**Basic Water Skiing Technique**:
– Wet or dry starts are common techniques.
– Deep-water start involves crouching with skis in water.
– Skier leans back to glide and turns by shifting weight.
– Tow rope is thrown from the boat for skier to hold.
**Water Skiing Equipment**:
– Ideal conditions include calm waters and wide space.
– Skis for children are shorter (110-150cm) and tied together.
– Modern skis are made of advanced materials for performance.
– Competition uses specially designed towboats like MasterCraft ProStar 197.
– Safety measures include wearing life jackets and agreed hand signals.
**History and Disciplines**:
– Water skiing invented in 1922 by Ralph Samuelson.
– Competitive disciplines include slalom, jump, and trick events.
– Slalom skiers use one ski with narrow and long skis.
– Over 900 sanctioned water ski competitions are held annually in the U.S.
**Specific Water Skiing Disciplines**:
– Slalom skiing consists of navigating buoys in a zigzag pattern.
– Jump skiing involves jumping over ramps for distance.
– Trick skiing is technical with quick succession of surface and air tricks.
– Barefoot skiing requires higher speeds due to smaller feet lift.
**Advanced Water Skiing and Related Activities**:
– Show skiing involves performing tricks like pyramids and freestyle jumping.
– Freestyle jumping off ramps includes stunts like heli and flip.
– Ski racing involves racing around set courses at high speeds.
– Disabled water skiing allows participation with equipment adaptations.
This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2010) |
Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires sufficient area on a stretch of water, one or two skis, a tow boat with tow rope, two or three people (depending on local boating laws), and a personal flotation device. In addition, the skier must have adequate upper and lower body strength, muscular endurance, and good balance.
 Water skiing on the Yarra River in Melbourne | |
| Highest governing body | International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation |
|---|---|
| First performed | 1922, United States |
| Characteristics | |
| Contact | No |
| Mixed-sex | No |
| Type | Aquatic |
| Equipment | Water skis, motorboat, towline |
| Venue | Body of water |
| Presence | |
| Olympic | No |
| World Games | 1981 – 2017 |
There are water ski participants around the world, in Asia and Australia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. In the United States alone, there are approximately 11 million water skiers and over 900 sanctioned water ski competitions every year. Australia boasts 1.3 million water skiers.
There are many options for recreational or competitive water skiers. These include speed skiing, trick skiing, show skiing, slaloming, jumping, barefoot skiing and wakeski. Similar, related sports are wakeboarding, kneeboarding, discing, tubing, and sit-down hydrofoil.