Tips For Beginner Water Skiers

Alan Erickson
3 min readSep 8, 2022

Water skiing may seem difficult to you as a beginner, especially if you have never been on open water before. The idea of gliding through the water’s surface while being attached to a fast-moving boat might not seem like an easy feat. Because of some errors and a lack of training beforehand, beginners frequently give up before progressing very far in the sport. However, a qualified instructor can guide and offer you advice on how to improve or fix common mistakes.

One of the most common mistakes you can make as a beginner in water skiing is standing up too quickly when the rope begins feeling taut. Because being in the open water might be a new feeling for beginners, so you easily lose your balance. Starting in the water, bend your knees to your chest, keeping your arms straight and outside your knees. Maintain straight arms and gently stand up as the rope begins to tug. Keep the rope between your skis intact and your shoulders level. Once you’re standing, you should have your head directly above your feet. If you lean backward more, you’ll fall over right away; if you lean too far forward, you’ll land flat on your face.

For beginners, it is easier to start with double skis. Asides from making more room for balance, double skis also help you get accustomed to the feel of water around you and being pulled by a boat. Although it is more common for children, it is also a bit of great advice for you to tie your skis together. The reason for this is that although double skis work well to help you stay balanced, they might also be tricky to handle at first because it is hard to maintain balance out in open water without going down in a split. Instead of going through the stress of securely tying your skis together, you can purchase already joined double skis. Essentially, they help you have more balance and stay up without going down in a split.

Being dragged by a boat at great speed could seem daunting. Your body will naturally try to fight the draw of the boat and lean too far back to counterbalance the strain. You will fall into the water if you do this. One of the simplest tricks to stay afloat is to let the boat do all the work. Keep your weight evenly distributed between the two skis for as long as possible by bending down and leaning slightly forward to maintain your balance. Once you’ve found your balance, you should maintain it by keeping your eyes fixed on the boat. You risk losing focus and losing balance if your eyes are darting around. Also, it is possible to stray too far from your boat, and the others cannot hear you. It would be best for your safety to learn some simple hand signals that would help you get the attention of the others.

Everyone can enjoy water skiing. Although it is much fun, it is also risky. Therefore, beginner or not, everyone interested must abide by guidelines like the required rope length for beginners and other safety precautions.

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Alan Erickson
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A custom home builder in Austin, Texas, Alan Erickson has more than 30 years of experience in the construction sector.