How Old Is Too Old For Wakeboarding And Skiing?

by

Obviously, age affects the body and its ability to do things, especially when it comes to sports. We all know this, but for many, it’s hard to stop doing what you love. Although wakeboarding and water skiing are seen as a somewhat extreme sport, older folks can still enjoy it.

There isn’t any true age you should stop because everyone’s different, but I know you all want an answer. After asking a couple of doctors, 50 years old is about the age that you should think about stopping wakeboarding, skiing, or doing any other hardcore watersport.

Obviously, if you want to prolong your watersports career to your 40’s or 50’s, you will need to be fit. Good upper body strength and cardio are needed, especially if you are doing slalom skiing. Working out multiple times a week and eating a decent diet is also needed.

How to water ski/wakeboard, even if you feel your too old?

The older you get, the more difficult it will get to get up, especially for wakeboarding and slalom skiing. For skiing, you might just want to do two skis at first and then drop a ski as that will be much easier than trying to get up with just one ski.

Proper technique also becomes more important as you age, so make sure your arms are straight and a slight bend in the knees. If you are not sure what all the proper techniques are, check out this video for wakeboarding, and this video for skiing.

If you are wakeboarding, I would recommend using one that has fins so that it won’t be too difficult to stay straight. Fins do make some tricks harder though, so it’s a decision that’s up to you.

If you are feeling really uncomfortable about skiing, maybe try a pair of trainer skis that have a bar in between the skies. This will keep them close so you won’t have to worry about doing the splits.

Lastly, tell the driver to go slow. The faster you go the harder you fall. Speeds around 15 to 18 mph are perfect for people who don’t want to get injured while wakeboarding or skiing.

How can you prevent injuries while skiing/wakeboarding?

Just skiing or wakeboarding straight, without doing many sharp turns or tricks is probably the best way to prevent injury. If you are worried about your head though, there are watersports helmets that work great for protecting your brain.

Although, they might cause falling more strain on your neck, which can lead to a sore neck or even a strained neck. If you plan on doing tricks, I would recommend a helmet, but if not, it’s probably better to stay away from one.

My favorite helmet on the market for watersports is this one on Amazon. The reason being is that it has ear protection that other helmets don’t. Ear protection helps stop injuries such as a ruptured eardrum which is a surprisingly common injury while wearing other helmets.

What are the safest water sports?

If wakeboarding and skiing are too difficult, it’s ok because there are other watersports that you can still try out that are safer and easier. Kneeboarding and tubing are both much safer than skiing and wakeboarding and involve less effort.

What about wake surfing and barefooting?

Wakesurfing and barefooting are known for being a little bit more difficult than wakeboarding and skiing. I would say wake surfing is the easier of the two though.

Obviously, everyone is different, but if I were older I would stick with skiing because I believe that it is the easiest and least likely to get an injury from. Barefooting is already difficult and it hurts to do for me, and I’m still young, so maybe it might not be the best option for someone older.

Sam
Latest posts by Sam (see all)