Kids Trainer

I'm searching for training skies for kids. I wish I knew the right terminology for this thing, but I don't. It's the kind that is like a surfboard but has a cutout in the rear. It is actually pulled with the tow rope attached to the bottom of the board. The rider holds on to a ski handle attached to the top of the board.

He's talking about a ski skimmer. The Ez ski is a ski skimmer wiht an inflatable shell wrapped around the skimmer.

Search the internet for ski skimmer (Obrien calls theirs something else). They vary in price form 59 to about 100 bucks. I found the one for my daughter at some ski shop in Montana of all things. Some come with a rope, some do not.

Good news - 2year olds get up on these easily, and they will handle a kid up to 7 or 8 years old. Bad news - they are a beginner device. My 4 year old had outgrown it after a handful of times on the skimmer.

BKH

We have a Ski Skimmer. It's a must have if you are into teaching very young skiers. I feel it's the best way to get little ones behind the boat standing up. They seem to be more inclined to try it when mom or dad is holding the end of the rope in the boat. three years ago we had our youngest member of the team (at that time) behind the boat in a show at the ripe old age of 16 months. Two years later, his little brother was doing the same thing at the same age.

We've got an EZski that we use for our crew of kids ranging in ages from 2 to 5/6. It's a great device that quickly builds confidence as you start and finish them from the boats platform. Some of the younger ones don't feel comfortable doing deep starts on anything so it's great for that.

Just be mindful that the kids need to be able to actually swim (or float comfortably with a vest on) before getting too cocky chucking them on devices that may scare them off the sport.

My 3 year old had his first fall the other weekend and he freaked out. It was a combination of shock from actually falling into the water for the first time and then realising he was stranded far from the boat. My brother quickly swam out to him for comfort but it had shaken him. We went out last weekend and he was hesitant to give it another go saying he might fall off again. I sometimes forget he's only 3.