was out on a lake this weekend, and a friend had a boat, so i thought let's try wakeboarding. He never towed a wakeboarder, and I've never wakeboarded before, and only had my kiteboard (with foot pads 
). I know it's not a proper thing to do, but it's all I had and just wanted to muck around as I had nothing better to do. Anyway, it all went ok... up/waterstart from the first go... no issues with foot pads even during crashes... etc etc...
Anyway, Im' curious to hear some thoughts from expert wakeboarders around here...
1) - i'm guessing the proper wakeboards have more rocker and would behave much better in slight chop on a lake? (Just curious how much diff one feels between two types of boards)
2) - i found that if he drives the boat very fast, it's more straneous to ride especially if there is a bit of chop. Curious what's the optimal speed is once planing (in mph)??
3) - kept feeling a lot of pressure/stress on my lower back - is that something that comes with the sport, or is this the effect of using improper type of board, +chop, etc etc...
cheers.
Yeah I gave wakeboarding a crack for the first time in Bali a couple of weeks ago (with a proper wake board), I figured hey I've got a couple of seasons kiting under my belt, how hard can this be...?
I got up and on the plane heaps easy, no dramas there. By the end of my 15 minutes I was totally shattered, upper body from hanging on to the tow rope, and also lower back from having to transfer the load from the arms to the board. Took me about a week before the lower back stopped screaming at me.
I'll do it again though, had a blast 
oh good, so i'm not the only one with such experience... yeh, my back still recovering , that's why i thought the pro wakeboarders would have a technique recomendations here...
(heaps harder than kiteboarding though, so full respect).
But i'm getting my wife to get the boat license now
Yes, you'll find it much harder on the body than kiting for sure. I can kite for 2, 3 or even 4 hours without a break, but after 15-20mins behind a boat either skiing or wakeboarding I need a break. For me my arms and upper body give out first.
1) Wakeboards have more rocker and are heavier generally.
2) Depending on conditions, but I find speed is my friend, less drag, better pop and height of the wake. Not sure how fast exactly as my speedo hasnt worked for years, we use the taco
3) Yep, get used to it. Stance, body position and how you grip and where you hold the handle will reduce this however.
Using your kite board is ok for a bit of fun, but if you want to start jumping and trying a few tricks, get a wakeboard with boots.
1) depends on what styles of boards wake or kite. some feel very similar some feel very different. My wake board is very slow and slippery compared to my kite board. your general riding stance is very different too riding wake is closer to 50-50 weigh distribution.
2) you would normally tow a rider between 18 and 22mph. depends on boat, rider skill rope length etc. Sounds like you were going way too fast. wake boarding in chop is hard work and no fun no matter what board you are using, hunt out the glass.
3) wake boarding is a lot more strenuous on your body than kite boarding like you said 10-15min being pulled by a boat and you are stuffed where you can kite for hours no problem. generally though you don't feel it so much in your back more in your arms and legs so i think you need to work on your technique when riding behind the boat.
I hadnt wakeboarded for a few years until last weekend, still sore, awesome fun, some big smacks
Have tried kiteboard, there is no comparison, have to use wakeboard if you want to learn, kiteboards to light/flexible
Boots give you max control
I was told a couple of minor things years ago for comfort
Hold the handle flat and lowish level with your hips(this is where you rotate from for rolls etc)
Push your leading hip forward, this "should" stop the back pain
Too fast is no good learning, stuff happens to fast, did alot of cable and seem to remember that being aroud 30kph which is 19/20mph comfy
Hurts/harder/less forgiving than kiting for sure, cant wait to go again
Try to do a 30mn session of kite surfing staying upwind while remaining unhooked for the entire duration and kiting will suddenly be just as hard.
Wake boarding would be piss easy with a harness but somehow I don't think that I will ever test that theory as getting dragged at pace after a crash might not be enjoyable
I miss the cable water ski park we had here in Perth!
That was a good training ground for kiting!!
I hope someone out there builds another one in Perth soon!!
I used to wakeboard and now kite. We would maybe have 4 or five runs at around 15 min each a day and you would be stuffed, my forearms copped it the most and would be so pumped you could barely hold the handle. When you kite try and ride unhooked for that ammount of time, i'm guessing the result would be similar.
Wakeboards have more rocker yes, but are a lot stiffer so you feel everything. I wouldn't bother riding if it wasn't glass or small ripple as it was horrible. a kiteboard flexes and rides better through chop.
With the pressure on your back, it sounds as if your getting levered at your waist, you need better posture, straight back, bar at your navel not chest height. Also strength comes with time.
