Three Point Stance

The three point stance is the most fundamental barefoot maneuver and one you should really practice and become proficient at as it's the foundation to which most of your barefooting tricks are built upon.

Prior to my visit to Ron Scarpa Water Sports in Winter Haven, FL last April (see my Footin' Florida Style! page), I can not really say that I knew what the three point was. Ron stresses the three point in his "progressive learning approach" and feels that this fundamental barefooting position is crucial to your barefooting career.

I wrote many of these tutorials before I truly knew what the three point was. So here I will explain how you do the three point and keep in mind that the three point should be done prior to and after completing many of your barefoot tricks.

You can practice the three point while barefooting on the boom (hanging directly on or using the 5' line) or long line. The three point will make your deep water starts much easier as well as making your tricks much smoother and easier to start and finish.

Here's how to do a three point from a deep water start:

1. As you are skimming along comfortably on your butt with your feet still on the line, begin to bring your feet up the line towards you by bending your knees (as you get better at this, you may want to remove your feet from the line for better stability).
2. When the boat has almost reached your ideal barefoot speed, your knees should be bent as much as possible with your feet gliding on the water, slightly pigeon towed and about shoulder width apart.
3. In this position, your feet are very close to your butt and you are in a compact position with your feet and your butt riding on the water (thus in a "three point" position).
4. You should be able to ride like this indefinitely but you will notice how easy it is from this position to stand up. Go ahead and stand up if you wish or continue in your newly learned three point until you feel comfortable riding this way.

Going into the three point from a standing position is the same as above but in reverse. You should sit down by bending your knees more than 90 degrees and sitting on the water with your butt as close to your feet as possible (as opposed to just dropping on your butt with your knees bent at only 90 degrees or so).

Get it? It takes awhile to develop a good three point position but as Ron Scarpa teaches, this is a fundamental position to barefooting and you should practice and become quite proficient at it before attempting more advanced tricks.

One final note: If you just can't seem to get it on the water, try it on the dock. Hook your 5' handle to a dock post and get in the normal barefoot position. Try sitting down without doing a three point. Don't want to do you? You would just basically slam down on your butt (ouch!). Now try sitting down doing a three point. Also, try standing up each way. Now you get the idea!