Freestyle New found respect for stand up riders

[TITAN]

Here is my two cents on learning to turn when new to riding...at least what worked for me.

Dont be afraid of the throttle.
Perfect the leaning to turn by throwing your foot on the desired side of intended direction. Once you get that down it will help you feel more stable.
Pretty much once you get down the concept of turning the bars in the opposite direction of the way your tipping over, you will also feel a lot more stable on the water.
If you can turn left (or right) better then the opposite, perfect that direction and you will use what you learned on the more comfortable side to help you improve the other. I kinda relate that to when I learned to snowboard.
Definitely dont be afraid of it.....Im sure you have already notice, the better you get the more fun you have.
I recommend just practice practice practice your turning and before you know it, it will come naturally.
As you get more comfortable with the ski, you will learn a bit more about placing your wait forward and aft to keep the pump hooked up and not have the ski bounce all over the place.

It all just takes time.... Thats just my two cents...Im not too many years off from going through these trial and tribulations myself so.....the above is the advice I think I would have liked to hear. Hope it helps.

 

[special fx]

Go find some terain like this to ride in......

http://www.x-h2o.com/threads/58823-mowin-the-grass-again!-GoPro-creek-vid&highlight=mowin

You'll learn how to turn quickly, or else! Seriously though, it's very good practice and it's very different to turn when you have to vs when you feel like it. Turning when you have to will make you better.

 

[Stunts]

Thanks for the advice. I am pretty scared to throw my foot over the side of the ski to turn, haha. So I still don't know if its more leaning or do you turn the bars to turn? It seems like its all leaning and the bars stay straight? I gotta get my bilge working again and just get out on the water and do non stop figure 8s but I definitely need a working bilge because my ski will be filling up with water on almost every turn!

That vid was crazy! I can only dream of going thru that stuff, let alone at that speed. My intake grate would be filled with grass and dirt after about 10 seconds of riding.

 

[baxt3r]

Titan, I wish like crazy I would have been told something like that when I first jumped on a ski. Would have probably helped me a little bit.

 

[Buckwild12]

It really is a feel thing and every ski is a little different with sjs. It is more of a lean thing for me and you use throttle and steering to counteract and straighten you from the leaning in of the turn, this is only applicable at higher speeds at slow speeds the less you lean the better, you will develop a feel for it but it will not happen overnight, Kent narrows is right where the bay bridge goes over to the western shore. In my opinion it was easier for me to ride flat water first. My best way to describe it is that you use the steering to start and recover from the turn and leaning while the turn is going on to track the turn correctly.

 

[Buckwild12]

I definitely agree with Titan though, throttle is your friend in most cases, it's hard to really get goin fast enough to hurt yourself too bad (unless you ride near rocks or docks) so don't be shy about using it. The smoother you get with throttle control the more predicable the ski, it's unfair to beat yourself up about not mastering skiing in a few weekends, I have extensive hands on with skis in general, 5 years ridin standup exclusively, and I am still learning new stuff everytime I go out. You won't get it overnight, turning is one of the hardest things to learn. It just doesn't happen that fast for most of us. Give it some time. If it keeps porpoising evaluate your rideplate, it may be too short for you.

 

[AZRIDER]

when I was learning I would put my feet against the side rails and turn bu pushing my ankle against the side rail, but leave my foot stationary the hole time

 

[Buckwild12]

Also if your ski is taking on that kind of water just by riding you have something going on, you need a new hood seal or to plug some holes or something! Engines get wet no doubt, but you shouldn't be takin on that much water from just carving. Doing subs or if it flips and you don't get right to it maybe but not just carving.

 

[Stunts]

Thanks for the replies and help. I am scared of getting hurt, my ski can apparantly go 55mph but I don't think I've gotten it over 35/40, it just gets too bouncey when I get on it a lot. But I'd say I am definitely doing about 20-25mph when I try to turn, figuring more speed equals more stability. I am turning with a lot of the bars though, so I think I will either try and keep them straight and just lean into the turn, even though thats what I did the first time out and fell right over. We'll see, I guess I should practice wider figure 8s, not such tight race style turns.
So you only use the bars when your going slow or if you lean to far and want to counter balance yourself and the ski? I just don't see how you could turn with the nozzle still pointing straight. Maybe if I think of the ski like a motorcycle tire, and you ride on the edge of it to turn. As far as where your feet go, I have footholds and keep them locked in at all times, should I not be in the foot holds if I am not doing any kind of freestyle? I just wanted to get used to them, since my main goal is freestyle. If my feet aren't in them, they feel way to close together, even in the footholds its tight, I'd like a much wider stance, feel more stable then.

