Tips to get begginers up

[Livindadream]

I have been on a slalom since I was 8, an eternal 31 years ago. However, after a week long ski trip to Norris Lake, I have decided that I suck as an instructor. I used to pass it off as not enough power and the skiiers fault, but can't use that excuse anymore. Looking for some tips to help these poor folks who want to slalom like me. Have read a few comments here and elsewhere about dragging a foot. Guess I am naive, but I have no idea how to do this. Learned with both feet in, and have never done it differently. I tried to pay attention when I got up, but it is just natural. I say hit it and stand up. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

[purplepower]

I spent many years behind underpowered boats. Both feet in was never an option as it just stops the boat.

The advantage of only one foot in is that your back foot drags behind like a rudder, to stop you "spinning out" to your non ski side. Also you get more planing surface off your back leg as you come out. This is essential if the boat lacks power.

So advice for a beginner for this method:

-arms straight with the tow handle in the position it would be if you had two skis.

-front leg BENT at the knee until you are ALL the way out. This is a must. People who are comfortable on two skis will straighten the front leg too early out of habit trying to "help" themselves out of the water. Straightening the leg will stall the ski and increase the risk of a torn hamstring if they fight it. I actually stick my head under the wave that comes off the ski tip to make sure that I am forward enough and my leg is truly bent. Just let the back leg drag as far back as possible.

-wait until you are right out of the water, still using the top of your back foot as a rudder to stabilize the "wobbles" until the ski is going fast enough to track, then straighten your front leg, and slide your back leg down the back of your front leg until it finds the ski.

The mistake most people make is that the try to straighten the front leg too soon and that grabs a ton of water beteen the ski and their body. They then complain that you did not go off fast enough so you gas it a bit more next time. This time you yank their arms too hard and now they are tired and fed up.

If they dont manage to get up after two tries give them a rest. It takes alot more energy than any of us remember when you are learning.

BTW are they comfortable dropping a ski before you try to pull them out on one?

[Inliner]

Here in Orlando it is a $150 fine if you drop a ski on a public lake. Dropping a ski for the most part was out of the question. I agree with purple power, there are two big mistakes beginning level slalom skiers make. First is looking down. I won't even go into that. The second is trying to push themselves up with the lead foot. I was working with a beginning slalom skier this weekend who had just that problem. She just couldn't keep herself from pushing out with the lead foot. We finally got her close by me side skiing with her and coaching her when our daily damp blessings put a wet damper on our party. Odds are she will make it up the next time.

Just so you know, coaching slalom skiers is a lot more technical than combo skiers. Slalom skis are a LOT less forgiving of errors. You need to excercise patience and carefully look at what they are doing and just keep trying until they grasp it.

I have used both a one foot out and both feet in start. I don't use a one foot out on my competition slalom ski. By putting my rear foot in, I can control the ski no matter what it wants to do by a simple twist of the rear foot, making that ski do whatever my little heart desires. Although you can rudder with the rear foot out, your control is a little slower responding as it takes that split second to move that foot into the desired position and the water to react to the foot position.

The only time I use the one foot out technique is during show skiing. Everything else is both feet in. But this is my personal opinion based on what works for me. Due to my environment, I know little else. I have a friend who got his butt whipped trying to get out of the water on my competition slalom ski with one foot out. He finally gave up and used a second ski to drop one to finally make it out of the water. Yet he is a very well trained skier for a local ski club. It really comes down to "to each his/her own". You need to find what works for your skier and keep trying until they are able to grasp it. Not everyone learns at the same rate.

[purplepower]

I had no idea there would be a fine for dropping a ski. I am lucky enough to own some lakefront so the drop zone is pretty safe. This would be an issue on a busy public lake.
Check out the local regs for sure. I find that a slalom beginner can handle dropping a ski long before starting on one.
The single best reason for starting with two feet in is to avoid the pulled hamstring. This has happened to three members of the my local ski community over the last ten years. I have confirmed that in all cases they were starting with one foot out. I believe that it occurs when the front leg is straightened too soon, the ski sinks and stops but the skiier holds on and gets pulled over the front. Any thoughts there?
Also Inliner, do you "drag" your learners slowly through the water so they can feel how to balance the water pressure on the ski. I find this works well for two skis but not so much for slalom.

PS: My youngest swapped his slalom ski for a wake board last weekend. I guess I knew it was coming. He popped out of the water and carried on down the lake like he had been doing it for years. To be young, fit and 60 pounds is a real advantage in this sport. I see fat sacs and a tower in my future.

