competition

so....i want to sign up for my first comp. i was just looking to see who has some advice for me, any tips whatsoever, a little nervous about it. i want to compete in advanced because i can throw w2w, grabs, 180's, halfcabs, bs 3's, backflips, and im starting to get decently consistent at landing most but right now i am not quite there, maybe 70% on the more difficult tricks. so i mean i feel like if i went intermediate and only was allowed one spin/invert, then i would have a real good chance at winning and therefore feel good about my first comp but i wouldnt progress much, where in advanced i highly doubt i would win (never know!) but at least i would be competing against people better than me and i would be allowed to throw up to 5 spins/inverts. just looking for some feedback, i have over a month to practice. ive been wakeboarding for about 10 years but i just started going big last year due to lack of a boat before that. any advice or experiences you've had with your first comp, or any comps for that matter would be sweet. thanks.

When you are done with the Silver Spray Tournaments, there is the Walled Lake Wake Tournament. Don't have any real good advice on competing. I will be there with the Kronik Energy guys.

www.wlwake.com

Doug
WLWake director

ya i am actually plannin on competing at walled lake, i havent decided on the fenton ones or not yet...hyperlite tour is pretty early for me only being 2 weeks away, im just trying to get a good consistent trick bag right now...maybe ill do the wakeboard bash, but basically i was plannin on the walled lake one as my first, gives me some time on the water behind the new boat and all.

Use the hyperlite comp for practice you might not be ready for it but you would know what level to compete in after that. Comps are wierd "hurry up and throw down" your first comp pass goes very very quick.
With that here is a check list

1. Write your tricks down.
On your board, arm, any where you can read it while riding. (in case you forget)

2. Practice your run.
If you know where the comp is held and the length of the course that will help. I would say you have about 45sec-1min per pass.(about six tricks) have the driver of the boat you ride on blow the horn at the begining and end of your pass.(to help get your timing down)

3. Have fun
The most important thing.

There is more. I am sure most will chim in latter but you just got to get one under your belt, don't get mad if you go 2 and out. It happens

yeah i wont get too frustrated, cause i never thought i would be competing. i mean i started wakeboarding when i was 11, now im 21, but i really never threw down much till last year, just started transfering my snowboarding to the water i guess lol. but yeah i mean i might as well compete in all 4 comps of the series...another question i have then is could i compete in different levels? say i competed at silver spray in intermediate, then decided i should be advanced, could i do advanced at walled lake? and then would i still have my points, or do i have to stay in one bracket? just curious if anyone knows this.

It depends on the series.

ill check into it, thanks a lot for the advice

Most comps allow you to enter as an intermediate but if you do more than what you are allowed they bump you up to advance. This way if you don't stick your second move you at least landed one in the intermediate level.
Just my .02

If you can find an old issue of WB mag, Shapiro had a artical about comps very informative.

thanks jeff, thats what i was wondering and it makes sense, maybe if i just go out there and stomp 180, half cab, bs 3, backroll and then some grabs they may just up me to advanced...i guess i could ask silver spray.

Nate, that is a good question. The Kronik Energy Wake Series is a team series. You and 5 others join together to form a team. You compete in all the events in order to have the best chance of winning. I did not think about how it would work with changing divisions from each tournament. But on an individual basis, I don't think it's an issue.

Doug
WLWake director

hmm well i dont have 5 others...is that required?

also, today i was out and was not nearly satisfied with anything, and my first tantrum try nearly broke my already sprained ankle...so yeah i have no idea if i will be ready for an advanced, let alone ill be in tip top condition by then.

what should i be able to do, minimum, to even be considering advanced?

I realize this isn't much, but here is a short article the boarding camp wrote for our "trick tips" section.

Tournamet Tips: http://midwestwakeboarder.com/modules/articles/item.php?itemid=4

i know ours is
beginner 1-3 inverts... 360s and less
intermediate 3-6 inverts... 540s and less
pro 7-9inverts and 720s

so thats by memory, not sure if its right but ya

Brett that is a weird system....

You should change beginner to intermediate, and intermediate should become advanced.

Beginner should be no inverts, no spins over 180.

ya this series is beginner is like w2w, intermediate is only 1 spin/invert, advanced is 5 spins/inverts, expert is prob unlimited i guess. advanced and expert get a double-up.