Though there appears to be a lot of similarity between the two water rides, wakeboarding and water skiing are two completely different sports.

The most obvious difference between the two sports is in the nature of the ride itself. Water skiing is an original sport in itself whereas wake boarding is a blend of surfing, snow boarding, skate boarding and of course water skiing. A water skier wears skis and holds onto a rope tied at the rear of a speed boat and is pulled across the waters by it. Wake boarding, though it adopts the same principle also includes skills derived from other sports like surfing, snow boarding and skate boarding.

As mentioned earlier water skiing is a simple water ride. This is pursued for the simple pleasure of skiing over waters. In fact the smaller the waves, the better it is. Wake boarders, like surfers, ride on waves or rather wakes left by the speed boat behind which it is towed and as such a major factor in wake boarding is the size of the wakes.

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.

Boats used for these two sports will also vary as the very nature of the two rides seems diametrically opposite. While the water skier may use any simple motor boat for skiing, the wakeboard boat is specially designed to create extra high waves as the thrill of wakeboarding (as in surfing) is to ride these waves without loosing one’s balance. In the case of wake boarding, since the wake boarders thrill lies in riding waves, the wake board boats are designed for leaving extra wake behind them. One common principle adopted to ensure extra weight at the stern is to place engines at the rear. Other techniques are also used to lower the stern which will give rise to higher waves. Newer technologies are being used as manufacturers compete with each other to create boats with higher waves.

Ropes – a key equipment used for these rides also have contrary features. 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 skiing and wakeboarding.