Surface water sport
Not to be confused with Waterboarding , a form of torture, or Water skiing
An athlete practicing the sport 😗 of wakeboarding.
Wakeboarding is a water sport in which the rider, standing on a wakeboard (a board with foot bindings), is 😗 towed behind a motorboat across its wake and especially up off the crest in order to perform aerial maneuvers.
[1] A 😗 hallmark of wakeboarding is the attempted performance of midair tricks.
Wakeboarding was developed from a combination of water skiing, snowboarding and 😗 surfing techniques.
The rider is usually towed by a rope behind a boat, but can also be towed by cable systems 😗 and winches, and be pulled by other motorized vehicles like personal watercraft, cars, trucks, and all-terrain vehicles.
The gear and wakeboard 😗 boat used are often personalized to each rider's liking.
Though natural watercourses such as rivers, lakes and areas of open water 😗 are generally used in wakeboarding, it is possible to wakeboard in unconventional locations, such as flooded roads and car parks, 😗 using a car as the towing vehicle.[2][3][4]
Wakeboarding is done for pleasure and competition, ranging from freestyle wakeboarding and wakeboard parks 😗 to wakeboard competitions at the X Games, WWA Wakeboard World Championships, or similar events.
[5] Though it had an obscure start, 😗 it is now the world's fastest-growing water sport.[6]History [ edit ]
Monowaterski [ edit ]
The sport that would later become wakeboarding 😗 began as water-skiing with monowaterskis (single waterskis) in the USA around 1950.
The main difference between monowaterskis and contemporary wakeboards is 😗 the shape of the board and the stance.
Surfboards as Monoski [ edit ]
Wakesurfing - using surfboards as monowaterskis - began 😗 picking up traction around 1964, where it was seen as an "exciting new sport that's soon going to sweep the 😗 waterways.
"[7] Although surfboards were originally used, boards without straps or bindings were first seen in New Zealand with boards called 😗 "skurfboards".
[citation needed] Eventually, wakeboards with bindings or straps were sold in Australia under the name "McSkis".
Later, another company called "Skurfer" 😗 was founded by Tony Finn in 1985,[8] named as such due to the board being a cross of a surfboard 😗 and a water ski.
[9] The first board made in the early 1990s was the Hyperlite board by the O'Brien company,[10] 😗 a water ski manufacturer who marketed the board as a "compression-molded neutral-buoyancy wakeboard.
"[11] This was followed by a variety of 😗 boards that are curvier and more compact, creating a smoother ride.[11]
The wakeboard rope has advanced over the years with improvements 😗 in the material makeup.
When wakeboarding first started, wakeboarders used ski rope, which was made with stretchy cloth or plastic ropes.
The 😗 latter soon grew in popularity, and a braided rope made out of polypropylene was eventually introduced.
A few years later[when?], a 😗 rope that was less stretchy was invented that gave the rider a more consistent pull on the rope, though they 😗 were heavier and larger in diameter.
Modern ropes are coated with Spectra and Dyneema, which decrease the stretch and drag of 😗 the rope.
Wakeboarding in Tokyo, 2018Equipment [ edit ]
Wakeboarding - Box End Park September 2009
When wakeboarding, a wide variety of safety 😗 equipment is used.
These include life vests or other buoyancy aids which prevent water-related injuries and deaths, as they keep the 😗 wearer buoyant until they are picked up.
These vests especially help in situations where the rider is knocked unconscious or cannot 😗 tread water.
[12] Furthermore, wakeboarders use water-resistant helmets that are able to ventilate water so that the helmets do not fill 😗 up with water.
[12] Even the length of a wakeboarder's rope is important in providing safety; if the rope is too 😗 long, a wakeboarder will land on the flat part of the wake instead of the downside, and their knees will 😗 buckle.
Wakeboards themselves are also important to consider when preparing to ride.
Four of the most common wakeboard styles include the continuous 😗 rocker, the three-stage rocker, the five-stage rocker, and the hybrid rocker.
[13] Rocker refers to the curve of the board from 😗 head to tail and each type of board has a different placement and amount of curve that works best for 😗 different types of rides.
The presence or absence of fins on the bottom of a board can also make a drastic 😗 difference in how it rides.
Beginning riders are usually better off with deeper fins.
Another part of the wakeboard itself to consider 😗 is the size of the board and the material, which are usually a wood or foam core with a fiber 😗 glass coating.[14]
Guy Robinson - Wakeboarding Method grabWakeboarding Jump
At the same time, the length of a wakeboarding rope will vary based 😗 on the rider's preferences.
A longer rope may allow for more preparation and momentum before performing tricks,[15] whereas a shorter rope 😗 may require less speed and height to travel between wakes.
[15] In addition to this, the material of the rope being 😗 used can make a significant difference in ride experience.
The less stretch in the rope, the better it is for the 😗 rider to learn how to ride and do various tricks.
Some of the best rope materials include Dyneema, Poly E, and 😗 Spectra.
Each of these is known for its abrasion resistance, affordability and absorption, and durability respectively.[16]Tricks [ edit ]
When wakeboarding, a 😗 variety of tricks may be attempted.
Most of these stem from the wakeboarder adjusting their posture, edge, and distribution of weight 😗 so as to fly into the air upon hitting the wake.
[17] Various tricks include the toeside edge,[17] the heelside edge,[18] 😗 the ride switch,[19] and the 180° spin.[20]
More advanced tricks call for what is known as inversion or "inverts".
An invert is 😗 considered any action where the board is above the head of the rider.
This does not necessarily mean the rider is 😗 fully upside down, as evidenced by the Raley, a trick where the rider extends their body parallel to the water 😗 bending at the knees to achieve inversion.
[21] The heel side backflip, otherwise known as a tantrum, is often regarded as 😗 the first and easiest invert to learn as an intermediate level rider.
This is because the shape of the wake or 😗 the "kicker" (a type of floating ramp, used primarily at cable parks, that mimics the shape of a wake) naturally 😗 initiates the sequence of motions that are necessary to complete the trick.[22]
Female wakeboarder doing a front roll rotation at Lake 😗 Powell, UTCommunity [ edit ]
There are many different ways that people are engaged in this sport.
Popular brands like Byerly, Hyperlight, 😗 O'Brien and Ronix provide ever evolving technology and equipment as well as quality advice for new and seasoned riders alike.
Some 😗 of these brands also have active social media presence to reach more people and get them into the sport.[23]
Relationship to 😗 Kitesurfing [ edit ]
Many movements and tricks in wakeboarding bear close resemblance to moves also found in kitesurfing.
This is reflected 😗 in close similarities between wakeboards and twin-tip kitesurf-boards.
Wakeboarding in wake- and waterski parks is thus often considered a more approachable 😗 wind-condition independent alternative to kitesurfing and has seen a surge in popularity in parallel to kitesurfing, especially in densely populated 😗 areas in Europe, such as Germany.
See also [ edit ]
