Advice on position (kid)?

[86Skier]

A previous post made me think to ask this.

Please help critique my advice while I'm sitting with my 9 year old midget (said jokingly... she's in the 5th percentile) watching Austin Keen videos at her request....

I showed her this pic and said: you need to square up your front foot so its perpendicular to the wave, and then do the same with your hips and shoulders. Also, watch forward, not down. And since you weigh next to nothing, a little more toe side will help you stay in it.

Am I right? Help me help her. She's absolutely in love with this, and will go until I stop every night... after finally nutting up and climbing on board 6 weeks ago, she has advanced quickly.

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[clrussell]

Definitely more toe pressure and squaring up.

Look up is a good cue. I usually pat my chest tell them chest up and look up. Then relax. Amazing how much it makes a difference.


But don’t over critique and stress her out.

She’s young. Let her enjoy it and ride!

[86Skier]

But don’t over critique and stress her out.

She’s young. Let her enjoy it and ride!

Thanks. Appreciate the tips.

And don't worry, I wont push too hard, we're out to have fun... just dear old dad who grew up slalom sking everyday and only entered the wakesurf world a couple seasons ago trying to help a crazy eager yungin' who thinks I know what I'm talking about. Hahaha

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[jgraham37128]

Her foot looks fine to me. She’s laying back. The easiest way to fix is to make them squat up and down. You can’t lay on your rear foot when squatting you will even out.

My teaching method.
1. I have to see the bottom of the board before we take off ( no exceptions)
2. Go a far away from the boat when you start, once there move your front foot to the center of the board.
3. Once the foot has been moved over slowly come back to the wave
4. Look for bubbles to the side of the boat. Tell them you can’t surf in the bubbles, stay out of the bubbles. This will keep them in the sweet spot
5. If they’re leaning back and most do tell them to squat down and back up while they have the rope this will automatically put same pressure on front and rear foot.

I find most problems are the front foot is not over far enough, if the foot is in the right spot it’s hard not to surf because it keep keeps pushing them towards the wave.

[Tom_S]

A previous post made me think to ask this.

Please help critique my advice while I'm sitting with my 9 year old midget (said jokingly... she's in the 5th percentile) watching Austin Keen videos at her request....

I showed her this pic and said: you need to square up your front foot so its perpendicular to the wave, and then do the same with your hips and shoulders. Also, watch forward, not down. And since you weigh next to nothing, a little more toe side will help you stay in it.

Am I right? Help me help her. She's absolutely in love with this, and will go until I stop every night... after finally nutting up and climbing on board 6 weeks ago, she has advanced quickly.

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I think your advice is perfectly spot on, what problems is she trying to work on, specifically?

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[86Skier]

I think your advice is perfectly spot on, what problems is she trying to work on, specifically?

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No real problem. She just wants to get better.

She reminds me of me, especially when I was younger: getting up is cool for 5 seconds, now how do I get great, dad?

Her enthusiasm and excitement is amazing. Just trying to help her achieve her goal at something I'm only decent at... Hahaha

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[ttu]

Definitely more toe pressure and squaring up.

Look up is a good cue. I usually pat my chest tell them chest up and look up. Then relax. Amazing how much it makes a difference.


But don’t over critique and stress her out.

She’s young. Let her enjoy it and ride!

^^^ for that age she is killing it. keep it up!

[moosehead]

86 your counsel is spot on. Once she moves her front foot a bit more toe side and squares it up she’ll stop trying to grip with her front toes and it all gets pretty easy.

She’s already looking good man, well done.

[chrislandy]

If she's that bonkers for it, the ideal position is about 60ft back, with a rope and a pair of skis, she'll be in one (trick or slalom) in 2-3 weeks

[VC137FE]

She's just fine! The more comfortable she gets the more toe side she will ride.. IF anything, I would say watch the wave not the front of the board, that way she won't drift off and bleed off the energy... My niece was the same way at first. Then we worked her to ride more toe side to keep the energy off the wave. She'll get it real soon, the more toe pressure the less chance of riding off the wave perpendicular and losing the energy. Always told my niece if her toes are white then she's riding hard...

[86Skier]

If she's that bonkers for it, the ideal position is about 60ft back, with a rope and a pair of skis, she'll be in one (trick or slalom) in 2-3 weeks

Definitely working on it! She's a bit gun shy of the added speed, even though I keep reassuring her that it really won't take much to keep her up as tiny as she is. That, and she loves this so much, everything else is just wasted time on the water in her mind. HAHA But, I keep the little skis in the coffin and ready to roll for when she is... and just keep encouraging without "pushing".

She's just fine! The more comfortable she gets the more toe side she will ride.. IF anything, I would say watch the wave not the front of the board, that way she won't drift off and bleed off the energy... My niece was the same way at first. Then we worked her to ride more toe side to keep the energy off the wave. She'll get it real soon, the more toe pressure the less chance of riding off the wave perpendicular and losing the energy. Always told my niece if her toes are white then she's riding hard...

She came a LONG way over the last weekend with a few adjustments, so thanks all for the above comments. She still has some work to do on squaring up her body, but straightening her front foot and sliding more toe-side made a huge difference. She went from short rides and being pushed out of the wave, to as long as 5 or 8 minutes at a time ropeless going up and down the wave while being able to generate speed from the back and ride back up to the front.

[Black ‘n Green]

Love seeing the youngsters discovering the joy that surfing can bring. Kudos, awesome job with her!

[86Skier]

Love seeing the youngsters discovering the joy that surfing can bring. Kudos, awesome job with her!

Thanks. She has a LOT of work ahead of her to get anywhere near your granddaughters, but she’s certainly having fun trying… hahaha.

Speaking of which, you may have noticed an uptick in views on your Instagram lately… because I swear, she’s watched every one of their videos about a thousand times now!

[86Skier]

The order of my pics is bad.... she got too high in the last pic... or thought she did: The second pic is her reaction 2 seconds later after drifting back and then saving it.

Sorry... just being a happy dad. People say happy wife happy life... meh, thats easy... keeping your 9 year girl smiling continuously... now thats a true achievement! Haha

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[chrislandy]

Definitely working on it! She's a bit gun shy of the added speed, even though I keep reassuring her that it really won't take much to keep her up as tiny as she is. That, and she loves this so much, everything else is just wasted time on the water in her mind. HAHA But, I keep the little skis in the coffin and ready to roll for when she is... and just keep encouraging without "pushing".

Try "surfing" on a rope tied to the tower, about 30ft long (slalom rope on shortest) to get her used to the handle and being towed rather than pushed, then progress onto longer ropes, then repeat using the pair skis (tie the tips together and have someone in the water with her if needed) then tow up on the tower with the short line, then remove the tie, repeat, then lengthen.

We just got a 9yr old up and skiing long line in one day using a high pole.

WRT the speed, you're surfing quicker than she'll be going on pairs - especially if you have a set of wide kids combos like the O'Brien ones