How can I help a friend learn to cut harder?

[Waternut]

I will totally admit that I'm no pro at slalom skiing but I can run the course on occasion...usually by the end of the day once I've had some practice though...lol. All the pointers and coaching I've received over the years were for better form and pulling position.

 

Anyway, I've been trying to help a friend at least get up to my level. She has been skiing on slalom for years but has never learned to cut very hard and subsequently just slowly coasts over the wake on a flat ski. Granted she has always skied behind an I/O boat with a nasty wake until this year though. I can usually give pointers to those who come across the wake fairly quickly but I'm having a heck of a time getting her to gain the confidence to even hit the wake with any speed. She wants to and ski's until her grip gives out. She also has decent posture going from the wake out to the outside but she can't figure out coming into the wake. Either she makes her turn too slowly and drifts back into the wake or makes it a little too quickly and the ski gets squirrely so she backs off instead of digging in harder.

 

I can't imagine she needs any fin or binding adjustment at this point but I don't know how to get her to really dig into the turn. Any advice would be helpful.

[Than_Bogan]

Edit: In case anyone is reading through this thread for the first time and looking for the best answer, skip down to ToddL's response.

 

 

My original response for posterity:

 

That's a tough one. It's a catch-22 to gain the confidence to get a sufficiently aggressive angle to slice through the wake, at which point the wake isn't an obstacle any more!

 

The closest thing I have to an idea is: Suggest a progressively increasing angle. Start from a high point, turn in "normally" and then try to add to that angle away from the boat until about the second wake.

 

It's probably not literally possible to add much to the angle, but by attempting to do so it may achieve the desired result of NOT reducing the angle.

 

This should also help her to stay on edge through the second wake, slicing through it instead of using it like a ramp.

 

GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN!

[SkiJay]

I've successfully used Seth Stisher's "Pull-Out" drill to help people get more comfortable with cutting harder. This drill allows the skier to get familiar with more extreme loads and lean angles without the intimidation of the wake crossing. Try to get your skier to do lots of these (four or more sets) at exaggerated intensity levels. Then when it's time to return to running the course, start each set with one or two passes of these, as hard as they can go. They will instinctively "throttle back" when it comes time to take the move to the wakes, but they will still be cutting harder and in better form than they were before the drill.

 

[Waternut]

Thanks guys. I have actually had her work on pull out drills (man that sounds perverted) a week or so ago. I do think it helped for that day because she was cutting back and forth better than any other day. I never really put two and two together though to realize that the drills could've been the reason she was more comfortable.

[Horton]

[Than_Bogan]

@Horton WTF is that? Admittedly I'm watching it without sound (b/c at work), but my brow is very furrowed right now.

[Horton]

That is my coach. Trust me it is way better with sound.

[Than_Bogan]

I may have to take your word for it. Not sure I could survive watching that again.

[ForrestGump]

When we teach kids, we start them in the whitewater and have them cross the wake. Then go back the other way. And back and forth. Go up and down the lake a few times doing that. Then move them to just outside the white water and cross over. Then move them out another 4-5 ft. And so on and so on.

[jimbrake]

@Horton - that is an oldy but a goody. Love it. That technique is newer than west coast - that is SoCal style. The best part is the comments posted on YouTube.

[TylerR]

@horton so that's what we are all doing wrong... Best YouTube video ever!!!

[Horton]

I love the terrible stuff best.

[crashman]

crap I didn't realize I was supposed to attach the rope to a tower

[Waternut]

Wow that's pretty much the most awful advice I think I've ever heard. I've heard plenty of equally dumb stuff in person too...

[Horton]

If you google that guy you will find more

[TylerR]

@horton u are making my day with this guy man!!!

[Laz]

@jfw432 This is my wife's problem exactly. She can almost get wide enough. Her position is decent but she just won't "hard cut".

[jimbrake]

Dude's from Austin! I would've sworn he was from Castaic, or Big Bear, or Arrowhead or some other SoCal freeride spot. Funny.

[Taelan28]

Continue the drills. She didnt continue to cut better the same reason you didnt put 2 and 2 together. The human brain, no matter the age, almost never learns something the first time. She did the drills and cut better but didnt keep it up, likewise you saw her cut better but didnt realize what caused it.

[ToddL]

@ShaneH has it right. I call this drill Narrow Wake Crossings. Required for ultimate success is the best boat wakes possible. Won't work on uncle Bob's I/O.

 

Why this works... If the skier starts narrow, they don't have any time to get pulled out of position. Thus, they cross the wake in good position. This builds confidence. They develop muscle memory of leaning in good position while crossing the wake. Spotter must reinforce stacked body position.

 

This drill is about wake crossings. There really shouldn't be any turns. Just stop the lean off the second wake. Chill. And then start the next wake crossing.

 

Also, there should never be extra effort/lean past the second wake. Just maintain the lean across the back of the boat and through the second wake. We want to avoide the dreaded double-pull wake crossing. I tell students that you only get what you generate on the way into the boat path. To eventually run the coarse, you have generate enough momentum on the way into the boats centerline to cast you out to the buoys. But for now, just prevent any type of Harder, additional lean past the second wake.

 

As the skier advances in confidence, they naturally cast wider. When they start to end up wider than the white wash water, you have to instruct them to start the wake crossing easier, then progressively lean a little harder as they approach the wakes. (We don't want turn and burn and get yanked out of the lean by the boat.) This is the foundation of a progressive effort to the wake crossing. Don't sacrifice this fluid, progressive effort for the sake of trying to get wider. Wider will come with confidence and body position. Those two result in efficient use of the ski to cross the wake with energy in an early and outbound path...

 

Finally, muscle memory matters. Practice makes permanent. Keep the skier with boundaries where good habits are forming. Do everything possible to eliminate opportunities to create poor position muscle memory. Utilize the extra times on the ski to reinforce proper body position and weight distribution. At the end of a pass for example, ensure the skier is coasting in proper position. Anytime on top of the water on the ski should be in proper position. Ultimately when "resting" on the ski, the skier should be in perfect body position. These are the times when there is nothing else to get in the way of doing it correctly. Take advantage of them fully.

[lakeaustinskier]

Just wanted to point out that considering that my user name is Lake Austin Skier that is me. Love the big candy colored wakeboard handle.

[bogboy]

I went to friends in winterhavan over a month ago for course boot camp. No free skiing. Course owners kept yelling, Ted, pull the m.o.f. Pilon out of the boat! In 4 days I made the course.

[Wish]

@Horton came across that Video I think more then a yr ago. He is a stud. You need to do your vids in shades and use a wake pole/tower for your ski tests. Ya that's it..that's the ticket. The deep voice is sexy. Can you do that?

[Texas6]

He can't be going more than 25mph in that video the way his ski is sinking into the water...some epic advice in there, use your biceps, lock down your back arm, twist your body in the direction you want to go....guy is awesome

[ForrestGump]

I remember that guy from when I used to drive boats for the Sea World ski show. He was kind of a know it all.

[skihart]

Hmmmm.......which vid to go with?????.......hmmmm......I think that Seth guy doesn't really look all that cool and isn't using that fancy handle.....and the rope is sooo low.......yup I am going to go with the other vid with the slick dood who drags his butt across the wake........thanks Horton! ;-)

[Patmaster]

Horton, you made my day. I saw that video before but it just hit the spot now!

 

[lakeaustinskier]

Hmmmmm.....based on the crap I've taken recently evidently some people actually believe that guy IS me. NOT ME. I've also seen that guy around Lake Austin and he's the guy in the wakeboard boat with five dudes (only).