6 year old wants to wakeboard

[jasun]

My daughter who will be 6 in May said she wants to try wake boarding this year. Any recommendations on how to do this?? I don't have a boom. Or a wakeboard for her. Help. It took me 2 years to get her on a tub and I don't want to pass up her willingness to learn.


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[Jetlink]

Has she ever tried water skiing before? Basically anything more involved than tubing?

[wolff]

My daughter is 4 years old and since she was about 9 months old she has surfed with me and since she was about 18 months old she has wakeboard with me. once she got a little older I would just hold her till we get up then set here on the wakeboard between my legs. We have been doing the same with my little boy he is 2 now.
Last summer we started her on a u shaped ski. Attached is a picture first we started on land pulling her by hand. I got tired so than I tied her behind the four wheeler. Than we took it to the water. Sorry I can not find the water pics of here. On the water She done it great for a month no bad falls and then we could not get her back on the ski till the last day of the year. I think it upset me more but I had to let it go and let her decide when she wanted to do it. Once she would start for the weekend we could not keep her off the ski but she had to say I am ready else it did not work.

This summer she wants to wakeboard I got a barefoot boom for that. I have taught a lot of my nephews and nieces from the age of 6 to 16 before I got the barefoot boom. It is hard to teach the younger ones, if the get a bad feeling out there a lot of them will not do it again for a while.

I think if she is under 100 lbs you are going to have to get her a kids board. We tried a bunch of my smaller nieces on a 134 syn and some would get up but the board was way to big.

We seam to start them on the ski (build a little confidence) than move them to a wake board.

Jonathan


mia skiing behind 4-wheeler.jpgMia on U ski.jpg

[Jason05216]

I started my son on some trainer water skis behind a waverunner. That seemed to work pretty well. It was really easy to get him going and it made it easier and quicker to get him when he fell. It wasn't too long and he was ready to start wakeboarding. He started on a super cheap kids board again behind the waverunner. I think the board is 121 if I'm remembering correctly. I think the waverunner was a good start for him because there wasn't much a of wake for him to have to deal with. Even though he could ride he was a little intimidated by the wake when he started riding behind a boat. The wakes can be pretty big for a kid even with no ballast on board.

I would highly recommend getting with a good instructor. My son starting working with an instructor last summer and really progressed quickly. There were a few kids that were complete beginners at one of the sessions and I was impressed with how quickly he could get them going and the small little things that made it so much easier for them. I wish I had done that when my son started. It was good for me also, I now have an idea of a few things to watch for when he's riding.

[beat taco]

The biggest thing I try and do with little ones is get them used to the water and board. If you have a pool it's a great place to start. If not I will work right off the beach or my swim platform.

First I get the board on them and show them how it floats. I emphasize to just relax and let the board float and their vest keep them afloat.

Once they get comfortable floating I give them the rope and show them how to hold it, to bring their knees up, keep their arms staraight, and talk about staying in that seated (just like if they were in a chair) position while being pulled. I tell them to try and keep their butts in the water for as long as possible.

Now I pull by hand. The small ones can practically get up by hand pulling. Once they are comfortable with that I intentionally pull them over to their bellies. This scares most kids, but as they get used to it I teach them to just relax if they can't flip the board over until the boat comes around, as some are just too small to flip it, and I teach them how to roll back over. They have to straighten out, get as long as possible, and really throw that elbow back to initiate the roll.

I do as few or as many steps they want to at a time. There's no pushing it. I don't want to intimidate them or push them too hard. The idea is to keep them interested. They all go at different speeds. Once they are ready we go for real. It can take all summer for them to actually want to try the boat, others are going in 1 day.

A 119 board should be perfect and last several years. I have some older pics of my two boys. The first one of my 4 year old on a 109, second one of my 9 year old on the 119. In fact 119 might be large depending on how big your 6y/o is.

