July 29, 2007

From the Water: Elusive Tricks

I have been meaning to post while actually sitting in the boat since I launched this site. Something about it struck me as a neat concept, but one for which I never managed to find an opportunity. Today, I did find that opportunity finally. So this post is the first in a series that I plan to do as often as possible going forward, written and posted while actually on the water. Why I have wireless access from here, basically in the middle of the lake, I'll never know. I don't even have a cell signal. The times they are a'changing.

The Wakeboard Report covers the industry, boats, and even the business end of wakeboarding in great detail, but there is room for improvement with regard to our own participation in the sport itself. Wakeboarding is, after all, our favorite sport. We need to fill that void in content on The Wakeboard Report and this post is an attempt to get past the facts and figures of wakeboarding and wakeboarding equipment, and address the spirit and feeling that wakeboarding gives its participants.

Today during our morning set, it was pouring rain. My first run took place during the worst of the it, while the driver and observer were seated pretty comfortably under the protection of the bimini top and bow cover in place with the bow access window sealed. The driver's arm was getting wet, but otherwise he reported being very comfortable and dry - and not melting. As is always the case with these intermittent mid-summer showers, the lake was glass calm and we were sharing it with nobody. Suddenly a perfect opportunity to do a little bit of training rather than just complete a typical run presented itself.

"Elusive" or even "difficult" tricks obviously vary depending on an individual's actual abilities. I am by no means a spectacular rider, but despite the fact that we're overtly self-deprecating on this site - we are actually reasonably capable wakeboarders. Put simply, none of us would take first in the Outlaw class at a contest nor compete at that level, but we can hold our own in the Advanced class.

Consistency has never been one of my strong points, so the training drills that replaced our normal Saturday morning set definitely should become part of our normal routine because it paid off today for myself and one of the other editors of The Wakeboard Report. Tricks such as the frontside 540 (approaching the wake switchstance) is one of my most inconsistent tricks and a such, one that gives me the biggest rush whenever I manage to ride away from one. I decided to tackle that monster today.

I warmed up with a few backside backrolls, a toeside roll, a few 360's and a failed blindside 180. After shaking out the rust that builds up after 5 days without wakeboarding, I was ready to embark upon a journey back to 540ville. My first attempt was a complete disaster as I somehow managed to both over rotate, and come up short of the second wake. I didn't realize that was even possible. My rotation was actually in the range of 630 degrees. Do the math. You'll then find me landing flat, and hard, on my back right at the crest of the second wake. At that point with the rain now coming in torrents, the observer said, "do you really even want to ride in this?". I asked if they were dry and comfortable. They were.

So I got back up, cut to the outside of the left wake, flipped the board around to switchstance, and wrapped myself into the rope. I took a deep breath and approached the wake. After getting a clean pop, I released the t-bar and somehow launched into the cleanest, biggest 540 I've ever completed. There wasn't a moment during the trick that I lost awareness or control. At the point I knew I had crossed the 360 degree point, I passed the handle into my forward hand, finished the last 180 degrees and landed about 5-6 feet past the second wake. A lesser-known artifact of wrapped rotational tricks is that anything beyond a 360 actually does involve a handle pass.

As a perpetual malcontent about my own riding, I almost immediately realized that if a 720 is in my future, it will be wrapped, switchstance and off the double-up. It doesn't seem that would be the easiest way for a person to land their first 720, but it looks like it will be in my case. In addition to getting my half-cab rolls (failed attempt | successful attempt) consistently dialed back in, this is one of my new goals for the season.

I spent the remainder of the day feeling very happy about this sport, and on a high from landing something at the higher end of my wakeboarding capabilities. It is so important to fall, and learn from your falls every time and just stick with it. Sometimes when we take new wakeboarders out, they apologize for falling. The saying "if you aren't falling you aren't learning" has become almost cliche on our boats. As long as you haven't fallen hard enough to lose your balance or even worse, your confidence, it is worth every moment and every penny in gas to continue trying.

So who knows what will happen tomorrow. Will that other Wakeboard Report editor get his handle-pass 360's back? Will I get my half cab roll back? Who knows. One thing I do know is that we'll be falling a lot, and that is the only way either of us are going to get better.

Thanks for reading. And remember that falling leads to progressing!

Posted by erik at 02:48 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack