Progression the name of the game in wakeboarding
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- Created on Saturday, 24 July 2010 21:31
- Written by Brian Gomez
BY BRIAN GOMEZ, THE GAZETTE
Daniel Powers (above) loves watching Shaun White, the undisputed king of the halfpipe. He can’t stand as much as a glimpse of his competitors, whom he considers nothing but copycats.
“Everybody does really similar tricks,” Powers said. “They do about the same thing, and it’s whoever can land them all. With wakeboarding, everybody does different varieties.”
Noticeably unique maneuvers, each with a personal touch not often seen on a snowboard, a surfboard or a water ski, were on display Saturday at Prospect Lake for the conclusion of a Pro Wakeboard Tour stop, with the country’s top riders vying for a $20,000 purse.
Powers climbed to second place in the tour’s junior division by beating tour leader Nick Galotifore in the four-man finals for his first tour victory, and Raphael Derome was third. Bob Soven topped Andrew Adkison in the six-man finals of the professional division for his first tour win, and Phillip Soven maintained his tour lead with a fourth-place finish.
Unlike other action sports on the water, wakeboarding is in its infancy – the first surfers were seen in 1767 and the first water ski patent was issued in 1841, however, it wasn’t until the 1980s that folks began tricks with their feet strapped while tied to a motorboat.
Encouraging progression is a complex judging system that rewards athletes for all aspects of their ride, with the highest value placed on technical ability, then spins, then rails, then amplitude and overall impression. So riders can’t simply be very technical or incorporate a lot of spins or hit a ton of rails or go really big. They must have the complete package.
“That’s how you’re judged, and you try to make things look as good as possible instead of just doing the trick,” said Powers, a Florida high school junior. “You try to grab it and hold it the whole way. … Everybody has their own style. Everybody rides differently.”
It’s not uncommon for wakeboarders to change their tricks from week to week during the three-month season, which ends next month with the final tour event in Knoxville, Tenn., and the world championships in Orlando, Fla. Stunts even change from run to run within a competition, as riders are required to advance through a series of elimination rounds.
At speeds reaching 25 mph, “it takes days, weeks to master a certain trick,” said Orlando wakeboarder Justin Otis. “It hurts a lot when you’re learning a lot of these tricks. A lot of these pros, they’ve beat their bodies up. … The progression is harder for wakeboarding.”
Tour director Chris Bischoff said if a rider doesn’t progress, “You’ll get left behind. The action sports are about innovation. It’s about being creative and innovative. … They’re trying to grab longer. They’re trying to spin more. They’re trying to flip more.”
Powers insists there’s no ceiling in wakeboarding. “There isn’t a limit to how far you can go with it because it’s a growing sport,” he said. “There’s always something more to do.”
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