Keys to Success in wakeboarding
Keys to Success in wakeboarding
Many
kids see the action on the water and lifestyle of professional wakeboarders,
but they don’t see all the hard work that goes into it behind the scenes. That
is, they see the glamour, but not the reality. Living the life of a pro
wakeboarder is still extremely glamorous, but much more work goes into it than
meets the eye. It’s a constant day-to-day escapade on and off the water. In this
article, we’ll look into what makes a pro and a Joe a Joe to see if you have
what it takes.
The
reason that you are reading this article is because you obviously have an
interest in wakeboarding. You may even have a passion for it, and you want to
do it everyday. Well, congratulations, you’ve reached step one of becoming a
pro. But on top of your passion,
you have to have motivation, heaps and heaps of it. Everyone wants to wakeboard
when the sun is out and the water is flat, but it takes discipline to ride
everyday regardless of conditions or if you are “feeling it” or not. Don’t take
this the wrong way and think that wakeboarding isn’t supposed to be fun, it is.
But if=2
0this doesn’t sound appealing maybe this isn’t the right career path for
you.
Parks
Bonifay and Rusty Malinoski didn’t get to where they are today by waiting for
the stars to align before they went wakeboarding. They made sacrifices to they
could be out there riding every day, up to five times a day. Of course, they have talent, too, but
don’t mistake that for what it is. Talent alone never did anything for anyone. To
accomplish something as, say becoming a professional wakeboarder, you need to
become a talent plus person. This means talent plus passion, talent plus discipline, or talent plus
motivation. Don’t be discouraged by this if you don’t feel you are as talented
as Parks. When given a choice between somewhat talented and extremely motivated
over somewhat motivated and extremely talented, I would choose the latter. Some
claim Tiger Woods is the most talented golfer there was, but he doesn’t rely on
his talent alone. He practices everyday, grueling hours, just as much and more
than every other pro.
So,
if you’ve read this far, great job. You have passion and motivation, two of the
most important character traits in any walk of life. A third thing t
hat
wakeboarding requires is out of the box thinking. Our sport is constantly being
changed and evolved for the better, thanks to those innovators at the top. For
an example of this, pick up the latest issue of wakeboarding magazine and
compare it to an issue from ten, or even five years ago, and you’ll notice a
huge difference. The reason why I bring this up is because a lot of riders can
go out there now and hit 7’s and 9’s, that won’t get you recognized, maybe if
you can stick it in contest every time. Otherwise, use the left side of your
brain, and start thinking about new ways to do standard tricks. Maybe this
means grabbing somewhere different, maybe it means going in the flats, maybe it
means doing it re-entry style off of a triple up.
A
good way to start this is brainstorm the tricks you are really good at. Then
think about all the ways you’ve seen people do these tricks before. Make a list
of everything you can recall from a video or magazine. Then think about your
strengths and how you can elaborate on that trick and make it better. It’s not
easy because if it were everyone would be doing it.
Last
but not least, you have to be business oriented. There is no set career plan in
wakeboarding. You don9
9t go to a four year wakeboard school and graduate and
have a job lined up as a professional wakeboarder. There is no guarantee that x
leads to y. That is to say that there is no set formula for becoming a pro.
Some people do it through video exposure, most do it through contests, and more
are doing it through cable. There
were a lot of great riders who never got rich from this sport. This goes back
to the out of the box thinking. Thinking on your toes about ways to expand your
name, improve your skill, and negotiate contracts are all crucial aspects.
There
you have it, four key to becoming a pro wakeboarder. Hopefully this article
helped you decide if this career path is right for you. Feel free to email me
with questions and concerns, hairaustin@gmail.com.
