Water Ski Boat Buyers Guide

Slalom Waterski Buyer’s Guide – What Features Do You Need?

Most of the waterskiing pros, especially slalom skiers, first gained a love of the sport using a friend’s boat and skis as a child. If you’ve got the love, but not yet the skill, the first step to gaining that is getting your own slalom ski! The features of slalom waterskis can be a little confusing if all you’ve ever done is get on and go – we explain what newbies should look when buying waterskis.

Given their humble origins in carved branches and planks of wood, modern slalom waterski construction really is a precise science. There are several factors you need to consider when buying waterskis for slalom or other riding:

Sizing
Much like wakeboard buying, the sizing of your waterskis will be determined mostly by your weight. However there’s an additional factor, that is the boat speed. As you can imagine, when the boat is going faster you have less time to weave around an obstacle and need to get your skis round ASAP … which will be much easier with the right size ski. That’s why at some speeds you’ll see a different sizing recommendation for faster boat speeds. Sizing recommendations for buying waterskis online are found in bold below.

Width
Wider skis are easier to control and more suitable for beginners, however they do take more effort to turn. You’ll often see wide body waterskis with a spine on the bottom, that allows for better control for beginners.

Rocker shape
As with wakeboards, the ‘rocker’ refers to the area beneath skis, and it’s curvature from tail to tip. Buying waterskis with a larger flat area under the bindings will give you a more stable predictable ride while a more constant rocker or curve gives you a ski that will more quickly initiate a turn.

Fins
These further add to the waterski dynamic underneath the board. They’ll only start to matter when you’ve gained a fair bit of experience in slalom waterskiing. A great way to check out how different fin shapes feel is to look for an online waterski buying store that offers ‘try before you buy’ facilities.

Tunnel shape
You will find that some waterskis have modified base shapes, some with a tunnel (really a curved area in the centre bordered by two flat areas) through the midsection. In competition waterskis, the flat edges are removed completely and the base design is called edge-to-edge concave. This provides excellent control – but the rider needs to have developed excellent control first! Beginners should look for modified concave tunnels to get a nice compromise between usability and control.

About the Author

“Waterskiers World & Ski Surf & Snow are specialized retailers for all you watersports, surf and snow equipment. We stock a huge range of waterski’s, wakeboards, kneeboards, tubes, wetsuits, life vests, ropes, gloves and anything else you need for a fun day out on the water. For more information or to view our range, visit Water Ski.

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