Progression

January 4th, 2009 | Articles

Wakeskating is fun. It’s a fact. Part of that fun is seeing how much you can tweak tricks or how big you can take them. Another part is just about being on the water with a bunch of friends and a buttery lake. The last piece of the fun that we can’t deny is progression, landing new tricks and breaking barriers. Unfortunately, we all hit plateaus where our progression stops and we struggle to land tricks we know we can do, tricks we’ve done a thousand times before. When we hit this plateau how do we continue to progress?

Ride with people that are better than you. Watching them ride is inspiring enough on its own. Don’t be afraid to ask them for help. Sometimes you have to ask for help because they don’t know you want to hear it, pardon them for being polite. Need some people to ride with? OWC is two for one or 25% off for ladies on Tuesdays. The cable is also a great place to meet other riders. Don’t live in Orlando? Cruise around Facebook and the wakeskating.com forums and find some new people to ride with.

Compete. Contests are what they are. Some people hate them, some people love them. I’ve been both people. No, they are not the best showcase of your talent, however they force you to learn how to ride under pressure. I find I am the most fired up to learn new tricks the week or two after a contest. No matter how I ride I almost always wish I rode better and it motivates me to step it up.

Cross-Train. Can’t Can’t get on the water? Find other ways to work on your balance and riding muscles. Jump on the trampoline with a wakeskate or skate deck and a rope. Hop on a balance board. Tie a gallon of water or sand to a handle and swing it around to work on handle passes. Bike, rock climb, skateboard, snowboard…whatever you do, keep active on the days you can’t get on the water.

Check Your Gear. Is your board too big or too light? Do your shoes weigh ten pounds? Do you need to take fins on/off? I’m not saying you can’t land a 3 shuv on a 2 x 4. I rode a board with a shredded wooden bottom till it snapped. I’m just saying some boards flip or spin faster. Also you might have to take your fins off to learn 3 shuvs, then put them back on and learn them with more pop.

Try New Tricks. Sounds obvious enough, doesn’t it? But sometimes you go out and don’t land all the tricks you can usually do. We all have off days. Let it go and move on. Don’t keep wasting your time on a trick you know you can usually do when you could be learning new ones. It’s hard to do but I’ve been trying to go out and take the first two or three falls to warm up with tricks I know I can do then work on new stuff. Getting frustrated with a new trick? Do your favorite trick first like a big inside out shuv and get your Tony Hawk meter back up for trying new tricks. I try to always have four or five tricks in mind that I want to learn so I’m not out there wondering what to try.

Reward Yourself. If I land a big new trick, like a wake-to-wake shuv, I get a bacon wrapped steak for dinner. I just focus on that steak when I’m cutting out and *bam*, that’s how I land new tricks (I wish!). Sometimes my riding buddies and I make bets. We all write down the tricks we want to learn and whoever lands it first, the others have to buy them dinner (sushi!) or a set, or something desirable.

Step By Step. Don’t go right for back bigs when you can’t three shuv yet. That won’t help you progress very fast. Small steps are key in progression. Trying to learn something wake to wake? Try it one wake first at a slower speed or with a short line and save yourself some brutal wrecks. Don’t be afraid to strap in, there is no shame in it. I learned how to do wake to wake jumps and all of my wake-to-wake 180s on a wakeboard long before I wakeskated and it made them fairly easy to learn on the skate.

Have Fun. Don’t take it too seriously! It ruins all the fun, not just for you but for the whole crew. Can’t seem to get those 3 shuvs? Try carving switch as hard as you can till you fall on your face! Or try something you don’t see often, get creative. One-legged butterslides!

That is how we progress as individuals, but how do we progress women’s wakeskating as a whole? Get other girls involved! Teach them. Push them. Push each other. Show up at contests. Support women’s events and gatherings. Write articles, contribute! Share your passion with the people around you. Let’s ride!

Author: JennyDanger

Jen GilanFarr (aka Jnonymous) is the mastermind behind the new TID website layout. She is World Champion Wakeskater and she is planning several TID Girls Ride Days and TID All Girls Clinics in Orlando Florida. Check them out!