Water Skiing and Crossing Wakes

Steve Lohr: Hi, I am Steve Lohr of Lohr's Lake in Sparta Virginia and I am teaching you how to water ski today. Now that we have mastered the deep water start we are skiing down the lake and having lots of fun. Let's learn to keep our body in the same position we talked about for the deep water start. Arms straight, knees bent, ankles bent and looking at the trees or the boat rather than down at the water. Once you are skiing down the water you will want to move back and forth slowly to eventually advance to ski over top of the wake. As you decide to move towards the boat wake you can use your knees by actually bending your knees more and advancing your body in the direction you wish to turn the skis and in that way the extra knee bend will help you to advance to the wake of the boat.

You can adjust the boat speed by advising the driver to either go up with the hand up or down asking the driver to advance in either direction. As you are skiing down the lake if you see boat wakes or if you experience choppy water be sure and bend your knees an additional amount in order to use them as shock absorbers. As the boat turns you may want to proceed to the outside wake in order to avoid sinking in the water as the boat makes the turn and proceeds down the lake. If you feel like you are about to fall, be sure to let go off the handle in order not to be dragged by the boat. When you are ready to stop skiing you can say cut in this manner. Once you are enjoying skiing on two skis and crossing the waves comfortably the next step will be learning to ski on one ski .