How to Water Ski Barefoot Using the Step-Off Method

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Greg Lawrence and I'm here to show you and tell you how to do a one ski barefoot step-off. Now, first thing that you need to know is you have to have good communication between you and your driver. Once your driver sees you get up on your slalom ski, you're going to cut out, say if you're a left foot forward rider, you're going to cut to your right or the closed side of your body. What that's going to allow you to do when you get outside the wake is to remove your back foot from the ski and place it on the water as you're cutting out in that direction. Now, the boat driver at that time is going to need to accelerate the boat to 36 miles an hour to 44 miles an hour, depending on your weight and the size of your feet. In order to first barefoot, you want to take into consideration you need good conditions. You have a very small surface area, so you're going to need very flat water. If you have that flat water and then your driver is increasing that speed. You're going to slowly pick up your front foot so that that ski is ready to slip off of that foot. Once you've picked that foot up all the way off the water, meaning that you've supported yourself with your right foot that is now being on top of the water, you can let that ski fall off of your foot and then place your left foot back down on the water. Whenever you're barefooting it's essential to keep your shoulders back and your hips forward so that you can maintain your body position on the water and not get drugged headfirst out of the ski. And that's how you do a one ski step-off barefoot."