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Gate Turn-In Ball


Dscholfield
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On an 8 buoy course, the ball is there. Up through 32 off, if you backside it like you would a ball in the course, you will miss the gates early - actually very early. The same would probably happen at 35. Basically, the gates are down course for everything but shortline. If I were the rulemaker, the entry gates would go away and be replaced by a turn-in ball that was a few feet inside and upcourse from the zero ball.
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@smanski So, if im reading that correctly, you're recommending the ball be much closer than the regular ball 1 to ball 2 distance?

I was wondering if, as you shorten the line, the ball would need move closer due to the difference in experience acceleration cross course.

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@smanski I've never seen anyone go around the zero ball at 35, make the gates, and still be in good position for 1. I did watch Will Asher RUN OVER our zero ball at 35, and ski inside of it at 38 and 39. No ONE point will be the perfect starting place for all line lenghts. But as a general place to mark....that seems to be a good one.
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I ski on a course that has jump course as part of the slalom course. At the end of the course where the ramp sits, it gets dicey with all the extra buoys to have to not think about. I ended up however, gauging my pull out for the glide based on one extra buoy in the boat path. I think @DaveLemons and @OB are right for a turn in ball. It would get in the way. But having a buoy in the boat path line that's set up to indicate when you should pull out could be helpful as it may set your timing up better. Utilizing site lines for highest width during the glide and utilizing the boat and its relationship to the gates should be used for your glide location and turning in for the gates. With the buoy used for timing the pull out you can calculate if you have to pull out sooner, later, or with/without more intensity to accomplish your optimum glide and turn in for the gates. I think that buoy would not get in the way.
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@MattP. The jump course is at a friend of mine. I use it as a gauge and then (what most should do IMHO) once my optimum is found, I find a line of site that indicates that go point. Like boat related to pre-gates. That then gets used 90% of the time but its nice to ski there and see if im still where i need to be. BTW made a correction above regading pre-gate. Should have said just gate.
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We had a zero ball that was sort of randomly located. I found that I went 10 feet by it for 22off

A few feet by it at 28, ran over it at 32. Skiers that run 35 off easily were turning in front of it.

We moved it in 2 feet inside the 2,4,6 line because of everyone running over it at 32 off.

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I have skied a lot in a course with a "zero" ball. I find it a good cue at longer lines to let you know you might be taking too shallow an angle through the gates (especially us lefties). It seems to work pretty well through at least 32 off. At shorter lines, I have no experience, but I have watched a lot of 35 and 38 off skiers at turn in and they are mostly not 90 degrees to boat path. So intersecting the trajectory from the zero ball to one ball through the gates, may be more the real goal. We don't have an actual buoy there, just a small section of a foam 'noodle' that you can run over all you want, with no real consequences.
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Generally speaking, having a "starting point" may help some newer skiers get a feel for the dimensions of the course. However, as a tournament skier, relying on that marker could prove more hurtful when you show up to a tournament and your usual point of reference is not available to you. When I was first learning the course, Ray Crenshaw gave me some very simple yet good advice. Pull out when the boat goes through the pre-gates, get wider than the 2-4 ball line, and begin your roll in for the gates as the boat passes through the gates. Ever since then, I have used the boats relation to the course as part of my cues of when to pull out and when to roll in. Obviously, those points change with speed, line length, and experimentation. But the good news is that no matter where you ski, you'll always have a boat you can reference instead of a turn in marker!
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Thanks everyone for all the advice, it seems like a much better idea to work then on my relations based on the boat than extra training bouys.

 

@webbdawg99 I am definitly going to try working on this type of technique more, thanks a lot

 

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