Category: wakeboarding

When beginning to wakeboard, individuals will often go out and buy all the wakeboarding accessories so that they can look like a pro on the water. However, to become a pro wakeboarder, the individual would have to practice long and hard, since the skills and tricks that are mastered by the pros are complex and require strength and coordination that not everyone can master. Pro wakeboarding has become more and more popular in recent years since the sport took off. Pro wakeboarding even has its own tour, stopping in all the top wakeboarding hotspots across the nation for competitions. Pro wakeboarding is exciting to watch as the athletes perform feats that seem to defeat gravity and defy all sense and reason.

Getting Started

Pro wakeboarding requires a progression from the basics into the more complex tricks. For beginners, the most complex thing they need to think about is how to get up on the board for the first time. Often, the placement of the feet is uncomfortable and awkward to get used to, especially if they are used to water skiing. In water skiing, the skis are placed parallel to the rope that is behind the boat. When the boat begins to move forward, the individual will bend his knees and get ready to be raised out of the water as he hold the tips of the skis out of the water until he is standing. With the wakeboard, the individual starts out floating on his back with the wakeboard at a perpendicular angle to the rope. When the boat begins to pull the wakeboard, then the individual begins to straighten out the wakeboard and begins to crouch low on it, getting ready for when he signals the boat to gun it. Once the boat takes off, then the individual will stand up on the board from the crouch.

This process can be difficult at first, but once that is mastered, then the individual can begin to focus on the maneuvering skills that he needs to be able to zig zag between the waves from the boat. Eventually, the individual will be able to add tricks to his repertoire, even adding ramps and other materials to help him get more air and be able to do the flips and twists in the air. The pro wakeboarding tours show the professionals doing all sorts of tricks that amateurs look up to and try to imitate.

Whether an individual is a pro wakeboarder or just an amateur just getting started, there is come common wakeboarding gear that is necessary to make the experience enjoyable and safe for all involved. The wakeboarding gear is not cheap in most cases, although good deals can be found at ‘end of season’ sales and also at gear swaps. However, the other big gear that is required for wakeboarding can often cost as much as seven hundred dollars, and that is only a board without the bindings.

Types of Gear

The required wakeboarding gear is the board and bindings. There are wakeboards that are designed to fit the size of the person that is buying it. There are boards that are made for youth and those that are made for men and women. The bindings are also designed for the particular age and sex of the individual so that the person can have as much comfort and security on the water as possible. When choosing a board in wakeboarding gear, it is a good idea to talk to the professionals in the shop to see which one will fit the user’s particular skill level. For beginners, the larger boards are usually better since it gives them more of a platform to stand up on in the water so that they can be successful even before they have all the skills down. It is also usually a good idea for beginners to have fins on the back of the board so that the board is easier to maneuver in the water, also giving the beginner success while they are learning the skills they need.

The bindings in wakeboarding gear have to be fitted according to which foot the individual wants to have in front since the stance is similar to snow boarding or skate boarding. Once the person decides which foot is going to be in front, the person also has to be fitted for the bindings so that they can be placed on the board in the appropriate width. The width should be about shoulder width apart so that the user can stand comfortably and securely in position.

There are other pieces of equipment that are available in wakeboarding gear. A life vest is a must in the water for safety reasons. Some wakeboarders will wear a wetsuit in addition to the vest, depending on the time of year and how cold the water is. There are full wetsuits and half wetsuits that help with the different temperatures in the water. There are also helmets that can be worn, which are sometimes reversible in wakeboarding gear, thus giving the wearer different options.