Q&A with Erika Lang June 2018

Q: Erika, so you’ve been doing the wakeboard/trick ski thing for how many years now?

A: I started wakeboarding my Freshman year of college so for about 4 years now. I knew that I wanted to wakeboard for a few years before that but I didn’t have access to the right resources and coaches living in Arizona. With a gymnastics and trick skiing background I knew that I had potential but just needed the opportunity so once I was able to move to Florida I was finally able to do it.

Q: Training for both has to be difficult, especially needing two different style of towboats. How do you swing that aspect of it? What is the hardest part of your training?

A: Training for both can be difficult sometimes due to having to use different towboats as well as two different coaches for both. But the two disciplines definitely play off of each other and I have been able to utilize my knowledge from trickskiing into my wakeboarding and vise versa. I think they both help each other but are also very different. The hardest part at first was breaking some habits that are good in tricking but in wakeboarding not so much. It took some time to fully separate the two sports from each other but now I treat the two completely different from one another.

Q: The Masters isn’t new to you, but how do you go about setting up your trick run vs. your wakeboard run?

A: The mindset for my trick run versus my wakeboard run is definitely very different from one another. My trick run is completely set in stone before I even get on the water because if you fall you’re done but in wakeboarding you get one fall so it’s usually a good idea to change it up to your advantage if you are to fall.

Q: What do you see as absolutely critical to your training to be both a top level trick skier and at the same time a top level wakeboarder?

A: Staying healthy and injury free is the most important thing to me. I do a lot of off the water training and that has been a game changer for me in order to stay strong all season long. It helps with injury prevention and I’ve noticed a huge difference in my performance on the water as well.

Q: Obviously collecting two checks is nice, but what about getting on the podium in both tricks and wakeboarding is so rewarding for you? What keeps you hungry for both disciplines?

A: Making the podium in both tricks and wakeboard at Masters has been a goal of mine for some time now. Even before I started wakeboarding I knew that I wanted to someday be at the top in both disciplines so to finally accomplish that goal is amazing. And what keeps me hungry for both is just my love for watersports in general. I genuinely love pushing myself to get better each day and the satisfaction of learning a new trick in either tricking or wakeboarding never gets old.

Q: Going forward, what is your focus on? Do you lean more towards tricks or do you lean more wakeboard? Or is it a 50-50 split?

A: I would say that my focus is a 50-50 split. There’s times that I have to focus more on tricking and other times where wakeboarding needs more of my attention but I keep a pretty good balance of both. For tricks I’m working on breaking the World Record over 11,000 points hopefully this year and in wakeboarding I’m continuing to push myself and hopefully make the podium in the rest of the events this season.

Q: I know you had surgery last fall, did that have anything to do with wake boarding, or was it just more of a “waterski/wakeboard” injury? Are you concerned about how it might hinder you in the long run?

A: Yeah I had a surgery about a year and a half ago to fix a torn meniscus and damage to my tibia plateau. I initially tweaked it at a wakeboard competition but it probably wouldn’t have needed surgery if I would have listened to my body and let it heal before using it again. I skied and wakeboarded on it for the next few months and it just kept getting worse and it finally got to the point where surgery was the only option. I’m not too concerned with it hindering me going forward since it wasn’t too serious of a surgery and the recovery went really well. I now listen to my body if anything ever hurts and I do the necessary rehab before getting back on the water.

Q: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us. Is there anything else that you would like to add or any people you would like to thank?

A:I would like to thank my family, coaches and sponsors: Nautique, D3 Skis, Connelly Wake, Reflex bindings. They have helped me tremendously and I wouldn’t be where I am without them.