board recommendation young kids

[sacnvr2l8]

my 9 and 6 yo want to surf but we are having trouble getting them up. Son and daughter are 40-50 lbs both about 4 ft tall. All we have is my 5'6" hyperlite and a 48" hyperlite that is pretty squirley due to short fins. was thinking one of those cheesy obrien trainers? any suggestions? the problem seems to be getting the board to flip up against their feet because they cannot put enough weight on the trailing edge for the board to flip up.

Thanks

[sagmanaur]

Have you tried having them put their heels almost on the edge of the board, and pushing down on their heels when you start? I would think it would flip right up.

[sacnvr2l8]

yep

yep board just skids across the water...even sat on swim step holding the rope and flipped the front edge up for them,,,That seems to be the only way to get it going.

[chpthril]

I just taught an 11 year old (small for his age) to surf on a LF 5.0. I think the 48" should work great and even the 5.6 too I had 5 Scouts do it and 3 took to it real quick

What length is your rope? I found that the shorter, the better, as it gives a steeper angle of attack and pulls them up out of the water instead of through it. Are you using a knotted rope or a handle. I think an old ski handle is the easiest the learn on

The problem I see with the "trainers" is that it puts them right in the prop wash. Although I can free ride, I still consider my self a beginner and it is hard to go from the prop wash inside the wake to the clean water out side the wake. I would rather teach them to pull up in the flats, and move into the wake, then try to go from the prop wash to the flats

[ragboy]

Yes, my little 9 year old maddie is a stick, and it was hard for her, and believe it or not, she found it easiest on the big 5'11" Landlock. She is not strong enough to flip even the lightest of boards up, when starting on her heels.

Here is how I helped her. I got in the water with her with the landlock. First, she just lays sideways on the board, facing the back of the boat, holding the rope. At this point, the driver just barely idles, sometimes needs to be slower than idle. You can do this by going in and out of gear to just put some pressure on the rope, and keep the pressure. Now keep in mind, she is goofy, so you may have to reverse this....

She holds the rope with her right hand, and she holds the edge of the board closest to boat with her left hand, pulling it towards her to get the board on the side. As she does this, she gets her BACK foot in place. Then, still holding the board with her LEFT hand, she brings her FRONT foot into place and then grabs the rope with BOTH hands and says hit it.

As the driver, you have to watch in the mirror, very little pressure at the beginning, usually start and stop, not full idle. About when she gets her back foot in place, I go to full idle. Then, when she gets her front foot, I ease it up, nice and slow. They are so light, they need almost nothing.

The 2 youngest kids at the world wakesurfing comp this weekend were 9, Stephen Hallsworth, and Maddie. Both of them learned on my boat this way, and neither could get up flipping the board with their heels.

If you still can't do it, let me know, and I will take some video of Maddie doing it next time we are out.

[ragboy]

Hey, good news, I found some video, that gets the end of her process, but shows how she holds the board with one hand. And you can see she is a stick, with no meat on her bones. My six yr old can also get up like this, but can't really surf yet. Soon!

http://gallery.mac.com/ragboy#100017

[dogbert]

Alternatively, you could have her start as if she were on a knee board on her knees and slowly stand up. My boys do this all the time just to mess around...but then again, we often refer to them as our little circus animals...'cept they aren't so little any more

[TeamAllen]

My daughter uses ragboy's daughter's technique. One hand on the rope the other on the rail of the board. Put a little tension on the line and good to go.

[sacnvr2l8]

Thanks for all the advise Going to give that a try this weekend.

If I can get her up and surfing I can take that tube off my boat once and for all

[sagmanaur]

Another method to try... I use this sometimes with larger riders, is don't have the board sideways (like when you start wakeboarding), but have the tip almost pointed at the back of the boat (like it would be once you are riding). Then once the boat starts going she just has to stand up. It may work???

[sacnvr2l8]

for those of you following along...Ragboy's technique worked perfect my 9 yo girl is now officially surfing...Which means I get to put my inner tube on Craiglist and take them off the boat ....yahoooooooooo....pretty cool watching her surf with the rest of us...

Official count including myself 12 new addicted surfers this year!!!!!!

Special thanks to the folks at inland surfer who let me demo 3 boards over the last 2 weekends...Jeff and Lance are great and the boards were much fun...

[Surfdad]

As an alternative, a board with neutral bouyancy works well for younger riders also. Young Steven has switched over to a Trick Boardz which allows him to get up without having to reach across the board and only use one hand - for very young and small riders, this can be an improvement.

Several of the skimstyle boards that use divinylcell as the core are heavier than an EPS/PolyU/Molded core and have this same neutral bouyancy. Smaller riders are able to sink the trailing rail with ease and then it's simply a deep water start like on a wakeboard. The OLD wooden Trick Boardz have this neutral bouyancy also.

[ragboy]

for those of you following along...Ragboy's technique worked perfect my 9 yo girl is now officially surfing...Which means I get to put my inner tube on Craiglist and take them off the boat ....yahoooooooooo....pretty cool watching her surf with the rest of us...

Official count including myself 12 new addicted surfers this year!!!!!!

Special thanks to the folks at inland surfer who let me demo 3 boards over the last 2 weekends...Jeff and Lance are great and the boards were much fun...

Thats great! Our tube never made it out of the garage this season, and I don't think it will. We are also big fans of inland.

[sacnvr2l8]

Hey jeff thanks for the info ...Kalayha is so light she only needs to use one hand for as long as it takes to get her feet propped up on the board as soon as the feet touch the board and the board is flipped she is back to 2 hands. As long as the boat is in gear I can pull he out of the water without any speed.

I wish she would have learned earlier in the season. Everyday could be our last day of the season up here we are surffing on borrowed time now and will all need to learn again come spring

[dogbert]

As an alternative, a board with neutral bouyancy works well for younger riders also. Young Steven has switched over to a Trick Boardz which allows him to get up without having to reach across the board and only use one hand - for very young and small riders, this can be an improvement.

Several of the skimstyle boards that use divinylcell as the core are heavier than an EPS/PolyU/Molded core and have this same neutral bouyancy. Smaller riders are able to sink the trailing rail with ease and then it's simply a deep water start like on a wakeboard. The OLD wooden Trick Boardz have this neutral bouyancy also.

I'll second the recommendation of an older TrickBoardz. I picked up a blemished Freestyle that my kids rode. My kids are bigger so didn't have the problem you had, but once they got up, it was easier. Also, we had the same experience using the resting-the-heels on the board using the Landlock. It's fins are big enough where it won't skip across the water.

As for the tube, don't sell it just yet. It makes a good playtoy when you pull over to swim...keeps your kids entertained while the adults swim and enjoy a brewski or two.