|
Once your kid has gotten up on his double skis or wakeboard, its time to get him or her to start going from side to side. At first you need to make sure that they can balance themselves
while the boat is going straight. That should not take them very long. Be sure to get them to stand up with a straight back and have them bend their arms with their elbows in close to their stomach. They should ride or ski with
about a 20 degree forward knee bend and relaxed leg muscles. Just tell them not to be too tense with their legs.
Their first cuts should remain inside the wake. Encourage them to go from side to side very slowly and in
very small increments. Once they have mastered these small rhythmic cuts it’s now time for the big ones over the wake. If the kids are very young and the boat speed is slow, shorten up the 75 foot tow line to about 53
feet (22' off). The wake will then have a much cleaner shape with less edge grabbing crest. For the bigger kids I recommend a 60 foot line (15' off) for general skiing got a clean wake. These line lengths will work for
both double skiing and wakeboarding.
Cutting involves shifting one’s weight in the general direction of desired travel. This is commonly called a lean. There is a right way and a wrong way to lean. The wrong way
is to lean over the whole body at the same angle, then rotate the body in the direction of the turn, and end up leaning away from the boat. The correct way is to not lean away from the boat, counter rotate (turn the body
opposite of the ski’s/board’s turn) and slide the hips sideways so that they move under the shoulders (this takes the upper body out of lean).
On two skis the inside leg should bend more than the outside one
to keep weight equally distributed over both skis. On a wakweboard this cutting position is easy on the heel side and more difficult to do on the toe side, and thus will take longer to master.
As long as the hips keep moving in the direction of the cut (it’s a dynamic and not a static move), the wake crossing will not be too difficult. Moving the hips keeps the movement going so the wake will have less
chance of catching the kids skis or board. It will also cause the legs to bend, offering better balance going up and down that wall of water. Their back should stay straight for proper balance and the elbows should stay near
the stomach to allow the rope to pull from the hips (this will help to keep the shoulders from pulling forward).
Cutting well is the basic tool for future slalom skiers and big air wakeboarders. To learn the proper basics early will pay big dividends in saving both time and frustrations in the future as well as allow for better performance. I have coached many skiers who originally learned to cut it the lean, pull and rotate school of slalom. It is not easy for them to learn this “new” method of cutting. By learning it early in one’s skiing/boarding life your kids will be far ahead on the curve.
|
