How do I learn to ski?

Ithica DB

Seaman
Joined
Apr 19, 2011
Messages
62
Re: How do I learn to ski?

A regular ski rope is easy enough to learn with...

When you're learning to get up, sit in the water with your knees against your chest, your arms fully extended with the rope between your skis, and point the skis straight up to the sky...

Great advice for 10 or 50 ball up with skis under your butt before you try to ski stay in that position in idle speed and balance yourself in the water. If you can do that you are ready to go.
Start going around 18-20 mph you will need to floor it out of the hole and tone back to 18-20
I would leave the wake board in the store this coming from another 48 yr. old. Once your 10 year old gets confidence buy the wake board.
 

imported_John o

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 24, 2006
Messages
137
Re: How do I learn to ski?

First of all, way to go. Glad to hear you are out there trying again. It sounds like you're getting close and with a bit more practice by skier AND driver and you should be good to go. A picture is worth a thousand words, but it is pretty easy to imagine some of what is going on. And there are about 4 or 5 things that COULD be happening all at once.

? Boat is overcoming it's own drag and coming on plane (and usually accelerates faster once it reaches planing speed).

I think I'm OK on this one. We jump on plane almost instantly certainly before the 5 second mark.


? Skis and the skier have more drag when starting and once on plane the skis are a bit more "slippery" and don't provide as much resistance (they can tend to slide forward out from under you, causing a backward fall)

This could be.


? Some boats create a stern roller wave that the skier reaches and starts to "ski down" as he is getting on top of the water.

I think we were in the flat portion of the wake but I'll check this. Pontoons don't hrough much wake at all.



? Driver might be backing out of the throttle and slowing the boat too quickly. The skier, now planing, gets slack in the rope (falling backward)

OK, I'll watch for this



? Skier (as you pointed out) thinks they have to contribute to the pull of the boat and pulls in the handle by bending elbows (creating extra speed and falling backward)


Guilty as charged


I was training a new driver last week. I had them do about 10 practice starts with no skier on back.

I'll have to try this. Throttle position to 25 or so should be about the same (a skier up can't possibly have that much resistance) whether pulling or light.

Thanks!
 
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