Any advice on slalom water skiing for the first time? I am very good on two skis, but have never tried one.?

Question

Any advice on slalom water skiing for the first time? I am very good on two skis, but have never tried one.?

Answer 1

First, you need to determine which foot you feel most comfortable with in front.  The would be the one that you are most comfortable skiing on by itself.  One way of determining this is to have someone come up and push you a little off balance and see which foot you put in back for stabilization.  The one that is in front of the other is usually the one you would prefer.  They have to push you off balance when you least expect it and it must be a surprise.  Another way is to ski on two and then pick up one foot in midair and ski on only the other ski.  Then the other foot.  See which one you feel most comfortable with skiing on alone.  That would be your front foot.  

How to start depends on how old and big you are.  Younger people can get up easily with both feet on the ski.  Older and bigger ones generally get up easier by dragging the rear foot.  Some of what the other answer said is basically true.  However, one is wrong.  When you start with both feet on the ski, your weight should be primarily on the front foot.  You want the ski to be as parallel to the surface of the water as possible.....put the back of the ski up to your butt if you can.  Leave it there.  The ski will rise to the top faster.  If you put pressure on the rear foot, you will basically plow through the water and take longer to get up.  The object is to get up with the least amount of effort.  You only do that with the least amount of drag.  You want the tip of the ski out of the water.  Do as the other dude said..... pull your knees to your chest, keep the tip out of the wate about  a foot or so and keep it as parallel to the surface as possible.  You will start over the ski.  As soon as you are up, stand up.  You want a straight line through your shoulders, hips, and a point between your feet. Keep your back, shoulders, hips straight and bend your knees to absorb shock and rough water.  But keep your position.  Put the ski on edge to cut.  Shift weight forward to slow down and backwards when cutting and accelerating.

An easier way to start is to drag the rear foot.  The basics are the same, just leave it out.  once you start moving and the ski is on top of the water, stand up and the rear foot will drag on the side of the ski acting as a rudder and stabilizer.  When you feel like it, slide the heel onto the top of the ski and then turn the foot so that the toes are on the ski and slide it up into the binding/toe piece.  Once you know what you are doing, you will be able to just pick it up and put it where you want it.  Some even put it in midair to the side for a bit.  This is a good way to learn to start so that eventually you can learn to do standing beach starts and dock starts (hop docks).  Those are the best because one moment you are standing there, the next you are skiing.  You don't even get wet.  This is the way we teach most people.  We do show skiing and we teach all our girls to do hop docks, standing on a dock 24" off the water and they just step off and ski away.  Even little ones 10 years old or so are stepping off the dock.  The little ones will step and their rear foot is on top of the ski before it hits the water and they ski away.  The bigger ones, (100+ pound girls) and big guys, generally can't do that so they either keep the other foot in the air or drag it.  

When starting, you hold the handle such that the rope is towards the inside.  In other words, if you have your left foot forward, the rope should be on the right side of the ski.  If you put your right foot forward, put the rope on the left of the ski.

When shore dock starting, Do not do anything.  Let the boat pull you off the dock or shoreline.  Same thing with deep upping or a sitting dock start, always let the boat pull you and do all the work.  If you "step" you will usually fall on your face.  Let the boat do all the work.

Answer 2

First decide which foot goes in front by deciding which foot you would have in front if you were skateboarding, or doing a cartwheel. Sit on the back of a boat (preferably a speed boat such as a mastercraft or malibu) and slip the foot you will put in front in the front binding (boot shaped thing on ski). Slip your back foot in the hole further back on the ski. Now slip in the water and grab the rope. Put the rope on whatever side of the ski you feel most comfortable with (I put rope on left side and i have my right foot up front- although this may not neccesarily be comfortable for you). Now as you're waiting for the boat driver to pull the slack out of the ski rope, do your best to balance in the water with your knees bent against your body the ski sticking straight up towards the sky and about a foot (or a couple inches more or less) of the ski sticking out of the water. When you signal to the boat that your ready, there should be no slack in the rope and the driver should gun the boat quickly as to get you out of the water. As the boat is starting to go, you will want to lean back and let the boat pull you up (use your leg muscles to keep your balance and to keep the ski pointing straight at the boat, and grip the rope handle tightly). There is a happy medium for how far you want to lean back when getting up, as you dont want lean back so far that you'll just fall backwards. The main goal is to not let the boat pull you over the ski when your trying to get up. Remember getting up is the hardest part of slalom skiing. Even though you may feel like your about to go fall over, keep holding on to the rope and try to perservere through all the spray because more often than not, you'll still be a ble to get up. Most people will fall ten times or more before they get up, so just keep trying.

    Once you're up, have the boat driver pull you between 24 and 30 miles an hour depending on your weight and expertise (i weigh 160 and am probably and expert skier and go around 29 mph). Once your up it's relatively easy to keep your balance (easier than 2 skiing). Just lean back and stand straight up.

Just have fun!!

Answer 3

skiing on 2 and skiing on 1 are completely different.  first, look at the ski you'll be using. front boot, back open as you'd find on a combo pair? double high wraps? then think about getting up rear foot in or out? dbl boots, of course, won't let you drag the rear foot.  then you could consider getting up on 2 then dropping a ski. I know so many people that use all of these methods. I've only been able to get up both feet in. then... arms straight, knees bent to chest. I try to feel the tail of the ski on my rear while I'm floating in the water. Don't stick the nose of the ski way up, but point it up and toward the boat. when you get in the water you should feel the diff once the ski touches your rear. when the boat starts to move put weight on the rear foot for a second or so then slowly start to transfer the weight more to the front while doing a  "crunch" of sorts. by the time the ski is on plane my weight is 40% front 60% rear, but i'm still in a crouched position. since this sounds screwed I probabally didn't help. go by an easy-up rope from overtons. they help beginning slalomers a ton! once up play with rolling the ski on the edge by simply rolling your knees while flexing ankles, knees, hips. its all about angle. then play with your weight forward and back on the ski. from there it is "miles on the ski" practice and read everything you can about it. then you can start thinking less general and get into specifics of the mechanics of a turn...one handed vs two-where should you look-how long to pull accross the wake (ski should be on edge while crossing the wake) luck to ya brotha'.