS180. Those feel really cool...

Well, didn't put down cab mobe like I had hoped this weekend and never made it to T2B or TS7 either, I did however get to stick nose tantrum to fakie before I blew out my knee.. I've been putting off getting fitted for a brace and seeing a doc about options to treat my knees and I think I've about run out of time. Gotta take a couple weeks off and go from there! Best of luck to all of you guys though, I'll be checking this thread. It makes me happy to see a bicker-free thread on WW.

Damn, you gotta pay to play. Go see your doc and hopefully it is not as bad as it feels. It is a good time of year to get it sorted. Speedy recovery!

Not spectacular, but I managed to squeak in something for this week. In the 20 years I've been wakeboarding I've never hit the wake (or anything at the cable) switch toeside. I usually take the girls out for some wakeboarding on Tuesday so I decided to try a switch toeside wake jump. Couldn't make it w2w yet. Also forgot to put the fins on the board. That might have helped a bit. Didn't put in weight in the boat today because the carb has been acting up, running rich, and fouling the plugs.

https://vimeo.com/107639730

The perks of owning a boat...

Yea, way to go John!

Fail here. Did ride one quick set last weekend, some clients wanted to see some flips, one of the clients driving, so no time and chance to do drills or try something new.

John, that's cool! Both the pic and the switch TS start. I didn't do a switch TS w2w until maybe 2 years ago, after more than 15 years of riding as well.

going out this weekend so gonna jump in here....

picked up a trampoline for cheap and been practicing...

i dont spin much, so im hoping to give the heelside 3s a shot, both frontside and backside.

also wanna try a heelside front roll to revert.

all new to me.

will see how it goes

G

It's hard for me to step outside my box unless there is a camera on me, girls watching, or some kind of prize. They offered a Black GoPro for the best crash on the kicker at the Revolution Cable Liquid Force FFA earlier this year. That's when I tried my first Crow Mobe.

Broke the ice on a few new things at Hexagon last night:

*Preface - i avoid toeside features like the plague due to awkwardness

toeside ollie onto flat bar. felt great, finally getting comfortable with toeside ollies. full pulled it after a few initial attempts.
healside ollie onto barrel slider. First time I ever ollied onto it. usually ride up the ramp and do a little air gap onto it.
healside ollie onto barrel with a back 270 spin across it
healside transfer to boardslide on kink rail with a back 270 right at the end of the slider

HS front.. flip? HS frontroll isn't really a thing, it would be like an insanely mexican backroll. If you mean front flip to fakie, my advice would be to throw the whole flip very vertical and as you're spotting your landing pull the handle to your back hip hard to squeeze the 180 in there. Super good looking trick that spins pretty comfortably. Awesome with a nose or melan grab too! Best of luck!

Stuck first TS roll 2 revert yesterday and am VERY close on Indy tantrum 2 blind!

uh.. yea.. that. haha. guess i dont know my terminology all that well.

Thanks for the tips! it feels like it spins pretty well on the tramp. will see how it goes!

No worries, post some video if you get that chance! Love this thread and seeing people push themselves!

I had a great time keeping up with this thread. All of the good vibes helped me keep positive as I focus on waiting and rehab. Congratulations to everyone who participated and especially those who got something out of it.

LET'S CLOSE THIS THREAD AND MOVE TO THE "WAKE CHALLENGE (WEEK OCT 3)" THREAD.

John Anderson, you're my new idol. Shreading and progressing like that at 58 y/o gives me hope. Thank you.

How do you cope with injuries? Are you finding things take longer to heal than they used to? I'm 18 years younger but find that I'm always having to work around multiple small injuries, each of which takes 3-9 months to get over, by which time I've picked up a new one, or two. The harder I push, the faster I progress but at the cost of increased injury rate.

What's your secret? Are you the Wolverine?

Thanks Alain. Fortunately I haven't had too many problems with injuries. Probably because I've been on the water pretty much continuous since the 70's, and also because I am very slow with progression. I do the same crap over and over and only step it up on occasion when I feel comfortable.

I think you hit the nail on the head when your said.... "The harder I push...". If you want to avoid injury take it easy and focus more on the benefits of riding vs pushing it to impress others. I know that's hard advice to take. I don't know where you are in your riding, but once you get a few tricks in the bag then you can impress people and not push yourself too hard. That's kind of where I am. Of course you can't fool your fellow wakeboarders. They'll all be going.... "Dude, isn't is time for you to try something new?"

The more your ride without hurting yourself, the more you will be strengthening your core. So you're never going backwards if you are spending time on the water instead of convalescing from injuries. My boat is an early 90's Ski Nautique, so the amount of air I could get out of it was pretty limited. I switched to the cable when they built it in 99. The cable is much easier on your body until you start trying to get big air from the kickers. :)

Cool, thanks.

Yeah, that's pretty much where I'm at too. Progression is slow with this aproach, but if I can keep doing this as well and as long as you, then there's no rush! :-)

Haha, yeah I've heard that before!

I wish I'd found wakeboarding before I was 30, but now that I have, I want to keep doing it as long as possible. :cool:

NIce Tony! I havn't even been on the water since this thread started....:(

went out saturday, was hoping to land the front flip to fakie...
landed the front flip first (and second) try but couldnt muster up the balls to try to land switch. it felt different behind the boat than on the trampoline.

for the hs fs 3 and hs bs 3...

tried the frontside a few times, and could land it but couldnt get the handle pass so i rode away sinking :(

chickened out on the backside 3.

in doing these im trying to kill two birds with one stone... meaning i was trying to also land 180s wake to wake (which i have done maybe 2 or 3 times ever) before moving onto the 3's, and also trying to land the front flip first (never even tried before saturday) before moving onto landing it fakie.

i was landing the frontside 180s pretty comfy so that was a plus.
im also working on ts w2w jumps. finally started clearing the wake and kinda comfy saturday. so there was another one.

2/3rds my time on the water was at 60 feet and 1mph slower than the usual, but it felt good to start doing (and landing) new things, even if basic.