Section 5: Rules of Play
Slalom. The skier makes a series of passes through the course, starting at a set boat speed with the full 18.25 m rope. If the skier successfully rounds all six turn buoys on a pass without falling or missing a buoy, boat speed is increased in the next pass until the maximum speed for that division is reached (55 km/h / 34 mph for women; 58 km/h / 36 mph for men, in senior/elite divisions). Once maximum speed is reached, further successful passes are rewarded by shortening the rope through the official progression instead of increasing speed. The skier's run ends on a fall, a missed buoy, or failure to complete the course, and is scored on the number of buoys successfully rounded at the boat speed/rope length combination reached.
Tricks. Each competitor receives two passes of 20 seconds each through the tricks course, typically one performed on two skis or with hand-hold variations and one on a single ski, during which the skier attempts a freely chosen sequence of tricks (turns, flips, wake crossings, and toe-hold maneuvers). Each trick has a predetermined point value set out in the rulebook's trick tables; a trick may only be scored once per competitor across both passes, and repeated tricks score zero on subsequent attempts.
Jump. The skier is towed at the maximum boat speed permitted for their division (up to 57 km/h / 35 mph for elite men and up to 54 km/h / 33.5 mph for elite women) and directs the ski(s) up the ramp, aiming to fly the maximum horizontal distance before landing and riding away in control on the water. A jump only counts if the skier maintains control and does not fall before crossing the finish/riding-away point; distance is measured from the end of the ramp to the point of landing.
Skiers compete across all three events in three-event (combined) competition, or may enter one or two individual events depending on the tournament format specified for that competition.