[Inliner]

Originally posted by purplepower
Also Inliner, do you "drag" your learners slowly through the water so they can feel how to balance the water pressure on the ski. I find this works well for two skis but not so much for slalom.

I actually did do that this weekend, but there was a reason for it. The beginning slalom skier I was with this weekend had a little of a mind of her own. First she is right handed but favors her left foot and wanted to start with her left foot forward. (This was interesting since I also am right-handed but favor my left foot. I have skied both rff and lff and found I prefer rff.) I advised her that she would be better off right foot forward, but it was her choice. She couldn't control the ski. After about three tries, I dropped the rope to about 10 feet jumped in the water and demonstrated to her how to control the ski while dragging. I then put her in the water and had her practice ski control at idle speed after she reversed her feet.

Learning how to get out of the water on a slalom ski is very tiring. Only the best students with lots of practice on two skis usually make it up on the first set attempt. I always tell those I work with that they have to crawl before they can walk. It is very frustrating for them because it is so unforgiving of bad technique. I like to straighten out their technique on two before putting them on one.

[jose LSV]

Hola Linda,
Some tips:

1. To get the balance: While on combos, you should be able to lift one ski and ski onto one leg for a while
2. I do not like dropping one ski, but if you go for it as a way to learn how to get the right balance, here you have a tip: As soon as you drop it, you should put your naked foot in contact with your other ankle/foot in order to get balance. Then slowly slide it to the binder. Once it´s in, swap part of your weigth from front to rear foot.
3.Remember for tips 1 & 2: boat should accelerate a bit in order to compensate weigth concentration in one ski.
4. To start directly from water: What we are trying to do is to reduce water friction as much as possible . The bigger the skier the bettter it has to do the technique. (unless he´s got really strong lumbar muscles).
Wrap up your body and try the ski to be almost parallel to the water surface (30degrees typically).
The position is as follows: Knees touching your chest and thighs touching each other. (One mistake is to have thighs spread wich creates friction)Even better if the ski tail also touches your butt. Straight arms and head hidden (or you´ll drink the whole lake).

When the boat is pulling it feels like the ski is creating a tunnel (and your body has to go through it.)
Do not stand up until the ski is sliding completely onto the water(at least 200 feet from start)

[sorryofficer]

You might want to pick up a special teaching rope if you see yourself doing this often. They are really simple. On a normal rope, from the handle the two seperate ropes join into one of course, then goes to the boat right. On the instructional ropes, the two ropes coming off the handle are much longer, creating a 3-4ft V after the handle, or some models simply have a section of rope about 2ft in front of the handle that splits into two. This way, the beginner can wedge the tip of their ski in between the two ropes, it keeps them straight while they learn to get up. Helps A LOT.
Other than that, definitely drag the foot like a rudder, and the people on here are right about straightening the leg to early.

[sorryofficer]

http://www.beyondwatersports.com/mmBB/Images/ws/large/hleasyup.jpg

here is a link that shows an instructional type slalom rope. You can see how it is different just before the handle. The beginner simply puts the tip of their ski inbetween those two ropes.

[waterboy]

For those of you that have a tower on your boat, you can can use that instead of the pylon to help give the skier a little more of an upwards pull. It's worked well for us when teaching new skiers, both with combos and slalom skis.

Brian

[Inliner]

A boom is the absoute best way though. I use mine constantly. It allows me to coach without having to shout over the motor and 75 feet of water.

[waterboy]

No arguement there, I just wanted to point out an easy method for improving results to those who have a tower and never thought of using it for beginners. I'm sure there's a lot more boats out there with towers than booms.

[Inliner]

Just a word of warning on using a tower though. It is not designed to handle the pressure of a slalom skier. It can crack the gelcoat from the stress. My tower has spiderwebbed the gelcoat from just the stress of kneeboarders and wakeboarders. Because of that, I won't allow any skiers to be pulled off the tower. I know someone is going to make a comment about that, but before you do, understand that I use my boat with competition boarders on both fronts. I have kneeboarders who can do flips and W2Ws like it's nothing. And I won't even discuss the wakeboarders!

I originally bought our boom when I started barefooting. However it has proved invaluable over the years from teaching the very young, to the very old. The skiers, boarder and even pulling the really young ones slowley on boogie boards.

The Moomba dealer I spoke with said no skiing from the tower. We currently wake board from an extended pylon, but the wake board snaps and pulls seem just as harsh as the slalom skiiers. I guess boarding is less pressure, just more jerking.

Do all the manufactures (boats and towers) say no skiing from the tower?