The objective of this post is to provide behind the boat tips to help you achieve the on water performance needed to qualify to compete at a National Championships. This old dog described the Tricks qualification Requirements in a prior post. If you are not ready to get wet yet, you can check out the Tricks Dryland Training post.

The Gear

I use a Liquid Force Raph 137 wakeboard. The wakeboard has a few years on it and has been measured numerous times to verify the 35% width requirement.

The Tricks

As provided in the prior post, here is a quick description of the surface Back and Front tricks.

Trick 1 – Back: Starting in your preferred skiing position, either right foot or left foot forward, you will need to make a 180 degree surface turn towards your heels resulting in you riding in the back position. After completing the trick, your opposite foot will be forward.

Trick 2 – Front: Starting in the back position, you will need to make a 180 degree surface turn towards your heels resulting in you returning to ride in the front position.

The Outside Wakes Video

I perform all the Back and Front pulled out to the driver’s side of the boat. This position helps loosen up the wakeboard making it easier to spin. It also means there are no wakes for me to get tripped up on when spinning the board. The boat will naturally be pulling you back towards the wakes. Therefore, I will from the Front position make a hard pull towards the right occasionally to get wide on the boat before spinning the board to the Back position.

I am a right foot forward rider, so my daughter describes the Back followed by a Front from this perspective.

I stand on my wakeboard with my feet about shoulder width apart and my toes pointed out.

 I try to keep the ski handle at about waist height throughout the pass.

I can make the heel side turns in both directions without having to release the handle.

The turns should be made slow and controlled without any stopping before the 180 degree direction change is achieved.

My daughter starts the 20 second pass when I make my first move to spin the board.

She then calls out six Backs and Fronts.

The pass ends at 20 seconds.

The Between the Wakes Video

I perform all the Back and Front between the wake directly behind the boat. In this position you do not have to cross the wake and can often link more tricks together. It is good practice to perform the Back and Front to get used to staying between the wakes.

I am a right foot forward rider, so my daughter describes the Back followed by a Front from this perspective.

I stand on my wakeboard with my feet about shoulder width apart and my toes pointed out.

 I try to keep the ski handle at about waist height throughout the pass.

I can make the heel side turns in both directions without having to release the handle.

The turns should be made slow and controlled without any stopping before the 180 degree direction change is achieved.

My daughter starts the 20 second pass when I make my first move to spin the board.

She then calls out five Backs and Fronts.

The pass ends at 20 seconds.