Shore Shots without AI Servo

Any tips on shooting in AV mode or am I forced to shoot in the Sports mode to active the AI Servo with my 300D? Can you shoot in RAW when shooting in sports mode? I know you handicap yourself a lot but I was unsure what else to do.

It would be at a private ski lake so I would be very close to the action.

On that model it appears aiservo is only available in sports mode but I'm not sure how much good it would do you shooting wakeboarding anyhow. Give TV mode a try and see how your results are. RAW is good in the sense that you can mess the exposure up a little and still fix it but unless you have the PP skills to go along with it I'd stick to jpeg and mess with the jpeg settings.

I've been shooting RAW for awhile with good success. I'm addicted now to RAW!

I'm not worried about exposure as much as focus. I would like to get some in water shots with the rider headed straight at me but I'm not sure if I'll be able to get anything in focus unless I really stop the camera down. Any tips on technique where I can shoot closer to wide open? I will be using my 70-200 f/4.

What is the sports mode defaulting you to in general re: aperture/shutter and can you tell if the aiservo is actually working in that mode?

To be honest with you Rich, I never shoot in that mode because of how much it handicaps you. I've always shot from the boat so there wasn't much need for AI Servo. This is my first time really doing action that is moving away from and towards me at a significant speed. The experience from my 6 year-old niece's soccer games don't seem to be helping me much!

Thanks for the replies.

I think you have problems with soccer on a 300D unless you prefocus on your spots.