Wakeboarding is a sport that evolved from surfing and snowboarding. The sport was introduced in 1989 by two brothers named Porter and Murray Daughtry. Porter invented the Skurfer and Murray is a Pro-snowboarder. Between the two they joined thoughts and the love of each sport and came up with wakeboarding. The sport itself has risen overtime and has become a sport of pleasure and fun for many people. It has also become one of the XGame sport challenges.
The wakeboard is a surfboard type of material with two boots attached by screws. You then position yourself behind the boat and are pulled at speeds ranging from 18-27 miles per hour depending on the person. When positioning to start you are in the water with your knees bent and the board directly in front of you. The boat then takes off pulling you up out of the water. This can take many attempts before figuring it all out. There are different levels of tricks that you learn and become proficient over the course of time. Some wakeboards have gotten so good that they are performing jumps high in the air, doing Surface 360’s, Powerslides and much more. Check out Danny Harf who is a professional wakeboarder in Orlando. http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1374480188
With all this being said I have attempted to learn the sport this past summer. A friend got a boat this summer and decided to teach us all the sport of wakeboarding. Of course the guys picked it up a little quicker than the girls…even though a girl was teaching us. The hardest part is learning to get up on the wakeboard. Once you master that which could take many attempts, then you have to learn to stay up and become comfortable with the water. The first time I got up it was frightening because I did not know what to do next. It took me approximately 30 attempts of the course of the summer to get up. However once that was mastered I get up every time now. I am currently learning to become one with the water and work on going back and forth over the wake. This is much more difficult than you are probably imagining it to be. The thing that makes this most difficult is that I am only doing this once every three weeks or so which makes it harder to learn.
The process of learning involves face plants, butt slaps and much more on the surface of the water. Wiping out at speeds of 18-27 miles per hour really puts a beating on the body, but I love the challenge and really enjoy being out on the water. My friend is really good at it and we all enjoy watching her perform many tricks as well as trying new ones. She has been wakeboarding for over 10 years and has learned many tricks. She gives us inspiration to master the sport which brings us back for more every time.