SAFETY, WATER READING & RISK MANAGEMENT
5 min · Free lesson · written lesson, video in production
The Technique
- The hierarchy: venue, crew, gear, then tricks. A perfect trick plan with the wrong venue or no spotter is a cancelled session. Teach the order and make the go or no-go call a named ritual.
- Depth rules. Inverts are deep-water-only - deep enough that neither rider nor ski can contact the bottom in any failed landing, with margin. State it as a hard rule and have the reviewing pro confirm the minimum depth they enforce.
- Reading the water. Wind against current builds steep chop; glass-off means you must make your own wake; tide changes depth under you across a session. Walk through a five-minute assessment: depth, bottom type, debris, traffic lanes, exit points, wind trend.
- The spotter contract. A spotter is a trained role, not a mate on the beach: eyes on the rider full-time, rescue craft or ability ready, agreed hand signals, and the authority to end the session. No spotter, no freestyle.
- Gear check ritual. Lanyard clipped and tested, helmet buckled, jacket zipped and rated for impact, hull and steering inspected, bars tight, throttle returning freely. Ninety seconds, every launch.
- Bail-out doctrine. The default in trouble is: release, push the ski away, protect your head, surface with an arm up. Rehearsed on purpose in controlled conditions, because reflexes are trained, not hoped for.
Common Mistakes
Sessioning a spot because it looks glassy without checking depth. Fix: the five-minute assessment is mandatory, filmed as a checklist.
- Treating the spotter as optional once confidence grows. Fix: the rule is permanent at every level; pros model it.
- Lanyard clipped to the ski or dangling. Fix: lanyard on the body, function-tested at the start of every session.
**The drill:** At your local spot, run the full five-minute assessment out loud and write the go or no-go with reasons. Then rehearse the bail-out sequence five times in shallow-enough-to-stand water at zero speed: release, push, cover, surface, arm up.
**Safety:** This whole lesson is safety, but the summary card: life jacket and helmet always, lanyard on the body, dedicated spotter for all freestyle, deep water only for inverts, and in-person coaching for every new trick. Alcohol and freestyle never share a day. Local waterway rules and exclusion zones are the floor, not the ceiling.
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