How young is too young

[sabre]

All,

My daughter seems to be very excited about riding with Daddy on his wakeboard. She really enjoys "riding" the balence board we have at home with me and I think she wants to go out on the water. She's VERY young and I want to see if anyone else has had a 26 month old out on a board/skis.

[jshap]

IMHO, the earlier the better. As soon as they are comfortable, get em back there. We had a hard time getting my son, who is 6 now to get in when he was 4 and 5, but now he is addicted to wakeboarding and has turned into a hot dog.

Whether it be a ski skimmer, zip sled, kneeboard or even trainer skis or a wakeboard. If they learn to love being back there, that will mean more boat time for you.

Edit: One more thing. Once they do decide to get back there, be VERY gentle with the throttle. A bad experience from the driver can turn them off for a long long time. It takes almost nothing to pull a small child out of the water, so be gentle!

Edited September 14, 2007 by jshap

[Guest J-Ro]

Have her ride between your legs (Or on your shoulders) so she can get used to it.

[edwin]

Agree with the others...more about the kids attitude and willingness to go. If they're interested, they're ready to go IMHO

[Bill_AirJunky]

Chalk me up on the younger the better side. Some kids just aren't comfortable in the water or getting too far from the boat. Pulling them around on the carpet, swimming off the swimstep or riding with someone else seems to help that a lot.

The youngest foil rider got up when she was only 2 yrs, 8 months old. She still had her pacifier in her mouth saying "Go, daddy, GO"!

[BlastRlxi]

I remember reading that Parks Bonifay held the record for youngest skier at age 6 months. I don't know how they did it though.

[SCOTTDOMINE]

on the young side. I had my son up on my skis and board when he was about 30 mos. He loves the water and had a balst. Some worries from Mom of course, but I was right there should anything happen. I agree to start slow and be easy w/ throttle. One bad experience and it can be over for years!!! My Dad was thrown into the water at a very young age when he couldn't swim and is still, to this day, afraid of the water (he's 49). Take the tike out and show him how fun the water can be

[Bill_AirJunky]

I remember reading that Parks Bonifay held the record for youngest skier at age 6 months. I don't know how they did it though.

Yea, the Bonifays swapped the record with a family in Portland, OR thru four kids over several years. The dad used to own/manage Active Watersports. Not sure who has it now but they were all under a year old.

[oldfooter]

All,

My daughter seems to be very excited about riding with Daddy on his wakeboard. She really enjoys "riding" the balence board we have at home with me and I think she wants to go out on the water. She's VERY young and I want to see if anyone else has had a 26 month old out on a board/skis.

Agree with all that the younger the better!!! My youngest son was on trainer skis at 1 1/2 years of age and loves it. I had pulled him around in the back yard on them for a while before we ever hit the water so he would get some kind of feel for it. He is now 9 years old and we are headed to the lake in the morning for some barefooting!! Also agree with the take it easy and be gentle.

Edited September 14, 2007 by oldfooter

[chathamsolutions]

Younger the better. But only when they're ready. Agree on the throttle and doing EVERYTHING to make sure they have a fantastic time out there. When they do a good job I tell everyone in the boat to go crazy with cheers when we pick them up.

I've got a picture of me and my 2 year old surfing, I'll have to find it...

[jjackkrash]

I recently bought a pair of O'Brien trainers and it came with a great training DVD for young kids. They started the little girl on the grass, and then had her in several inches of water along the shore while daddy towed her running along the beach. It was not long after that she was behind the boat without the training bar attached to her doubles.

[Ronnie]

Here is hope we started my Grandson. He is now riding at 65' and jumping the wakes. We have had a 2 y.o. on the Ski Skimmer too.

I have a new Kids Skyski for him when he gets ready.

[Ronnie]

I can't remember who this kid belonged to...

[Bill_AirJunky]

That would be Ivan Honkala (Scott's son). He was the youngest rider for quite a while but his sister Emma holds the record now. And now he's the youngest hydrofoil coach! No doubt he'll be the youngest invert before long, which is currently 11 yrs old. He's still got 2 or 3 yrs to get that one.

Notice his ponytail hat....... being like Jake & Mike.

I can't remember who this kid belonged to...

[Lakenut]

We did all of the above and all it took was one bad experience and she has had 0 desire to get behind the boat in the 1.5 years since. She will be 5 in two months. Be careful and don't push them to do it if they aren't comfortable.

[chathamsolutions]

We did all of the above and all it took was one bad experience and she has had 0 desire to get behind the boat in the 1.5 years since. She will be 5 in two months. Be careful and don't push them to do it if they aren't comfortable.

I've got two girls that have been in and out of that. And other friends of my daughters that have had bad experiences as well. I've found that tubing at reasonable speeds and some friends their age that are NOT afraid really helps get them back out on the water. The conditions have to be perfect as well, hot day, warm water, etc.

[obski]

I remember reading that Parks Bonifay held the record for youngest skier at age 6 months. I don't know how they did it though.

