Wakeboarding: A fusion of surfing, skiing, snowboarding, and skateboarding.

Wakeboarding is a new sport that originated in the mid-80s in San Diego, California (United States). It is an adventure sport that incorporates the best features of water skiing, surfing, snowboarding, and skateboarding, but with more dynamism, freedom, and fluidity; offering the possibility of performing more daring maneuvers in a dynamic and fluid way.

Photo: unleashedwakemag

It was in 1985 when a surfer from San Diego, California, named Tony Finn, invented a board he called 'Skurfer'. The skurfer was a hybrid between water skiing and a surfboard, and Tony began using it being towed by a boat and performing all kinds of surf moves on it.

Photo: worldpub

The first modification made to the original skurfer model was the addition of foot straps, allowing for higher jumps.

Photo: Xtreme Ride

The secret of wakeboarding lies in harnessing the wake produced by the boat's engine to literally fly through the air. Fat Sacks or water bags are even used at the back of the boat to create larger waves.

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One of the characteristics of this sport is the absence of strict rules and the possibility to appeal to creativity. Wakeboarding's only modality is freestyle, which consists of performing the greatest variety of tricks.

Wakeboard Boards

Wakeboard boards are characterized primarily by being proportional to the weight of the athlete; the heavier the athlete, the longer the board. Currently, boards are manufactured in a wide variety of colors and shapes with striking graphic designs, but this is not the most important factor when acquiring your wakeboard.

Photo: Amazon

Wakeboarding Techniques for Beginners

There are 3 basic steps: Getting in the water, positioning as the boat accelerates, and positioning once standing on the water.

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In the first step, we must position ourselves in a fetal position with half the board out of the water. It is important to remain tightly coiled. The arms holding the rope should be tight against the chest. At this point, we should ask the boat to start moving slowly so the rope becomes taut, and when it is, indicate to accelerate to maximum speed.

Obviously, the force of the boat will require us to act quickly.

The second step involves turning the board to reduce water resistance and keeping the arms close to the chest. We should act as if we were trying to stand up from a chair.

Photo: Malagawake

This leads us to a third and final step, which is simply about positioning. Once standing, we will shift our weight slightly to the back leg and adjust our hands depending on how the rope pulls us, as the sea surface is uneven due to waves, creating instability on the board. It is advisable to practice this sport on lakes.

Photo: Red Bull

Make the most of this summer and practice all the adventure sports you can