How To: Wakeboard, Wake Surf, Water Ski
Pass The Handle Day is coming up this Sunday, July 21, 2019! #Passthehandle is a world wide initiative intended to share the water sports experience with new participants. Founded in 2013 by industry leader Zane Schwenk and Pro Wakeboarding legend Shaun Murray, the two water sports enthusiasts had an idea to share their passion for the water with first-timers on a large scale. The goal is to “share the stoke” of water sports by teaching first timers how to Wakeboard, Wake Surf, Water Ski, or tube, instilling a new found love for water sports that will help nurture the industry and sports that we love for generations to come.
In honor of Pass The Handle Day (July 21) and the whole Pass The Handle Month of July, we would like to share 3 easy tips for getting first time riders up on a Wakeboard, Wake Surfboard, or Water Skis:
Let your arms go straight: You want to make sure that your arms are extended all the way out, allowing the chest to come to your knees once the boat starts moving forward. If your arms are bent, you will attempt to fight the boat when getting up, instead of letting the boat do the work for you. In a fight between you and the boat, the boat will win every time. Let your arms all the way out, keep your back strong, and allow your chest to come to your knees.
Let your butt slide to your ankles: After your arms are straight, and your chest has come to your knees, you want to allow your butt to sink into your ankles. This helps to plain the board/ skis out of the water as now the water if pushing against the base of your board/ skis. This can be called a “baseball catcher” position, and helps keep your center of gravity low when popping out of the water.
PRO TIP: The #1 mistake that people make when getting up for the first time is standing up too early. Once you are in the “baseball catcher” position, you will start to feel like you can stand up. Instead of immediately acting on this feeling, count “one mississippi” before standing up. This will let the boat do the work in getting you out of the water, rather than you fighitng the boat to get up.
Rise up slowly: The last step is to rise up slowly from the “baseball catcher” position, rising with your chest. Once you have started rising to a standing position, if on a Wakeboard or Wake Surfer, bring the handle down to your front hip to straighten yourself out. If you are on water skis, bring the handle to your belly button.
To watch a step by step video from Zane Schwenk himself on how to get up, check out the video below:
You can Wakeboard or Water Ski behind most any boat, although we at Seager Marine prefer to ride behind a Nautique Boat. When Wake Surfing, you MUST use an inboard boat, as the propeller on an outboard or inboard/ outboard boats is exposed and can cause serious injury, or even death to a wake surfer.
We also recommend that all water sports participants wear a coast guard approved (CGA) life jacket. To learn more about how to stay safe when on the water, check out our boaters safety blog post HERE!