“Arms of Steel” Lafferty on Wakegirls.com

They don’t call him “Arms of Steel” Lafferty for nothing. A student of Glen Fletcher’s O’Town Water Sports, Steel is one of the most explosive riders in the Jr. Pro Men circuit. He combines huge air with technical proficiency, in the process making each trick his own. WakeGirls spent some time with Mr. Lafferty at O’Town, where we were treated to his incredible riding and goofball antics. Make sure you check out our photos and video of July’s Guy of the Month.

WakeGirls: Where are you from?

Steel: I am from a super hero organization called SHO that trains super heros like myself to one day save the world. Haha, not really, I’m from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

WG: Who do you usually ride with and where?

Steel: I usually go train with my coach Glen Fletcher at O’Town in Orlando.

WG: Who influences your riding style?

Steel: I for sure think that watching and riding with people like [Shawn] Watson and Shane Bonifay, who are known for their style, really influences my style.

WG: How did you get started in wakeboarding?

Steel: My dad brought home a wakeboard from Sports Authority one day and the first time I got up it just clicked!

WG: You’re a professional wakeboarder and a student in high school. How do you manage doing both?

Steel: I would definitely have to give all that credit to my Momma. She spends hours on the phone and on the computer working out my school schedule and my wakeboarding schedule. Without her I don’t know how I could manage both.

WG: What is the best thing wakeboarding has done for you, so far?

Steel: Wakeboarding has really given me a lot of publicity but the best thing wakeboarding has given me is a second family. The wake community is a big competitive loving family and I am stoked to be a part of it.

WG: What is your favorite snack food?

Steel: I don’t think I could narrow it down to one. I am a very active 17 year old young lad that could survive on snack food if it wouldn’t kill me.

WG: What are the top songs on your iPod right now?

Steel: “Our Song” by Taylor Swift, “Daylight”, “I Run”, and then all Michael Jackson. You gotta pay tribute to the King of Pop.

WG: When you have free time, apart from school and wakeboarding, what do you enjoy doing?

Steel: I love playing basketball. If I was at least a solid 2 feet taller I think I would try to be a pro b-baller.

WG: Who is your favorite pro women’s rider? What do you like about her?

Steel: Amber Wing is probably one of my favorite women’s rider because she is pushing the pro women division to a new level by landing two different 7s.

WG: Last year, Nike 6.0 hosted Raging Pull 2 at your house in Lake Placid, Florida. Tell us a bit about the event, and is there another one in the works for this year?

Steel: Raging Pull was an awesome event Nike 6.0 put on just to get the wake community together for a day of greatness, and they succeeded. I actually have no idea if there is another one in the making for my house but I know they are doing more.

WG: You won 1st place in the Jr. Men’s Division at the Board Up Miami competition on April 24th and then moved on to win 2nd place in the Jr. Men’s Division at Wake Games on April 26th of this year at OWC. What are some of the things that you do to stay focused and in the mind-set for a competition?

Steel: Staying focused for me is actually really easy because I am always thinking about different tricks to do and what tricks I want to do in contests. I love wakeboarding too much to get distracted from it.

WG: Last year, MasterCraft Boats partnered with you to custom build an X-Star that showcased your own creative work. Tell us about the process.

Steel: Nike 6.0, MasterCraft, Josh Sirloin and myself all joined together to make a boat that would be crazy-out-of-this-world-looking and that would catch everyone’s eye out on the water. I definitely think we accomplished our goal.

WG: Would you like to send a shout-out to your sponsors?

Steel: I would like to thank Nike 6.0, MasterCraft Boats, Performance Ski and Surf, Liquid Force, Straight Line, O-Town, my parents, and everyone who has supported me throughout my career.