Yea, the Bonifays swapped the record with a family in Portland, OR thru four kids over several years. The dad used to own/manage Active Watersports. Not sure who has it now but they were all under a year old.

He still owns AWS. There is a picture in the store of his son on skis when he set the record. It's got his age on the picture, but I don't remember what it was.

[Hack]

for whenever they are ready and show interest. If you are stable on the board I'd bring them with you. We do it with young ones (two and older) all the time. They start in your lap and then you can lower them to the board to stand between your feet. It is a great bridge to them riding on their own. My four year old wakeboards on his own now, rode between my legs when he was three and was on the ski sled when he was two and my one year old rides in the tube. Slow and steady is the key. What helped most for us was the riding with daddy but again only do that if you are very comfortable on the board yourself. There is no magic age it is all up to them....

[VinRLX]

She really enjoys "riding" the balence board we have at home with me and I think she wants to go out on the water. She's VERY young and I want to see if anyone else has had a 26 month old out on a board/skis.

You can get her used to using a ski skimmer by having someone steady her on the board, then pulling the rope by hand from a dock or shore. Don't yank too hard at first, you'll be amazed how little it takes to get a young one up and on the water. You can do the same from the back of the boat, to make it more realistic. My son then went behind the boat by doing a 'platform' start. That is, have child on skimmer, skimmer on platform with your foot holding down the front, put boat in gear, let up on the front of the board and gradually let them out. When done, boat can go to neutral and reel kid in by hand, right onto the platform. Some pics in my gallery. Check 'water time 2' for other pics. Have fun!!!

[macdaddy]

I had my 5 month old son, Patton, ride with me on my foil in august at Dale Hollow lake. His mom was there and cheered us on. Only up for about 500 feet. I have some great pics...I will try to post. He loves the water and his bu!!!!

[sabre]

VinRLX,

I don't have a ski skimmer, just the trainers. Do you think the platform start would work with those also?

[wienrdog]

We had a 3, 4, 5 and 6 yr olds start skiing behind the boat on a ski skimmer (See Ronnie's picture #2) this summer. The older 2 tried a set of regular skis (with a bar between them) & couldn't get out of the water, but they had a blast on the skimmer. Our 2.5 yr son didn't want to get in the lake, so we didn't push it. He had a bad water experience with his grandparents () over the last winter & it really had him cautious around the water... Towards the end of the summer, we finally have coaxed him back into having fun around the water and are taking swimming lessons at our local Y. He's coming around nicely... Hopefully we'll have him behind the boat early next summer.

[wakeup]

IMO, other kids help kids into the water more than adults at times. We had five kids over this past weekend ranging from 4-10 and the older two went wakeboarding and knee boarding first, then they all wanted to get into the water so we stopped and let them play a while. Then they all decided to ride together on a big tube which we pulled at a very slow speed with no boat traffic. This made them comfortable with the boat motor sound, etc. Smiles from ear to ear, and the parents said they talked about it all night on the way home. A good experience is foundational to get them to try something harder later. And the obvious thing is swimming lessons very early to help with any fear of the water.

I hate to say it, but I've found kids more willing to try new things on the water without parents around. I know that is not feasible for a 2-year old, but just saying.

[jshap]

IMO, other kids help kids into the water more than adults at times. We had five kids over this past weekend ranging from 4-10 and the older two went wakeboarding and knee boarding first, then they all wanted to get into the water so we stopped and let them play a while. Then they all decided to ride together on a big tube which we pulled at a very slow speed with no boat traffic. This made them comfortable with the boat motor sound, etc. Smiles from ear to ear, and the parents said they talked about it all night on the way home. A good experience is foundational to get them to try something harder later. And the obvious thing is swimming lessons very early to help with any fear of the water.

I hate to say it, but I've found kids more willing to try new things on the water without parents around. I know that is not feasible for a 2-year old, but just saying.

Agreed. Never underestimate the power of peer pressure and competitiveness.

[VinRLX]

VinRLX,

I don't have a ski skimmer, just the trainers. Do you think the platform start would work with those also?

Sabre, I've done it with the trainers, after my son was experienced with the skimmer (4 yo). I wouldn't recommend it. The skimmer is almost fool-proof forgiving. I can't count the number of kids I've put on it. Although, as they get heavier it is trickier to let them off the platform smoothly. Also, my son started doing deepwater starts on the skimmer after a week or two of the platform start (3 yo). If you don't have a skimmer, GET ONE!!!

Ok, so for the trainers. . .they are so freaking buoyant that he can not hold the proper position in the lake for a DW start. So instead of needing an extra person to hold him in the water, we do a kneeboard start: I get him in the skis on the platform, then have him sit on a kneeboard; the kneeboard is sideways; normal knees bent, tips out, etc.; I give him a gentle push to get him away from the boat; use a little pressure on rope to get him lined up; go to gear and he rises off the board and skis away.

PM or email me an address and I can send you some sequence pics or video clips.