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WATERSKI MagazineEven though I've never seen you ski, I bet you're
doing something wrong with the handle. I'd say 99 percent of all slalom skiers have a natural tendency to turn the handle up, or perpendicular to the water, when going into the turn. It might seem trivial, but making a simple correction should take your slalom up another level.
The simplest way to find out if you're doing something right is to have someone watch you. Tell the observer in the boat what you're working on. In the case of handle movement, anyone should be able to see whether you're turning the handle too soon. But they can only give accurate feedback if they're focusing on that specific element, instead of trying to critique your entire slalom form.
Wrong
By turning the handle up, you turn your shoulders separately from your lower body. This forces the ski to decelerate in the wrong place. While it might feel good to ski slow, the reality is that you're sinking. That's never good because sinking equals getting narrow. It's better to be a little wide and a little fast than slow and too narrow.
Right
By keeping the handle level as long as possible, you can maintain leverage and pressure on your back arm away from the boat. It's like tracking a car into a turn. Keep it steady until you need to initiate the turn.
Slalom instructional editor Chet Raley is sponsored by HO Sports and MasterCraft.
