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My son, slalom


VinRLX

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Hey all, just thought I'd share a few pics of my seven-year-old doing the slalom thing off the boom. Along with it, a bit of history and some questions for you water parents out there.

He rode the skimmer at 3, skied at 4, and has been on the cover of the Overton's Master Catalog. When skiing on trainers, he would have us drive through the boat guides of the course and use them as 'turning' buoys by going to either side of them. He can also kneeboard...but who gives a $hit about that? ;)

Anyway, this season and last he has shown far less interest in getting behind the boat. I always ask him, but never force him to ski or whatever he wants to do back there (even tubing, GASP).

Anyone else experience the 'not interested syndrome'?

Too much time in the boat with adults skiing, so he wants to be done?

Too much tv/video game crap rotting his brain?

Just a kid being seven?

post-30-1251196588_thumb.jpg

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And he's got a great thumb's up. Awesome.

My kids are both teens and daughter's attendance is way down mostly to sleeping way too late and other priorities. However, once her BF realized we had a boat and skiing is fun, I see her on the boat more.

Son on the other hand refuses to even go on the boat this year becasue we changed lakes and this lake had an issue with septic leaching 5-6 years ago. All homes are on sewer now, the water is great and there are usually no more than 1 or 2 other boats out there that all takes turns in the course to keep the water glass. Ideas on how to get him out there??

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Two sons - both teens - I can't get them on the lake enough.

Both are intense athletes though, with crazy rigorous training schedules. I think the physical activity level feeds on itself. If not skiing - does he have to do anything else that's physical?

Seven may be the issue though - it's funny how kids change as they grow up.

Great pix by the way. Thanks for posting those!

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Anyone else experience the 'not interested syndrome'?

Too much time in the boat with adults skiing, so he wants to be done?

Too much tv/video game crap rotting his brain?

Just a kid being seven?

post-30-1251196588_thumb.jpg

All of the above applied to us until last Friday, 3 days before summer ended and school started.

About the same thing as you... 7 year old boy, ski skimmed at 3, kneeboarded at 4, slalomed at 5 on the boom. Never wanted to double ski. This spring he took up wakeboarding and got into it for a few months. Then all summer didn't want to do much on the water. Just skateboard, DS, SpongeBob and iCarly.

Then last Friday I was working from home and he came into my office and said "I want to wakeskate!". Well that was enough for me, we went out and wakestated and wakeboarded for a few hours. He had a blast on the wakeskate, said he was tired of wakeboarding because he knew how to do everything ( LOL!) and the wakeskate made him think of different things and figure out what to do, so he liked that better. The kid has an engineering mindset.

Spent all day Saturday and Sunday on the water skating and boarding. And tubing too which he never cared for before.

Hopefully he's turned the corner and will keep going wiith this newfound water attitude!

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That is great to see! But I share your pain.

My kids fought me on this from day 1. Then again, they fight me on just about everything, but after they get good at it love me for suggesting it. The 3 year old is still a bit timid of the speed behind the boat. And, she hasn't learned to hold her breath yet when putting her head under, we are still working on it. The 9 year old tried skiing, no luck. Got up on the wakeboard on his first try. So we have been developing that. I have to tell him "You are wakeboarding today", and I get the look. But after he is done wakeboarding, he is happy, smiling, "Dad, did you see me?!?" etc. etc. The 10 year old is getting into wakeboarding heavy this year, he wants to go at every opportunity. He also had a tough time with skis. He is getting air on the board. AND, he has discovered that some (older) girls think he's really good at it. They will tube all day long if allowed.

In our case, I think the problem is we live on the lake and this stuff is constantly in front of them. It is not adventurous, or new, or different. I never thought "Who wants to go for a boat ride?" could ever be met with less enthusiasm. But I can't blame them, they've been on boats for 4 months every year since they were born. OK I can blame them, ingrates.

But like JeffS put it, physical activity feeds itself. As they get stronger and can do this stuff better, they seem to be wanting to do it more. Same is applying to football, which started last week. So my suggestion is be patient, but also be vigilant to make sure he stays fit, doing pushups, pullups, situps, going for runs with you, etc.

