Pro Wakeboarder Tom Fooshee Talks About Cable Parks Around The World
Matt Hickman | Uncategorized
I recently had the chance to catch up with pro wakeboarder Tom Fooshee about cable parks. Tom’s amazing talent on the water both behind the boat and on a cable have taken him across the globe. Here’s what Tom had to say about the world of cable wakeboarding.
Hickman: One question I always want to ask pro cable riders, or any cable rider for that matter, is would you be riding a wakeboard if there wasn’t a cable around you?
Fooshee: Of Course! Wakeboarding is so much fun whether its behind a boat, winch or cable. I grew up riding behind the boat and I still love it. Although, I was hooked on the cable after the first time I rode it.
How many parks around the world have you been to?
I have been to about 15 cables worldwide, which is not very much at all compared to people that live in Europe. I do have to say that practically every cable I have been to I have met someone that had a boat and wanted to ride, or met people that you can ride with that will help push your riding. It’s great!
Out of all of them, what three parks are your favorite and why?
I do have to be a little bit cocky and say that TSR is my favorite. We got it all, great kickers and rails, good looking girls and bikinis and the pop is just amazing. Of course I would say this because its home too, haha.
CWC [Camsur Watersports Complex] — What can you not say about this place? It’s a wakeboarder’s paradise in one of the world’s most beautiful areas, the Philippines. The cable has the best rails at any cable park, the pop is money at all spots on the cable (which is pretty rare), 6 towers, and the Gov. [L-Ray Villafuerte, Owner] is one of the coolest people I have ever met.
Wasserski Langenfeld — Located in Germany, this park had 3 different cables with a fourth one on the way. They have a big cable with some killer rails, and great pop at almost every corner. The other two cables are smaller with rails in them too. The best in Europe from my experience.
From a rider’s perspective, how do parks overseas differ from parks here in the US?
I think that there are two different opinions from people overseas. I feel that some of them know the rich wakeboarding history and progression of the sport that has occurred here in the U.S. So tons of them want to come here and shred our cables because of how unique and different they are.
I also think though at the same time they have got their own thing going over there. They might not care about what’s going on at our cables. It’s a kind of a good thing, those guys concentrate on what they like to do and see. It’s different from here but in a good way.
If you could build your own cable park anywhere in the world, where would you put it?
I think the Gov pretty much already did that, haha. I would like to see one in SoCal. The west coast has a great scene and vibe with wakeboarding. The hills of southern California provide such sick scenery too.
There are three types of cables out there; 4, 5 and 6 tower cable systems. What’s the difference on the water?
From what I have noticed is that four tower cables tend to have a very loose feel. It will tend to sway a little more and they don’t quite pop as well because the cable doesn’t feel as “tight”. But with a four tower system, it feels like handle passes are much easier because of how “loose” the cables feels. Five and six tower systems feel very similar to each other depending on the size of a cable. If it’s a bigger cable then a six tower cable provides so many areas on the cable to pop air tricks. If the cable is smaller, a five tower will feel just about right. I have ridden a short six tower cable and the pop off the water enables you to go very big but it is very difficult to do handle passes on them.
Of course, rails and kickers are a big part of the cable park experience. What do you think the perfect combination of rails and kickers would be?
CWC in the Philippines is that perfect combination. Seriously, they got it going on.
Let’s say there was a park that was only allowed one obstacle. If you had to pick only one rail, kicker, wall-ride, etc… what would it be/look like, and why?
I would design a 30 foot long hip that has a rail on top. This way you could use the upslope as a kicker and gap over the rest of the hip and learn to slide the rest of the obstacle in so many different ways. It would be an obstacle that you could both learn kicker and rail tricks on.
Tom Fooshee shredding on the cable… Photo: Matt Hickman
Tom Fooshee’s Bio
Age: 23
Years riding: Cable, 4 Boat, 6 or 7
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Favorite cable move: “A big fatty. It’s what Kyle Reed and I call a front blind mobe done the really hard way; huge front flip tail grabbed to a super late backside 3. Ahhhh… so hard, but it looks so good.” – TF
