The water skiing industry is a large one, with over 4 million people in the US alone participating in the sport.
There are many different types of water sports, and each requires a slightly different set of skills and techniques.
If you want to become a better skier, you should learn the basic water skiing hand signals that will help you be more visible to other skiers and avoid tricky situations.
HAND SIGNALS SKIERS SHOULD USE
The first thing you should do is to make sure that your ski is strapped to your back. Make sure that it is tightly strapped so that it won’t fall off. You can also strap your ski to your waist. This will make it easier for you to balance. It is good to have a safety belt on.
Several hand signals are used when you are skiing. The first thing that you should know is that you have to wave your hands in the air to signal that you are going to stop.
Then you can wave your arms back and forth to tell the spotter or driver that you are ready to start skiing again. You can also wave your arms in the air to tell them that you want to stop.
Skier OK Signal
If you are falling and you need to be pulled up, hold your hands together and point them at your feet. The spotter will pull you up.
SKIER READY FOR PICKUP
It is very important to know how to read the signals that other people are giving you. If you are trying to pick up a new skier, you need to watch his or her hands. If the skier is holding his or her hands high above his or her head, it means that he or she is ready for pickup. If the skier is holding his or her hands low, it means that the skier is not ready for pickup. If the skier is holding his or her hands down, it means that the skier is in trouble.
Back to Dock Signal
To tell the driver you want to go back to the dock, you tap your hand on your head. This will let the spotter know that you are ready to return to the dock. If you want to go to a different dock, you can do the same thing.
I’m Done Signal
If you are doing enough water skiing then you can stop this by doing this single. You have to mention that you are slicing your throat with your hand. This means that you want to stop skiing.
Speed up Signal
This is one of the key signals for water skiers. However, when A skier becomes stable on the water then he gives this signal. This gesture “thumbs-up” is only used to increase the speed of your boat or to tell other skiers that you are ready to go fast.
Slow down sign
When your skiing speed is more than you want then tell the boat Slow down. The slow-down signal is “thumbs-down”. When the Skier does this, the boat driver understands the signal.
Surely this will help you to slow down your water skiing.
Speed OK Sign
If the set speed or boat way is fair, the skier shows this Ok signal. This will help the boat driver to maintain the speed for you. So that you can easily enjoy the ride.
Turn left Signal
When you want to turn left then you just need to flatten your hand. By doing this your boat driver will understand the direction.
Turn right Sign
On the other hand, if you want to turn right just you need to flat hand pointed right. This will also be an indication that you want to turn right.
Cut Motor/Stop
A chopping motion of the hand across the throat indicates the skier wants to back up. This type of signal is used by the skier or Driver. This is a great safety signal for a water skier after all. That is if they know what it means.
I’m OK sign
This is the universal signal for a skier who has fallen. It consists of both hands raised and cupped around the head. This means that the skier is OK and is trying to get back to the water.
Hand signals should be used by spotting spotters.
Making circles with outstretched arms.
When the spotters make a circle with their rising hand this means: He will turn the boat around.
Arm out, and move your hand up and down.
But if the boat driver gets out his arms and moves the hand up and down. This means that the water skier needs to stay just behind the boat
In conclusion
The water skiing hand signals you should know are not just for fun. They are vital for your safety and survival. If you want to learn how to use them properly, you can start by watching this video on how to do it right.
Water fun is always amazing so to enjoy the water you can test towable tubes.