The Raley is probably the first Invert you want to learn. It is also known as the Superman jump and if you do it correctly, you fly in the air just like Superman. Like I said, the Raley is one of the basic Inverts. So, maybe we should clarify what an Invert is first. Inverts are all tricks at wakeboarding where the board goes over your head. This is true for each flip like Back Roll or Front Flip but also holds for the Raley. Because if you, do it correctly, your legs will be over your head for a short time.
Which tricks do you need to stick first? Because the Raley looks impressive, a lot of riders try to do it even though they didn’t do the basics like 180-to-Blind or even a frontside 180. It’s not a mandatory prerequisite, but I would highly recommend doing the basics first to get a better control of your board and a better feeling for the cable. The least thing you need to be able to do, is to have a solid edge and know when the tension of the cable is the highest.
You should try your first Raleys after the motor tower. After the motor tower you have enough tension at the approach and in the air as well as at the landing. If you want to do the Raley to the outside, you can ride a normal curve, then ride to the inside for just a little bit, so that you are below the running wire and then turn on your heel side edge.
If you want the Raley to the inside, you can take a biiig curve and rather ride outside of the bojs. Then ride the curve and stay on the heel side edge. In both cases you should cut progressive. This means, that you start cutting easily and then lean in more and more. It’s enough to cut for about 3 to 5 meters before you release. You should get a feeling for when are at a point where the tension is at the maximum and you start to lose some on cutting further. Keep the handle while cutting close to your body or at least try to not straighten your arms.
So, now comes the jump off. This is the most important part of the trick! It doesn’t matter how good your approach is, if the jump off is bad, you simply can’t get out of the water.
Similarly, you can do a Raley with a good jump off despite not even cutting. The goal of the jump off is to set a block. This means, that you have to try to hit the board perpendicular to the direction of travel into the water, so that the cable can’t keep pulling you straight on the water. The 90° is only a guideline and you won’t reach it, but it can work with that imagination.
So, when you are on the heel side edge you need to kick your front foot a little bit backwards but especially downwards in the water.
Once you set the block correctly, you will get dragged out of the water automatically. Try to keep your arms close to your body so that the full energy can be converted into height of your Raley. You will automatically get into a horizontal flight position. Let your board go over your head so that you do a real invert.
At the first Raleys you want to try to get the board beneath your feet as soon as possible. For this to happen, pull the handle to your feet. This way you will automatically get into a riding position again. Bend your knees at the landing.
If you are rotating in the air, you should take care that your head stays straight. Most riders look at the board while cutting. This way your head will be scew and this might result in a rotation in the air. I would recommend you looking up the line while cutting. This way your head is straight.
In general this instruction is completely enough to do the try and you shouldn’t lose yourself in the details. The most important thing is still the block.
To finish this of, I want to give you some tips if you can’t get the block going. The problem of the block is mostly in your head. You feel how much power the cable has and intuitively don’t complete the block just before getting dragged out of the water.
The easiest way to overcome your fear is to practice the Raley at a small cable, so a System. If your cable has no System then check the Trickart App to find systems around you.
If this still didn’t help you, you might try to do at a lower speed. For this, the cable has to be empty, and you need to ask your operator to set the speed of the cable to 25 km/h. Because you are slower, the board is lower in the water as well and this makes the block easier. The goal here is not to stick the Raley but that you release a few times and get a feeling for this and then do it at 30 km/h.
You can also practice with a Wakeskate and do some Raleys with it.
The Skate will be stuck in the water and you fly like at a Raley.
To get a feeling for the flying phase you might also do some Raleystarts with or without board.
A small disclaimer. Some riders find these tricks helpful while others lose themselves in it and never do a Raley at full speed with a Wakeboard. So, I would recommend to start the normal way as I described first.
