Water skiing is a sport that is played in the surface of the water. Water skiing was developed by Ralph Samuelson in the 1920's. He used a pair of boards to ski, and a clothesline as a towrope.
Usually, a rider is pulled behind a boat or pulled by a cable ski installation. Riders skim the surface using one (slalom) or two skis. Most of the time, the double skis are used by beginners, and then they progress to a single ski. Waterskiing is usually played in lakes, rivers, and sometimes the ocean.
There are rubber-molded bindings on water skis to keep the feet in place. Doubles skis has a single binding for each one. Waterskiing can be done by more than two persons at the same time. Water skiing usually begins in deep water, though they can also have a "dry start" which starts on the shore.
Similar Sports
- Barefoot Skiing — involves skiing barefoot on water without the use of water skis.
- Kneeboarding — a participants are pulled along while kneeling on a convex board
- Wakeboarding — riding a board and doing tricks on the wake behind a boat.
- Skiing — Traveling over a surface (snow, water, grass) on skis
- Sandsurfing — attach a skateboard deck or other similar object to the back of an ATV or vehicle with a watersports tow rope (not a competitive sport).
Related Pages
- Complete list of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports
- water skiing at the Olympics
- Water skiing is one of the sports at the Pan American Games