Painful Waterskiing Falls

When it comes to waterskiing, one thing is for sure — you’re going to crash eventually. As your skills improve and you advance further in the sport, however, crashes may become more dangerous. You’ll reach higher speeds and attempt riskier tricks and jumps. In this article, we’ll take a look at six common crashes you might experience on waterskis, whether you’re slalom skiing, performing jumps or trying tricks.

Slalom crashes

• Tip catches the wake, making you flip over the front of your slalom ski. This one can be pretty dangerous, as you may be crossing the wake at very fast speeds. Try to remain balanced over your ski, turning back to your perfect leverage position. It may slow your turns down, but you’ll be in a sturdy position when you’re back behind the boat.
• Coming into a turn a little too fast, you commit to an aggressive turn and the tail of your slalom ski pops harshly out of the water. When this happens, you can do all sorts of damage to your ankles, so you’ll want to do your best to avoid it. The fall happens because you’ve tried finishing the turn on a tighter arc than when you entered. Instead, keep the same path you took into the turn. 

Jump crashes

• When hitting a ramp, your skis slide out, causing you to crash into the ramp. The most important thing to remember in order to avoid this dangerous crash from happening is to keep your handle low as you near the ramp. With this in mind, you must then be as still as you can be when the jump is hit. Moving the handle in any way whatsoever will change your balance point, so be sure to keep it low at all times.
  
• Leaving the ramp, you bank hard. Your skis stay beneath you, but you land harshly on the tails. You might even land the jump successfully, but in the long run these types of landings are not going to be good for you. What you want to do is concentrate on staying square. To achieve this, keep your direction through the ramp, ensuring you’re not loading the rope too soon in your cut. As you complete your turn, stay tall. Then, relax the arms and hit the ramp.

Trick crashes

• You land too early on a spinning air trick, catching an edge. This happens because you haven’t completed your rotation properly. Always ensure you’re moving with the boat during the trick. For example, when spinning to the left, advance your right hip towards the front left corner of the boat as you make your way up the wake.
• You catch the tip of your waterski after pulling up short on an invert. After slamming into the water hard in this one, you may not want to try flips ever again. If you want to brave another flip, however, keep in mind that most issues arise before the flip even begins. Keep the handle low as you approach the wake, and make sure you’re progressive through your edge. Also, ensure your speed and the rope’s load are greater at the bottom of the wake than at the start of your cut.

Remember, if you are out waterskiing and you think you will see a fall, make sure you have your phone out to record it!

Happy Waterskiing from Rapid Surf & Ski