Getting your kids into it

[Kris]

This is a pic of my 8 year old just prior to her first time successfully getting up on water skis.

 

Last summer she tried but couldn't coordinate her legs enough to get up. The fear factor was also an issue. Now, she is a year older, and we bought an inflatable assist called the Aqua Buddy to help her get up. It can be used for adults too (up to 225 lbs)

 

I highly recommend it for kids, and visitors who want to give the sport a try. It allows for immediate success, which is empowering and encouraging.

[Fam-man]

We use a tube (ugh) to get them comfortable behind the boat. We also use dad rides to help them get comfortable, that's what's happening in my profile pic. We also have a boom which helps with stability. Finally I will get in water and stabilize the skis for take off then float in the water waiting for the return.

[rayn]

I think it has been said before. Weights on the back of the ski helped my kids; both control the skis while in the water and keep the right angle to help them get up.

[escmanaze]

@rayn How much weight are we talking about?

[johndesco]

For my 4 year old I put 1.5lbs on the back of each of her HO trainers. It works perfectly she can float out there all day long with the skis straight up and down. She is now at the point after about two days she can thread the rope between them when the boat brings it by better than some adults we teach. Once the slack comes out the skis will angle forward and away she goes. Best modification we've made for little kids.

[rayn]

@escmanaze that was a long time ago :). I remember duct taping 6 1/2 by 4 inch bolts I had laying around. By the time the tape gave way they didn't need it anymore. I have seen others use weighted discs screwed on but not sure of weight.

[johndesco]

Here is what the ones I made the other day looked like

 

[bigskieridaho]

My wife still just holds on to our 5 year old. Once she is going it is on! My 3 year old started on the old school waterski sled this year! Love watching my girls enjoy the sport;)

[eleeski]

Kneeboards are great for kids. It doesn't take much skill to just drag slowly behind the boat. As the kid gets more comfortable, they can get up to their knees. With some developed skills, wake crossings happen. Before long the kid is doing backs, Os and jumping the wake.

 

What really works is to have multiple kneeboards. The kids teach their buddies and soon are having spray wars. Giving the kids activities with their friends builds a lifelong enjoyment of watersports.

 

Eric

[Chef23]

We did what @bigskieridaho does someone held on to the child to keep them from tipping over. My daughter who was a year older than my son (5&6) learned to control the skis. I taught my son to do dock starts off our floating dock so my wife didn't have to get wet.

 

My son never skied without the bar on when my daughter learned to drop we tried to have him ski without the bar but he couldn't control the skis so we went to trying to get up on one which he learned after 5-6 tries.

[escmanaze]

@johndesco I like your style there that looks great.

 

Can I safely assume that is aluminum? Did you weigh the pieces first to know how much they weigh? Otherwise, if it's aluminum, I can probably estimate pretty well by estimating the size.

 

Thanks

 

[ScarletArrow]

One great thing about doing skimmer boards and knee boards is that you can start them from the back of the boat off the platform.

 

This allows dad (or mom) to have a close personal connection with them during the scariest time - when the boat starts up.

 

I often make kids look me in the eye as I talk to them when we start rather than allow them too look down at all the swirling water that can spook them a bit.

 

Once they get on plane and stable, they learn to just enjoy the ride.

[Hallpass]

I just bought these tail weights when our daughter was on the trainers/doubles. Worked great and I didn't have to spend any time making them.

 

[johndesco]

@escmanaze each block was about 1.5Lbs of aluminum. I ended up moving these blocks to a set of larger skis that older kids use to learn on and replaced them with some painted steel plates that were about half that much and a little bit less awkward and they still worked to keep the skis down.

 

I did see someone at Regionals over the weekend that had screwed 3 hockey pucks to each of his kids skis, so that would be just over a pound per ski. The nice thing about that was they had a little bit of a rubber coating to them and more rounded edges if the kid was to get hit by the ski. A pack of 4 is 11 bucks on Amazon.

[escmanaze]

@Hallpass That is the coolest thing ever. Thanks for posting that. I have called my local pro shop and I'm going to go pick that up tomorrow. I have the HO blast combos so I think it should just fit right on there great.

 

@johndesco Thanks for those weight estimates. For my skis I'm going to get that official HO stuff, but my dad has a kids freeride that I'm still going to try something else on, so that is good to know that about 1.5 pounds seemed to be something close to the right amount.

[escmanaze]

@scotchipman I love the video. Here is my little 8 year old getting up his first time over the 24th weekend up at Blackfoot. He had the bar on here and I think the next step for us will be to trade out the bar for something more stretchy like and edgy wedgy type of thing that snowskiers use for kids. I think that if I can get weights on there as well, it will just go even that much better. I'll post that setup once I get it done.

 

 

 

[Hallpass]

@escmanaze. The set I purchased comes with three plates for each ski, which mount under the plastic case/shell that you see in the photo. You can add, 1, 2, or 3 plates depending upon the size of ski for which you need to sink the tails. For HO skis, the plates line up with the screws on the fin. Not sure how they would line up with other skis. I assume they are still making them with the same setup.

 

 

[escmanaze]

@ScarletArrow I also agree that kneeboards are a great way to start. Here is my little 4 year old girl going less than 5 mph on her belly. The way I see it, anything they like to do behind the boat besides tubing is a great step forward.

 

https://www.facebook.com/escmanaze/videos/vb.693150289/10158596967200290/?type=2&theater

[escmanaze]

Here is what I just set up tonight. This will be more similar to what we have taught them with on snow skis where it makes them control both skis, but keeps them from getting completely separated. If he does this ok, we will try tying it off a bit longer and then after we make it really long and he is still ok, then we will just take them off. We will see how it goes. :)

 

 

[escmanaze]

Hey look at that. Great minds think alike. So do ours. ;)

[skihart]

@escmanaze I like that idea! Are you worried about those eyebolts causing some pain in the case of a fall?

[Hallpass]

This type of "soft" attachment worked fine as well

 

[escmanaze]

@skihart It certainly could happen. If I could find some other type of less protrusive 1/4 - 20 bolt that I could tie the cord to, then I would definitely take it. But so far, I haven't found anything, and from what I've seen of the kid skiing so far, it seems to be a super low probability risk that I'm willing to take.