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In our case, I think the problem is we live on the lake and this stuff is constantly in front of them. It is not adventurous, or new, or different. I never thought "Who wants to go for a boat ride?" could ever be met with less enthusiasm. But I can't blame them, they've been on boats for 4 months every year since they were born.

This is exactly the situation I face. Keep the info coming!

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I think your situation is fairly typical. Up until recently, my boys loved to tube, but had little enthusiasm for doing anything else. Most of the time, skiing or wakeboarding was just to satisfy mom and dad.

Just take it easy and wait a couple of years. The flow of certain hormones seems to play a factor. At about age 12-13, suddenly being on the lake may become cool. I've also found that inviting friends can play a big role. A little friendly competition can make a huge difference.

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I face this with my daughter who is 11. We take her out and she does get up and ski sometimes I need to push her a little but once she goes she enjoys it.

My 10 year old can't get on the water enough. My 10 year old skis the course, trick skis and wakeboards. He has asked for a wakeskate and wants jump skis also.

One rule we always had is that no tubing until you ski. I would settle for wakeboarding but I really want the kids to ski not do something else just because it is easy.

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We went (are going) through the same with our older two, now 9 and 11. The 11 year old only this year took back to skiing, she did great learning at 6, and 7, then just wouldn't go out and do it. She went to summer camp where they have a couple nautiques, she skied there with her friends, and has been willing to get up and ski with us since, its great.

The 9 year old is just finally getting into things other than tubing now too, with a little extra urging, but he didn't swim as well adn wasn't a comfortable in the lake until this year. He got up knee boarding on his first try and that helped a bunch too.

Now all we need to do is get the 2 and 3 year olds out behind the boat....

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Nothing works better (for competitive athletic kids) than to have a sibling or cousin to ski with/against or have friends to impress. Worked great for my daughter. We got the boat when she was 7, so no skimmer. She did trainers, then one of the trainers, then a kid's ski. Then a short stint wakeboarding. A couple of faceplants put her right back on the ski. I've never pushed. She's a good skier, but is starting to become more interested in going out with a family with boys that tube Yuk.gif I'm just hoping she'll soon grow out of that too. I've already invited the boys to ski with us. We'll see if that pans out.

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At that age I stooped to incentives (based on what my employer did at the time) in a moment of panic. We were at table rock lake for a week with kids 8,10, and 12. They had previously, back home, learned to ski on a pair (and do that other non-ski stuff), but that week they really didn't want to do anything.... I mean nothing.... and we had 3 days with the family of 5, planned on the water. Visions of having to sit at the pool for days started to set in.... Shocking.gif

So getting desperate.....individual prize, $20 trip sovenir money if a kid got up on slalom and skied in and out of both wakes....Group prize. A day at Silver Dollar City (the local amusement park) for the family, if all three made it. Didn't mention to kids that we were already planning to go the theme park and they always got a couple of bucks to buy a trinket. Spouse thought I was being a crazed, pushy parent.....until the kids started getting into it, trying hard, and cheering for each other.

They had a blast over the 3 days learning (already had a wide ski, beginner handles,...) and cheering each other on. The kids took extra sets after they realized they could do it....even saying it was more fun than kneeboarding...(Yes!). We relaxed the goal for the 8 year old. All went away happy. Bought junk, rode rollercoasters, and to this day 2 of them are moderate to avid slalom skiers. :)

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I think it's an age thing. Last year my daughter (7) showed no interest until about August 15th -- then wham -- "Dad I want to ski." She ran every other night or so until mid September. Then this year she went out a couple times before July and then was not really interested much until some friends showed, and then she wanted to be the first to ski.

The other day on Nick TV there was a 5 minute segment on a waterskiing family and one of the younger girls was on a trick ski -- Sloan goes "Well if that girl can do it then so could I." Bam I E-bayed some trickers and they came the other day, she got cold feet before getting into the water with them but at least she had them on sitting on the platform.

She just asked me to take her tonight again and we just got back -- we'll see how long this part of the trend lasts.......

One of the coaches someplace did tell me at one time that psychologically there is a fine line between your kids wanting to please the parents that are into whatever (skiing, baseball, engineering); and the child wanting to do it himself if he/she realizes they're not going to be able to surpass the parent's ability and therefore be seen as a disappointment.

