I want to start water skiing, so what are the basic things I should do first?

Question

For e.g. what certain skiis, rope, and that handle..thing?

Im 5'3 so is there a certain size skii?

Thanks alot^^

Answer 1

So you want to start skiing, thats awesome.   You want start by finding ski that is roughly the same length as you are tall +- 8".  The wider the ski generally the easier to start on, but also it is very important that you find a ski with bindings that fit snugly, it shouldn't be so tight that they won't come off if you fall, but they shouldn't just fall off while you are trying to get up either.

You are going to start by getting in the water, getting the skis on(its a challenge your first time), and getting the handle.  The rope should go between the skis, the skis should be shoulders width apart, knees bent almost 90 degrees.  As the boat starts to pull you, you want to keep the skis in front of you, maintaining keeping them parallel and close together (shoulders width).  As the skis start to plane (becoming horizontal on the water) you will want to start standing up.  As you stand on the ski, you knees should be slightly bent, back straight, and arms slightly bent.  

The biggest mistake people make is trying to stand on the skis before they are on top of the water.  If you do this they will simply sink down causing you to fall.

Hope this helps, skiing is so much fun, once you get better you can start to learn to slalom.