Too Wide Too Soon

[Klundell]

In the last three weeks my consistency at 38-off has really improved. I attribute it to an epiphany I had while running endless 38's where I would come off of a great one ball and be done at two. Hopefully these few thoughts will help one of you get through that nasty purple line. Who knows maybe this is common knowledge to everyone but it was a major breakthrough for my skiing. And one thing I know is that by writing it down I will be able to do it better and remember it for next season.

 

Discovery: I was trying to get my ski wide of the buoy line too soon.... 38-Off is the first time the rope becomes short of reaching the buoy. This means that in order to be wide of the buoy line with the ski the skier must be extended in a reached position. I've read endless articles about handle control and I was trying everything that I had read not to give the rope up at the edge change so that my ski would "cast out." This was compounding the problem I was getting great edge change and was getting wide of the buoy line but I was too early in the course which made me extended too early and heading straight at the buoy creating slack. I'm not sure when the discovery occurred but one day I began to realize that if I was going to control the handle I would need to do a lot more of my pre-turn inside the buoy line with the turn apexing at the buoy. Visually this is very hard to do initially because pre-turning inside the buoy line is just plain weird and counter intuitive to everything you've been taught about being "wide and early."

 

Results: 1) By doing more of my preturn inside the buoy line I found that my ski was on a much better arc. I am now either heading away from the buoy line or back towards it, never straight. This means a tighter line.

2) The most surprising result was when I found myself wider at the buoy despite running a narrower approach to the buoy.

3) Better handle control. For the first time I've finally been able to control the handle at short lines. Because I'm doing more of the pre-turn inside the buoy line I now have rope to actually control.

4) Better finish of the turn. This happens because of 1,2,&3. With a tighter line, being wider at the buoy, and being able to control the handle and really reach at the right time the ski will finish like never before.

 

Next time you watch someone who skis shortline well go to the end of the lake and look down the buoy line and notice how long there ski is actually wide of the buoy line. It's only for a split second.

 

 

[Than_Bogan]

Firstly, there's no such thing as "common knowledge" about how to run -38!

 

And secondly, thanks! Very interesting stuff. Every bit of intelligence I can gather to defeat the Evil Purpleness is pure gold.

[Razorskier1]

Had this discussion with 6balls this summer. Problem is wide too early and you have to hold off the ski u til the ball. Oddly taking slightly less angle achieves what you describe and seems to work (when I execute correctly). Hard to get it thru my head to ski slower and with modestly less angle to run my hard pass.

[MAD11]

Good stuff above. Maybe thinking about it in turns and leans is what's causing you issues. When I think about it like that it always turns into more load. Also, for sure more effort isn't what get's through it. I blow up every time I go harder at 38. When 38 feels good I am still on the handle outside the buoy line. 39 even longer. May as well ski 32 and 35 that way. Why change. Can't demonstrate very well skiing once a month and traveling all the time, but I do have fond memories. Watch C Scott run 39 on video for a good 34mph example. He is on the handle forever. 34 not the same as 36 in this regard, at least for me.

OB, reach out when you get a chance. Tell ya about what I'm riding

[acmx]

@klundel I usually grasp technique talk pretty well, but I really don't understand what your saying (more pre turn inside buoy line). Really interested in this topic, because most days I can run back to back 35's but never get past 3 @38. I don't feel any rythum @38, feels like alot of starting and stopping with no flow.

[6balls]

Very true. As a guy who tends to pull too hard I can be stupid wide/early at 35. I can also do it at 38 but the result is not the same...smoke 35, roasted at 38. It all looks good going in at 38, but wide of ball too early and have to hold off which is no muoy bueno. It is difficult to get in one's head that a later site line is o.k, but I also believe key to the pass with consistency. Watch the guys who are good at 38...they keep handle long, release, swing ski and back on the handle. Very little time with one hand on the handle.

Great advice, Klundell. Let's go get the purple (well...at least those of you with functional ankles...will be at least a few weeks for me)!

[Klundell]

@acmx If I am going to the 2 ball then the buoy line I'm referring to is the 2,4,6 buoy line. If I try to get my ski outside of that line too early in the course then I will be in my fully extended/reached position too early. (due to the fact that the rope is short of the buoy the only possible way for the ski to be outside of it is to be extended.) My only choice at this point is to travel in a straight line (with the boat) to the buoy. Once the buoy arrives the only choice is to bleed a bunch of speed by hooking the turn under the slack line. This creates that "stopping and starting" feeling you are having. Does that help? I'll try to come up with some more practical advice as to how to execute it.

[ForrestGump]

I think a better way to say this, is that you have created to much space between you and the buoy when you get to the buoy line, requiring you to run parallel to the boat to get to the point where you can drop in.

 

 

[Razorskier1]

All true. In short it seems that 38 is where it becomes critical to ski the right line and the right rythm with the boat. Timing really starts to matter. What has made it frustrating for me is that when I get that rythm and position relative to the balls right, the pass actually feels really easy, and I come out the end gates wondering why I don't run it every time . . . but I don't! For me I do think about being "lighter on the boat" with every shortening of the rope between 28 and 38. It just seems to take less energy to get where I need to be as the rope gets shorter, and if I use less energy, the passes feel better.

[Wish]

So the last time I ran 38, I was very tired, had a pissy attitude and had 0 expectations on how far I would go that day. Started at 28 and ran straight through 2@39 without rediculois slack. I did not put forth half the physical effort to grunt and yank my way through the passes as usual. I stayed light (mostly due to fatigue) and what felt like late and somewhat narrow, somehow the buoys just kept going down. Didnt feel that the typical pain in the shoulders and elbows after. I actually felt good. So in essence I did what was described above I believe. The 38 was not physically demanding. I'm just plain over taking hits from slack line. I have been tying to emulate that ever since with little to no luck as I was not sure why 38 even went down that day. Now I get it. Thanks. But it is soooo tough to reprogram my brain to do almost the opposite of what I've been doing for so long. How are u guys accomplishing the reprogramming process and not falling into old habits??

[bxroads]

I'm 38 and runnin 200 lbs. I'd say I'm too wide too soon.

[acmx]

@klundell thanks for the explanation, think I understand what your saying. What are you doing different to accomplish this? Sounds like maybe skiing a line that seems narrow but isn't?

[6balls]

I echo the others. I've walked thru 38 like some kind of joke on occasion only to have a terrible time repeating the event...just had the timing and swing. I think when it falls for me it has to be that way, because if I get into a scramble with the old school turn and pull it just doesn't get me back out of a 38 very well. I hang onto some crazy stuff sometimes but it gets me exactly one more ball on that set, not the pass.

Like Wish, curious to know how to train this sight line and pull. Should I run my longer passes a little narrower, w/less angle and swing late so I'm practicing at longer lines what works at 38? Can I break my love affair with wide, early, and that little ball off in the distance ripe for the picking?

[liquid d]

when you get that hard crazy turn, that's the most important time to keep the handle on your hip even longer. It's the loss of speed that gets you at the next bouy. You can't cast the ski out away/infront if you don't have sufficient speed. That's when you start digging holes at each bouy...only way out is hold on extra long.

[RichardDoane]

IMO - it's all about getting up on the boat at the start, and then keeping that good "swing" going through the pass without letting your front foot get behind your COM when the pull comes (staying stacked). 6balls is absolutely correct about how easy it feels when you get it right.