How to do tricks

We love surfing and have a Yellow Loogey board. We are trying to advance and do some tricks and need help. I've watched all the wakesurf trick list videos and read about them all but still have some questions.

Can you do a 180 on the yellow loogey board? (tips are not the same on both ends so you would be riding with the front of the board in the back)

We are all fairly good at pumping although I am not real consistant. Sometimes I get the movement and can go up and down but other times my back foot slips out.
Have tried putting my knee on the board and I am getting much better at that as well.

Any suggetions would be great.

equipment is key. I know nothing about the loogey but your a surf style wakesurfer then you board needs to be over 2" thick and about 5'6" long. The rocker (how the bottom of the board is curved) should be pretty flat with a flip in the nose. If the loogey is not like this you should look into getting a custom shaped board. You should not have to pump if the board is right.

Your wake is everything too. How big is it? What boat are you riding behind? Are you a surf style or a skim style?

All these thing play a roll in doing tricks. Answer these q's and we can help you better.

We have a 05 Mailibu V-ride and have been getting a great surf wake. Between knee and waist height (depending on how many people) with a nice long pocket. Skim style.

THe yellow loogey is 4'4" board, it is very responsive when turning. I have come from about 20ft back to catch up to the boat.

Thanks

Tanya the Yellow is a very nice board for tricks, check Mark Sher in the Inland Surfer DVD. A 180 with a directional board, like the Yellow, is a bit tough as the fins tend to catch. I'd think you'd probably find it easier to start with a surface three. Have you done a lipslide and hang 5 yet? Also, are you trying to ride backside and switch, also?

Not sure where Chip is getting his data regarding the correct size and shape of a board. There are no set rules regarding how thick a board should be, the size or shape. Generally speaking, any board with two fins will be hard to ride backwards. As Jeff says, the fins will grab and want to spin around. I ride that board and do a "stall" 360. I go to the back of the wave, build up some speed, throw the board into a 180, hold it for a second or 2 then spin it to 360. This is actually harder than just doing a 360 because you have to stop your momentum. They Yellow is a very fast board, an usually can speed up by just putting weight on your front foot. I'm 175 lbs and I don't "Pump" the board to gain speed I just shift my weight forward

Mark,
I got my data from The Institute of Wakesurfing Technical College (IWTC). Got my degree in just 9 short weeks for only $9.99. I was tired of being yelled at by agro, locals so set out to begin surfing career right. There were no string attached and i got to keep the computer after i was finished. IWTC worked great for me and it can for you too! www.IWTC.com

Wow Chip, with credentials like that, you must be right. I have no choice but to agree with you then. All surf-style wake surf boards should be 2" thick and about 5'6" long. I'm going to have to throw away all of my boards that don't meet those requirements and start all over. I just can't believe I was able to ride them so well... Oh, and good luck with that free computer. I hope it's waterproof if you are going to surf with it.

Chip you goof, folks will take you seriously!

You know there is an interesting aspect to the whole thickness issue. I USED TO BE a believer that it was important until I started looking at the skimboarders and it's more a function of surface area, and release of the water than bouyancy associated with thickness. Heck, just look at the Trick Boardz surfskate. That thing shouldn't even float a person!

4'5", about 1.6" thick seems to work ok for James.

Ok, ok, lets clear the air before i lose Mark as a friend. First of all there is no IWTC. Also i was under the impression that Tanya was a beginner to the surf style wakesurfing. Thats why i suggested a longer thicker board. Clearly, there is a board for every occasion and everyone should have at least 10 boards in the quiver.

Yes, obviously there is no IWTC. I just wanted to point out that there is no clear set rule for size, thickness and shape of boards. When someone says "a board should be this or should be that" always gets my attention. Our sport is very new and people will continue to innovate and adapt shapes and sizes through trial and error. The first boards we brought to market were thicker than our current boards, but not nearly as rigid. They were also much longer but not as wide. The rails have gotten softer in some areas and sharper in other. Things change, things will always change.

And, once again, Chip you point out something that I missed. I agree everyone should have at LEAST 10 boards

LOL you guys and the 10 board quiver - spoken like true manufactures!

Jeff....hwat in the hell is Jeff doing your son doing in that pic? I mean I know you guys have the wakesufr thing dialed in with weight and stuff but it is all I can do to stay in the pocket for 2-3 minutes..if I try tricks I wash out of the wave..how in the hell is he doing that and staying with the wave?

