If you’ve been whoring around from boat to boat most of your life like I have, then you may already know all about these trends. Either way, it’s time we sat down and had a chat about how these massive wakes are affecting us. I’ve got a few more topics in this series, so keep your eyes peeled for future posts in the coming months. Happy reading!
Although there are words filling your screen, this topic is still yet to be written. By that, I mean that big wakes aren’t a new thing, but growing up riding on a big wake certainly is, and we are yet to see the full impact of this big wake trend. Regardless, pondering this topic might just improve your riding — who knows? Check it out!
Bigger, Scarier Double Ups
Double ups are one of my personal favorite parts of wakeboarding. There’s just something about hitting a surge of water that is moving up underneath you. From timing it, to hitting it, to the hang time that it brings, to the feeling you get when you execute one perfectly — every part of it is exhilarating.
I honestly wish that more people would hit double ups. The problem is, there’s a bit of a learning curve, and that learning curve is now even scarier to overcome when you have to look that roller straight in the eyes and realize that it’s as tall as you are and it’s still growing — not to mention moving toward you rapidly. This prevents many riders from really getting good at them. I think Mike Dowdy said it best in his Pro Spotlight from our April Issue:
WMB: You’re amazing behind the boat, but you don’t hit a lot of double-ups. Can you explain that a little?
MD: Yeah, it’s kind of hard for me to want to rip into a 10-foot double-up behind the G23 (laughs), but I think it’s one of those things that everyone has something they can improve on, and it’s something I need to work on.
Do you even want to hit them more?
I think it would be cool to try and hit them more because I feel like I could do some pretty crazy stuff. I’ve been working on them here and there because there’s some things I want to try, but I haven’t spent a ton of time on them, honestly, because a lot of the stuff I’ve ever wanted to do I’ve just done off the wake. I’ve never really needed the double-up, so that’s probably why I haven’t really taken the time to really learn them super well.
I guess it makes sense now more than ever behind the G23.
Yeah, I mean the wake is so big that anything I want to do off the double-up I can pretty much do it wake to wake. I don’t really have the body structure like Rusty where I necessarily need the double-up or can even handle them. It’s a bit scary ripping into a double-up that big these days if you’re my size.
Back in the day, there were some tricks that required the double up to even function. Like heelside backside 720’s, for example. There was a time when they were almost exclusively done off of the double up. It seemed crazy for someone to be able to do that wake to wake. Now some riders are doing backside 1080’s wake to wake! It seems like wakes are so big that you don’t really _need _the double up to make the trick function — just look at double flips, as another example.
My point in all this is that just because these big wakes allow you to do tricks that used to be exclusive to double ups, doesn’t mean that you should skip out on them all together. No matter what, you are going to go higher — and frankly, sometimes it’s just more fun that way.
Here’s a screenshot of Murray staring the G’s double up square in the eyeballs:
See the video here at 1:08
Now we can’t talk about Double Ups without letting you watch a few more. Watch Jeff Langley go big!
Don’t let their size scare you away. Double ups can be so much fun when you get comfortable with them — even if they are head high.
Stay tuned for more BIG WAKE TRENDS!
