It's that time fo the year to talk about pop!

I know that the main variables for pop will be wake size, how hard your cutting & your leg push. So I'm not talking about the beginner side of things. I can easily w2w even if I slow the boat down to 18mph and I can easily get into the wash part of the flats at regular speeds. I've only been riding 2 years and mostly just use my stock ballasts on my 23lsv while riding at a relatively slow speed (21.4mph) so I've been relatively happy with my jumps.

Then the other week I had an experienced rider on my boat that hasn't rode in a long time because he is here for school. He rode my exact setup (wake/line length/speed/even my board). it seemed like he was blasting into outer space compared to my jumps! He had at least a few feet on me and he would get far into the flats and not just the wash.

So I thought I would start a discussion about things that help pop, outside of the wake/cut/push. Here is what I have been thinking about:

1. Elbow position. Is it better to 'weld' your elbows to your sides and hold the handle in throughout the cut & lift off? I can imagine that coming into the wake and letting out the handle will rob you of some of that tension and pull?

2. Timing. I think I might be pushing off a tad early or late which is robbing me of some pop.

3. Now just pushing off the wake and locking the knees but pushing harder/faster. I figure the harder/faster I push going through the actual wake, the harder I'm going to be pushed back up?

So lets hear it!