LOL - foot straps in that picture. But realistically if you are struggling with staying in the pocket it's more than likely, as Chip and Mark are saying, you don't have a board that fits your circumstances.

This is James NOT attached to his board.

No foot straps here...

No just angled up from the swim deck. LOL You've got maybe 6 inches from the trailing edge. When we shoot James like that it looks like 3 feet.

Go practice some more Mark.

Hi guys, thanks for the response, I have been so busy I haven't been able to come on site for a few days. I would consider myself a very strong beginner. I feel very comfortatble on the board, I don't have a problem dropping the handle and I can ride up and down the wake fairly well. I just didn't know what the next step or next trick to try. I will try a hang five next time I am out. I have been working on my lipslides but sometimes I get stuck ontop.

I do not know what a surface 3 is - I have read over the wakesurf trick list again and I don't see it on there.
Thanks for your help

Tanya, the surface 3 is just a 360. Mark describes it above very well. I also like this video at XBC. It shows great positioning for someone just starting to work on 3's.

http://www.xtremeboardcompany.com/video_360fish.html

Try your lipslides some more, concentrating on what you do when you go too far and wind up on the table. No doubt you'll have some pattern where you started or how much you kicked the tail around that is different when you miss.

Another good trick to try is a floater and you might also try touching your rear knee down to the board and riding tucked.

All of those should keep you busy for quite a while.

where can a guy buy a 4'4"loogey board from. i'm from alberta. also would it be a good board for a 6'1, 175lb. rider?

I'm 6'4" 190lb and I ride the loogey with no problems. The board doesn't track straight without help. If you want a board that is bi-directional I would look at Phase 5, XBC skate and calibrated pin. Inland surfer is coming out with a bi-directional board also.

have you ridden those boards, and also is there a longboard out there that you can ride beside the boat. we have a landlock and a skimboard with fins mounted on it but as soon as you are a foot or 2 outside the boat you lose the wake. thanks

Yes phase5 and XBC. No calibrated pin and the new inland surfer. The calibrated and the inland surfer are similar in shape and fin location. I have no long boards. Shoreline has the Big Kahuna 6'2" never rode.

The folks at Inland will Ship anywhere, they also have a world-wide dealer network.

My understanding is that XBC no longer makes the skate, the might have a few left in their inventory. You'd probably want to ride one of those before you buy it. Neither of the Phase 5 or the Calibrated is a bi-directional board. They can be ridden revert, but aren't bi-directional. There are only a few true bi-directional wakesurfers. The Trick Boardz, Inland Orange and the no longer available XBC Skate.

Also the Calibrated white Pin Tail and their new Lovett pro model have a significantly different fin location than the new Inland 4 skim. The 4 skim REAR fin placement is about 4 to 5 inches forward than any other skim style board on the market. It also has about an inch more nose rocker and of course a spot for a nose fin.

The Calibrated Piscus is a twinzer, swallowtail.

This is a picture from Boardstock at the starting dock for the World Wakesurfing Championships. As best as I could tell, this was THE ONLY copy of the 4skim in existence, everyone from the Inland Team that rode skim style rode this very board. If you look at the rear fin you can see that it's placement is substantially forward of virtually every other skim style board. Also, if you look towards the nose, you'll see a sticker on the bottom, that covers the hole where the nose fin would be placed.

What is the reason for the fin being forward?

it gives the board a looser feel

Shoot what did I do to that picture? I'll try and clean it up and post again. Sean's right, the fin becomes the axis or pivot point. Within a relative range, moving the fin forward, especially if your rear foot is BEHIND the axis, makes the board feel more loose. I tried to fanagle a ride on the board, but couldn't work it out. Anyway, the folks at inland were saying that the fin placement gave it more drive - which is THEIR words, not mine.

what boats have the best wake for surfing? we have a v220 supreme but you need everybody just about falling out of the boat on one side to get a good wake (2 1/2-3') i have seen guys surfing behind a tige and they didnt even load up one side....does anybody ride behind an xlv 24 moomba?

We find our boat (05 V-ride) is best with about 5 people. Big wake but also nice and long. When we get too many people the wake is huge but hard to ride and the pocket is quite short. Everytime we go out we adjust people but usually just have everyone sit on one side. My husband has a harness for work and we strapped someone to the tower the other day. We had a great wake. I'll post pics in the next couple of days