I'm just learning to wakeboard and I bought a hyperlite state. well after learning to get up on the wakeboard I noticed that it feel real slippery, my board has 1.1" fins on it and my wife and daughters boards have much taller fins. I went on the hyperlite web site and they have different size fins, does the size of the fins effect the slippery feel? should I ge bigger fins?
what size is the board and how much do you weigh? that will greatly affect the "skatey" feel of the board. i know lots of pros and advanced riders ride finless. is still can't get that hang of it, that's why i bought the new byerly, it grips the water like no other. any who, i might suggest putting your back foot as far out as possible. the boards track batter the farther the feet are towards the ends of the board. i recently put mine all the way out and it really helped.
i don't recommend larger fins just yet on account of the price 20 bills a piece!!
I've heard the Byerly is pretty grippy. Thinking about one of those myself.
The headplants you will take in the next few months will all build character.
the slippery feel is just you not being used to the board and balancing on the water like that. You will learn how to control your edges better with practice, while you are learning how to ride, learn how to ride switch at the same time, it will save you in the long run. I wish I had.
For bindings, I have mine one in from all the way out, but the best way to do your bindings, is to jump off of something about 2ft high, land on both feet and see how far apart they are, thats your natural stance, use that.
Thats a good board and size for you. The reason it feels slippery with those fins is because you are probably putting too much pressure on your back foot, and this is causing the fin to break loose. Try to keep more of a 50/50 stance and learn to push the rail etc. into the water, especially on heel side turns.
Maybe that's why I've hated my board it's only a 137.
Yeah, you should be on a bigger board Justin. You can use one of Pretty Joe's boards while we're down there if you like.
Don't even consider a Byerly if you're a beginner, Stewart's right that the board & size are good for you.
Boards are really meant to be "on edge" most the time. There are obviously times where you need to be flat (transitioning from one edge to the other), but you should "usually" be on one edge or the other. This will greatly reduce the "slippery" feel, and provide more control. If you think about it, most of the time you are turning one direction or the other, preparing for a trick of some type, etc. I can't think of many times where I ride the board "flat" in the water.
This has helped me quite a bit. Hope it makes sense.
Fins are for tracking and grip not for turning/stering the board that is what the edge is for. Most people learning to wakeboard try to rely on the fins to turn not the edge using the fins to turn will make the board fill slippery and create more face plants and falls. I use to put the shortest fins on a board I had to make people use the edge instead of the fins.