Tips by David Ngiam
Video : Dominic Lagace
Photo : Racel Yee

You need to be pretty good with surfing the wake before attempting to get some air off the wake. This is because you need to be able to generate some speed to allow you to pop off the wake.

Start out with a couple of ollies off the wake while still hanging on to the line. Ride up the wake ollie off the top by pushing down hard on the front leg followed quickly by the back leg, like you would on a wakeskate. As the nose of the board lifts of the water, try to drag your from foot out a little towards the nose to help you level out the board. At the same time, you will need to suck up your back foot to allow your board to level out. This is very similar to ollies on a wakeskate or a skateboard, however, since your wakesurf board is larger in size, you will need to exaggerate this action a little more.

Once you are comfortable ollieing off the wake with the line, try it without the line. You could try to see if you could ride straight up the wake and attempt to pop off the wake, however, I find it easier if I start out a little further back and surf up and down the wake once or twice to build up speed before riding up again to launch off the wake. Since you don’t have the line to rely on, you need to ensure your weight remains centered over the board as you land so you won’t slip out.

Once you are comfortable getting air, try grabbing the board, turning 180s or even do a shuv-it.

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