How to Make Landing in the Flats less Painfull

Hey guys, yesterday i was getting warmed up just hitting some heelside wake jumps and basic grabs and on one or two of them I weant a little long into the flats and it KILLED my knees, calves, and back. Is there technique for softer landings or do i just need to get over it?

It helps to land a little backfoot heavy

Age. The older you get the better at landing you will be.

there's a section about this in adam fields interview. Q :"What is your secret to going so big?"

http://www.wakeworld.com/news/feature/adam-fields.html

Originally Posted by cwb4me

Age. The older you get the better at landing you will be.

Correction, the older you get, the better at landing you HAVE to be. You don't bounce back quite as quick as you age, so you better stick those landings and not bite it.

Legnthen the rope and try to go more up wake to wake than out..

Bend your knees, absorb the landing.

Landing a little backfoot heavy and bending the knees are critical. Also, imo, you want a lot of speed if you're going to land in the flats. If you boost super high and land just barely in the flats then I can almost guarantee that it's going to be painful because it means that you weren't going particularly fast into the wake. But if you're going fast into the wake, and land a little back foot heavy it is very little impact.

Here is a picture to help you.

^^^^^ That's Money right there! lmao!

DO NOT LAND BACKFOOT HEAVY. I see this advice all of the time and that has to be the fastest way to blow out a knee. Land straight bolts and cushion evenly with both legs.

I have to agree with not landing back foot heavy. Many a riders have blown their knee accidentally doing that. Eddie Valdez is one of the latest I think. That's the way it looked anyway.

It's all about your trajectory. Hold your speed and line tension through the wake so that you carry your momentum into the landing. It seems to be better going as big as you can into the flats than it is going kind of big barely into the flats.....if that makes sense.

I still maintain that you want to land a "little" back foot heavy. I'm not talking about doing a rocketship air across the wake. The nose is just slightly higher than the tail. When I land with my board perfectly flat it audibly smacks the water and I can feel my spine crunch even when I bend me knees. The back foot being just slightly lower (combined with the high speed and bending the knees) makes for a soft landing.

I would say landing on edge is more important than a little back heavy or even. When you land on edge you maintain forward momentum and don't take the hit you would from landing flat and smacking the water. This creates drag which makes you absorb the full force of the landing.

all you need to know...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37HXByCFyhg

Love it

The picture is spot on. I was talking about accidentally landing in the flats where I'm just barely out of the wake. I guess this weekend I'll try taking one jump really big and see how that feels. Thanks guys.

Robert and Justin hit the nail on the head. Make sure you land on edge, and also make sure you land on both feet evenly.

When people say their board "slaps" the water if they land on both feet evenly, it is because they are not landing on edge and continuing their edge away from the wake, causing abrupt impact.

Just look at how Dean Smith rides, practically every trick he does is well into the flats and he does it by landing on edge and carrying his momentum into the flats after he lands. and also notice how he lands evenly on both feet each time. Scott Steward is another good example. They both land in the flats very frequently and if they did not have proper form, they wouldn't be riding that often, if at all.

It will only cause excess stress to pile up on one knee if you try to land back foot heavy, and as others have said, will lead to blowing out your knee.

I don't disagree on continuing your edge although I don't think I've ever thought about that. However, Dean Smith is landing what I would describe as slightly back foot heavy time and time again in this video:



The term "back foot heavy" may be the wrong way to say it though. Dean's back foot/tail always touches first.

Perhaps the correct way to say it is that your back foot should touch first but you should take the weight evenly on both of your feet.

josh, you are correct in that deans tail touches down first (if the nose touched down first it would probably end up in a crash section somewhere, ha) but as you also noticed that his weight is balanced over both feet and both knees bend equally to absorb impact, he does not favor his weight distribution over one foot.

So I would agree that the proper way to interpret it is like you said, touch down tail first but balance weight even on both feet, and continue edging away.

great video find by the way. dean shreds!

No one has said anything about getting in the gym? Train yourself to handle those harder impacts when they happen because no matter how much you know about landing softly, it won't happen every time.

Originally Posted by CasMarks

No one has said anything about getting in the gym? Train yourself to handle those harder impacts when they happen because no matter how much you know about landing softly, it won't happen every time.

I completely agree with this for 2 main reasons.
1: Trim down if you can, the less weight you have to absorb, the lighter the impact will be.
2: Don't skip leg day. Build up your muscles throughout your legs and your core and you will be able to handle and absorb more impact.

Personally since this season started, I realized I needed to get my self into better shape if I was to fully enjoy it. I have been hitting the gym about 4 times a week before work, getting on the trampoline a few times a week, and eating better as well. I have dropped 15lbs in the past 3 weeks and built up my strength a bit.
I didn't get a wakeboard set in this weekend, but I felt the difference and was ripping it up with an intensity I haven't had before wakesurfing, not to mention it made freeriding a lot easier. The weight loss and losing a soaked wet suit probably netted about 20lbs less I had to work with.

All giggles aside, that picture really explains a lot of it.