January

“Beginning Water Skiing”

By Lucky Lowe

Last month I taught you some beginner techniques of exercise and stretching. I sincerely hope that they benefited you and your health! This month let’s work on learning to ski on one ski or improving your one-ski technique. (This may apply to you in teaching your children on beginners.) I will cover some dry-land tips, and I’ll try to evaluate a way to tell if you are ready for one ski slalom. We’ll test your level on two skis first.

Beginners should always start on combination skis. Some people who learn to ski late in life try to begin on a friends slalom ski. It is extremely difficult to learn on one ski; therefore, they get discouraged and quit. This is not a fair introduction to water skiing. Patience is vital here. Skiing will be an incredible experience if you just begin the proper way.

Dry-land techniques are one of my favorite training tools, at clinics and as well as during my private lessons. So, while on dry land, put on a pair of combo skis and simply lift one foot at a time, remembering to keep the tip of the ski up. This is important because if the tip of the ski were to drop while skiing, you would take a horrible face plant that you would never forget! Do this exercise alternating feet until you or the person that you are teaching feels completely comfortable with the heaviness and awkwardness of the skis. You must be able to maintain your balance the entire time. This also prepares you to be able to cut through the wakes when it is time to ski. This should also be done in front of a full-length mirror, if possible, so that you can see yourself practicing this technique. Face the mirror head on and lift one foot at a time for the same amount of time on each foot. Watch yourself and see yourself keep your balance. Imagine you are looking forward to the tow pylon of your boat. I mentioned to lift the tip of your skis but you must also turn the lifted ski out a bit. Learn and feel the balance needed for you to cut evenly across the wakes when behind the towboat. You should be able to hold this position for a minimum of 30 seconds. Be patient. This technique really helps and will strengthen your legs for on the water.

The next step would be to learn to drop one ski. After enough time on your left and right leg in practice, you will determine which leg you feel you have the most balance. This should be regarded as the “forward” leg. Begin by loosening the “back” leg’s binding on your combos. This will be the ski that you will drop. Do this in a manner so that when you kick off the ski, it will come off with ease. Imagine you are on the water on two skis. You have decided that you feel more at ease on your left foot and you have already loosened the right binding. Now shift your weight a bit onto your left foot and simultaneously lift your right heel. Continue this movement until the ski falls back behind you and keep your balance while skiing on your left foot. Remember that this is dry land practice so you can gain confidence in the way it will feel on the water. You should practice dropping a ski on dry land several times prior to trying on the water. You must keep your head and eyes up during this entire motion. It is tempting to look down, but if you start now you are beginning a terrible habit. Now I recommend you move to another location and tie a rope handle to a tree or loop it over a trailer hitch and lean back just a bit to feel an imaginary pull of the boat. Try the lifting technique from earlier while leaning then dropping one ski.

Once on the water and past the stage of dropping and maintaining position behind the boat, try crossing the wakes. If you get across the wakes do not ski too wide of the boat. It is important to stay narrow at this point. Now you should cut back the other way once you have crossed the second wake. If you keep looking at the tow pylon you won’t look down and that is the key. If you find that you break forward at the waist when crossing the wakes, you might not be ready for one ski yet. After crossing the wakes enough on two skis you should be able to keep position when on one ski. You should be able to ski and cut just as if you had two skis on. Some people want to ski on one ski too soon; however, your ability on two determines if you are “slalom ready.”

Next month I’ll elaborate on dry-land techniques for the intermediate skier, the category you might feel applies to you, and some more tips on that level. The following month I’ll discuss tournament and Pro level skiing, my specialty! Until then, I hope you’ll continue your stretching and exercising and you’ll learn or teach a friend to water ski! Happy New Year!