WAKEBOARDS - First Things First

One of the most important things to know when setting up the positions of your bindings on your board, is to have them evenly spread over the width of the board.  This means not to have them too toe or heel heavy.  The trick is to have them evenly spread so that it is a lot easier to keep your balance when learning new basic tricks like ollies and or surface spins.

As you progress on to learning more advanced tricks, like inverts and spins, some riders like to change the position of their binding to a more weight on their heels or toes.  This will help to make your "out" stronger.

The Beginner Set-Up

It can be quite confusing when setting up your bindings for the first time.  The position that you set your bindings up first, can determine the progression of your riding.  First you need to decide whether you are a goofy or regular (right foot or left foot forward).  The best way to find this out is to stand with both feet together on a flat surface and get someone to push you from behind.  The foot you step forward with will usually be your leading foot.

Set the bindings one hole out from the middle as this will give you a central position, you then need to adjust the angle of the bindings.  I would start by turning the front binding outwards slightly about 10-15 degrees more than your back binding.

It is always easier, when learning to wakeboard, to use larger fins.  This will make the board more stable, give you more traction on the water and make it easier to carve around on the water.

Once you feel comfortable on the board, and you want to try riding switch, it would be a good idea to angle your bindings round a bit more to make them more even.  This will make it a lot easier for riding in switch stance.

Intermediate to Advanced

Once you are feeling confident crossing the wakes and riding switch you may want to start trying some wake jumps.  To make this easier, start by moving your bindings one space wider every couple of times you ride until you feel comfortable.  (Comfort is very important).  The wider the bindings are the more balance you will have; also there will be more weight on the tip and tail of the board which will give you more pop off the wake.  I would estimate that 95% of professional wakeboarders have their bindings on the widest stance.  The best thing to do is to play around with the settings until you find the best suited position for you.

The only changes I would advise making to your board and bindings when hitting sliders and kickers is to put some small fins on your board.  I would recommend using the maximum size fins for sliding or kicking (1.5cm). Anything bigger could snap off, damage your board or even damage the slider or kicker making it dangerous for the next person.

Sliders and kickers are a lot of fun; they can also be quite dangerous so I would advise that you always wear a helmet.