1) YOU WILL FALL FLAT ON YOUR FACE

Every beginner wakeboarder knows there will be plenty of times when you fall flat on your face – and you won’t understand why.

One moment you’re riding along fine, hollering to your mates. The next, you are drinking lake water.

The wakeboard instructor will probably know exactly what went wrong. Listen close, they have good words of advice that you should probably take on board.

2) IT’S TOUGH ON YOUR ARMS

One thing I noticed in my first beginners wakeboarding lesson was how hard this sport is on your arms. You’ll pull up on the rope fine, but within minutes your arms will start to ache.

After five minutes, they will feel like they are going to fall off. This is totally normal. Trust me, you’ll get stronger and get used to it.

5) USE A SHORTER ROPE WHEN YOU FIRST START

Using a shorter rope often makes it easier for beginners to stand up. A shorter rope means the wakeboarder is in the narrower section of the wake. You can also hear the advice being yelled by the instructor in the boat clearer.

Longer ropes allow more advanced riders to get more speed and air for tricks. Discover Boating recommend beginners to use a rope that’s between 30 and 50 feet.

8 Best Beginners Wakeboarding Tricks

6) DON’T PULL ON THE ROPE

It’s a natural tendency for beginners wakeboarding for the first time to pull on the rope. Don’t do it.

Wakeboarding isn’t about pulling yourself up, it’s about letting the boat pull you to your feet. If you tug on the rope, it will probably make the nose of your board dig into the water, causing you to repeat Step Number 1. Keep those arms straight.

7) KEEP THE HANDLE LOW TO YOUR HIP

This is solid advice. Always keep the handle low and close to your hip as possible.

It’s common for beginners to try and hold the handle high, perpendicular to the water like waterskiers. This will cause another face plant.

Try practicing your handle grip on the land before you take it to the water.

8) LOOK STRAIGHT AHEAD

One of the best beginners wakeboarding tips I received was look straight ahead. Don’t look at your wakeboard bindings, even though it is tempting to see your board skipping across the water.

By gazing at your feet, you will probably place too much pressure on that front foot, causing Step Number 1 to occur once more. Keep that gaze straight ahead.

9) START WITH A RENTAL BOARD

There’s no point forking out a tonne of money on a wakeboard when you’re not sure if you are going to love the sport yet.

Even though they have some great deck designs – and you’ll obviously look super rad carting it around your local lake – wait until you’ve got the basics nailed before investing in a brand new wakeboard.

Also watch out for eBay. There are some great deals to be had on there, but be careful you don’t end up with a board from 20 years ago. Technology has changed a lot since then. You will find it harder to progress on an old board. Stick with the rental board for now. When you are ready, read our guide to choosing your first wakeboard.

10) YOU’LL BE THROWING DOWN TRICKS IN NO TIME

The beauty of wakeboarding is the learning curve is quite steep. Unlike surfing and snowboarding, you can pick up wakeboarding relatively fast and be jumping the wake with just a few hours tuition. You’ll soon be ripping along some of these insanely cool wakeboarding lakes. Practice makes perfect, right?

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