Wake surfing fail...

[Chevyguy2021]

What a fail!!!!!
The water was 62 degrees and I was determined to get in that water. And boy did I.
Attached the tow rope to the tower of our 212X. Husband got on the gas to pull me up.
Over the board I went and face planted the water 5-6 times in a row. No wear near standing up. Gas the boat, I immediately eat water. Its like the boat was pulling me up and over the board if that makes sense. Started with my heels on the board "sitting" in the water.
I was literally freezing and got out cussing, didn't know it would be this hard. It will probably take me 3 years to go ropeless. lol

So far feeling down. Want to learn, especially after spending all this money on "mods".
Until another, hopefully warmer day...

 

[Scottintexas]

Congratulations for getting in the water, that was a victory! our lake is 72 and I still won't get in it yet,

Where are you at? add your location to your profile, there might be a member close by that could join you and help you for a day,

without seeing what was going on, I would say have the driver idle slowly and allow you to apply pressure on the board with your heels to get the board flipped, you've got to keep the board perpendicular to the boat while keeping the board pressed into the water,

You've always have to be leaning backwards against the pull of the boat until your 100% up and on top of the water,

Have you watched any youtubes?

 

[2kwik4u]

Getting up on the board is all about balance. Not just your personal balance, but balancing the forces on the board. Just like an airplane there is thrust and drag. The boat is providing the thrust (or pull) to get you moving forward, and the drag is from the water pulling you backwards. You're letting the boat win, by not giving enough drag on the line, and it pulls you over the top.

You're standing up too fast. Just because the board is under you, doesn't mean it's along for the ride just yet. As soon as you're starting to "get up" on the board, you want to make sure you have the strength and grip to push that board AHEAD of you until it's up to speed too.

Another tip I give a lot of people learning to skate/board. DON'T STAND UP......ever.....stay crouched with your but barely off hte board, but still standing on your feet. Legs folded completely in 1/2. This keeps your center of mass down and closer to the board, and gives you more control authority over the board and where it is in relation to your body.

Keep your head up. I've been teaching people to ride boards in water for 15 years. It's a rarity I get someone that can stand up on the first 10 tries. I'ts not a directly intuitive feeling, especially if you've never done it before and don't have a coach with you. I've only ever had a few people that couldn't stand up by the end of a day of trying, just need some coaching and some time.

 

[Scuba_ref]

You are starting too far forward on the board. Before the boat moves both of your heels should be on the back half of the board. Your front foot should not be anywhere on the front half.

 

[jcyamaharider]

Watch videos, be sure to press down with your heels to flip the board up to your feet just as the boat starts going, do not try to turn the board straight to fast. Having the board sideways you can get stable.

Watch this video, it is easy to follow the steps. Look at foot placement and see when I flip the board in relation to the jet wash " boat accelerating ".

 

[Julian]

What a fail!!!!!
The water was 62 degrees and I was determined to get in that water. And boy did I.
Attached the tow rope to the tower of our 212X. Husband got on the gas to pull me up.
Over the board I went and face planted the water 5-6 times in a row. No wear near standing up. Gas the boat, I immediately eat water. Its like the boat was pulling me up and over the board if that makes sense. Started with my heels on the board "sitting" in the water.
I was literally freezing and got out cussing, didn't know it would be this hard. It will probably take me 3 years to go ropeless. lol

So far feeling down. Want to learn, especially after spending all this money on "mods".
Until another, hopefully warmer day...

Do you wakeboard? If not, you might want to try getting up on a wakeboard first so you get a feel for the balance and approach to wakeboarding. Wake Surfing isn't the same, but similar IMHO.

I always try and get up too fast, and often drive the boat too fast. It is a slower ramp up for a surf board than a wake board. The rider needs time to "set the board"/plant their feet, THEN roll on the power. But you also need enough pull to get the riders feet planted. This will vary depending on the buoyancy of the board. A big thick large board will be harder to flip and need more pull. So blame it on your husband!!! Driver's fault! LOL

 

[J-RAD]

Follow @jcyamaharider 's advice above. Notice he's starting off with the rope fairly short and off to the side and out of the way of the jets. The driver needs to give a gentle rolling start. If he can maintain a bit of a turn while you're getting up and the wake is shaping, it'll help keep you from having to cross the wave. Always keep your arms staight while getting up.

 

[Chevyguy2021]

Thanks so much for the tips.
I am on a coaster 5.0.
I'm 5'9 and 145 lbs.
On Lake Norman in North Carolina.

Def gonna watch lots more youtube videos.
Last year when we first got our boat we met a guy at the doc with a nice supra and tons of boards. He was super excited to teach us me we never met up on the lake. Maybe I can find a friend to help me out. lol

I'm 27 now, I did wake board some in HS (so 10 years ago) behind my dads cheap bayliner lol
No skate boarding besides when I was in middle school ha (it was just a phase)

 

[Chillypilot]

Also the driver doesn't need to gun it, smooth acceleration helps not to pull you overtop of the board.

 

[2kwik4u]

Do you wakeboard? If not, you might want to try getting up on a wakeboard first so you get a feel for the balance and approach to wakeboarding. Wake Surfing isn't the same, but similar IMHO.

