34 and 36 off?

[bmiller3536]

A few ski buddies of mine started skiing with a practice rope that starts @ 28 off and has 2 foot sections up through 38 off. We got into a discussion on wether or not this would be beneficial. I figured I would open this up to anyone out there that has an opinion.

 I do not think running 34 off or 36 off will help you run 38 off. I think you can accomplish more by working on technique at 32 off and 35 off and becoming more consistent at 35 off ( an actual line length) than running 34 or 36 off.

[Thomas Wayne]

Intermediate line lengths have been used by skiers for many years to help them "graduate" to the next line length, and the success of the technique is pretty well established.

TW

[HO 410]

Well, one approach does not require that you modify or buy a new rope.

I tend to think it swings both ways and that a little of each is beneficial. When you slow down the boat, you feel less rushed throught the entire pass. This gives you a good chance to get used to the geometry and perspective of the new pass. But eventually, you will need to work this out at your maximum boat speed and a good way to make that a little be easier would be to have a little bit more rope. 

[clemsondave]

I've tried it with not much results. 37off = easy. 38off = still difficult

[RichardDoane]

I don't think it helps to ski in course with a speed, or line length that's not "standard". Slower speeds will screw up your timing, and there's no need to learn rope lengths that you wouldn't see in tournament.

[Coux]

One reason for creating the practice rope was to test the mental aspect of moving up the rope.  Many times after someone runs a great pass and then cuts to the next line length I hear the phrase "just do the same thing here".  As much as I try, I have a tendency to initiate the turn earlier and finish harder when I get to my hardest pass.  So "doing the same thing here" mentally makes more sense when each increment is a more subtle change.  Initially I got the result I was looking for in this department, but it didn't take long to 'adjust' to the practice rope and start changing my style at the new hardest length.

Next, I don't believe that running 34 or 36 off will help you run 38 off.  But practicing at 36 off may make 35 off feel easier in a tournament.  This would be similar to training at a slightly faster speed than the actual speed you will be running in a tournament.

Another thing about this rope is that it is solid blue.  Again, this was to test the mental aspect of changing line lengths.  More for a change of pace than anything else I was curious to see how someone reacts to jumping from length to length without knowing precisely what length they are at.  From experience I can say that it's hard not to cheat by looking closely and counting the loops.  Also, from experience I can say that my results were pretty similar whether I cheated or not.  Even when I didn't cheat though there was a natural tendency to adjust my intensity by visually spotting the distance from the boat.  No big surprise there.

Finally, the true test of this rope would have been to take a skier on the verge of running the next line length and let them ski up the line with no prior knowledge of the actual rope dimensions.  I've certainly heard a few stories about someone who ran a new pass for the first time because someone in the boat cut the rope without the skier's knowledge.  Unfortunately I blew the opportunity to test that scenario by giving in to questions about the rope.  If I hadn't maybe bmiller3536 would have run a few 38's in the last couple weeks.  :)

 

 

[scoke]

 

must be crazy northwest texas skiers! /vanillaforum/js/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-wink.gif

[acmx]

I know what you mean Clemsondave, I made a cheater loop for 38 that was fifteen inches long(half length of 35) ran the pass two out of three times like it was 35. Shortened to 38= samme old story; 2 or 3 . Hard to believe fifteen inches could make that much difference.

[Thomas Wayne]

So try this instead:  Run your opener (let's say -28'), for example, then run -32', then go straight to -36 1/2'.  If you run the last one, -38' is just 18 short inches away.

TW