CLOSE
Sign up to get news on contests, pro events, new products and special offers.
WATERSKI MagazineIn sports like tennis, golf or baseball, the result of a movement can be related to how well you initiate the movement. For example, hitting a tennis ball depends more on your address than the ball actually hitting against the racquet. If you don't approach the ball correctly, the hit won't be a hit at all, but an errant shot. The same theory applies in tricks. If you don't approach the wakes correctly to begin your trick, chances are the result won't be a trick at all, but a fall. There are three keys to trick initiation and completion.
The first and most important element of the approach is body position, or how you stand on the ski. Your knees should be bent, elbows close to your hips and, most important, your weight distributed evenly over both feet. Relative to your shoulders and hips, the ski should always be between you and the boat. Literally, this means your feet should stay slightly in front of your shoulders at all times. This keeps tension on the rope and lets you hold a stronger position during the trick. Never try to stand straight up and down as if you are on land. You must maintain leverage against the boat. If you stand up straight, your ski will ride flat (thus slip) and you will fall toward the boat as soon as you attempt to do anything. To find the perfect position, imagine a straight line through your shoulders, hips and feet. This line should lean at a 10-degree angle away from the boat.
The second element to the approach is edging; your ski must be on edge when you leave the wake. You don't need a super-long cut at the wake either. Begin your edging at the bottom of the wake and edge progressively up to the crest. A good edge will help you maintain rope tension. This tension is built by edging progressively through the wake.
The last element and the one that brings the other two together is the turn. Always turn off on an edging ski. This means you have to ski away from the boat. By that, I mean keeping the ski between you and the boat and pushing off the wake on an edged ski. This will bring your hips to the handle and make the turn easy. If you leave the wake on a flat ski and your shoulders are too far over the front, your hips will drop away from the handle, immediately causing you to either fall or to not be able to complete the more difficult spins.
Keep these three elements in mind and you'll soon find that what happens before the trick is as important – if not more important – than the trick itself.
Russell Gay is sponsored by Exocet skis, Masterline USA, PowerBar and Wet Tech wetsuits. He owns and operates Professional Water Sports ski school; 407-656-1133.