I always try and get up too fast, and often drive the boat too fast. It is a slower ramp up for a surf board than a wake board. The rider needs time to "set the board"/plant their feet, THEN roll on the power. But you also need enough pull to get the riders feet planted. This will vary depending on the buoyancy of the board. A big thick large board will be harder to flip and need more pull. So blame it on your husband!!! Driver's fault! LOL

This is VERY similar to riding the wakeskate.

What I do is have the driver put it in FWD and run the revs (single engine) up to about 2k or so. This puts enough pressure on the board to keep it "stuck" to my feet, and I can put both hands on the handle for the initial pull. Once up, it's the same balancing as wakeboarding. If a person can get comfortable with that little 2-3mph pull, then they can just "hang there" until they get their grip on the handle, foot placement, and balance ready for the hit to be pulled up.

Speaking of that "hit" to get pulled up. I tell my wife "Smooth progressive forward motion". Don't SLAM the throttle fwd, just a nice smooth increase over 3-4 seconds to WOT. Once the boat planes, taper the speed back to 18-20mph (Obviously the boat never planes when surfing, but the throttle application should definitely be that smooth progressive increase).......I hear Ridesteady and Perfect Pass help with this ramp up speed control.

When I moved to surfing, I found the hardest part was to NOT lean back so far, as I needed the wave to push me, and that was very counterintuitive from boarding/skating where I had to keep a constant rearward lean to stay on top of the board.

 

[marcham]

All good advice above.

Does hubby have much experience towing beginner waterskiers or wakeboarders? Mastering driving takes time, especially when it comes to towing beginners. IMHO, getting up on a wakesurf is easier than waterskiing or wakeboarding but for the driver pulling someone up on wakesurf requires much more throttle control than waterskiing or wakeboarding.

Is he keeping you outside the wake? He should be doing a turn towards your side (regular left / goofy right) while pulling you up.

Have you practiced just flipping the board and feeling it balanced on you feet under water with minimal drag from the boat before trying to get up? The pull from the boat should be so gentle that you can get up one handed, but fast enough that you don't sink as you're standing up. It's a very fine balance.

 

[Chevyguy2021]

All good advice above.

Does hubby have much experience towing beginner waterskiers or wakeboarders? Mastering driving takes time, especially when it comes to towing beginners. IMHO, getting up on a wakesurf is easier than waterskiing or wakeboarding but for the driver pulling someone up on wakesurf requires much more throttle control than waterskiing or wakeboarding.

Is he keeping you outside the wake? He should be doing a turn towards your side (regular left / goofy right) while pulling you up.

Have you practiced just flipping the board and feeling it balanced on you feet under water with minimal drag from the boat before trying to get up? The pull from the boat should be so gentle that you can get up one handed, but fast enough that you don't sink as you're standing up. It's a very fine balance.

I have determined that is the problem. Gonna work on that next weekend when its warm again. Less floor is and more gentle.

 

[Mike Cardillo]

Getting up on a wake surf board is a funny thing - it seems very hard until you do it the first time and then you never have a problem again. I guess it is very easy to do but hard to learn. Definitely watch some videos. There are lots out there. Also, as people stated, the driver needs to know what he/she is doing. Smooth acceleration...not too much and not too little.

You are not the first one to take time to get this and doing it in cold water definitely sucks. You will get it for sure!

 

[Chevyguy2021]

welp I got up multiple times yesterday! It was a lot of fun! I didn't try ropeless yet but had a blast!
I think our wave was good too!

 

[Chevyguy2021]

UPDATE - Been practicing some more. When I get close to the pocket I feel "push" but loose my balance and fall off. It seems like it legit pushes me forward/pulls me towards the boat and I fall off the board. Thoughts?

 

[gthh]

...are you bending your knees! Sorry.


Can you show us a video? (no face plants-please). You have an excellent 'curl' on your wave so it may be something your doing that would be obvious if we could see a video of you riding. What (I may have missed it) board are you using?

Maybe try this technique mentioned in this post. I am anxious to get out and try this myself. A good video of this method would be nice while you are out there. Still too cold for me to give it a try this weekend.

Launch off boat transom deck

 

[J-RAD]

UPDATE - Been practicing some more. When I get close to the pocket I feel "push" but loose my balance and fall off. It seems like it legit pushes me forward/pulls me towards the boat and I fall off the board. Thoughts?

It is hard to diagnose without seeing what's going on. Video would help, if you have it.

 

[Julian]

Definitely want a lot of weight forward on the board....more than you'd think. In fact the hardest part for me is not subbing the tip of the board....that is how far forward I go.

 

[Scottintexas]

.
Can you show us a video? (no face plants-please).

☝☝☝
This guy is WHACK !!!
All we care about is the last 3 seconds, especially if a face plant is involved,

The board is important but really your foot balance, i found at first having a very wide stance helped me get weight on my front foot, also finally throwing the rope put my body in a whole new stance for balance, for me it really is like a balance ball with a board on it

 

[Julian]

Nothing wrong with posting a faceplant video!