After 20+ years of coaching and skiing, I have acquired a few different tips to help skiers that are just starting out.
Tip 1. – Before Going To The Lake Make Sure You Have Appropriate Gear That Fits
Nothing worse than getting out to the lake to realize the gear you have doesn’t fit, and you can’t even get your feet in the bindings. Skis and life jackets are the 2 to make sure you have covered.
Tip 2. – Have An Understanding Of The Fundamentals
The goal is to go fast enough that physics lets you stand on top of the water, but not so fast that your skis can’t keep up with your body or the boat. The more you know about the physics of skiing, the easier it will be to wrap your head around what you are doing and why with your position and movements.
Tip 3. – Start Young
Not something most of us can do anything about, but the younger you are when you learn the easier it can be. Kids learn quicker as they naturally assume whatever position feels best; adults think through it to much and end up fighting the boat and the pull.
Kids also don’t have the same visions of crashing, which means they are not afraid of the speed so much yet.
Tip 4. – Dry Land Practice
Every position and movement you want to learn at this level can be simulated on dry land. Get all your gear on, skis included while standing on the shore. Have someone hold the other end of the rope while you grip the handle. Get down into the start position and practice allowing yourself to be pulled up by them. Don’t try to stand up, get used to them pulling you to the position you want to be in.
If you attach the ski handle to a doorknob or something similar, practice resting against the rope, arms straight, with your feet closer to the anchor point that the rest of your body. You will need to push your ribcage up as if there was a fishing hook in the center of your chest pulling. Then try to move your hips up towards the handle without pulling the handle down with your arms. This is the position used to ‘rest’ against the pull of the boat.
Tip 5. – Use A Bar/Side Pole Or High Pole/Tower
These are a bar that sticks out the side of the boat. Skiers can hold directly on to the pole while they learn, or you can attach the ski handle to it. This is an amazing tool to help people learn as it is far more stable than a long line out the back of the boat, gives you fewer things to worry about at the time. They help lift the skier out of the water as well. You can use them to practice basic positions, standing up and sitting down to nail the movements before getting on the rope behind the boat.
Not everyone has one of these, and probably too expensive to buy just to learn. If you know someone with one, though, see if they can take you or lend it to you for a day, you probably won’t need it long.
A high pole or tower can be a big help as it pulls the skier “up” out of the water. This reduces the drag they will feel and help them pop up on top of the water more easily.
Tip 6. – Make Yourself As Small As Possible
When you are in the water waiting for the boat to start pulling you, and as the boat pulls you, try to stay as small as possible. This is the basic position for learning to start skiing. The smaller you can make that position, the better. You want your skis close together, and your butt sitting on the backs of the skis. If you can get your knees up between your arms awesome, that’s perfect.
When you are in a smaller position, there is less drag from the water as you are moving, which means less weight for you to have to hold on to.
Tip 7. – Keep Your Arms Straight
You will likely hear this a lot while you are learning, that’s because it is one of the most important things to do and a common thing that beginners mess up.
Being rested against the pull from the boat is a big part of relaxing and enjoying skiing. If you have your arms pulled in, then they are going to get tired pretty quickly.
If your natural instinct is to pull your arms into your chest at every wobble, then you will likely fall over backwards a lot. Try keeping your arms locked straight, then raise and lower your hands quickly, this can help many people feel connected to the boat without pulling the rope and losing balance.
The reason to have straight arms is that our ankles and knees are supposed to be our suspension system, when we pull our arms in, they take over some of the suspension work. When you hit other boats wakes, if your arms are straight, then your legs will absorb the majority of them, and your upper body will stay rather calm while resting against the boat, no problems. If your arms are bent when you hit the other boats’ wakes, then the bounce will not go through your legs, but through your arms. If your hands start bouncing forwards and back, it can be really easy to lose your balance.
Tip 8. – Do Less
Probably the biggest hindrance to getting up the first few times is trying too hard. Stop, Doing, Anything!! (Besides gripping the handle)
Women learn easier than men for this very reason. Guys think we need to do something to get up, so we struggle and fight, push with our legs and pull the handle in an attempt to stand on the water by our own means. It won’t work, I’ve seen many people try.
The boat has to be going at a minimum speed for you to be up on the water no matter what you do. When you are learning, you don’t want to even think about standing up until you and your skis are on top of the water. And to get out of the water, the less you do, the better!!
When the boat starts pulling, all you need to think of is gripping the handle and maintaining the basic start position(Skis together, knees to your chest, butt sitting on the back of the skis), which is actually made easier by the pull from the boat. You hold the handle as the pressure builds, then pop, you’re on top of the water, sitting on the back of your skis. Now you can move to stand up.
Tip 9. – Let The Handle Go When You Fall
Sounds a little obvious when you hear it, but an astonishing number of people death grip the handle when they come off. Let the handle go, you’ll get less water up the nose and behind your eyelids. It’s not like you are going to sink, that’s what you have a life jacket on for.
Tip 10. – Use Double Wide Skis
Made specifically for learning to ski, these are wider at the front which drastically increases the stability, and reduces the speed needed to get the skier up on top of the water
Tip 11. – Shorten The Rope
Shortening the rope can give the skier more stability behind the boat. As there is less rope to bounce and sway, there are less forces influencing the skiers’ balance. Less rope movement provides a stroger, more stable connection to the boat.
