Will cable affect my boat riding?

I'm predominately a boat rider. But since winter I have spent more hours on the cable than on the boat.

Mainly due to not having to rely on people to get out.
The hours and time spent on the cable are far more consistent than the odd bboat set.

Im just curious if it'll affect my boat riding in a good or bad way. Im already feeling more confident. It just feels like a completely different sport to me.

I enjoy boat riding a thousand times more but I'm probably currently better at the cables. I can land spins on cables but not on boat. Will it help or is it just gonna be more difficult because all the dynamics are different.

Hi Luke,

I rode boat for about 15 years before I started riding cable, and then it must have been year 17, before I started riding regularly.

For the most part being on the water period, and trying new tricks within your ability level, will only help your riding. I would say if you want to remain good at both, you need to at least get out behind the boat for a handful of sets a week, to keep your timing on point off the wake.

I am also a wakestyle kiteboarder, and I have found kiting to help me out tremendously.

In terms of spinning you can get away with 'prespinning' at the cable since the board will slide up sideways on the plastic kickers, however if you spin early off a boat wake you will likely go off axis. Spinning behind boat up to all direction 360's, the spin should begin at the apex of a jump. There is no reason to spin early behind the boat unless you are working on 9's or 10's. Practice your wake to 180's by going slightly past 180 and giving the handle a medium tug with both hands towards your back hip. This is good practice before attempting your HS FS 360 behing the boat.

Keep shredding cable, but ride boat whenever you can; Simple formula!

I agree, the more riding you do (boat or cable) the better! I don't think one will ever take away from the other. Like snowboarding for example, riding street or rails isn't going to take away from your jumps or pipe, certainly not more then if you did nothing.

Absolutely. Like the others said, it can only make you better (make sure you take advantage of the time to work on riding switch). One thing I did notice that doing air tricks @ cable did mess with some of my boat tricks, but then improved them once I got consistent. My backrolls got a little wild as I was scooping the wake too hard like I was at cable. Once I mellowed them out they've been even more consistent.

I started riding cable 5 years ago and it did not mess with my boat riding at all. Actually it helped tremendously with landing blind behind the boat.

I used to ride a lot of boat and then switched to riding cable everyday for a few years. As others have said, it really can only help. The more time you spend on a board the more comfortable you'll be. I actually noticed that I fell a whole lot less behind the boat even if I hadn't ridden in months just because I was used to being on my board.

Cheeeeeeeeeeers guys. I'm hitting up cables today ! and as much as possible then.
Yeah my switch riding has improved like i never thought it would behind the boat.


Thanks !!

Related, check out Guy Firer ripping at The Boarding School on IG the last few months. Traditionally known for his cable, it's cool to see his boat skills progress so quick. I don't think that would be the case if he didn't have his cable skills to start with.