Canoe paddle water skiing
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The canoe paddle act is one of great difficulty in a water skiing show. This act is most often performed by women because they contain a certain amount of grace and composure out on the water while skiing on a canoe paddle. The trick for canoe paddlers is to either do a “hop dock” (see "Hop-docks") with a slalom ski and the canoe paddle in their hand or to do a deep water start with the canoe paddle on one foot and a slalom ski on the other. One other way to start canoe paddling is to do a deep water start on just the canoe paddle, but this requires a great amount of skill and consistency in order to be performed in a live show. For the hop-docks, the women hold onto the handle and the paddle at the same time and do a normal "hop dock" off the dock, but without linked arms because of the paddles in their hands. Once skiing, the hardest part is to drop the paddle down and slip their foot on top of it, if they can achieve this, then transferring their weight onto the canoe paddle and dropping the slalom ski should be easier.
For deep water starts, the women will ask for the boat to be in first gear in order to be dragged at slow speeds so they can use the pressure of the water to keep the paddle pushed against the bottom of their foot. They then get up like some would on two skis, but usually favoring the leg with the paddle underneath it. In order to drop the canoe paddles, all of their weight must be transferred to that leg and the boat speed must increase for the act to work. The speed must increase because of the lower amount of surface area on the paddle. If the women can successfully step on to the paddle, they next slowly place their back foot on the skinny part of the paddle behind them. Once slaloming on the paddle, it’s hard for the skiers to go over waves and turn. The bigger waves can threaten going over the tip of the paddle and submerging. Also, turning is difficult because their balance is very critical and there is not a large edge for carving with. There is only one pass for the canoe paddlers because of the difficulty of the act. Once they make it onto the shore, the announcer will usually make a point of showing the normality of the paddles and how there is no binding or grip on it. After showcasing the paddle to the audience, the skiers then exit the show course waving.