Tip 12. – Know At Least A Few Hand Signals
Almost all communication between the skier and the boat is through hand signals to the observer sitting in the boat with the driver. Knowing a few of these hand signals will really help. Being able to adjust your speed and get the driver to go home will boost your confidence, knowing you have a say in what is happening and are not just at the mercy of the driver. Check out my entire article on skier to boat communication
Tip 13. – Have Someone In The Water With You
Having a pair of hands while you are floating around waiting to try for the first time makes a big difference. When you first try to simply float in the water in the tucked position, you will feel like your balance is all over the show and potential feel like flailing. Having someone with their feet on the ground means they can hold you or your skis while the boat is taking up the rope slack. I find that holding the backs of the skis is easiest. You want to be as unobtrusive as possible, so you are not in the way as the boat takes off, but you can support them until the last moment.
Tip 14. – Have A Second Skier On Another Rope
An excellent option for helping beginners, get another person up there with them, able to give constant support, coaching, and drop into the water with them each time they fall.
Tip 15. – Have Someone Demo It For You
Have someone show you the technique in the exact way that they want you to do it. Once you know how to get up, people will do all sorts of things that a beginner shouldn’t. Once you get the hang of getting up, you’ll be able to get up no matter what you do with your body.
So watching an experienced skier probably won’t help at this stage. Do as I say, not as I do kind of situation.
Tip 16. – Tie The Tips Of The Skis Together
On most starter skis there are loops near the tips, these are so you can tie the skis together. For small kids esspecially, holding the skis straight when they are in the water can be really difficult. Tying the skis together so they can only get 3-6 inches apart is the equivalent of training wheels on a bike. Start close and gradually make the gap bigger until it is no longer needed.
Tip 17. – Have Shouted Commands To The Boat
Try to set some commands up that you’ll use with the boat. You won’t want to take your hands off the handle to signal when you are ready, try a shouted command instead. Make sure to have the words for takeoff, idle slowly, and stop, be very different sounding words. The driver and observer have to hear you over a distance and the boat engine, so commands need to be clear. Shouting “NO” sounds way too similar to “GO,” or “SLOW.”
In Gear, Ready, Stop, are the three I use.
Tip 18. – Have An Experienced Boat Driver
This one pairs well with the idea of the skier doing less. A boat driver who knows what they are doing can totally change your first skiing experience. As a driver, it takes some time to learn the finesse that really helps for first-timers. Like knowing how to play with the throttle, dropping it in and out of idle, keeping a fraction of rope tension, without actually moving the boat or the skier, only comes with time.
The goal is to have tension in the rope for the skier to use for positioning themselves, without giving too much and pulling them out of position. When taking off, the driver already wants to be in gear so that the acceleration is smooth, and they can adjust it to the skier as they try to get up.
Tip 19. – Hold The Handle Correctly
It might not seem like an important thing, but sometimes it makes the difference. Hold the handle with both hands going over the top. It helps to center and square your chest, along with keeping your arms straight and even when you are up.
The alternating grip style is bought in when you start skiing on a single. The direction you grip depends on which foot forwards you are, as it can change your on-side and off-side turns when you get better at skiing.
Tip 20. – What Colour Are Your Skis??
Cool, Mine is black, white, and red. Now, DON’T LOOK AT THEM AGAIN!!! 🙂
Keep your eyes up in the direction you are going, because you will end up going in the direction you are looking. So if you’re looking down, you’re gonna go down.
Having your eyes up towards the horizon increases your overall balance.
Tip 21. – Stop Before You Get Too Tired
If you are having trouble getting up, then make sure to take breaks. If you keep going until you are shattered then you won’t be able to make any more attempts to get up. So be sensible, waterskiing is incredibly physically draining, even more so when you are learning and spending more time in the water than on top of it.
Tip 22. – Try Learning Behind A Boat With More HP
I remember growing up, our first boat was a fishing boat, with a 90hp motor. When my dad went to ski, he had to get up the first time because the boat wasn’t strong enough to pull him up when his wetsuit got full of water.
The more Horse Power, the less effort it takes the boat to pull you up, because if the boat is struggling to get you up, you’ll be struggling more than necessary too.
Not something we can always control. I’ve skied behind a 15hp dingy, just takes a little technique, so don’t go blaming the motor too soon.
Tip 23. – Get The Speed Right
This is just a guideline to get you in the ball park, adjust to skiers preferences
| Weight | <50 lbs | 50- 100 | 100- 150 | 150- 200 | 200+ lbs |
| Speed | 20km 13mph | 25km 16mph | 29km 18mph | 33km 21mph | 38km 24mph |
Tip 24. – Relax
This is important the whole time, from when you are sitting in the water to cruising across the wakes at will. If you are tense, then your basic balance is compromised. Remember that relax lean from using a ski handle on a door, work at consciously trying to relax into that balanced lean, you’ll preserve energy and absorb all the chop without even trying.
Tip X. – Turning And Crossing The Wake
Not really a tip, more a how-to point, but I think it fits here as the next point of progression.
To turn Left, shift extra weight to your right ski, and face your body slightly left. This extra outside weight and body facing where you want to go, will start taking you in that direction. When you get to the wake, commit, don’t move or change your position, keep going straight through it.
You might get caught out here and back off a couple of times before you get it, but it’s mostly in your head as it’s not much different than what you are already skiing over.
Disclaimer
The tips here are a collection of the tools I use while coaching. Not all these tips will work together, and some may even be contradictory to some degree. A lot may be missing as coaches tailor advice to the individual and their previous experiences.
Without being there to see you ski, I don’t know which of these tools to give you to maximize your learning curve. Every person is different and reacts differently to the same advice. I put so much in here to accommodate as many different learning styles as possible.
Not all the tips here will work for you. The idea here is to get you thinking along the right lines about the fundamentals. Use whatever tips make sense to you, and use the rest as inspiration to experiment on the water. Find out exactly what makes you feel the most comfortable, and use it, because comfort is the main goal. If you’re comfortable, fun and progression come easily.