Wakeboard Buyers Guide

Wakeboarding is a surface water sport which involves riding a wakeboard over the surface of a body of water behind a boat. It was developed through a combination of water skking, snowboarding and surfing techniques.

The rider is towed behind a boat; typically at speeds of 18-24 miles per hour, depending on water conditions, rider's weight, board size and most importantly, the rider's personal preference. Wakeboarding can also be performed on a variety of media including closed-course cables, winches and PWC's.

"Buying a new wakeboard is like putting fresh sheets on your bed. Once you're in, you wonder why it took so long." Kyle Schmidt

There are 7 things to look for when choosing a wakeboard: rocker, length, width, weight, bottom design, fins and fin placement and bottom material. Below we will explain how each plays a role in how the wakeboard rides.

Wakeboard Rocker

Rocker is the bend you see in a wakeboard from tip to tail. There are two types of rockers: 3-stage and continuous.

Continuous rocker is a smooth curve that does not change from tip to tail, while three-stage rocker has two distinct bend points almost like a skateboard deck but not nearly as drastic. When you ride wakeboards with continuous rocker you lose a bit of your pop, but you get a faster ride because the water flows without disruption across the bottom of the wakeboard right out through the tail. Wakeboards with a continuous rocker also makes for a more consistent ride. Since a wakeboard with a three-stage rocker has two distinct bends, it pushes more water in front of the wakeboard. This makes you ride slower but you gain a lot more pop off the wake.

For beginners a wakeboard with a lot of rocker will feel loose, but it will teach them how to edge correctly rather than relying heavily on fins which pays off in the long run. In contrast, less rocker allows wakeboards to move faster, hook up better and become more aggressive. The wakeboard rider can be more aggressive with his turns and really edge hard through the wake.

To sum it up, if your wake is really big but has a mellow transition, you can lean a little more toward less rocker. If you start digging (cutting) in and getting sprayed in the face by the wake, you'll know you have too little rocker. If you're the type of wakeboard rider who loves to turn fast, go big and land out in the flats but you ride a bigger, steeper wake, try to find wakeboards with medium rocker. The slower, smoother and more wake-to-wake your style is, the more rocker you need in your wakeboards.

Wakeboard Length

Size is extremely important. You don't want to get a wakeboard that is too small or too big. You need to be able to control the wakeboard and not have the wakeboard to control you. We have provided a general size chart for wakeboards below. Note: wakeboard sizes are in centimeters.

Sizing down will make the wakeboard feel lighter, spin faster and seem more aggressive. But your landings do suffer. There is not as much surface area to plane across the water so the wakeboard will not float as well. However, a smaller wakeboard is great for people who like to do a lot handle pass flips and spins. Sizing up from your established size lends to a slower, smoother style. A bigger wakeboard moves slower in the water making you look smoother and letting you spin slowly while holding on to those grabs. The increased surface area lets the wakeboard land softer, saving your body from bigger impacts.

Wakeboard Width and Weight

Wakeboard Width

The width of the wakeboard directly affects how high it sits in the water. There are three places to check wakeboard widths: tip, tail and the middle.

Narrower tips and tails sit lower and make the wakeboard turn more aggressively. Wider wakeboard tips and tails allow you to break your fins loose and slide around for lip and surface tricks. Wider tips and tails for wakeboards also release better off the wake for spins. The wider the middle of the wakeboard, the higher it will sit in the water and the harder it will bounce off the wake.

Wakeboard Weight

Less weight in wakeboards is definitely a luxury. Lighter wakeboards are easier to move around and may have better flex patterns, which affects your pop and landings. Wakeboard weight is a variable that is closely related to length and can be used in the same way.

Most of the lighter wakeboards are made with a wood core or lighter density foam. Wood is said to flex better, giving you a snappier feel off the wake. On landings you get more flex on impact so it should feel softer as well. High density foam is standard on most wakeboards and will better resist the punishment of hitting rails or sliders. Note: Hitting sliders, rails or any other obstacle voids the warranty on every wakeboard.

Wakeboard Bottom Design, Fins & Fin Placement and Bottom Material

Wakeboard Bottom Design

There are many different bottom designs for wakeboards. It is a feature wakeboard shapers use to express their own style. On the bottom of the wakeboard you may see concaves, channels or maybe nothing at all. Each performs a different function, fine tuning how the wakeboard rides through the water according to its width from tip to tail, fin setup, rocker and tip/tail shape.

Concaves create lift and make the wakeboards sit higher in the water. Channels act like long fins. Finally, a featureless bottom basically lets the overall shape, rocker and fin set up do their job which can be a good thing but sometimes less is more.

Wakeboard Fins and Fin Placement

The closer you move the fins to the center of the wakeboard the quicker and better the wakebboard releases off the wake. The further you move the fins of wakeboards out toward the tip and tail, the longer the wakeboard will stay hooked into the wake and it won't release as well. How the fins of wakeboards work depends on what size fins you are riding. Try different fins to change how your wakeboard rides, this might help you improve.

Wakeboard Bottom Material

Nexes - Rough texture make wakeboards feel fast.
PBT - Slick bottom, enhances graphics, slower feel.
P-Tex - Rail based material, great for sliders and rails.
Urethane - Rail based, softer than P-Tex, holds up well.

Source: Excerpts from Wakeboarding Magazine, Feb 2003, Author- Kyle Schmidt