[soulbleed313]

quick summary : my girlfriend has never been on the water in any fashion. i grew up on the river and have been boating and water-skiing my entire life. I'm 46 and she is 45. i bought a spark about 2 months ago and we took it out she has absolutely no balancing skills at no wake and docking speeds. she is fine while at plane and while going fast but as soon as we enter a no wake zone she starts to panic and shake and cant sit still. when the water is choppy it is a chore to keep her settled down and she has caused us to come off the ski a couple times from panicking. its purely a balance thing and leads to panic. i want her to enjoy the jet ski as much as i do and i am trying to figure out different ways to get her over this or actually be able to teach her how to balance and be comfortable. its hard for me to explain it to her since I've been doing it my whole life and it comes naturally to me. just wondering if there are any ideas on ways for her to practice balancing any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.

 

[seca turbo]

Lime

 

[ChuckTheVoice]

Marijuana

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[Hunter090]

The title of this thread had me laughing.

There are balance exercises that she could do. Take some yoga. Buy one of those half exercise balls to practice on. Sounds like it may be more to do with confidence than actual ability though. That is more of a mental thing but practising would still help.

 

[Cormacs]

I had the same problem. I bought a second spark, lol.


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[David Tuerk]

Sounds like the girlfriend is defective.


Better replace it with a new one.






*Jokes*

 

[Gator06]

The most important thing is to be loose and let the Spark roll underneath you. The worst thing anyone can do is be stiff as a board and not move their weight when needed. I explained to my wife that these things are top heavy with two people and its not like a boat where you can just sit in it. You have to compare it to a bike where balance is important. Always lean away from the direction the jetski is rolling I told my wife that when she feels me leaning in one direction, to lean with me. Also, when you see a wake, try to anticipate what its going to do to the Spark so you can counteract that. I also told her that getting your weight off the seat is important when things start getting rough.


Just had an idea: Maybe you could try going somewhere that has waist high water, leave your g/f on the Spark while you stand in the water. Everything powered off. Ask her to stand with the intention of letting the Spark move underneath her. Push down on one side of the Spark to simulate a wave and let her learn how to react. Repeat on both sides a few times. Then after she gets it standing up, have her try it sitting down. Not sure if this will work, but at the very least it'll be a less stressful environment to try to explain everything. Good luck!

 

[Yuba]

Marijuana

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I agree here. It will make her chill out lol

 

[peeler01]

I had a girlfriend who had this same issue. When riding together on a GSX (similar handling to a Spark but a little more tippy) we just weren't stable. We would fall off and roll the thing all the time when we were going slow. She got her own PWC and it went OK but she never really got the hang of it. When we went out weekly she improved but it wasn't more than a passing interest to her so she never got really good at basic riding skills. Practice helps a lot but ultimately it just isn't for some people.

Also remember than 2 adults on either size Spark is probably going to put them pretty close to the maximum weight limit (unless you're both really light). Smaller PWC's like the Spark become much less stable when loaded close to their maximum. Has she tried riding it alone and had the same issues?

Also +1 on the mairjuana

 

[Neptune]

When you ride together is it always you driving? Perhaps if she was driving she would feel more in tune and connected to the Spark.

 

[soulbleed313]

Thanks for the responses. We went to a small local lake and I just had her sitting on it getting use to how it feels and then taking short little trips on it. Seemed to help so she is going to keep practicing that way. She worked on it for a couple hours last night and had some really good results. She is a trooper and don't give up she'll get it.

 

[ChuckTheVoice]

What about the Marijuana?

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[soulbleed313]

Sorry to disappoint but the marijuana and the alcohol aren't going to happen. Lol, I do appreciate the suggestion though.

 

[Cool_Breeze]

Thanks for the responses. We went to a small local lake and I just had her sitting on it getting use to how it feels and then taking short little trips on it. Seemed to help so she is going to keep practicing that way. She worked on it for a couple hours last night and had some really good results. She is a trooper and don't give up she'll get it.

Just curious is your Spark a 2up or 3up?

 

[ChuckTheVoice]

I have a 2up. And for me and my GF this is stable

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[Yuba]

On our spark i'm 215 and she is probably 150 and we are pretty stable but we flip in some corners lol only because i'm a shitty passenger (she says). I'm used to driving and being in control on the quad or street bike and spark.

 

[soulbleed313]

its a 3 up. we have been practicing a good bit and she is getting better. alot of it had to do with some fear of the water and some motion sickness. so she has been wearing the motion sickness bands that have been helping and just being on the water more is helping. she is getting there and its getting alot easier. i should just buy another one and settle it that way lol

 

[Blazer]

a balance board