With speed i think we used to run at about 25Mph as this had the best wake for a standard wake rope on our boat although i think this would be considered slow.
Basically you want benefit from your tower or high pole, so the shorter the better with your rope, within reason as you also want a comfortable speed and a good wake.
I ride a LF DLX with the kite. It's really stiff and works well for winching too. I use a 143 Ronix Mana behind the boat though. The forces are huge behind a boat so you really need a proper wakeboard.
yep 2 sets at 15 - 20 minutes each, but trying a lot of tricks and im pretty knackered.
wakeboards also need that extra rocker because the transition on a proper wake is quite abrupt and flatter kiteboards are a pain in the ass to get through that properly to get consistent pop and the stiffer boards are able to store more energy when loading the line.
speed changes from boat to boat because speedos on boats are largely inaccurate, for example i had a ride behind a mates vlx wake setter and rode at 22mph then on another vlx loaded the same way i was riding at 26 to get the same ride. then on another mates X2 which is a beast we rode at 28 which is considerably fast for wakeboarding.
kiting makes you tired faster without the harness, ive tried it a few times, just riding around unhooked for a laugh and within 10 mins im getting tired. it's because you're constantly edging though and you'd get the same effect if you constantly rode on the side of the boat instead of following it.
I love my kite board behind the boat very fast when you rail it like from 0 to 40 in half a second and you can with edging hard past the driver ( watch out for massive slack line though) I have done very little on wake board dont like the bindings feel really traped and cant move feet around to get the liking position but could move boots around to suit .
Sorry dribbling!!!! With a kite board iam 60 kgs with 138 flat board no concaves and found it best at 15 to 18 mph the slower is better on kite board . Faster is needed with wake board as for the rocker and they have heaps of groves and drag and with the rocker you only have 1/3 to 1/2 of the board planing .
I still say kite boards are way much more fun and less strain on body .
Sorry to interrupt and kind of ask a similar but different question...
I'm interested in getting a new board, and I want a board that I can put bindings on and also ride just with straps.. What kind of boards would you guys recommend? I want to get the North Gambler although they are extremely hard to find now as most stockist are out of stock... Also what bindings do you find most comfortable and all round good.
Thanks
"I miss the cable water ski park we had here in Perth!
That was a good training ground for kiting!!
I hope someone out there builds another one in Perth soon!!"
lol its still on some maps, i once drove there, housing development, no water to be seen.. gutted
Jan 3 2011 I tried wakeboarding with my kiteboard... still getting physio on my lower back 
Most guys who kite don't battle with cable, but even the cable wakeboarders battle when they move to a boat so don't be surprised if you battle behind a boat. While the rotation of tricks is the same, popping off a wake and flat water are completely different.
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Most Ski/Wakeboard Boats have an inboard engine so trim is not usually an issue.
We were sking behind a searay 175 with inboard, this has trim and for driving at speed you have to trim it
Whats the go to get the best wake for next time, from a not dedicated wake boat, we will play around with it next time but were to excited/impatient last time out(new to boating/obviously) some tips would be good
best way to get more wake out of a boat that isn't a dedicated wakeboat without spending heaps of cash is to add more weight. get 20L water drums and place them through the centre and back of the boat. you can also buy what is called a "fat sack" which is just a big water bag that can add around 200kg to the boat. more weight the merrier really, move it around a bit too to play with the wake shape.
the boat i ride behind the most has proper ballast set up, then we normally have 2 fat sacks and 6 water drums plus a bunch of lead weights distributed throughout.
Or just take the bungs out and fill the hull with water. I get towed behind a mates offshore quintrex and find removing the bungs for a couple minutes is the cheapest option. Forward motion sends all the water down the back of the boat and cuts the stern deep into the water creating a massive wake.
However we get towed on a lake full of freshwater. Wouldn't remove the bungs in saltwater.
Last year I took the family to the cable ski park just out from Maroochydore and thought that I would give it a go. Got up first go from sitting position on ramp, and made it all the way around! Totally stuffed after about 2 hours and you also do a lot of walking if you fall off in the wrong place. Over the next 2 days, I could hardly walk, yet I can easily do a 4 hour kite session. I'm thinking that my age doesn't help with recovery, as my 2 sons waked the whole afternoon and then went surfing all of the next day!! Luckily for me the wind kicked in a couple of days later and I had an amazing day of kiting in the waves at Bullcock beach. Would love to try wake-boarding behind a boat, though. By the way, some of the local cable hotties were kitesurfers, using their kite-boards.
yep kiteboards are manageable at cable because the riding principles are the same, only down side is if you do air tricks they are a bit too fast and you end up out running the cable on landings sometimes.
