Wakeboard for daughter

YouTube has a bunch of videos on teaching kids.

12 years old is not quite enough info. How tall? Weight, or at least skinny or less skinny?
Makes a lot of difference what board length you buy. How long are you expecting her to use it. To you expect her to share with others of different foot size? Used or new?

Any fear? Aggressive boards will do a lot more. They are also subject to catching an edge and doing face plants.

There was series of Videos called "The Book" which were made probably 15 years ago or more. About 6 hours of instruction. You can probably find them on Netflix or Amazon. Obviously some of the better boarding schools down in Florida.

BKH

bkhallpass wrote: There was series of Videos called "The Book" which were made probably 15 years ago or more. About 6 hours of instruction. You can probably find them on Netflix or Amazon. Obviously some of the better boarding schools down in Florida. BKH

I second finding at least the first dvd or two of "the book" the covered basic driving including wake control as well as laying out safe and logical progressions from trick to trick. I am sure there are some similar videos on youtube as mentioned above but I have direct experience with "the book"

I found a liquid force board on craigslist a year or two ago in the winter for ~ $50 with bindings.   I would suggest that you start searching craigslist or ski it again for a board a couple of years old so you're dealing with modern bindings, but not the expense of a new board.    Read reviews or google search them.   Tall for a 12YO is probably 5' or so, and in the 75-125# range if she is skinny.   Search for board sizing, getting a board that is too big will help to get her up quickly but will hinder her trick progress...   Getting one too small will make it less stable and harder to get up on.   I would guess she'll be in the 128 to 134 range for a board.   Lots of CL adds fail to mention the size of the board, but if you scroll in on the pictures, lots of them incorporate the size in the branding or graphics.    134 is a pretty good size for lots of girls, it might be a board to grow into and universal for others too if you are taking friends to the lake with you.   my 10YO almost got up on a 134 this year... I am guessing another time out and he'll have it.   He is about 4'3"/ #70... My wife and I both "ride" a 142, I don't think it's super well suited for her, but as we progress to actually doing something with it, we may invest in another board for her. Right now, our joy is just riding behind the boat, not the super cool inverts or jumps that others can do

She is tall for here age, but light. I would guess about 75 percent of women ride a board 132 to 138. Her height/weight would probably say 132, or even 128. She will grow, I would probably look for a 134, maybe a 136.

If here feet were already hurting her, I would not get adjustible bindings. Even fitted wakeboard bindings accommodate 3-4 sizes of foot. If her friends can't fit, too bad, go buy their own.

I would look for a board in the middle of the lineup. If you buy new, it's obvious. If you are going used, look at the current line for same brand. They usually don't change the names much. You will know what is mid-range.

On most of these boards, there is no difference between men's and women's boards except the graphics the cover them with. The differences in the boards are are the dimensions, shape, number of fins, and sharpness of the rails.

You want a real wakeboard rope. Non stretch line, such as spectra. Important piece of equipment. Usually a wakeboard handle is wider than a Ski handle. Usually 15"

Length of rope depends upon the wake, which typically depends upon the boat. I would say that most people boarding behind a 2001 Nautique are probably on 55 to 65 foot ropes. (The pros are on 80 and 85 foot ropes these days. Their wakes are taller, and much wider. The are trying to do do double flips, and three turns. The need the height.

30K RPMs stikes me as very fast. Most of these Nautiques are somewhere around 1 mph for every 1000 rpm. I would guess you are going 26 to 30 mph. That's the speed of modern pros. But, again, they are using very big wakes, an trying to go really big to accomplish their tricks.

On my ski boat I usually went whatever was the slowest speed we could get a clean wake. Typically that was 15 to 18 mph. On my current boat, that is 17.5 to 19 mph. If I have an advanced rider who wants more speed, so be it.

If you decide to buy a new wakeboard, I'd listen to the guys at the pro shop.

Not sure if it helped, but there is my $.02. Well, probably more like $.08.

BKH

RPM is a good way to try and hold speed if you don't have a speed control mph will go up and down as she loads up and releases. It does sound like you are running very fast. When I was wakeboarding a lot I was running a 2001 hull with a 1200 lbs ballast close to 25mph with a 70-75 foot rope at 200+ lbs I have buddies that were better and throwing large inverts that loved 60-65 ft rope and never went faster than 23. Someone your daughters size pretty advanced would likely be in the 20-22 mph range on that hull at most (probably no higher than 2350 rpm depending on prop and boat load).   Rope in the 60-65 foot range if she wanted to clear the second wake.   A good wakeboarding rope will have loops to adjust the length, if you get too good a rope it will be set up for pro lengths and might be 65 ft at the shortest setting.

Don't pull her too fast... bad habits form and injuries are more likely (also the landings are harder which might whats hurting her feet.

She is definitely on a youth WB. I will pay more attention to the speed, but I can say we are not flying and she seems to really like it. I will get a new board and line for next season. I would think having comfy feet would be very important. Like I said in original post, I want to learn so I can give her some guidance. She is obviously good at it. Crappy board and suspect rope, unknown speed, clueless dad, LOL, and she is having a great time and wants to catch air.

I have done well being patient and watching craigslist. When one comes up it is easy to find reviews online at evo.com. They usually also tell you the weight for the size.

You really want a CWB, Ronix or Hyperlight. Actually, what you do not want is a hydroslide or similar brand one. She will progress much faster on a decent board.

If you are are patient, you can score a nice board for $100 or so.