What Exactly is a Slider?
What Exactly is a Slider?
Sliders have long been a staple of board sports. And no, I’m not talking about those tiny little cheeseburgers. Although, I’m sure a lot of wake aficionado's love those too. What I’m talking about are those long narrow rails you see floating at the cable park and in random corners of your lake. Sliders are -- with risk of oversimplifying the concept -- exactly what the name implies: an obstacle designed for sliding your board across.
In this case a wakeboard.
Sliders provide a beautiful way to keep your lines creative and add a little extra flair to your bag of tricks. In fact, sliders are usually a permanent feature of most wakeboard competitions and riders are required to know how to properly use them in their runs.
Whether you’re bound for competition or not, knowing how to hit sliders and use them in your runs makes you a well rounded rider. So if you have been staring at that slider on your lake or the cable park feeling like it’s an insurmountable beast, have no fear -- it’s not as hard as it looks.
Are You Ready to Hit Sliders?
I would be remiss if I didn’t ask, but are you actually ready to hit a slider? If you are still having trouble getting out of the water and controlling the board, then I would say no. If that’s the case, then keep practicing on the basics and soon enough you will be ready. Sliders are a lot of fun, but you should definitely work your way up to them.
A person who is ready to hit sliders is a rider who can hit jumps and ramps with great ease and is completely surefooted with the board underneath them.
Sliders don’t require a major amount of skill, but a certain measure of control is necessary. You should also be able to ollie out of the water with ease.
If you can meet all of those requirements, then I’m certain you can hit a slider.
Approaching the Slider
As you ride up to a slider you will find that it’s easier to approach from the left or right depending on your stance. If your goofy footed start out by approaching from the right, if you’re regular footed approach it from the left.
Be sure not to approach the slider from a wide angle. Instead, try approaching it like you are going to ride parallel to the slider. As a rule of thumb, keep your line straight, but aim just to the side of the slider.
As you approach the slider, be confident with your footing and angle. You want to create a good entry when you’re first learning to slide, so if something feels off don’t be afraid to pull away and try again on the next pass.
Once you feel confident in your approach it’s time to do some sliding. Two of the easiest tricks to pull on a slider are the 50/50 and the boardslide.
If you have a completely flat slider, one of the easiest tricks to pull first is the 50/50. A 50/50 is when you slide straight across the slider without turning the board. You simply ollie up, keep the board facing the same direction, and ollie back down into the water. Sounds simple enough, right?
To start a 50/50 approach the slider straight on. Time your ollie just before you reach the edge of the slider and lift your nose well over the top of the slider.
Lifting your back leg up will level you out and with proper timing you should be on the slider with ease.
Keep the same line and angle you started with, but resist the urge to lean back. This may seem unnatural at first, but keep your weight shifted forward. Remember, the slider surface is slippery so leaning back is a surefire way to land you on your keaster and create some interesting bruises.
With your weight shifted forward, ride the slider for the full extension. As you approach the end of the slider lean back slightly to keep yourself level as you dismount. Land in the water flat, and ride away clean.
See, nothin’ to it.
In order to do a boardslide, work your way up to the slider from a slight parallel angle, like we talked about before. As you reach the slider, start your ollie and turn the nose of the board toward the slider, making sure to keep the nose well over the top edge. This slight turn is all you need to keep yourself perpendicular to the slider.
Level out your back leg and feel the board make contact. With a boardslide, instead of keeping your weight forward, keep your weight centered directly over the middle of the board and the slider.
As you feel the cable or rope pull you forward you will find that you can subtly compensate for the difference in motion by shifting slightly, and I mean ever so slightly, to your toes.
As you reach the end of the slider, simply push down with your back foot and lift your front foot upward turning your board back to the straight riding position. Then all that’s left is to level out, land flat, and ride away smoothly.
Sliders have long been a staple of board sports. And no, I’m not talking about those tiny little cheeseburgers. Although, I’m sure a lot of wake aficionado's love those too. What I’m talking about are those long narrow rails you see floating at the cable park and in random corners of your lake. Sliders are -- with risk of oversimplifying the concept -- exactly what the name implies: an obstacle designed for sliding your board across.
In this case a wakeboard.
Sliders provide a beautiful way to keep your lines creative and add a little extra flair to your bag of tricks. In fact, sliders are usually a permanent feature of most wakeboard competitions and riders are required to know how to properly use them in their runs.
Whether you’re bound for competition or not, knowing how to hit sliders and use them in your runs makes you a well rounded rider. So if you have been staring at that slider on your lake or the cable park feeling like it’s an insurmountable beast, have no fear -- it’s not as hard as it looks.
Are You Ready to Hit Sliders?
I would be remiss if I didn’t ask, but are you actually ready to hit a slider? If you are still having trouble getting out of the water and controlling the board, then I would say no. If that’s the case, then keep practicing on the basics and soon enough you will be ready. Sliders are a lot of fun, but you should definitely work your way up to them.
A person who is ready to hit sliders is a rider who can hit jumps and ramps with great ease and is completely surefooted with the board underneath them.
Sliders don’t require a major amount of skill, but a certain measure of control is necessary. You should also be able to ollie out of the water with ease.
If you can meet all of those requirements, then I’m certain you can hit a slider.
Approaching the Slider
As you ride up to a slider you will find that it’s easier to approach from the left or right depending on your stance. If your goofy footed start out by approaching from the right, if you’re regular footed approach it from the left.
Be sure not to approach the slider from a wide angle. Instead, try approaching it like you are going to ride parallel to the slider. As a rule of thumb, keep your line straight, but aim just to the side of the slider.
As you approach the slider, be confident with your footing and angle. You want to create a good entry when you’re first learning to slide, so if something feels off don’t be afraid to pull away and try again on the next pass.
Once you feel confident in your approach it’s time to do some sliding. Two of the easiest tricks to pull on a slider are the 50/50 and the boardslide.
If you have a completely flat slider, one of the easiest tricks to pull first is the 50/50. A 50/50 is when you slide straight across the slider without turning the board. You simply ollie up, keep the board facing the same direction, and ollie back down into the water. Sounds simple enough, right?
To start a 50/50 approach the slider straight on. Time your ollie just before you reach the edge of the slider and lift your nose well over the top of the slider.
Lifting your back leg up will level you out and with proper timing you should be on the slider with ease.
Keep the same line and angle you started with, but resist the urge to lean back. This may seem unnatural at first, but keep your weight shifted forward. Remember, the slider surface is slippery so leaning back is a surefire way to land you on your keaster and create some interesting bruises.
With your weight shifted forward, ride the slider for the full extension. As you approach the end of the slider lean back slightly to keep yourself level as you dismount. Land in the water flat, and ride away clean.
See, nothin’ to it.
In order to do a boardslide, work your way up to the slider from a slight parallel angle, like we talked about before. As you reach the slider, start your ollie and turn the nose of the board toward the slider, making sure to keep the nose well over the top edge. This slight turn is all you need to keep yourself perpendicular to the slider.
Level out your back leg and feel the board make contact. With a boardslide, instead of keeping your weight forward, keep your weight centered directly over the middle of the board and the slider.
As you feel the cable or rope pull you forward you will find that you can subtly compensate for the difference in motion by shifting slightly, and I mean ever so slightly, to your toes.
As you reach the end of the slider, simply push down with your back foot and lift your front foot upward turning your board back to the straight riding position. Then all that’s left is to level out, land flat, and ride away smoothly.
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