A common misconception believed by many is that the water skiing and wake boarding sports are similar in nature yet nothing can be farther from the truth.

The nature of the sport by itself provides the most striking difference between the two. Water skiing is a simple sport whereas wake boarding seems to be a combination of different sports. The principle of water skiing is based on being towed around by a speed boat. Wake boarding also includes being towed around by a speed boat but it includes features also common to surfing, snow boarding and skate boarding.

Water skiing traditionally is just a ride behind a speed boat. This is pursued for the simple pleasure of skiing over waters. A water skier prefers smooth sailing over the waters. Wakeboarding on the other hand is a sport based on the thrill and excitement of jumping the wakes created by the boat and thus the size of the waves play a huge factor here.

The different nature of the two sports is reflected in the individual sports gear as well. Water skiers ride the waters on water skis whereas the wakeboarding sport makes use of specially designed boards complete with foot straps and fins to help maintain the balance of the wake boarder. Unless you are slalom skiing, skiers generally use two different skis for both feet whereas wake boarders use a single board.

The boats used to pull these sports riders are also of different makes. A water skier’s tow boat can be any simple boat but the wake boarders need to use specially designed speed boats. The difference in wake boarding boats is in the structure designed to increase weight at the rear which aids in creating larger wakes behind the speeding boat. The wake board boats have increased weight at the rear to create larger wakes. As the height of the waves is directly proportional to the weight of the stern, the engine is placed backwards at the rear for added weight. Newer technologies like aftermarket ballast and lead are further used by manufacturers for creating larger wakes.

Ropes used in wake boarding again differ from the ones used in water skiing. A water skier’s rope has to have a good deal of stretch and flexibility while wake boarders need ropes that have minimum elasticity as the stretch factor proves a disadvantage when contemplating jumps over the waves.

OK, so much for the differences between water ski and wakeboarding.