Lake Martin Topics: Teaching Kids to Ski

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	Name:	MartiniMan -
	Subject:	Teaching Kids to Ski
	Date:	6/3/2010 1:03:05 PM

I have probably gotten 20 kids up on skis the first time so I have a little experience. First of all a five year old might be intimidated being behind a boat so you need to prepare them for the pull, etc. My youngest daughter was 5 when she skied the first time and only wanted to be pulled by the jet ski until she was older. She now slaloms, wakeboard, knee board, etc. Also, make sure their pfd fits them and isn't too big. Really hard to get going when the pfd is blocking their view. Finally, find a nice quiet spot with few waves. It is really tough when there is a lot of waves.

The other thing I always tell them is the average number of tries to get up the first time is 8. That way they don't get discouraged when it doesn't happen right and the majority get up in fewer tries which gives them a boost of confidence. I also tell them up front that there are two phases in learning to ski. The first phase is getting up the first time. The next phase is staying up. I focus only on one phase at a time and I tell them that. I tell them once they get up they will pull in their arms and then they will fall. Happens every time.

Key words of advice to get up and keep it simple: keep your knees bent, tips out of the water, your arms straight and let the boat do all the work. All they have to do is hold on. Just be patient if they take multiple tries and look for fatigue. If they get tired they will never get up.

So get them up the first time and let them fall, usually backwards. When you come around after they get up tell them now that they know how to get up they have to resist the urge to pull in your arms when the rope goes slack. I tell them to keep their arms straight and stand on top of the skis and let the boat pull the rope tight again.

I would recommend using a starter ski set that has an attachment on the front that keeps the skis together. That is one of the biggest problems with the younger ones that can't keep them together.