Not bouncing keeps you stable and increases speed.

That definitely makes sense. How just tensing up the body makes it so you don’t bounce seems odd. Gonna have to give it a try!

It stops you extending your legs into the trough which allows you to skip over it.

Joel Howley that makes sense!

I cannot stress enough how important it is to just tense while letting the ski do the work.. I had an injury and just got back on the ski after a month. First 2 days back on the water I was so excited for speed that I was pushing (extending) my legs down and had some of the gnarliest wipe outs ever, and as Joel says if you're stable and just tensing up instead of fighting the wake, you go way faster and avoid some good spills.

thanks :)

Check his bio