Wake Surfing for Beginners

Getting Up

Wakesurfing is not only one of the most fun watersports around, it is also one of the easiest. Not to mention one of the least taxing on your body. Anyone can get up on a surf board. Getting up is not at all about strength, it's about technique. And here we'll teach you that technique.

I must once again reiterate that wakesurfing should never be attempted on a non-inboard boat. It is dangerous and stupid. You are likely to get chopped up by the propellor and be seriously injured.. if not worse. You also risk ruining the sport for the rest of us. Don't do it.

Beginners should use a large surfboard. The larger the board, the more surface area it will have and the easier it will be to get up and surf. The CWB Ride is a great choice for a first board. It is over five feet long and riders of any size will be able to surf on it. For more information about how different types of surfboards compare, check out our article about choosing your surfboard.

The surfing rope should be tied off so that the handle reaches between ten and fifteen feet behind the back of the swim platform. You may want to invest in a dedicated wakesurfing rope that has a very small handle or a dowel instead of the standard handle for safety reasons. As you progress you will be getting a lot of slack in the rope; a large handle can be dangerous. Your arm or leg could get caught in a large handle leading to some very serious injuries.

Before you jump in the water, you'll need to find out which foot you are going to put forward. To determine your dominant foot, stand on a flat area (the boat's sundeck or swim platform will usually work) and have someone push you from behind. Whichever foot you put forward first to catch your fall is the foot you should put forward. This trick also works for wakeboarding and water skiing.

If you are left foot forward, you should place your ballast on the port (left) side of the boat and should surf on that side as well. It's the exact opposite if you are right foot forward.

Once you are hooked up with your equipment and settled on a dominant foot, it's time to jump in the water. Don't forget your life jacket (safety first).

You should put the board between you and the boat and place your front foot just past midway (towards the front of the board). Hold the board with one hand (if you're left-foot forward, hold it with your right hand, right foot forward hold it with your left hand) and the rope with the other hand.

Have the driver put the boat into gear. The slight pull of the boat should hold the board against your foot. Now put your back foot on the board about four inches from the back. If you keep the board in between you and the boat, the boat will hold it to your feet so that you can grab the handle with both hands.

Tell the boat driver that you are ready. He should give you a soft hit and get the boat up to somewhere around nine and a half miles per hour. The speed will vary for each boat, so adjust it to make the biggest wake possible. If you have positioned your feet on the board correctly it should be trivial for you to stand up. The surfboard has so much surface area that almost immediately after the boat starts going you will be able to stand up.

If your driver is having problems, the driving tutorial is a good place to direct them.

And that's all there is to it. Once you're up, you should read the article about how to keep your balance on the surfboard. It will give you more specific instructions about where to put your feet and how you should lean.

Need help with this trick? Visit our wakesurfing forum.