I have been having troble bouncing off waves for arial moves. I have been able to get blunts before, but not consistantly, and I can generally get my bow out 2.5- 3 feet, but I have trouble disengaging my stern from the water. I live in Oregon, USA, and we don't have great play ecxept for in the wintertime when, even if the waves aren't very big, they are fast. The other day I was on Lake Creek, and surfing Red Hill, I got my bow out 3+ feet, but it is like my tail is sticking to the water. I carve or spin to the top of the wave, then paddle down the face, lift mybow, throw it back down, then back up again. Is there anything I am doing wrong? FYI- I paddle a ZG 48 and weigh around 150 lbs.

Try doing it with an edge-to-edge transition:
You \"load\" the bow (weght forward, push with the feet) and at the same time put your boat on edge (about 20-30 degrees on the opposite side to the intended blunt). Then shift the weght back (pull on your knees), at the same time release the edge and then shift forward again.
The edge-to-edge transition helps going bigger and really stats the rotation of the boat - you need to be almost vertical (like a 90 degree edge) for the blunt or even over that for the pan-am.
Hope it helps, let us know how goes...
Enjoy!

thanks, that's how I have been able to get blunts in the past, but I have a hard time with the timing, and would really like to get my tail out when I am bouncing into air.

If you get the bow out but the stern stays on the water, probably means you aren't doing the last part of shifting the weight forward again fast enough. It should work sort of like an ollie - you get one end up and immediately take your weight of the other end.

I have a couple of suggestions for you.

One, first try and ollie the boat with doing any tricks. Just shoot down the face fo the wave, and bounce the bow up, then push out with your feet. This should level the boat out, and bring the whole boat into the air. Get th feel for this move, then try throwning blunts, pan ams, air screws, super duper flips, etc. You do need a fairly large/fast wave to do a straight ollie, however.

Also, try moving the seat forwards a bit. This gives the stern more buonancy ( I think thats spelled right), and makes it want to rebound out of the water. It's the same principal behind higher volume boats looping bigger. The more volume in the water, the faster and harder it will want to come out.

One more thing, don't try to throw the blunt at the bottom of the wave. If you bounce all the way to the trough, nothing will happen. You want your blunt to end in the trough, not begin there. For example, if you're throwing a left blunt, get to the very top of the wave. Get slightly on right edge, and take a big right stroke to accelerate you and the boat. Immediately after your right stroke, lift up with those kness, and slam them down, at the same time throwing the left blunt stroke. It's not easy, but once you get the timing right you'll be throwin around like a madman.

Hope this helps

Dave
Team Riot

Thanks. I won't be back on the water until after christmas, but I'll definitely work on these things.

Man, i dont know what your problem is. i mean jeez, youve got the boat and the waves, if you cant get a blunt or ariel iu guess thats your own fault huh. I mean jeez, you must reall y suck hardcore. Like reallly. REALLy REAlly. Seriously, go away. ( Please, no one kill me for this, i know this guy and im just messing with him)

Dave has a good point. Bouncy bouncy bouncy. It's fun to do without trying anything else. You need to play around, experiment. Jump all over the bow. Jump all over the stern. Lean way forward. Lean way back. Start throwing your weight forward and back. You'll get the timing.

You CAN bounce at the bottom of the wave, but you won't get that much air. Actually, it's still the same amount of air that the boat will generate, but doing at the top of the wave you have the added air-height of the trough below you. You'll eventually get the timing down so you can feel out that moment when you start to race down the face of the wave. Too soon and you'll blow off the back of the wave. Too late and you're in the trough.

A related experiment you can do is to start learning how to carve super aggressive. The more aggressive you do it, the more you boat is going to want to kick up into the air on it's side. It's the key to getting bigger air when you are down in the trough of the wave. And it opens up more tricks to you.

Both are really cool sensations: bouncing and carving. The more you throw your weight around, the more you'll figure out.

Thanks. I guess I though t that I needed more speed, so i was waiting too long. Either way, I'll definitely work on that. Thanks for all the help

speed is an issue, for sure. but you can't \"wait\" to gain speed. You are fastest in that first second of acceleration down the face of the wave. Once you get to the bottom you slow down. so if you start throwing ollies around as soon as you feel yourself slipping down the face then you are taking advantage of wahtever speed you boat has.

Do you see the focus? Spud boats that are bouncy are slow by nature. They only reach their full speed from the top of the wave in that first second. So, that is your window.
Carvy boats are \"faster\" because they loose less speed so you can take advantage of speed for a longer time. BUT, they are a bit tougher to bounce beccause you'll end up in the bottom of the wave in less time. You won't have room to bounce in the bottom. There are plenty of other options there, but since you have been talking about bounce I'll leave that alone.

Bouncy bouncy bouncy. You are at the top of the wave and imagine that you are a clown on a trampoline. Think light thoughts.

what i always try to do when i have problems like this is 1. watch a bunch of videos with people getting air before i get on the water. 2. to make sure i'm really in balance in my boat. 3. really focus on my edges and 4. to maybe take a setup stroke to help my timing.

From what you said about your setup, i imagine you paddling down the face of the wave. when i said to take a setup stroke, i mean an air stroke. i almost never touch the water when i do it.

have fun!!