I can kind of see that in my kid as I pushed her to drop a ski (she way has the skill level for it) and she was totally not into it. So I'll just back off till she tells me she wants to and then we'll go from there.

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My 11 year old asked to try the wakeboard today after not being interested in it for the better part of 3 years. She got up on her third try and was crossing the wake in no time. After a fall she got right back up again and said she had fun doing it.

It does prove to me that the wakeboard is much easier than getting up on a slalom. My daughter has been struggling with getting up on a slalom for 3 years and only gets up about 20% of the time and she popped right up on the wakeboard. Her big problem on the slalom is she tries to get up too soon. I am hoping that the patience she needs to get up on the wakeboard rolls over to the slalom.

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My daughter has been struggling with getting up on a slalom for 3 years and only gets up about 20% of the time and she popped right up on the wakeboard.

HIGHLY recommend one of the "EZ start" type slalom training handles (that hold the ski straight while getting up). A huge help to those struggling w/ the slalom start.

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Getting their friends involved is the key. But that can get out of hand, it definetly did for me this summer but I got a handle on it. My kids are older though and if I didn't let them take their friends they'd probably rather not go. Now they beg me to take them out, I even get extra chores out of them while I'm at work. It is great for teenage conversations too, I have learned way more than I thought I wanted to know about my teens. Yeeeiiikessss!!! It's all good though I try to keep it light on the boat and I loosen up when we are out there, I want them to always want to go.

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They will tube all day long if allowed.

Boy you said it. I have been enjoying our new boat all summer with the boys and our 1 wakeboard but they have been begging me to get a tube, I said NO not till I get my ski, they all got their wakeboard first and I sacrificed just to be on the water and so I'm learning to wakeboard with them. Well then one night our neighbor kid shows up with this huge skimmer tube, gas sucking thing.............G'dangit, not what am I gonna say???? Ok so you got a tube, but we don't have a rope, you need a better rope. They all say no we can use the wakeboard rope, some how I convinced them that it wasn't strong enough. The next night I get home from work and the boat's all uncovered the coolers ready to go and the "TUBE" is in the back of my boat with the biggest yellow rope I have ever seen attached to a water toy and there stands 4 boys, looking like my lab when she wants something, I can't turn down that look. I'm trying not to laugh but this rope is rated at like 1200lbs and it is about an inch in diameter, I'm not even sure I can get it attached safely to the boat. We did somehow and for 4 1/2 hrs I ripped them around in the bay and they didn't want me to stop. I sucked down HALF a tank of gas!!!!!

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They will tube all day long if allowed.

Boy you said it. I have been enjoying our new boat all summer with the boys and our 1 wakeboard but they have been begging me to get a tube, I said NO not till I get my ski, they all got their wakeboard first and I sacrificed just to be on the water and so I'm learning to wakeboard with them. Well then one night our neighbor kid shows up with this huge skimmer tube, gas sucking thing.............G'dangit, not what am I gonna say???? Ok so you got a tube, but we don't have a rope, you need a better rope. They all say no we can use the wakeboard rope, some how I convinced them that it wasn't strong enough. The next night I get home from work and the boat's all uncovered the coolers ready to go and the "TUBE" is in the back of my boat with the biggest yellow rope I have ever seen attached to a water toy and there stands 4 boys, looking like my lab when she wants something, I can't turn down that look. I'm trying not to laugh but this rope is rated at like 1200lbs and it is about an inch in diameter, I'm not even sure I can get it attached safely to the boat. We did somehow and for 4 1/2 hrs I ripped them around in the bay and they didn't want me to stop. I sucked down HALF a tank of gas!!!!!

That's the Hell Kitten part coming out of Little BU.

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My daughter has been struggling with getting up on a slalom for 3 years and only gets up about 20% of the time and she popped right up on the wakeboard.

HIGHLY recommend one of the "EZ start" type slalom training handles (that hold the ski straight while getting up). A huge help to those struggling w/ the slalom start.

Got one. Her problem isn't keeping the ski straight but being patient enough not to bury the tip of the ski. 20% of the time she pops right up. The other times she doesn't. I figured once she got the hang of it she would get up all the time. It hasn't hit yet though.

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They will tube all day long if allowed.

