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Did you catch that video of Rachel Ray learning to waterski on the net? I think it was posted mainly because a few of us wanted to see her in a bathing suit, but got me thinking, how is Ray learning to waterski? Isn’t slalom water skiing only for those daredevil junkies of the 1970s? Whatever system they had setup for her, made it look easy and pretty fun.

I tried water skiing only a few times and honestly it was mainly peer pressure (\”Come on, you never get a chance to try this\”) and even though I got up on the skis and they took me around a bit, it was a bit too daunting to want to try again.

When that water gets rushing fast underneath you, and they (the family and friends) decide to up the throttle on the boat, and you’re hanging on, hunched over, that can be pretty nerveracking. I never got to the point to even consider how to slalom waterski, since all of my focus was on just not making a faceplant into that highspeed H20!

These days, water skiing is not as popular as some other water sports, such as tubing or jet skiing. But when you see somebody who is really talented at slalom water skiing, youall soon discover just how elegant and thrilling a sport it can be. And with the new aHollywooda style training that incorporates some of the latest technology, itas now much safer and quite a bit easier.

One of Hollywoodas little secrets, which I noticed in the Rachel Ray video, is using an aluminum abarefoot boom,a which attaches to the front of the boat and lets new skiers practice good posture and proper weight balancing. All this is done at a fairly slow speed, somewhere between 10 to 20 mph depending on the age of the skier.

The concept behind this waterski boom is that it offsets the sudden jerk that many skiers feel when the boat starts picking up speed, allowing you to get the skis in front of you while leaning back. You are then ready to practice dragging the rope behind you in order to simulate the feeling of holding onto a handle that isnat offering any real support. With enough practice, youall get behind the boat and be up on skis.

The water ski boom is the perfect training tool for just about anybody, and if you have someone competent driving the boat who doesnat take off too fast, you can practically learn this on your own. Good posture is very important, and a trainer can help you learn that, but by using the boom, I could easily build up enough confidence to learn how to do this.

What I do know is that youare supposed to keep your shoulders back with your weight on your hops. Then arch your back and allow your ankles to slide out in front of you as the boat picks up speed. Bear down on your ankles at this point and you will begin to feel lighter than air. With celebrities like Rachel Ray showing how much fun skiing is, it just might make a real comeback!