[SquamInboards]

You can also get a u-shaped ski with an inflatable bladder, so the whole thing floats. They can sit on the middle (inflatable) almost like a tube. But they can hold the rope and stand up with their feet in two little foot cups. The rope can also be attached to the ski itself, or you can have them hold a regular rope. The one it comes with has a handle at both ends so you can hold the other end in the boat.

This is one thing that is probably easier with a little jetski or small outboard, because you want to go so slowly, yet these boats put up such a massive wake at 12 mph. But a boom does solve for the wake so some extent because you're on clean water.

I've taught a lot of people to ski and wakeboard, and worked with a disabled sports program, and by far and away the boom is the best single tool you can have for teaching.

[jzelt]

Trainer ski they are referring to with the board and seat.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...402&ajaxhist=0

After the first few times, my niece and nephew (6 and 5) were getting bored with it...Our 2 yr old last year rode the snot out of it several weekends in a row, but like Wolff up and quit all summer till the last time out. (I towed him around 5-7 mph) and would work him up to 10. Few days before we called it a season last yr, he said I went too fast. Told him that is all I needed to know. Now I will leave it up to him to decide if he wants faster.
Can't rush them. I would also suggest starting them from shore with someone in the water to help guide them up for the first ride. It won't take much speed to keep her on top of the water, just make sure the board is going in the right direction so there is no wipeout.

[jasun]

Well after working with her alittle here and there (been a crappy summer weather wise, i only get her every other week{yay for divorce}, and the lake has been closed for 2 weeks now and looks like it maybe another 2) we put in on a differnt lake and get her behind the boat....

[Okie Boarder]

That's great. It never ceases to amaze me how little it takes for them to pop out of the water. We used to get our youngest to pop up at slightly above an idle when he first started.

[MJHKnox]

The biggest thing I try and do with little ones is get them used to the water and board. If you have a pool it's a great place to start. If not I will work right off the beach or my swim platform.

First I get the board on them and show them how it floats. I emphasize to just relax and let the board float and their vest keep them afloat.

Once they get comfortable floating I give them the rope and show them how to hold it, to bring their knees up, keep their arms staraight, and talk about staying in that seated (just like if they were in a chair) position while being pulled. I tell them to try and keep their butts in the water for as long as possible.

Now I pull by hand. The small ones can practically get up by hand pulling. Once they are comfortable with that I intentionally pull them over to their bellies. This scares most kids, but as they get used to it I teach them to just relax if they can't flip the board over until the boat comes around, as some are just too small to flip it, and I teach them how to roll back over. They have to straighten out, get as long as possible, and really throw that elbow back to initiate the roll.

I do as few or as many steps they want to at a time. There's no pushing it. I don't want to intimidate them or push them too hard. The idea is to keep them interested. They all go at different speeds. Once they are ready we go for real. It can take all summer for them to actually want to try the boat, others are going in 1 day.

A 119 board should be perfect and last several years. I have some older pics of my two boys. The first one of my 4 year old on a 109, second one of my 9 year old on the 119. In fact 119 might be large depending on how big your 6y/o is.

Lots of good info on this post. I was able to get two 7-year-olds up this weekend. That cannot wait to get on the boat again.
I did a lot of what was mentioned in this post.

1) the kids need to have the attitude
2) need to have the right board - i was using a 120. got to be able to flip in the water. cannot be scared of this position.
3) we spent time in the water learning how to flip the board (elbow, hips, and arms), chair-position for starting, prepping/talking to them about: THEY WILL FALL and sometimes will be face-first.
4) letting go of the rope
5) then we moved to the swim-platform for some hand-pulls against the swim platform. then hand-pulls to the platform.
6) them moved to the boat pulls. had a very short rope. no wake. pulling them on the side of rooster-tail (if possible.)

Amazed on how those little buggers pop right up. These girls could stand on the board and balance themselves in the water when we practiced (w/o anyone pulling them).

PS - take pics or videos b/c they love to view themselves.
it inspires them to do it again after a hard wipe-out.

Mark