Wakeboarding

Every sport eventually evolves into something more challenging and exciting. This is especially the case with water skiing. While water skiing is still popular, wakeboarding has taken adventure-seeking lake-goers by storm. It’s very similar to what happened with snow skiing and snowboarding. However, wakeboarding is a little younger than snowboarding, as it just became a sport in the late 1980s. The sport has come a long way since then. Wakeboarding is now popular in the United States, Asia, Australia, Croatia, and Russia. It has several magazines and websites dedicated to it, as well as a worldwide organization to govern official events.

Wakeboarding usually takes place o­n a lake, but can be done o­n any flat surface of water. It’s similar to water skiing in that you’re towed by about traveling around 20 mph. The difference is that instead of water skis, you’re o­n a board. By using a board, you’re able to do much more than o­n skis. This mostly refers to acrobatic tricks that include flips and turns. If you’re not looking for tricks, you can still go for some serious ‘pop,’ which refers to height. The o­nly other lingo you should know is heelside and toeside. These refer to which way you’re facing when crossing the wake. Heelside refers to facing the boat and toeside refers to facing away from the boat.

Wakeboarding has become so popular that they now design boats specifically designed for wakeboarders. The primary difference between these boats and other boats is that their designs will allow the wakeboarder to have more control. Regardless of what type of boat you use, safety is always of most importance. If you wipeout, a universal signal is to clasp your hands high above your head as you’re treading water. This will let the driver know you’re alright and not to rush.

Wakeboarding is sure to pick up steam in the coming decade. It’s known to be o­ne of the most exhilarating sports in existence.