Wakeboard Posture

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Posture is everything when it comes to effectively edging into the wake.

Heelside

Hips: The position of your hips is the key factor for creating leverage when edging toward the wake. Keep your hips up and in front of your shoulders. Bad habit: Hips drift back behind the shoulders, and the board softly edges at the wake by the fins holding the direction, instead of the entire Heelside edge.
Shoulders: Keep your shoulders back and behind your hips for leverage against the pull of the boat.
Knees: Bend your knees as you start edging toward the wake. As you edge up the wake, straighten your knees up and push off the top of the wake.Bad habit: Knees stay bent while edging through the wake and absorb the pop on take off. On landing the knees stay stiff and don’t absorb the shock of landing.
Elbows: Should be bent at 90 degrees with the handle low and close to your hips as you begin edging toward the wake. Bad habit: Elbows straight, which leads to forward falls on landing.
Hands: Keep your hands close together when gripping the handle on Heelside and Toeside. This provides a more responsive pull when doing handle pass tricks. When you grip by the handle ends, the handle will slacken on handle passes which hinders consistency. Also, grip the handle with both palms down.

Toeside

Hips: Hips should be up and in front of shoulders when edging toward the wake. Bad habit: Hips are low and butt is sticking out. While this posture will in fact create good leverage edging toward the wake, it will always lead to forward falls on landing.
Shoulders: Should be up and directly over your knees. Bad Habit:Shoulders and chest drop down into a hunched over position when edging toward the wake.
Knees: Slightly bent and rigid while edging toward the wake. As you edge up the wake straighten your knees to push of the top of the wake.
Elbows: Bring your elbows in close to your body for the approach to the wake. I always teach students to hold on with both hands the entire way through the air on the toeside jump. It feels awkward at first, but this technique will force you to keep the handle close to your hips and make clearing the wake much easier.

Toeside Backroll & TS Roll-to-Revert

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The Toeside Back roll, and TS Roll to Revert are two more tricks that are very similar to each other, if you learn the TS Back Roll, it will be very easy to take it to revert. The TS Back roll is no different than a perfect back flip that you would do on a trampoline, and on the TS Roll to Revert, you simply hold on with both hands through the flip and the 180 part of the trick rotates with little effort.

Prerequisite

Before attempting these tricks, make sure that you’re comfortable with Toeside wake to wake jumps, and TS 180’s, and practice landing some basic Toeside airs in the flats. Also, if you’ve ever landed a Heelside Tantrum, it will make learning these tricks a lot easier since, like a Tantrum, you’ll basically throw a back flip off the top of the wake.

Edging In

  1. The approach is the same on both; Go out wider than normal, and take a drifting approach to the wake.
  2. Try not to use too much of a strong progressive edge through the wake since it tends to make you throw these tricks early.
  3. The key to learning these inverts quickly all depends on keeping the right posture in your upper body. Focus on keeping your hips up and in front of your body, and your chest up as you edge up the wake, if your chest gets hunched over you’ll have trouble getting enough air to clear the wake and under rotate the flip.
  4. You have to stand taller on the approach of this trick compared to any other invert.

Throwing the Toeside Backroll

Initiate this trick the same way you would do a back flip on the trampoline. At the top of the wake throw your head back, and let your hips come up and over. Hold on with two hands off the wake. As you start to come out of the flip, let go with your back hand and keep the handle low and close to your body with your front hand. If you’ve landed this trick ten times or so, you’re ready to try taking it to revert.

Throwing the TS Roll-to-Revert

At the top of the wake, throw this trick exactly the same as the TS Back roll. As you start to come out of the trick, hold on with both hands this time and bring the handle across your body to your rear hip. Most people are surprised at how easy it is to get this trick to go to revert. Also, most riders will have a tendency to land this trick with the handle out and high, which makes landing pretty tough, concentrate on keeping that handle low and close. Some riders will also have trouble with landing hard and butt checking, it’s usually caused from not rotating the 180 part of the trick enough.

Whether throwing these tricks on a trampoline, or behind the boat, they both start the same way. I ride right foot forward, so that’s the way I’m doing them here on the trampoline.

Crow Mobe

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A Crow Mobe is a great way to get started in the world of mobes. A mobe is any trick where a flip is combined with a 360 spin. It may sound really difficult, but like any wakeboard move, take it one step at a time and you’ll get it.

Prerequisites

Before you attempt this, make sure you can land scarecrows every time you try them, it helps if you can land a scarecrow wake to wake and land them in the flats.

The Approach

Your edge toward the wake is the most critical part of this move. Set up close to the wake, 10 to 15 feet out, and take a progressive cut, edging moderately hard through the top of the wake. Keep more of your weight on your front foot as you hit the wake.

In The Air

For the first half of the trick, concentrate on keeping the handle low and hold on with both hands as long as possible. Half way through the flip, pull the handle in toward your front hip so you will have a little slack when making the handle pass. Delay the last 180 spin until right before you land. Concentrate on spinning the last 180 totally with your lower body, and let your shoulders follow.

The Landing

As you land, there is a natural tendency is to slip back onto your heels, so push your chest forward as soon as your board hits the water. For learning purposes, try to land this trick wake to wake. It’s quite a bit harder to stick this move if you are landing in the flats. Some people land this trick wrapped, however, I think it’s more consistent to pass the handle immediately as you land.

These are the areas that most people have difficulties when trying Crow Mobes.

I’m can’t figure out how to throw this trick.

The key to the Crow Mobe is waiting until the last second to rotate the second 180. Approach the wake just like you are going to do a scarecrow, and if you have time as you drop out of the crow, rotate the second 180 with your legs.

I don’t have enough air to rotate the last 180.

Have your boat driver drive a slight arc in the same direction you are cutting. You want the wake to be curling over a little bit as you edge through it, giving you a more abrupt kick off the wake and more air.

I land on my board, but miss the handle every time.

This is another area where your driver can help out a little. Have the driver ease back on the throttle as you are about to land, which will create slack and make the handle pass easier. Also, make sure you pull the handle harder to your hip to create the needed slack.

I’m landing but slipping back onto my butt.

This happens a lot on boards that are designed to have a loose feel. You can either put slightly larger fins on your board, or, throw your upper body harder as you initiate the flip off the wake.

Toeside Front Roll and Scarecrow

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The Toeside Front Roll, and Scarecrow are very similar to each other, if you learn one it will be very easy to learn the other. The Front Roll is no different to a perfect front flip that you would do on a trampoline, and on the Scarecrow, you just add a 180 to the end.

Prerequisite

Before attempting either of these tricks, you should master toeside wake jumps and toeside 180’s. You also should be able to land toeside 180’s with the handle close to your hips, and land them in the flats.

Edging In

Start about 20 feet away from the wake and edge like a normal toeside jump. The only difference is, as you begin to edge up the wake, stand tall and back off your edge immediately before throwing the trick. If you keep a hard edge through the top of the wake on these tricks, your board tends to stick to the wake and you won’t get any air.

Throwing the Front Roll

At the top of the wake, throw your head straight down toward the center of your board. Hold the handle with both hands as you throw the trick, and let go with your back hand as you come out of it.

Throwing the Scarecrow

At the top of the wake, throw your head and back shoulder down and toward your front foot to initiate the 180 rotation. Hold on with both hands through the entire trick. Half way through the rotation, pull the handle toward your hip that will be in front when you land to help rotate the 180.

Trouble shooting

Most people tend to bring the handle up or over their head when learning these tricks, which slows down the rotation and makes it hard to land. Concentrate on keeping the handle low and close to your hips.

Whether throwing these tricks on a trampoline, or edging up the wake, they both start the same way.