I (at 6'2" and 250#) start with both feet in, and find that when I fail a deep water start by falling off to the same side as your husband, it's almost always because I bury the tip of the ski at some point during the pull out (either standing too early, or letting my upper body weight come forward during the pull out). Big guys doing deep water starts with 2 feet in don't have much margin for error, so tell him not to get too frustrated. We have a boat with a strong hole shot, so what works well for me is to drag (very briefly) at idle speed to get my mass moving forward with the boat in the same line, and then when I hit it, I rock back in the water (bringing my ski tip higher) and concentrate on pinching my shoulder blades together to keep my weight back. If your husband has enough hand and upper body strength, I much prefer a hard, fast hit -- ski comes up on top of the water quickly and doesn't have much opportunity to submerge. If the boat's hole shot is marginal, or he struggles with being able to hang onto the handle, I'd opt for the 1 foot start. (A wild, erratic ski path during a 1 foot pull out may be as simple as having a front boot that is too loose on his foot, not allowing him to control the ski solely with that front foot.)