The Fastest Growing Water Sport Since its invention in 1985, wakeboarding has

continually grown into the next big thing in water sports. From the amateurs to the pros, from the

festivals to the competitions, wakeboarding has a little something for everyone.

  Wakeboarding is a water sport that has only been around for 25 years, but in the past ten years its popularity has increased

tremendously. Its roots come from other water sports such as surfing and water-skiing. It consists of strapping ones feet into bindings on a wakeboard and being pulled out of the water by hanging onto a ski-rope attached to a boat. The boat usually goes 18-24 miles per hour. Cutting over the wake of the boat and performing tricks and jumps are all things that one can

accomplish. Wakeboarding is for people just looking to have fun or for those who want to be more competitive and perform in

contests. The tricks and lingo of wakeboarding grows along with the popularity. Each year more tricks are added to the official list and more records are broken. There are a few simple things you need in order to wakeboard and they are a wakeboard, towing

rope, lifejacket, a boat, and an experienced driver. Learning the basics are quite easy and anyone over the age of five can

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Rope Lifejacket

Wakeboard edition boat

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 There are different styles and sizes of wakeboards and they come in different lengths and widths. This all depends on how experienced you are and what you wish to do with the board. Some are made lighter and smaller in order to jump higher and do more advanced air tricks while others are wider which are good for beginners and those who plan to use rail bars and platforms for jumps.

 A good quality ski-rope is suggested since cheaper ones are made out of materials that can stretch which can work against the wake boarder when they are cutting and doing tricks.

  It is best to use a wakeboarding boat with a tripod on the back or a sea-doo wakeboard edition, since it is made so the wake boarder can get out of the water, cut, perform jumps and tricks more easily.

  A lifejacket is necessary for all ages.

 Having an experienced driver is necessary for safety and also so the rider can perform at their best. *2

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When getting into competitive wakeboarding, tricks and jumps need to be performed. There are surface tricks that are performed when the rider stays on the surface of the water and does not lift the board. Then there are spins that are done by rotating the board around, which also leads into more advanced spins which combine spins with other tricks. Spins can be done off of ramps and rails in the water or they can be done off of the wake.

Wakestock is a wakeboard competition that takes place in Canada. It has been around since 1998 and is the world’s largest wakeboarding event. Each year the number of people attend grow tremendously. It includes wakeboard competitions of all difficulties, music, skateboarding, shopping and partying. There are also many other wakeboarding events.

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 Although the majority of people who wakeboard are men, especially between the ages of 13-24, wakeboarding among women is starting to grow.

 Wakeboarding is one of the most impressive and challenging water sports.

 Although it can be challenging at times to actually go wakeboarding since a body of water is needed, millions of people a year participate in the sport by either actually going wakeboarding or going to one of the many competitions or festivals and supporting this fast growing sport

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 Text Citations ◦  *1: http://www.stokecity.ca/history.shtml ◦  *2:http://www.stokecity.ca/history.shtml ◦  *3:http://www.wakestock.com/faq.html ◦  *4:http://www.stokecity.ca/wakestock/articles/wakestock8703.shtml ◦  *5:http://ezinearticles.com/?Wakeboarding:-The-New-Surfing&id=464080

 Image Citations   *1: http://www.stokecity.ca/whatiswakeboarding.shtml   *2: http://www.wakeboarderschool.com/   *3: http://www.billabong.com/us/   *4: http://www.stokecity.ca/wakestock07/photos/index.shtml   *5: http://h2orepublic.com/   *6: http://expn.go.com/expn/index   *7:http://www.ellinghamwaterski.co.uk/wakeboarding.html   *8: http://www.buzzillions.com/dz_23293_liquid_force_ps3_wakeboard_2006_reviews   *9:http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/wakeboarding.htm