Wakeboard for daughter |
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merbesfield
Senior Member Joined: June-22-2009 Location: Lake Rabun Status: Offline Points: 183 |
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Posted: September-11-2017 at 12:12am |
I have never wakeboarded and only skied a few times. That being said, where can I learn about how to teach and coach my 12 yo daughter? I also need to know how to properly pull her. She is doing great and seems to really like it. Gets right up, jumps wakes, taking risks, etc. She needs a new board for next season. How do you know what board to buy? Obviously you can't shop on looks alone. How long does the rope need to be? What type of rope? We have been using what was handed down to us and she is doing grea w junk stuff. So it's now time to get her outfitted with the right stuff. Board, rope etc. Any help would be appreciated.
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gun-driver
Grand Poobah Joined: July-18-2008 Location: Pittsburgh, Pa Status: Offline Points: 4112 |
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YouTube has a bunch of videos on teaching kids.
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GottaSki
Grand Poobah Joined: April-21-2005 Location: NE CT Status: Offline Points: 3333 |
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best i can add is, TO start, best to just crack the throttle just above idle and add a little very slowly. seriously she will just rise gently and have time to adjust herself.
The average boat out there gives way too much throttle to start There is a lot to investigate, board, binding placement, etc. Keep speeds slow, 14-15-16 my girl got concussed with a forward wakeboard fall at only 18-19 mph, its serious stuff. |
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"There is nothing, absolutely nothing, half so much worthwhile as messing around with boats...simply messing."
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bkhallpass
Grand Poobah Joined: March-29-2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 4723 |
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12 years old is not quite enough info. How tall? Weight, or at least skinny or less skinny?
Makes a lot of difference what board length you buy. How long are you expecting her to use it. To you expect her to share with others of different foot size? Used or new? Any fear? Aggressive boards will do a lot more. They are also subject to catching an edge and doing face plants. There was series of Videos called "The Book" which were made probably 15 years ago or more. About 6 hours of instruction. You can probably find them on Netflix or Amazon. Obviously some of the better boarding schools down in Florida. BKH |
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Livin' the Dream
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rebel skier
Gold Member Joined: October-17-2014 Location: Middle Tenn Status: Offline Points: 771 |
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Here is also one debate -- helmet or no helmet. Helmet will increase the chances of a concussion if you face plant, but will also keep you from taking your daughter to the ER after she has a scorpion crash and the board cuts her head open. With our flexible daughters they are limber enough for the board to stay totally attached to their feet and come all the way back and hit them in the head. Daughter crashed and blood just started coming down her head. It looked worse that it was, but a trip to the ER always sucks especially when on the lake.
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Hotty Toddy lets go skiing!
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JoeinNY
Grand Poobah Joined: October-19-2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 5693 |
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I second finding at least the first dvd or two of "the book" the covered basic driving including wake control as well as laying out safe and logical progressions from trick to trick. I am sure there are some similar videos on youtube as mentioned above but I have direct experience with "the book" |
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merbesfield
Senior Member Joined: June-22-2009 Location: Lake Rabun Status: Offline Points: 183 |
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Ok, she is 12 yo, super tall, skinny, very athletic. Yes fear, but normal fear not paranoia. Board length, no clue, that's why I asked. As to how long she will use it? Again no clue. Will she out grow it? Does her skill improvement make it necessary to get new boards? I wouldn't think she would share but I guess if other kids came up to lake they might want to use her board. Our boat, a 2001, is not very big so not like we can carry a bunch of equipmeent for alm types. Thx |
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Dreaming
Platinum Member Joined: May-21-2010 Location: Tacoma, WA Status: Offline Points: 1870 |
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I found a liquid force board on craigslist a year or two ago in the winter for ~ $50 with bindings. I would suggest that you start searching craigslist or ski it again for a board a couple of years old so you're dealing with modern bindings, but not the expense of a new board. Read reviews or google search them. Tall for a 12YO is probably 5' or so, and in the 75-125# range if she is skinny. Search for board sizing, getting a board that is too big will help to get her up quickly but will hinder her trick progress... Getting one too small will make it less stable and harder to get up on. I would guess she'll be in the 128 to 134 range for a board. Lots of CL adds fail to mention the size of the board, but if you scroll in on the pictures, lots of them incorporate the size in the branding or graphics. 134 is a pretty good size for lots of girls, it might be a board to grow into and universal for others too if you are taking friends to the lake with you. my 10YO almost got up on a 134 this year... I am guessing another time out and he'll have it. He is about 4'3"/ #70... My wife and I both "ride" a 142, I don't think it's super well suited for her, but as we progress to actually doing something with it, we may invest in another board for her. Right now, our joy is just riding behind the boat, not the super cool inverts or jumps that others can do
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merbesfield
Senior Member Joined: June-22-2009 Location: Lake Rabun Status: Offline Points: 183 |
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She is 5'-5" and weighs 100 pounds and is very slim and in good shape. She gets right up every time no issues. She can jump wakes and cut back and forth. The board she finished the season out started hurting her feet towards the end. Hopefully the new boards are more comfortable binding wise. Also need to know proper rope type and length from boat. We are using our 86 2001, which seems to work quite well. Not sure the exact speed I should pull her but she seems to be comfortable at around 3K RPM whatever that speed is on the boat. She gives my the thumbs up/down as needed. I just want to be sure I am doing the right thing.
