Jump to content

Welcome to TheMalibuCrew!

As a guest, you are welcome to poke around and view the majority of the content that we have to offer, but in order to post, search, contact members, and get full use out of the website you will need to Register for an Account. It's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the TheMalibuCrew Family today!

Deep water starts-how to


twiggy

Recommended Posts

Thought I would share what I learned this summer. I am 47 this year 6'5" #225 and have only been skiing slalom for 4 years now. First year on my D3 X7 actually skiing aggressive on it now. Well i have been using a drop ski this whole time until this year. I read all the articles and all the words of wisdom are awesome, but what I found were the keys to getting up are

1. Hand on-sounds dumb but about the time you think you won't get up your there.

2. Goggles-before them it always wigged me out all the water plowing into my eyes. This allowed me to keep looking at the tip of my ski which keeps forward body position.

3. Don't have the boat tow you to get set up. Follow all the tips, get the rope tight and go. Not full throttle also.

Hope this helps some. After I have tried this it is actually pretty easy to do.

Link to comment

That is one of the nice aspect of the direct drives...us big guys always had to drop a ski, which in some states is illegal, dock start, and number of tricks to get going.

I like to have boat at "flush speed" idle to help stabilize the ski and ensure there is no slack in the rope....But any system that gets ya up is good.

YA that first second or two there are a lotta things going on...grit and bear it for another second and you are there...pretty soon you'll be giving the driver the scissor routine..."shorten the rope"!!

Link to comment

Thought I would share what I learned this summer. I am 47 this year 6'5" #225 and have only been skiing slalom for 4 years now. First year on my D3 X7 actually skiing aggressive on it now. Well i have been using a drop ski this whole time until this year. I read all the articles and all the words of wisdom are awesome, but what I found were the keys to getting up are

1. Hand on-sounds dumb but about the time you think you won't get up your there.

2. Goggles-before them it always wigged me out all the water plowing into my eyes. This allowed me to keep looking at the tip of my ski which keeps forward body position.

3. Don't have the boat tow you to get set up. Follow all the tips, get the rope tight and go. Not full throttle also.

Hope this helps some. After I have tried this it is actually pretty easy to do.

Interesting advice, I try and adjust my driving based on what the person is having troubles with. Whether they want fast drag, slow drag or no drag, how much to roll the throttle on, etc.

Dropping a ski is good only that it helps beginning slalom skiers get a feel for skiing on one before they first get up. Works best when you have a pick up boat or someone from shore can retrieve.

For me, I am the opposite - hammer down, close my eyes, hang on and I am up.

Link to comment

Everyone has a different preferred pull for skiing. Its all about the ability, strength, weight, and stability the skier has. I like a hard tug, I almost catch air getting out of the water ;). My wife likes a gentle 1/3 throttle till she is up, then climb to speed. My brothers like an idle drag and 1/2 throttle till they are out of the water, they are under water for some time, but have the stability and patience to stay tucked, and keep the ski straight. Once up I increase the throttle and climb to speed. It was exciting pulling my friend in a closed course when he forgot a life vest, I had a medium for him, but it looked a little like Chris Farley in Black Sheep "Fat guy in a little coat".

A few tricks I've found with a lot of newer skiers & smaller skiers are. A quick drag, once the line it taught, the ski tip dips a little, then begins to come up, when the tip begins to start rising I gradually increase the throttle to 1/3 or 1/2 (depending on weight & motor) and hold it there till they are up. Even when the throttle is at held at 1/2 throttle and a skier is getting up, the boat is still accelerating, I've found if you keep giving it gas beyond 1/2 the boat accelerates more which causes the lighter, not as strong, and newer skiers to come over the front. This also allows the skier a little more time to recover from bad alignment.

Edited by Joeprunc
Link to comment

One of the tricks I found that helps a beginner is to use a handle with a deep vee that goes over the ski at start. It helps to keep the ski straight. With a short vee and the rope to the side of the ski, most beginners have trouble keeping the ski straight and are pulled to the side. The other trick is to make sure the vee does not get caught on the tip of the ski as you come out of the water.

  • Like 1
Link to comment

Are you getting up with your back foot in or out. I learned how to get up with the back foot in but later took it out and realized it was so much easier with it out. It seems like you come up out of the water alot quicker. I have always told people to act like you have on 2 skies when sitting in the water and as soon as the boat starts to go let your back foot move behind you and drag the top of your foot thru the water to use as a stabilizer. Now I ski with a double boot and when I get up I have my knees bent almost all the way so my butt is basicly touching the back of the ski. My arms are on both sides of my knees and my ski is also at a slight angle to the right(I am goofy footed) As soon as the boat accelerates I straighten my ski, keep my but down until above the water then stand up. I like a hard snap from a full throttle boat. To me the quicker your out of the water the easier it is to get up. If you try to stand up or keep your legs straight to soon that is when you start to plow your ski in the water and it takes a lot more force and strength to get out of the water. When I do it right I rise out of the water very quickly and there is no water splashing me in the head/eyes so I can see the tip of my ski the whole time getting up.

  • Like 1
Link to comment

2. Goggles-before them it always wigged me out all the water plowing into my eyes. This allowed me to keep looking at the tip of my ski which keeps forward body position.

I use contacts 24/7, so I wear cheap ($5.00--price went up though) safety sunglasses w/UV protection (Sperian) with the included elastic strap pulled tightened up some. So comfortable too.

http://www.safetyglassesdirect.com/search/index.php?keywords=sperian%20metallic%20blue

Lost a couple pairs over the past five years, but who cares.

Link to comment

This can be like starting a discussion on religion or politics!

Like Nick, I started water sports and slalom in my forties (57 now). I took a while to get the starts happening but for quite a few years was fine. Then, one season I could barely crack a decent start, dragging in the water, arms torn up etc. Remembered that some friends were unbelievably easy to pull out - discovered they were one-foot starters. Got some tuition from them - leave the back foot out, dragging well behind like a rudder until the ski is on top of the water.

The concept is that the ski, your torso and your back leg are all basically parallel and inclined forward such that they are all providing 'lift' during the start phase.

It transformed starts for me and I'm a full time convert.

Link to comment
... it looked a little like Chris Farley in Black Sheep "Fat guy in a little coat".

Tommy Boy. :biggrin:

A big part of the reason the ski comes up so quick when skiing with a RTP and your back foot out is because all of your weight is on your front foot. It has to be, your back foot isn't on the ski. So if you're struggling getting up and you use double boots, put all your weight on your front foot. Use your back foot to lift the tail of the ski towards your butt. :thumbup:

Link to comment

I just had one of our crew out trying to get up on her ski with a deep water start today. The last time she tried and tried and....finally did some wakeboarding. Today I passed on some of the tips in this thread and she finally got up and had a blast skiing. Big smiles. Good timely thread.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...