Editing Water skiing (section)

====Slalom====
[[File:Slalom Good Pic.jpg|thumb|17-year-old Toronto skier [[Chantal Singer]] slaloming at the 2012 Canadian National Waterski Championships in [[Calgary]], Alberta]]
In an attempt to become as agile as possible, slalom water skiers use only one ski with feet oriented forward, one in front of the other. Slalom skis are narrow and long, at {{convert|57|-|70|in|cm|0}} depending on the height and weight of the skier. The two forward-facing bindings vary: they can be made of rubber or thick plastic, and they can be designed more like a [[Ski binding|snow ski binding]] or more like a [[Inline skates|roller blade boot]].

Slalom skiing involves a multi-buoy course that the skier must go around in order to complete the pass. A complete slalom water ski course consists of 26 buoys. There are entrance gates at the beginning and end of the course that the skier must go between, and there are 6 turn buoys that the skier must navigate around in a zigzag pattern. The remainder of the buoys are for the driver to ensure the boat goes straight down the center of the course. For a tournament to be sanctioned as 'record capable' by the [[International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation]] (IWWF), the entire course must be surveyed prior to competition by a land surveyor to ensure its accuracy. The drivers boat path must be verified as well to ensure that all skiers are getting a fair pull.

Every consecutive<ref name=iwsf-history/> pass is harder than the pass before it. When a pass is completed, the boat is sped up by {{convert|3|km/h|mph|0}} or the rope is shortened by specific increments. The rope is usually not shortened until the maximum speed has been reached for the division, based on the skier's gender and age ({{convert|55|km/h|mph|0}} for women and {{convert|58|km/h|mph|0}} for men). In a tournament, the boat speeds up or the rope shortens until the skier fails to complete the slalom course by falling, not getting around a buoy, or missing an entrance or exit gate.<ref name=iwsf-history/>

A skier's score is based upon the number of successful buoys cleared, the speed of the boat, and the length of the rope. In a tournament, skiers choose the starting boat speed and rope length (with a maximum length of {{convert|22.86|m|ft|0}}). Professional water skiers will typically start at the max speed of {{convert|58|km/h|mph|0}} with a rope that has already been shortened to {{convert|13|m|ft}}. The skier with the most buoys wins the competition.<ref name=iwsf-history/>

The turn buoys are positioned {{convert|11.5|m|ft}} away from the center of the slalom course. As the rope is shortened beyond that, the skiers are required to use the momentum generated through their turns to swing up on the side of the boat and reach out in order to get their ski around the next buoy. At these rope lengths, the skier's body is experiencing intense isometric contractions and extreme upper body torque with loads of up to 600&nbsp;kg as they begin accelerating after rounding a turn buoy. Their top speeds will generally be more than double the boat's speed, which means that the Pro men can reach speeds in excess of {{convert|116|km/h|mph}} and each turn will generally generate around 4 [[g-force|g of force]]. Essentially, slalom water skiers are using their body as a lever, which allows them to withstand loads that would otherwise not be possible for the human body.