 

[Tyler Zane]

i personally cant carve for shat with my feet in the footholds. surf stance for me, almost always. stand like you would on a skateboard. dont give up. quiting is for losers. you can get all the advise you want but until you go out and bust you a$$ a bunch of times you will never progress.

i know how you feel thou, i bought my sj and dropped a bunch of money in it before i rode it once. the purchases where a stress relief thing in my situation but the thing was a monster to me and so hard to ride. this was last december and now im chasing down wake board boats and doing all my own work on it. keep at it, we are all here if you have questions wrenching.

 

[shanes]

when i first got my SJ the best thing i did was fit the B pipe it gave me that extra power where before the ski would just fall over in the middle of the turn , with the extra power it would just pull itself out of it

and dont be scared you have to be pretty unlucky to hurt yourself { bad } on one of these things , get yourself some boats and give this a try , its on hell of a rush

 

[Stunts]

I guess I will try surf stance and see if I can turn then, I just though my feet should always be in the footholds. When you ride surf though, you gotta have your feet in the holds almost all the time right? And you gotta carve at times to get around waves or a better angle etc so I figured I need to be able to ride in the holds at all times. Maybe after I get carving down surf style I will work on hold style.

shanes, I have a b pipe, bigger carbs, head, sponsons, ride plate, intake grate, reinforced hull, holds, and who knows what else, bought the ski all done up, just missing a lot of bolts haha. So it definitely has the power, just missing the skilled rider for it! Nice backy attempts, crazy! I would love to get there some day, but I don't know anyone with boats like that! I have a protec drop trim on my ski now that I was going to flip and mod for a good backy trim. I have some small surf I can mess with when I get there, which seems like years and years away.

There's no way I am quitting, no way in hell. I want to get back out on the water so bad but I don't think I will be for a couple of weeks unfortunately. I need to fix my bilge, figure out some kind of trailer launch system for both my skis together and get some better weather here on the weekends!

 

[AtomicPunk]

I NEVER ride both feet in the holds in the surf (some do)... surf stance 95% of the time for me.
Too me, holds are a flatwater/freestyle mod.

By some of your comments it sounds like you need to get your weight forward (surf stance). Also, dont worry about going over 30, that is for when you are chasing down cruisers (or running buoys).

There is no right or wrong, only what works best for you.

Good luck.

 

[Stunts]

Ok, I always thought holds were for surf? Ok, I will try surf stance, do you put your one foot as far forward in the tray and the other in hold? I see some people just have both feet on the back part of the tray like normal and turn on a dime like its nothing! I can sit here and talk about it all I want, I really just need to get out there. I just want to know what is the proper technique used so I know what to practice, but its sounds like there isn't one. Just a shot in the dark at what works best for me. So what speed should I be practicing these figure 8s?

 

[shanes]

i brought Taylor Curtis ski off him he is one of the top freeride surf riders

his tray is set up for both , i am fitting a front foot strap to my SJ so ill use one foot hold and the front strap

 

[AtomicPunk]

My front foot is all the way forward, my rear foot is often in the rear hold but not always.

Practice your figure 8s at a speed you can successfully complete them! Start with big 8s, then smaller and faster.
When just riding around, pick a spot in the water (a buoy or something floating) and make it a point to use it as a turning point. Practice both and left turns.

 

[sjetrider]

years and years hell. Once you get comfortable you will be ready for surf (another challenge). It is rare to be hurt on these bro if you ride Just ahead and not too far ahead of your skill level you will be fine and excell rapidly. Riding alone in a near by area for qa tank or so a few times a week will excell you quickly as well. If you do not fall your riding behind your level and will never learn.

Seriously bro, one day SOON you will be out there nose stabbing off boat wakes and next thing you know your going for the water shovel rolls LOL. Ride ahead of your level every ride while learning.

 

[sjetrider]

after years of riding I am now looking to start riding surf stance. Mainly due to the new style hulls out now that require more wait to the front at times. Its like starting over but I like the challenge. It will take a minute to be riding at the same level as I have with both feet in holds most of the time but I am curious to see if it sticks. I have always though surf stance tricks lokk better.
I REALLY wish I had put a front strap in my ROK.

i brought Taylor Curtis ski off him he is one of the top freeride surf riders

his tray is set up for both , i am fitting a front foot strap to my SJ so ill use one foot hold and the front strap

 

[ridethelip]

put on neon vest and lay it over

 

[JHD]

That was awesome.. love the helmets