LearnWake

The Standing tall drill is designed mainly to help riders get more height on their Heelside wake jumps by engraving the proper body movement or motion and position without actually doing a wake jump. This drill not only helps you memorize the movement, it also helps you repeat them to build strength at the same time. Before we get into the drill process I would like to explain some simple physics that will help you understand why this drill will help you get more pop.

In wakeboarding the boat displaces water as it drives forward which results in two waves moving left and right of the boat. These waves have energy and lifting power. If one of these waves rolls by a solid floating object, it lifts that object because the solid object will not absorb the waves energy. So, with that said, if we position our body on a wakeboard in a solid non-absorbing position and ride or edge through a wave, the wave will lift us easily if and only if we stay solid. This solid ideal position is a tall locked out extended position. If your legs are bent or you are slightly bent at the waist it is almost impossible to hold them stiff and your body will absorb the waves energy. If your legs are locked out completely and you are straight through your waist you will be able to hold your position strong easily so you don't absorb the wakes energy. So, standing tall and locked out is the position you must ride through the top of the wake to get maximum lift without absorbing the wakes energy. Bottom line, if you are tall at the top of the wake and you hold tall you are guaranteed pop.

OK, let's get into the drill sequence so you can feel this pop for yourself. We practice the drill edging outward on the side of the wake where you would normally land a heelside jump. This enables us to hold an edge while we repeat the motion. Start at the wake on the outside. Edge slowly outward away from the wakes on your heels by leaning your shoulders back and pointing your belly up. Do not edge out fast. Just edge out slowly and continue to edge until you find the spot where you are edging out but not moving out any further and continue to hold the edge.

Once you find this edging, but not moving spot, sit down slowly until your knees are bent to 90 degrees and not any further. Remember to keep your shoulders back and belly pointed up. Now that you are seated, hold the seated position for a count of three and then stand tall against your edge and hold the tall position.

Now when most riders first try this drill they have a tendency to stand tall but stop edging. The most important part of this drill is standing against your lean or against your edge. If you come off edge when you stand tall you release all the pressure against the bottom of the board while at the same time reducing the line tension. Edge pressure and line tension while standing tall are the key ingredients for good pop and you must have all three working together to get good results so hold the edge the entire time you repeat the process.

While edging and standing tall it's much easier to make your front leg lock out due to the nature of the wakeboard position. It is, however, hard to make your rear leg lock out straight. So, during the repetitions I want you to focus only on your rear leg, not your front leg. If you stand tall and lock out your rear leg, your front leg will automatically go straight.

In order to get your rear leg extended and fully locked out I want you to concentrate on the back of your knee. As you stand tall from the seated position try to slam your rear leg's knee backward so you feel pressure on the back of the knee. At the same time tighten your quadricep muscle to guarantee you have fully extended and locked out your rear leg. Once you have fully extended your rear leg hold the position leaning back against your heel edge and push your hips forward to tighten your butt muscles. Hold this locked out position for a count of five and then sit down slowly back to the seated position. Hold the seated position for a count of three and then stand back up tall against your edge again to the tall rear leg locked, knee slammed back, hips pushed forward while flexing your quadracep and butt muscles tight for another count of five. Then sit down slowly again and repeat this sitting and standing motion as many times as you can while holding your edge through its entirety. Sit slow, stand aggressively and fully against your lean. Holding the position tall simulates riding through the top of the wake tall and flying through the air tall.

Try to do a set of about ten good reps for every one edge out beside the boat and then return to the approach side of the wake after the drill to try the motion while executing a heelside wake jump. Approach the wake like you would normally do in the seated edging position and stand tall fully extended against your edge through the top of the wake in the same way you practiced out beside the boat. You should see a big difference in pop after some practice, memorization and strength building.