How To Cross Wakes On One Water Ski Video

Crossing boat wakes on one water ski can be very difficult and takes a lot of practice. Learn how to cross wakes on a slalom ski in this water skiing video.

Take Action

Keep balanced
Avoid leaning to the side
Allow rope to move you around wake
Avoid big bounces

About this Author

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 start crossing the wakes on one foot, on one ski and slowly getting more and more aggressive. Just like on two skis, you have to use the inside and the outside edges of the ski. Maintain your balance, keep a good view of the boat, make sure you are not looking down or to the side, begin in the middle of the wake, gently put weight on the right side of the ski. Don't lean; don't do any of that. It's just edging with the ski. Weight on the right side takes you to the right; weight on the left side takes you to the left. Start getting nice and comfortable and slow, slowly and gently start adding some speed to those crossings as much as you can handle. If your ski starts bouncing up high off the wake, that means you are flattening off and not edging through the wake. So you want to make sure you are not getting a big bounce when you hit those wakes. All right? Keep edging all the way through. The further out you go and the harder you edge that ski into the water is how you determine how fast you are going to cross the wake. Keeping your knees bent coming into the wake is a really good idea. Stay nice and bent but still stay on edge and then just slowly increase your intensity all the way across the wake and then try and link up turns. In the beginning, cross to one side, wait about 10 or 15 feet outside the wake, relaxing, kind of getting a handle on what you are doing, then change edges and come in across the wake, bending your knees, staying on edge and then get comfortable on the outside of that wake. Slowly link those turns so you are getting a nice rhythm all the way down the lake, and who knows you might even shoot up some sprays so the neighbors can see.

How to Cross Wakes on One Water Ski Video

Take Action

About this Author

Member Comments