Which Wakeboard to Buy? Top Deals and Starter Tips
That should be right: Board length, type of board and the right bindings
Board length
✓ See table and check your weight and height.
Plus 5 cm (better straight ahead) or minus 5 cm (more manoeuvrable) is okay.
✓ Board length 139cm is best sold (people between 60kg and 85kg covered), gender does not matter.
✓ Kids/juniors up to 12 years plus 10kg count (next years covered)
✓ Board length 139cm is best sold (people between 60kg and 85kg covered), gender does not matter.
✓ Kids/juniors up to 12 years plus 10kg count (next years covered)
Type of board
Boat wakeboards (link) as of CHF 249.- Behind a boat on a tow rope. Best-selling. The boards have fins to ride a straight line at higher speeds. Best surf deal: Stardupp Reload 139. Nice beginner board at a very favourable price.
Wakesurfboards (Link) as of CHF 449.-. Behind a boat in the wave. Would you like to surf into the wave behind the boat without a leash and without bindings? Best surf deals: Raddix an inflatable beginner board. BossHoss, ab
CHF 542.-
for beginners to pros.
foil-Wakeboards (Link) as of CHF 569.-.
Behind the boat on foil. Works with any board on which a hydrofoil can be mounted. The board should be smaller than 165 cm. The front wing of the foil should be smaller than 1600 cm². Offers for wake hydrofoils (Link)
Best surf deals: shaka an inflatable board for hydrofoiling for beginners with wakefoiling.
Best surf deals: shaka an inflatable board for hydrofoiling for beginners with wakefoiling.
Crossover wakeboards (Link) as of CHF 369.-
Combination park/boat wakeboard. Thanks to good rails and/or very small fins, they are suitable for both areas of use.
Best surf deals: Stardupp The Ride 141. Crossover boat/ cable- board with a larger, wider outline that offers more pop and smoother landings.
Kids and junior wakeboards (link) as of CHF 291.- Kids have smaller boards. Best surf deals: Supergrom 125-135cm.
All-Terrain- board for park and boat.
Cable Park Wakeboards (Link) as of CHF 369.-
These must be ridden without fins or with very small fins in order to be manoeuvrable and ride over kickers. Thanks to the rails under the board they can still go straight. Best surf deals: Stardupp The Ride 141.
Crossover-Boot/Cable- board with a bigger, wider outline that offers more pop, smoother landings.
The right bindings
✓ Open bindings (Link) as of CHF 159.- (also called "open-toe") make it easy to get on and off and can be customised for different foot sizes. They are ideal for beginners, recreational skiers and for situations where several people want to ski the same board. They are also slightly cheaper. Best Surfdeal: Stardupp wakeboard bindings. Comfort and convenience Experience carefree watersports enjoyment
✓ wakeboard Boots (similar to snowboard boots) and offer advanced wakeboarders an even more intense feeling and better grip on the board, especially when performing tricks and jumps.
- For one person (you can buy closed Shoes) or multiple people (better get open-toe boots)
- In the cable park (no fins) or behind the boat (fins) or both (very short fins)
- The right wakeboard length, see the graph
What does Rocker mean
- Details: the rocker. This is a fancy word for the way the board is bend upwards (so the nose doesnt catch the water and you dont get catapulted). Simply put there are 4 types. A graduate continuous bend / or rocker which is the easiest to learn to wakeboard on It gives a fluent fast ride and soft landings.
- Or the so called-3 staged rocker which is more for advanced riders looking for more aggressive jumps and moves. These rockers bring more lift , or also called ''pop''. It is also a bit slower and causes heavier drag and with that pressure on the legs as it drags through the water with its shape, that is less fluid.
- A Camber rocker, which gives a good natural stance but requires keeping the nose out of the water actively. More for the advanced.
- The hybrid rocker. This is a mix of the continous and 3-stage and is also suitable for beginners.
What else do I need to wakeboard safely?
- When wakeboarding, it is important that, both behind the boat and on the cable car, you wear a wakeboard helmet. Our advice is to choose a helmet with earpads. These protect the ears and reduce the risk of eardrum damage. To be extra visible in the water, it is recommended to choose a striking color. NOTE: often wearing a helmet is mandatory on cable cars, behind the boat this requirement does not apply.
- In addition to a good helmet, it is super important to use a life jacket or impact shield. Behind the boat, a life jacket is most common. This is because of its buoyancy and 50N certification. If you choose an impact shield then you have a little more protection around the body because these vests are super tight around your body. On the other hand, impact shields have less buoyancy. Impact shields are therefore sold primarily for use on cable courses.
- Get a wakeboard rope with a handle that floats. As a beginner you dont need a super low-strech rope. A bit of strech is forgiving while learning.
8 Tips to learn Wakeboarding fast and safe
- Relax, lie back, let the board float up in front of you, Arms straight, Knees, ankles bend. Handle floats on water while grip with hands wide, Arms straight!
- Once the rope is straight, tell the boat driver to hit it and he does half speed
- Golden tip = + let the boat do the work !
- Don't try to stand up Arms straight ! ( dont pull yourself up). Knees will now fully bend (dont resist, relax!). In this position you can glide behind the boat all day long.
- Now more speed comes. You can keep this position, but now it is time to SLOWLY stand up by moving 1 hip forward.
- Troubleshooting: pulled sideways? let go of the back hand - that will auto-adjust you go straigt Try moving back and forth.
- Try get over the wake If you fall, let go of the handle. Boat speed up is thumbs up. Down is thumbs down. Stop (hand cuts throat), back to harbour (tap the top of your head with your flat hand)
- Golden tip 2: practice on land