Got a wakeboard, now what?

[mdchachi]

My 13-year-old is ready to try wakeboarding and yesterday I checked FB market place at the right time and snagged two boards for only $30. An O'Brien blunt 137 and a Liquid Force Trip 138. I can't tell how old they are. Probably at least 10 years old. I already gave him the Shaun Murray beginner videos to check out.
My questions:
1. Any problems using the Zup rope to start out with? Or do I need to run out and get a new rope?
2. What should the length of the rope be?
3. The bindings are already screwed on the O'Brien. How do I know if they should be adjusted or if they are good where they are? Probably should be shoulder length apart I'm guessing?
4. How do I know if the foot size on the bindings is appropriate? My toes stick out a bit so I'm guessing they are too small for me?
5. How fast should I go? The sweet spot on the Zup is about 14mph for him.
6. Which board is best to start with? I'm thinking maybe the O'Brien?

And any other advice you may have is appreciated.

 

[Ronnie]

I’m no expert but I did learn to wakeboard late in life, taught my son too and own two zup boards.
Here is a thread with the big parts of my experience.

Yamaha Jet Boaters • Login

First the zup would be good at getting someone acclimated to holding the handle while being towed by the boat but is not a good wakeboard trainer because the starting position of the zup is nothing like a wakeboard and getting up on a wakeboard is the hardest part.

I suggest you start with a wakeboard and a short 15’ line that some one sitting on the swim deck holds. First get the rider acclimated to being in the board and water, next shift the boat into forward, slowly use the no wake button to bring the speed up and transition into increased speeds above no wake modes slowly.

As for how to set up the board bindings, if you kid rides a skateboard or snow board set up the wakeboard bindings the same way. Some like their feet wider apart to lower their center of gravity, as long as the correct foot is in the front binding you should be in a good position to refine the settings.

if warranted put an instructor / support in a tube next to the rider. Finally, consider building your own wakeboard training device. There are good videos of some on YouTube. Basically it’s a strap attached to the front binding and tow line near the handle.

 

[BrandonG]

You are definitely going to want to get a good wake boarding rope, Cheap ones have a lot of stretch to them. Also a quality rope will have a coating over it so when you fall and have to get picked up you don't get a rope burn on your hands. Something that goes 75' and is adjustable will be fine. I think anything shorter than say 50 feet will have you right in the jet wash and it will be a miserable time trying to cross the wake.

As far as bindings, you get what you pay for I have many friends that board and we all have a strong consensus that properly sized closed toe bindings are far superior. They can get pricey though. I also had a spare board that I decided to go with wakeboard boots along with bindings that stay attached to the board and have been extremely underwhelmed thus far. I have tried them twice and they feel so sloppy I go back to my board with the closed toe.

 

[Babin Farms]

I like the open toe with a loose fit. I want to come out of them when I crash instead of getting slammed into the water. The rope length is up to you, shorter if your jumping the wake or longer if you just like to go over it. The only way to find out your limits is to push them. Try different things and don’t be afraid to fail.

 

[anmut]

Try different things and don’t be afraid to FALL.

Fixed that for you

 

[BrandonG]

I like the open toe with a loose fit. I want to come out of them when I crash instead of getting slammed into the water.

Trust me, you can just as easily get pulled out of closed toe bindings but a loose fit is a surefire way to have it happen LOL