How To Water Ski Barefoot With A Handle Video

Getting up for barefoot water skiing with the handle is a great start for beginning water skiers. Learn how to get up on the handle for barefoot water skiing in this water sports video.

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Keep feet crossed
Take your time
Wait until comfortable to pull up

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Paul is a current member of the Canadian National Barefoot Water Skiing Team. He also teaches bare footing in Florida. He lives, eats, and breathes the sport. A native of Toronto, Canada, he is the captain of the national team and is very dedicated to representing his nation. He holds the tricks record for the open men and a bronze medalist at the World Barefoot Water Ski Championships. He dedicated his life at about twenty years old to the sport and hasn't looked back since.

PAUL MCDONALD: In this clip, we are going to go over how to get started on the handle. A prerequisite for getting up on the handle is to do sit down on your butt, lift your feet up off the water and then bring them back to your butt and stand up again while you are directly on the bar. Again, it is a consequence-free environment and you do not have to worry about falling. So once you can sit down and stand back up successfully on the boom, it is time to take it to the handle. You are going to lay flat on your back. When the boat driver accelerates, your feet are going to be across on top of the rope. You are going to arch your back and let the boat driver pull you up and out of the water. Slowly, you are going to start sitting forward. So again, you are riding on your big old booty. That is where the pads are coming into play here. Take your time at this stage, riding on your butt. There is no reason to quickly stand up. Once you are comfortable riding on your butt, the boat driver is up to barefoot speed, you are going to keep the handle tucked right tight to your belly, bring your feet off the rope, back towards your butt, just like you did in the boom start, set your feet on the water nice and stably. You do not want to be digging your heels in. You do not want to be digging your toes down. And then just like you're standing up off the couch, slowly stand up, let your arms out in front of you while you are doing this. We are now mixing in waterskiing techniques of knees bent and arms straight and your barefoot technique on the boom. Get up, keep your knees nice and bent, keeping your center of gravity nice and low and that is going to ensure that you do not come to an abrupt stop.

How to Water Ski Barefoot with a Handle Video

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