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bkhallpass
Grand Poobah Joined: March-29-2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 4723 |
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She is tall for here age, but light. I would guess about 75 percent of women ride a board 132 to 138. Her height/weight would probably say 132, or even 128. She will grow, I would probably look for a 134, maybe a 136.
If here feet were already hurting her, I would not get adjustible bindings. Even fitted wakeboard bindings accommodate 3-4 sizes of foot. If her friends can't fit, too bad, go buy their own. I would look for a board in the middle of the lineup. If you buy new, it's obvious. If you are going used, look at the current line for same brand. They usually don't change the names much. You will know what is mid-range. On most of these boards, there is no difference between men's and women's boards except the graphics the cover them with. The differences in the boards are are the dimensions, shape, number of fins, and sharpness of the rails. You want a real wakeboard rope. Non stretch line, such as spectra. Important piece of equipment. Usually a wakeboard handle is wider than a Ski handle. Usually 15" Length of rope depends upon the wake, which typically depends upon the boat. I would say that most people boarding behind a 2001 Nautique are probably on 55 to 65 foot ropes. (The pros are on 80 and 85 foot ropes these days. Their wakes are taller, and much wider. The are trying to do do double flips, and three turns. The need the height. 30K RPMs stikes me as very fast. Most of these Nautiques are somewhere around 1 mph for every 1000 rpm. I would guess you are going 26 to 30 mph. That's the speed of modern pros. But, again, they are using very big wakes, an trying to go really big to accomplish their tricks. On my ski boat I usually went whatever was the slowest speed we could get a clean wake. Typically that was 15 to 18 mph. On my current boat, that is 17.5 to 19 mph. If I have an advanced rider who wants more speed, so be it. If you decide to buy a new wakeboard, I'd listen to the guys at the pro shop. Not sure if it helped, but there is my $.02. Well, probably more like $.08. BKH |
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Livin' the Dream
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merbesfield
Senior Member Joined: June-22-2009 Location: Lake Rabun Status: Offline Points: 183 |
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Where is pro shops? I guess around big lakes? Thanks for good comments. Edit: Not sure my Speesos work, but I think the say 20-25.
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JoeinNY
Grand Poobah Joined: October-19-2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 5693 |
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RPM is a good way to try and hold speed if you don't have a speed control mph will go up and down as she loads up and releases. It does sound like you are running very fast. When I was wakeboarding a lot I was running a 2001 hull with a 1200 lbs ballast close to 25mph with a 70-75 foot rope at 200+ lbs I have buddies that were better and throwing large inverts that loved 60-65 ft rope and never went faster than 23. Someone your daughters size pretty advanced would likely be in the 20-22 mph range on that hull at most (probably no higher than 2350 rpm depending on prop and boat load). Rope in the 60-65 foot range if she wanted to clear the second wake. A good wakeboarding rope will have loops to adjust the length, if you get too good a rope it will be set up for pro lengths and might be 65 ft at the shortest setting.
Don't pull her too fast... bad habits form and injuries are more likely (also the landings are harder which might whats hurting her feet. |
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GottaSki
Grand Poobah Joined: April-21-2005 Location: NE CT Status: Offline Points: 3333 |
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Geesus tapdancing Christ, if thats accurate yes bring the speed way down. If your speedos don't work, your phone can get a free gps speed app. 100# your looking at 16-17 mph or so
Its important to set the bindings so the knees don't bind upon full range of motion. This is very individual. People just don't think and throw a kid onto a board with an unnatural, adult placed wide, splayed stance that stress or pop ligaments on first crush |
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"There is nothing, absolutely nothing, half so much worthwhile as messing around with boats...simply messing."
River Rat to Mole |
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merbesfield
Senior Member Joined: June-22-2009 Location: Lake Rabun Status: Offline Points: 183 |
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She is definitely on a youth WB. I will pay more attention to the speed, but I can say we are not flying and she seems to really like it. I will get a new board and line for next season. I would think having comfy feet would be very important. Like I said in original post, I want to learn so I can give her some guidance. She is obviously good at it. Crappy board and suspect rope, unknown speed, clueless dad, LOL, and she is having a great time and wants to catch air.
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TRBenj
Grand Poobah Joined: June-29-2005 Location: NWCT Status: Offline Points: 21122 |
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lol I agree. Maybe even slower. I'd start around 15 and adjust from there. Line length is based on the wake, which is hull AND speed dependent. 50' line should be plenty in the 15-17mph range. App = Navionics |
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rebel skier
Gold Member Joined: October-17-2014 Location: Middle Tenn Status: Offline Points: 771 |
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I have done well being patient and watching craigslist. When one comes up it is easy to find reviews online at evo.com. They usually also tell you the weight for the size.
You really want a CWB, Ronix or Hyperlight. Actually, what you do not want is a hydroslide or similar brand one. She will progress much faster on a decent board. If you are are patient, you can score a nice board for $100 or so. |
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Hotty Toddy lets go skiing!
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