Dragon with a twist

I have not fully recovered from my shoulder dislocations yet, but I’m well enough to start making progress again.

Saturday night was really good, I added a few feathers to my wakeskating cap by doing all the following in a single run (i.e. in sequence, without falling):

• frontside 360 on the funbox ridge (still a very difficult trick, but I noticed that my success rate goes up dramatically when the water is relatively calm. I did 5-6 of these in 3 hours yesterday, whereas there are days where the water is more choppy and I can spend 3 hours and not land a single one!)
• small ramp jump
• normal dragon run

It took many tries. In previous attempts I could only complete two of these and failed on the 3rd. I usually go for the  funbox 360 first, because that is the most difficult one. If I fail, well… back to the dock and keep trying. If I succeed, then I go either for the dragon or the small ramp. If I succeed at either of these… my heart starts beating because success is within reach… and I guess I got lucky doing all three yesterday.

A side note on dragons and wakeskates: Not many people have conquered the dragon on the wakeskate yet. It’s quite amusing, because many people can do the small ramp… and can’t do the dragon. However, my findings (after exhasting and complicated experiments involving loads of sea water, splashing and the usual dose of ridicule) show that the dragon is actually easier than the small ramp! Yep. You think I’m nuts, right? Well, give it a try, and consider what the main difficulty is for these obstacles: you have to take the jump in a correct, well balanced position, so that you can fly and land centered enough to make it.

Now, this is easy to achieve on the dragon! You have all the time in the world to balance yourself, focus and get ready while you are gliding on the flat part. By the time you reach the exit ramp, you’re steady, legs bent, body slightly pressed back, done with the dozen of other little things required to maximize your chances of successful landing.

Compare this with the small ramp. You have to edge quite hard to reach it, and the waves are shaking your board. You have no time to collect yourself and get ready for anything, it just kicks you up straight up at the end of your approach. Good luuuuck!

Anyway… those of you who have done the small ramp… believe me, the dragon is easy if you dare.

In fact… my other success yesterday was a 360 on the dragon, before the jump, with the wakeskate. It took about 6 tries. Not that difficult either, for the same reasons I explained.