Comprehensive Slalom Ski Driving

By Wade Williams

There's a big difference between driving a car and driving a ski boat. It will take you years behind the wheel before you master slalom driving. The ability to drive a boat straight will not necessarily make you a good slalom driver. The constant challenge of driving in rhythm is exactly like skiing -- and you can learn even more about skiing just by driving the boat.

Boat driving is a necessary skill if you want ski partners. Here are some things to realize before you hop behind the wheel to drive the slalom course.

1. Focus.

   Turn the radio off, don't answer your cell phone, and stay in the moment. Talk with your skier and make sure you are doing everything you can to make their ride the best it can be. If the skier falls getting out of the water, it is the driver's fault. Be sure that you're giving the skier everything you can to help them succeed.

2. Balance the Boat.

   If the boat is riding off kilter it will make it less fun. The wakes will be malformed, for one... More importantly, the boat will handle better for you to steer when the boat is riding level. Driving the slalom course means feeling where the skier is during their pass. If the boat isn't level, this will be really hard to sense.

3. Don't Rush the Skier.

   When you're waiting for the skier to give the word to hit it, keep the line loose. Do not incessantly click the throttle into gear, pulling the skier closer and closer to the course. Do not leave the throttle in gear and drag the skier. This is the skier's time, let them use it to ski well without any pressure.

4. Slide the Seat Back.

   Just like when you're skiing, you want a relaxed position when you're in the driver's seat. If you slam the seat all the way forward and cram yourself into the boat like it's the space shuttle, you'll over control the skier. Slide the seat back so you can stretch your feel out straight, and keep your feet against the kick panel to help you feel the boat better.

5. Left Hand on the Wheel.

   Keep a loose grip on the wheel so you can use your wrist to keep the boat responsive. If you have two hands on the wheel you will over steer. Driving is as sensitive as skiing is, and you need one hand on the wheel in order to feel the skier effectively.

   You should keep your right hand somewhere on the boat. On the gunwale, windshield, on the cup holder... wherever it is, keep it consistent, as this will help you feel the boat while driving.

6. Look Down the Course.

   If you're looking at the closest set of boat guides to you as you drive down the course, you'll never be able to stay centered all the way down the lake. Look straight down the boat guides to the end of the lake. Just like highway driving, if your eyes are focused well ahead of you, it's easier to keep centered between the lines.

7. Learn your Centerline.

   Using the rear view mirror and your passenger, determine where the boat rides in the course. Some boats will be down the middle of the course even though the driver's seat feels closer to the right-hand gate guides, and other boats drive more centered. Take a few passes to learn where an unfamiliar boat rides before trying to pull a skier.

   Some folks like to use the rails on the bow of the boat to help them stay centered. Personally I try not to look at the boat, my eyes are focused down the course -- but this can help you learn where you need to be to put it straight down the middle.

8. Never, Ever Turn Towards the Skier.

   I've seen this too much from drivers of all levels. At the end of the lake after you give a skier the whip to pull out, you absolutely positively must drive parallel to the skier. You cannot turn the wheel towards the skier while they are still carrying momentum. Turning the boat towards a moving skier is the easiest way to run over a friend. I have been run over by the boat before and it's not really something I would recommend to anyone.

   Pull back on the throttle as the skier looses speed and comes into the water. Your goal is to parallel the skier in direction and in speed. When they are sinking into the water, the boat should be coming off plane. Once the skier has no more momentum, you can turn the wheel and swing the boat around the skier.

Driving is half of Water Skiing. People who aren't familiar with competition skiing commonly wonder, "do you have to bring your own boat and driver to a contest?" In the future we may see skier/driver teams, and I think that'd be great. Think about it: the technology is available to let us deduct buoys from the skier's score for a boat path infraction.

Now that we have GPS speed control, the throttle is no longer a question of accuracy. All the finesse that goes with driving is half of what makes a skier's best passes the most fun.