Introducing Your Kids To Water Sports

01 January 2018 01 January 2018

So it’s holiday season, and hopefully, you have some time off work to enjoy the sunshine. Especially if you have a young family, spending quality time outside will be high on your agenda.

 

So, for you and your family to get full enjoyment out of the holiday season, here are our top tips to introduce young kids to water sport activities this summer.

Train Them Up

 

Start by going through the motions on dry land. If you are looking to introduce your child to wakeboarding or water skiing, it will help them a lot to practice the movements and positions on dry land first.

 

The first position you should teach kids, or adults, learning to water ski is the cannonball position. Go through these steps to show them how it’s done:

 

• Get your kids to put their skies on while on the shore.
• While holding the water ski handle, get them to bend their knees enough to be just sitting on the skis.
• Let them know to always keep their knees together, and arms extended outwards.
• Gently pull on the other end of the rope so they can practice going from the cannonball position up into a chair position.

 

For wakeboarding, start by teaching the catcher position:

 

• Get them to sit on the ground with their feet spread shoulder-width, knees to their chest, and arms extended outwards.
• Have them hold the water ski handle, then gently pull the other end of the rope so that they come into a squatting position, like a catcher in baseball.

 

Be Safe

 

When you have kids near water, always make sure you are following safety protocols:

 

• Make sure everyone is wearing a life jacket at all times. Check that all the children have life jackets that are fitted closely, and check their straps to make sure they are buckled up before going out on the water.
• Explain which areas of the boat are safe to sit on and which aren’t. For example, letting kids know to stay behind the railing and avoiding the bow of the boat.
• Remember to teach everyone hand signals so they can communicate while you’re on the water. For a guide of commonly used watersports hand signals, have a look

 

Start Out Small

 

A good activity for kids who are new to water sports is a tube; tubes are inflatable donuts that are towed off the back of a boat. Tubes come in a range of sizes and shapes; you may even want to purchase one that seats more than one person at a time to give your kids some security out on the water.

 

Tubes are easy for kids to stay stable on, and have handles to securely grip. Once they are comfortable being out on the water in a tube, moving them up to a wakeboard or water skis won’t be too much of a leap.

 

Mac’s Waterski World has everything you’ll need to get your kids ready for their first watersports adventure. Click here to see our large range of tubes. We also have a huge range of life vests for kids; including vests for children as young as one. You can view our complete range here.