Boy you said it. I have been enjoying our new boat all summer with the boys and our 1 wakeboard but they have been begging me to get a tube, I said NO not till I get my ski, they all got their wakeboard first and I sacrificed just to be on the water and so I'm learning to wakeboard with them. Well then one night our neighbor kid shows up with this huge skimmer tube, gas sucking thing.............G'dangit, not what am I gonna say???? Ok so you got a tube, but we don't have a rope, you need a better rope. They all say no we can use the wakeboard rope, some how I convinced them that it wasn't strong enough. The next night I get home from work and the boat's all uncovered the coolers ready to go and the "TUBE" is in the back of my boat with the biggest yellow rope I have ever seen attached to a water toy and there stands 4 boys, looking like my lab when she wants something, I can't turn down that look. I'm trying not to laugh but this rope is rated at like 1200lbs and it is about an inch in diameter, I'm not even sure I can get it attached safely to the boat. We did somehow and for 4 1/2 hrs I ripped them around in the bay and they didn't want me to stop. I sucked down HALF a tank of gas!!!!!

We have a rule in my house no tubing until you ski. In your case it would be wakeboard. Make it the rule no exceptions. Over time your kids will come to prefer skiing or wakeboarding to tubing. My 10 year old has already hit that point. We only tube when the lake is too rough to do anything else.

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They will tube all day long if allowed.

Boy you said it. I have been enjoying our new boat all summer with the boys and our 1 wakeboard but they have been begging me to get a tube, I said NO not till I get my ski, they all got their wakeboard first and I sacrificed just to be on the water and so I'm learning to wakeboard with them. Well then one night our neighbor kid shows up with this huge skimmer tube, gas sucking thing.............G'dangit, not what am I gonna say???? Ok so you got a tube, but we don't have a rope, you need a better rope. They all say no we can use the wakeboard rope, some how I convinced them that it wasn't strong enough. The next night I get home from work and the boat's all uncovered the coolers ready to go and the "TUBE" is in the back of my boat with the biggest yellow rope I have ever seen attached to a water toy and there stands 4 boys, looking like my lab when she wants something, I can't turn down that look. I'm trying not to laugh but this rope is rated at like 1200lbs and it is about an inch in diameter, I'm not even sure I can get it attached safely to the boat. We did somehow and for 4 1/2 hrs I ripped them around in the bay and they didn't want me to stop. I sucked down HALF a tank of gas!!!!!

That's the Hell Kitten part coming out of Little BU.

For real... It was fun for them and the weather was crappy so nobody was out. I think my rule is gonna be if it's too choppy to wakeboard or ski then we can bring the gas sucker or if I don't plan on getting wet and just driving the little hellions then they can bring it. Otherwise..... Fingerwag.gif

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They will tube all day long if allowed.

Boy you said it. I have been enjoying our new boat all summer with the boys and our 1 wakeboard but they have been begging me to get a tube, I said NO not till I get my ski, they all got their wakeboard first and I sacrificed just to be on the water and so I'm learning to wakeboard with them. Well then one night our neighbor kid shows up with this huge skimmer tube, gas sucking thing.............G'dangit, not what am I gonna say???? Ok so you got a tube, but we don't have a rope, you need a better rope. They all say no we can use the wakeboard rope, some how I convinced them that it wasn't strong enough. The next night I get home from work and the boat's all uncovered the coolers ready to go and the "TUBE" is in the back of my boat with the biggest yellow rope I have ever seen attached to a water toy and there stands 4 boys, looking like my lab when she wants something, I can't turn down that look. I'm trying not to laugh but this rope is rated at like 1200lbs and it is about an inch in diameter, I'm not even sure I can get it attached safely to the boat. We did somehow and for 4 1/2 hrs I ripped them around in the bay and they didn't want me to stop. I sucked down HALF a tank of gas!!!!!

That's the Hell Kitten part coming out of Little BU.

For real... It was fun for them and the weather was crappy so nobody was out. I think my rule is gonna be if it's too choppy to wakeboard or ski then we can bring the gas sucker or if I don't plan on getting wet and just driving the little hellions then they can bring it. Otherwise..... Fingerwag.gif

Stand tough on this point Luv, you are teaching them a really important life lesson.

Edited by Baddog
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