Rocker
First I want to explain rocker. Rocker is the bend you see in a wakeboard from tip to tail. There are two types of rocker: continuous and three-stage. Continuous rocker is a smooth curve that does not change from tip to tail, while three-stage rocker has two distinct bend points, almost like a skateboard deck but not nearly as drastic. When you ride wakeboards with continuous rocker you lose a bit of your pop, but you get a fast ride because the water flows without disruption across the bottom of the wakeboard right out through the tail. Since wakeboards with three-stage rocker has two distinct bends in the wakeboard, it pushes more water in front of the wakeboard. This makes your ride slower, but with three-stage rocker you gain a lot of pop off the wake.
Not only are there types of rocker but you also have to deal with amounts of rocker. Just like tequila, more is not always better. The more rocker you have, the slower, looser and less edgy the wakeboard. With more rocker, you tend to lose the locked-in feeling of your fins, which allows you to break the wakeboard loose whenever you please. This reminds me of a more snowboardy feel. For beginners, wakeboards with a lot of rocker will feel loose, but it will teach you how to edge rather than relying on your fins, which pays off in the long run. You are forced to be more gradual with your turns and for some the slowness makes them feel more comfortable. As far as landings go, the more rocker your board has, the softer the impact will feel, but you will notice a stuck-in-the-mud sluggishness when you hit the water and try to keep your direction.
In contrast, less rocker allows the wakeboard to move faster, hook up better and become more aggressive. You can be more aggressive with your turns and really edge hard through the wake instead of going slow and bounding off it. You will work less, last longer on the water and be able to land really far out in the flats because the wakeboard planes better and you don’t have to put so much effort into making the wakeboard move across the back of the boat. Beginners may feel a bit out of control and unstable with less rocker. Overall, your impact on landings becomes harder, but your recovery time after landing is quicker, allowing you to adjust and move right back into acceleration again fairly easily.
Another question to ask: Does the size of the wake I ride affect the type of rocker I should consider? Believe it or not, yes. For those of you who ride a small to midsize wake, your pop is produced more by edging, so less rocker is ideal. Since you don’t get that bounce up from a big steep wake, by using less rocker you won’t get sprayed in the face as you edge through a mellow, more gradual wake. On bigger steeper wakes, your pop is projected straight up more than across, so you need the bounce created by a wakeboard that has a lot of rocker. You may have to work a little harder to make the wakeboard go, but the end result is that you get more height.
To sum it up, if your wake is really big but has a mellow transition you can lean a little more towards less rocker. If you start digging in and getting sprayed in the face by the wake you’ll know you have too little rocker. If you’re the type of rider who loves to turn fast, go big and land out in the flats but you ride a rigger, steeper wake, try to find a wakeboard with medium rocker. The slower, smoother and more wake-to-wake your style leans toward, the more rocker you need.
