Are you one of those riders who always has to have the latest and greatest gear? You somehow convince yourself that if you just had that 23-foot boat with more ballast, rather than your paltry 21-footer, you'd get more air and land that next trick on your list. Or maybe if you have that new board and bindings you can land toeside jumps better. If any of you ever find yourself ever thinking that what you have isn't good enough, then I just ask you to take a look at this.

Go to www.wakeboardreport.com and click on the link to the exclusive footage of Scott Byerly giving a demo back in '94. Read the intro and note that he's riding a directional board with hybrid bindings behind a barefoot boat with no ballast and no tower. Twin tip boards, fat sacs and extended pylons hadn't even been manufactured for wakeboarding yet. Watching Scott ride back then will make you rethink what you "need" in order to wakeboarder better.

So rather than focusing on what you have or don't have as a wakeboarder, I'd encourage you to focus on what you're doing. In other words, maybe you should work on your edging technique and learn to work both the wake and your board. Maybe you should work on your handle position and use of the rope. Yes, Scott is a rare breed of wakeboarding talent who has shaped the sport in immeasurable ways, but it goes to show that your equipment isn't making you a bad wakeboarder. This video is a great flashback into the history of our sport, and definitely puts things into perspective. Remember, it always has been and always should be about having fun on the water, not what equipment you do or do not have.