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WATERSKI MagazineReady to run the full slalom course, gates included? Then you've obviously worked on Steps 1 through 5 (March and April, Instruction) and are connecting turns and pulls in rhythmic fashion. Here's where it all becomes real – and can be real difficult. But if you follow the specific steps below, you'll be entering and exiting the buoys like a champ in no time.
Step 6: The Gates
The secret to the gates is consistently getting maximum leverage and lean at the right-hand entrance gate buoy, and it starts with the pull-out. A skier's pull-out is much like a golfer's address of a ball: There are certain things you must do to position yourself correctly before you even initiate a movement.
The pull-out – not the gates or No. 1 buoy – is where the slalom course really begins. Start by pulling out to the left side of the boat. During your glide, as you settle into your ski, use your knees, hips and shoulders to turn smoothly toward the right side of the course. When the ski rotates through the turn, stay low with your knees and let your arms out.
The next stage is identical to the lean you use out of the No. 2 and No. 4 buoys. The gate lean should be progressive and strong through the wakes, as shown in Diagram A. Concentrate on holding your direction across the course and pushing your legs to create leverage against the boat. This part of the gates is the most critical. Too often I see skiers make a hard, fast turn and try to establish their maximum angle as quickly as possible. They get pulled up by the boat at the second wake and ski straight and flat into No. 1 with a ton of speed. They end up down-course after only No. 1, playing catch-up the rest of the pass. Hard, fast turns do help you establish maximum angle, but too soon; no one can hold that much angle to the second wake.
When first learning the gates, don't worry about going through them. In fact, I recommend missing them by 10 feet on the outside of the right gate buoy, as shown in Diagram B. First, this makes it much easier to run the pass, and at this stage you're still trying to work on mechanics, so you need to run as many successful passes as possible. Second, it will help you with a correct turn and lean. By concentrating on making the proper turn and lean, and not worrying about going through the gate buoys, you will practice the good habits of leaning through the wakes rather than creating bad habits – such as letting up in your lean to go between the gate buoys.
Step 7: Full Course
Here's the culmination of your training – the full course, gates included. To make it through the gates this time, your gate shot needs to be perfect: maximum angle and lean at the second wake and later, the right-hand-gate buoy.
Begin from the left side of the wake and think of three things: a smooth controlled lean to the left, getting wide (up to at least the rear of the boat) and sinking into your ski by bending your knees and ankles as you begin to glide before you turn. During this glide, as you settle into your ski, make a smooth rotation of your knees, hips and shoulders toward the right side of course, just as you worked on in Step 6. When the ski rotates through the turn, remember to stay low with your knees and let your arms out.
The next stage is identical to running the course as you did in Step 4. The lean should be progressive and strong through the wakes. Concentrate on holding your direction across the course and pushing with your legs to create leverage against the boat.
Your goal should be to reach maximum angle at the right-hand-gate buoy. You want your ski to be just inside of that buoy. To achieve it, focus your eyes like a laser beam on the right-hand buoy once you get into your glide.
If getting the angle is hard, maintaining it is harder. Try to aim for the right-hand-gate buoy or 2 feet to the left of it. By doing this, you'll never let up to make it inside the gates. You will always be driving down to get closer to the right buoy. You are better off going through the middle of the gates with angle than going by the right-hand buoy on a flat ski.
Once you've made it to No. 1, you're in familiar territory. Now work on your timing and look forward to shortening the line and bumping up the speed when you can add the gates and run the full course.
Ben Favret is a frequent contributor to WaterSki. He's a longtime ski instructor at Bennett's Ski School in Zachary, Louisiana, and one of the world's top slalom skiers. He is sponsored by Gekko, Revo and O'Brien.
