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With over 20 years of competing and coaching, I have run into some of the same problems over and over again. Most of these issues are easily overcome with the right advice. Trying too hard and overthinking are two leading causes of difficulty water skiing. For a casual skier learning to do less and let the boat do the work is the most crucial skill to master. Once you progress to competition, learning skills systematically and getting a coach you connect with is paramount. I have lost count of how many times I have watched women learn to ski with a fraction of the effort their male partners are using. The art of water skiing is about doing less and letting the boat do all the work; over-thinking and using excess effort will just get in the way. The next major issue is the skill of the boat driver, especially when it comes to beginners. Drivers are responsible for almost 50% of the skiers' initial success. Trying Too Hard When Getting Up This is a common mistake, made more often by men than women. Sometimes, we guys just can't get it through our heads that brute force and ignorance aren't always the way forward. The boats we use to ski have anywhere from 60 to 460 horsepower, considering a person doesn't equate to even 1 hp; that's a lot of horses. By pushing your legs and pulling your arms, you enter a tug of war contest with the boat. The boat won't even notice your efforts, you, on the other hand, will tire quickly and soon be forced to take a break. Taking the correct lazy, relaxed approach will allow the boat to do all the work, leaving you to enjoy the ride. When the boat begins pulling, allow your knees to compress towards your chest, and the skis against your bum. Let your arms be pulled straight, and avoid trying to pull them in. Once you are up, keep your arms out straight, thrust your hips towards the boat and relax against the pull from the boat. It is a position that will take a moment to find and get used to but is obvious when you find it because it takes such minimal effort to maintain. Over-Thinking The Experience Again, guys seem to think we have to do things to get up out of the water. Doing nothing to learn a physical sport can be hard to wrap our minds around. Water skiing utilizes your natural ability to self-balance and auto-correct, thinking just gets in the way. If you can focus on holding the rope with your arms straight and hips up, then your body will find its own equilibrium without you needing to do much. For a more comprehensive list of tips to improve your skiing check out these articles as well. Beginner skiersDeep Water StartsBeginner Single Ski/MonoDropping A SkiOne-Handed Turns Inexperienced Driver Learning to drive a boat for a beginner takes time and practice. If you haven't driven a boat enough for more confident skiers, then this will be even tougher for a beginner. Firstly you need to be super smooth on the throttle. Boats have a lot of torque, so every bump and jump in the speed will throw off a beginners' balance, and they won't even realize it was because of the driver. Time and practice are the biggest things. When helping a beginner, you will spend a lot of time watching them, micro-adjusting the speed. But knowing when and how to make those adjustments is a skill it takes time to develop. Being able to adjust the pull on a deepwater start to be slow and gradual vs smooth and exponentially accelerating will make you a reliable driver. The better the driver, the more likely a beginner will get up on skis every time. For driving tips check out these links, Beginner Driver Tips, Advanced Driver Tips Gear Makes A Difference Gloves, ropes, handles, lifejackets etc. are not going to make much of a difference for a skier until they have at least a few weekends experience. Skis will make the largest difference and actually have a large variability to them. Using Double-Wide skis can be make or break for many beginners. This type of ski is extra wide at the tip end and has a long rib running the length of the base of the ski. The extra width gives a much larger base of support, more surface area will give your body more wiggle room to find your balance. The rib running along the base stabilizes the ski on the water more. Something to check for. Look at the skis bases, check to see if there is a flat section running along the edge for the whole length of the ski. Beginners want a wider flat piece, making it easier for the ski to sit flat and go straight. If there is little to no flat section, the ski will always want to be on edge or turning. The ski will want to roll from edge to edge quickly, which is an advantage to experienced skiers carving turns. The Price And Commitment Water skiing isn't exactly cheap, and you always need at least 3 people. This can make skiing difficult as it cuts many people from being able to participate. The price of gear, a boat, and gas means this is not a sport many can do on more than a semi-regular basis. Of the 3 people going out, at least 2 of them need to know how to drive if everyone wants to ski. Competition Skiing Takes Serious Commitment There really are no shortcuts in water skiing, the only way to progress is repetition and time on the water, building skills. Consistency of training and having a coach you connect with will also be important. The physical toll skiing takes at this level means that you can only do 3, maybe 4 sets in a day. Do more, and you begin to tire yourself to the point of multi-day recovery. Specialized boats and ski gear add to the difficulty from the financial side. It costs a lot which means working a lot to pay for skiing, but working too much means not enough skiing to improve. Taking time off is difficult too, having a week off might just mean taking a week to get back to where you were. Finesse and precision take a long time to develop but are lost even quicker. For a closer look at what is involved in competition skiing, check out these articles too. SlalomJumpTricks3 Event Skiing

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