Wakesurfing is surfing on a boat's wake with a wakesurf board or just a plain old surfboard! You can be towed by a short rope of surf freely. And since wakesurfing takes place so close behind a boat, never use an outboard motor! (Where the prop is exposed behind the boat!)
Wakesurf Board
image source
Wakesurfing
image source
Ready For Launch?
Unless you're very creative, not using a rope to stand up is quite challenging. A short rope is best so you can get near the curl of the wake. This next step might be easier if you have previous experience wakeboarding (not to be confused with wakesurfing). If you haven't ever seen a wakeboard starting stance, it's when you put both feet out in front of you, toes toward the sky.
image source
This guy is kitesurfing, but it's the same board stance with wakesurfing/boarding.
So place your back foot close to the tail and your front foot somewhere in the middle/back of the board (I prefer in the back section). Here's something important to helping you stand up. Wherever your feet are, place them so just your heels are very close the edge of the board (the edge facing you!). This allows the majority of the board to pop up to your feet and out of the water. It also will help you from catching the front edge in the water.
When you start being pulled, try to upright your body and keep your knees bent. (But don't stand straight up, stay leaned back a little). At same time you are standing up, pivot the board using your feet so it is facing the way a surfboard normally would. Remember to apply pressure the back to keep any forward facing edges out of the water. After you've stood up, shift your stance (move up front foot if it was in back) and start surfing!
Tips & Hints
Starting off with your front foot by the back helps you pivot the board more upon stand-up
I trick I use when I stand-up is that when the rope goes taut; I yank myself up using my arms and the rope. This way I get an earlier surfing stance so I don't have to deal with as much catching an edge problems. You may sink down a little but just wait for the boat to pull you out.
Common Problems
I've seen a lot of my friends do this; when the boat takes off they just let the rope pull their body out of the water and they go straight over the front. And so they start off behind the board and end up face-down in front of it. You need to remember to pivot the board and lean back!
When your heels aren't close enough to the back edge, the front edge may catch in the water and as the board is left behind, you may find your self attempting to barefoot ski!
One more thing, you want to lean back but not to far back! What I mean is, some people try to lean back before they're even out of the water. You need to get your body to a semi-upright position before you lean back, otherwise you'll be drowning yourself! (Just kidding).
Here are hand-drawn pictures that might help you understand the picture a little more.
I hope this guide helps a lot of you. This guide may not exactly cater to your every need (because everyone's different). Try tweaking parts of my advice to fit your style and then it may be easier for you. Have a great time wakesurfing!
