Beginner's Guide to Buying Wakeboard Tow Ropes

Introduction

This article is aimed at the novice Wakeboarder as it is assumed that an intermediate or advanced rider will probably know most of this stuff already. This is not intended to be an exhaustive study of Wakeboard towrope design. Instead we have deliberately filtered out a lot of the unnecessary jargon and technicalities and put together a simple list of considerations that are relevant just to beginners. We hope that you find this article useful and that it helps you to choose the perfect Wakeboard tow rope for you. If you're completely new to the sport you may want to read our article on What Is Wakeboarding? first.

Wakeboard Tow Rope Design and Characteristics

Choosing the correct Wakeboard Rope can genuinely improve your learning curve. Choosing the wrong one can have the complete opposite effect. Waterski ropes and handles may look the same as wakeboarding ones but the different needs of the Wakeboarder mean that the rope and handle are significantly different.

ROPE MATERIAL - Unlike waterskiing, Wakeboarding requires a rope with minimum stretch in order to perform tricks and get air. Wakeboarding Ropes are therefore made out of two different materials, low stretch polyethylene rope and zero stretch Spectra Rope. Most of the advance wakeboarders use Spectra, but even a beginner will notice the difference between a Low Stretch Wakeboarding Rope versus a softer waterski rope.

ROPE LENGTH - The majority of Wakeboarding Tow Ropes are between 60 to 70 feet long but with 5 foot long sections along the first 20 feet or so of the rope. Rope length is a matter of personal preference but beginners usually prefer shorter ropes as the boat's wake is narrower and less choppy the closer to the boat you are.

HANDLE - Wakeboarding Handles are 13-15 inches wide as opposed to Waterski handles which are 11-12 inches wide. The reason for this is quite simple - a wider handles make it easier to perform tricks that require the handle to be passed behind the rider's back!