Wakeboarding is a relatively new boardsport. It was created from a combination of water skiing, snow boarding and surfing techniques. Before it was called wakeboarding it was called skurfing. As in water skiing, the rider is towed behind a boat, or a cable skiing setup, but typically at slower speeds (18 - 24mph).

Instead of using skis, the rider rides a single board with stationary non-release bindings for each foot, standing sideways as on a snowboard or skateboard. The boards, which can float, are typically 130 - 147cm long and up to 45cm wide (shorter and wider than snowboards). Unlike snowboards, which are concave, they are convex (tips 15 - 25cm).

A wakeboarding boat is similar to a water ski boat except that the rope is normally mounted on a tower about 2 metres above the water line and the boat is also weighted and trimmed, with strategically placed large water ballasts tanks, to give a larger wake. The wake is used as hits or ramps would be in other boardsports. Steering the board by a combination of direction and cutting the edges into the water, the rider can move outside of the wake, then cut rapidly in toward the wake, hitting it and launching himself into the air. Heading towards the wake chest facing the boat is known as toeside cutting; approaching from the other direction with chest facing away from the boat is known as heelside cutting.

As with many freestyle sports such as snow boarding and surfing, there is almost a separate language of terms to describe various tricks ( Tantrum, Elephant, Whirlybird, 5, 7, 9, 10). Tricks can be performed from either heelside or toeside cuts, for example a toeside 360 is approaching the wake toeside followed by a 360 spin in the air.
The sport is growing in popularity as it is fairly easy to pick up, but offers a wide opportunity for self-expression. A limiting factor to a beginner wakeboarder is often the cost of the boats. A well known wakeboarding boat, the Correct Craft Super Air Nautique, can fetch upwards of USD 60,000 on the new market.

Wakeboarding was added to competition in X Games II. The winner of the competition was Luis Rodriguez. The next year women were able to compete. The winner of the first womens competition was Tara Hamilton. Currently, Danny Harf and Dallas Friday are the dominate force in this sport.

A related variation is wake skating, which has extremely close ties to street skateboarding.

Liquid Force and Hyperlite are two leading wakeboard manufacturers. Other manufacturers include CWB, O'Brien, Krown, and Gator Boards. Correct Craft, Malibu, MB Sports, Centurion, Gekko, Tige, Supra, Supreme, Calabria, Moomba, and Master Craft are the leading wakeboard boat manufacturers.