Even for a beginner, getting up on a wakeboard can be easy, as long as you take your time, prepare ahead, relax and rise slowly. Just remember to let the boat do all the work. Before starting, make sure you have a Coast Guard-approved life vest, the appropriate wakeboarding equipment, strong swimming skills and a boat designed for watersports, since all these elements will play a key role in your success at wakeboarding. Next, just follow these four simple tips, and with a little practice, you'll be up in no time.

Know Your Foot

If you're a newbie to the sport of wakeboarding, you'll need to know which foot to have in the front while riding the board. If you're already an experienced snowboarder, skateboarder or surfer, your lead foot will be the one that you normally have in front. You can determine whether you're regular (left foot forward) or goofy (right foot forward) by simply standing up with your feet together and having someone push you from behind. Whichever foot goes forward first is your lead foot. Before proceeding to the water, make sure that you have the right equipment: Larger boards with one or more large rear fins tend to be more forgiving and give the wakeboarder more direction so that you can put your best foot forward, whether it's the right or the left one.










Practice On Land
Grab a handle and sit down, with a friend holding the other end of the handle and rope. Face each other with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees together, arms straight and looking forward. Have your friend give a strong, constant pull on the rope until you start to stand up. As the handle starts to pull you up, let your chest slowly come forward to your knees, keeping your arms around them. Next, let your bottom slowly slide up to your ankles, keeping your chest against your knees and your arms straight. This crouched stance should look similar to a baseball catcher position. From this position, slowly rise, keeping your chest up. As you continue to rise, push the handle ahead of your front hip, which will be the same as your front foot.











To The Water
Now take your dry land and stability skills to the water. Unlike skiing, you can roll up to speed gently on a wakeboard. Start in the water, floating on your back with a buoyancy vest. The board should be perpendicular to the rope with your arms on either side of your knees. Signal the driver that you are ready to proceed. As you break the surface and the driver slowly increases his speed, keep your arms straight, knees together with arms around them, and the board sideways to the boat. As the boat accelerates to a maximum of 25 mph, let the pressure on the board push your knees into your chest, and then push your front foot forward toward the boat. Let your rear then slide to your ankles to complete the breaking-the-surface phase. Now comes the challenging part: Don't stand up.











Up You Go
Take your time in the baseball catcher position, and then slowly rise for 10 seconds, allowing the boat's speed to gradually increase before you can stand up. As you start to rise, slide the handle to your front hip, which will turn the board 90 degrees and straighten the ride. Make sure that you keep your knees slightly bent and your chest up as you continue to rise. Looking at the boat can greatly help in keeping your chest up, so avoid looking down at the water. Remember this saying: Look down, fall down. Let the pull come from the leading hip to allow the fins to take over and give you some traction. Once you start to feel more stablized, use your front shoulder to turn and point the board any direction, and your body and board will follow.