What is Wakesurfing?
Wakesurfing is a popular water sport that consists of standing on the surface of the ocean and holding onto a handheld rope.
The rope is attached to a device that’s fastened to the boat, which then pulls you through the water while you’re standing on top of it. It’s a fun way to enjoy the ocean and all its natural beauty.
Wakesurfing Tricks
Floater
One of the most basic tricks is called a floater. This is one of the easiest tricks to master. Floating refers to riding on a wave.
Floating is a wonderful beginner technique since it’s easy to pick up and provides you a good sense of what it’s like to ride on top of a wave. You’ll want to shift your weight to your toes to float the wave.
Ollie
The ollie is a skateboarding move in which the rider and the board jump into the air even without the rider’s hands being used. Initially, it’s best to learn this trick with the rope and away from the wave. Bring the board over to the wave once you’ve gotten it out of the water.
Pumping
If you’re looking to up your game and get a little more control, some awesome wake surfing tricks will help you do just that. One of the most popular wake surfing tricks is “pumping.
” This involves standing up on the board, pressing your feet against one side, and pulling your hands away from the side–all at the same time. This forces water towards the other side of the board to cause it to rise out of the water. You can make pumping even more effective by adding an extra hop onto it at the end during your landing.
Riding Switch
If you’re a beginner, it’s important to learn to ride the board with your dominant foot forward. This is what wake surfing is traditionally done. But once you get more comfortable on the water, you’ll want to experiment with riding switch—with your non-dominant foot in front.
If you’re going to be going back and forth from riding switch to traditional wake surfing, have a look at these tips: Practice paddle boarding or kayaking before heading onto the water so that you can get a feel for your board.
Take a few deep breaths before switching feet and leaning in the direction of the turn. Keep your knees bent when riding switch and use your whole body when turning. Make sure that when you ride switch, you are facing downstream.
Riding Backside
One of the most popular ways to ride awake is the backside. To do it, you’ll need to take off at an angle that’s perpendicular to the direction of the boat. This will give you enough momentum that when you reach the peak of the wave, you’ll be able to turn your board to face it.
Once you’re riding parallel with the boat, turn your toes inward and lean back. This will help make sure your board doesn’t wheelie out in front of you while you’re trying to do tricks. When leaning back, make sure both knees are bent so they can absorb all of your weight.
The best way to get started is by sitting on your surfboard and dragging it behind the boat or sitting on top of it and holding it against the hull with one hand while paddling out toward where other surfers are catching waves.
360 Spin
360 spin wake surfing is a variation to your typical wakeboard. One of the most common tricks in wakeboarding, 360s are also one of the harder tricks to learn. When you’re doing a 360, you’ll want to put your toes up on the nose of your board for leverage.
When getting set up, you’ll need to be at least 10 feet away from the boat so that when the rope reaches its full length, you are fully extended towards the boat. The trick can be done either by riding off of a single wake or catching two waves in rapid succession.
Once in position, lean back and then simply rotate around in 360 degrees without touching your board with your feet at any point during rotation. You will end up in the same spot you started after completing this trick!
Body Varial
The body varial is an advanced wake surfing trick that is popular in wakeskating. The rider performs this trick by leaning back slightly on the board, opening one foot up in front of them, and then rotating their body around to catch up with their front foot.
So while they’re leaning back, they extend one of their feet out in front of them before completing the rotation of the board. The rider then catches up with that foot and pushes off in a new direction. This trick takes some practice but it’s not only a strong wakeboarding move but also a good one for riders who are new to wake surfing!
Board-Slides
Board slides are an easy way to get back on the board from a long dip. Board slides are a wakeboarding trick that is done by turning your board while holding on to the handle. As you turn, the object you want to slide over should be over your toes, or in front of your feet.
This will give you more control and allow you to have more control over what direction the board is sliding. You can perform this trick either while jumping off an edge or while riding across the wake.
Some other tricks
The next trick is called “dropping” which requires you to push down on one side of your board with your foot while balancing on top. Pushing will cause water to be forced out of that side and then dropping allows you both feet back on top for balance.
Another awesome wake surfing trick is called “jumping.” To jump, you’ll need to have good balance before taking off – so practice! Once your balance is solid, use one hand or leg as leverage so you can jump off with one foot or arm respectively. As soon as you do, push up on either side with both feet or hands to create enough momentum.
