Double Up
DoubleUp's are only about 8 years old in the sport of Wakeboarding that we know today. But they actually date way back to the early day's of trick skiing, when a guy buy the name of Ricky McCormick would try do a flip off of the boats rollers as the boat turned around at the end of the lake. This is where the first flip or invert was invented off of a wake.
They have now evolved into a wall of water that is capable of launching the rider up to 20 feet in the air. But, as most aspects of water sports behind a boat, it is a true team effort. In this article we will try to break it down in two parts. Hopefully after reading this there will be a lot less screaming on the lake that should make those old fogies at the end of your lake stop bitching about you screaming at your driver or rider.
First lets get into the driver seat. The most important part for the driver is keeping a straight path. Always be conscious of where your rollers are going. While your pulling your rider try to pick 2 spots on your lake that your going to drive in between. This will become the 'run' that your rider is riding in. Usually you want your run long enough so that the rider can comfortably fit a minimum of 6 tricks in before the boat turns. The longer, the better. It just depends on how the wind is that day and how many fishermen your pissing off. Your goal as a driver is to never let your own boat wakes enter or travel down the riders 'run'. At the end of your run, since you have to turn anyway, you might as well build your rider a double up.
Before we get to far ahead, let's define double up; A Double up is when the boat makes an arcing turn of approximately 270 degrees. And crosses his old wakes. As the boat does so the rider has the opportunity to ride between the old wakes and the current wake, which makes a larger apex wake which will offer a steeper larger ramp than an ordinary wake.
Now the trick as the driver is to not send a wall of wake down the run when building the double up. So here's how that's done. First of all determine which way your rider wants the double up. There are signs we all use as pro's that you might as well adopt now. It will save a lot of explaining the next time your riding with one of us. Either before your rider leaves the dock you can ask which way your rider wants his double up's. Or the rider can use a hand signal (good place for an illustration)
If your rider is just starting out with double up's then you want to build one for his heal side edge. These are an easier one to hit for a beginner. If they are left foot forward then it wants to be a right hand double up, and vise versa for goofy foot.
Now the trick to keeping your riders run clean and without rollers, is to leave yourself enough room at the end so that you can veer off your path at about 45 degrees. You then hold this line for a good 100 feet, the longer this line is the easier to set up the double up. After you've set your wall of rollers then drive a large 270-degree arc. You want to make sure you finish your arc early so that you can drive a straight line again through your wall of water.
You'll notice now that the nose of the boat is now pointing back down your run. For more advanced riders you want to try to go through your rollers or wall of water at about 90 degrees, this is called a closed double up. For the first timers or those less advanced it's easier to hit it when the boat drives through at more of a 45 degree angle, this is called an open double up. Again just try not to put rollers down the riders run, And make sure the boat is set at the speed the rider desires well before you drive through the Double up.
Ok, now for the rider. The main thing to remember in the double up is it is wider than the normal wake and a lot steeper. Lets start off with a first timer. As the boat turns you want to stay on the inside of the turn. As the boat starts to straighten out, you want to stay fairly close to the wake, the farther you go out the more precise your approach needs to be. The best thing to do is have your driver just drive the pattern a couple of times, and just hang outside the wake and look at the double up. Once you've done this then you'll know what I'm about to say. Otherwise it'll be all Greek. You'll notice that there are 4 rollers. One small one two big ones and one more small one. The best one to hit is the first big one. You want to start just about 5 foot from the wake. As soon as you go over the first small roller turn the tip of your board into the Double up. As you turn you'll travel toward the wake in the swell of the first and second roller. Because the wake is now twice as steep you'll want to put a little more weight on your back foot. If you don't this wall of water will swallow you and pitch you onto your face. Instead of thinking about cutting at the wake, think more of just pointing at it and letting it come to you. It's also important that your hips are locked and solid going through the Double up. If they're not, it will fold you in half. Once you can successfully get lift from 5 feet out, then start moving your approach out wider. Eventually you'll be able to clear both wakes. It's also best to have your driver start at a 45 degree open style Double up, as you get more comfortable with it and you feel like you can cut harder at it, then you can have your driver start closing it up a little bit.
If this doesn't seem to work, you have 2 options. Either take up Lawn Darts or come train with Dave at Briscoes Ride Center. www.thewakeboardcoach.com