How do I limit the slack going into the one ball at 22 off?

[skifan]

Luckily I'm old enough to be skiing at 34 mph. I have been able to consistently ski my 15 off clean in back to back sets and am now working at 22 off. I have been able to make some back to back passes at 22 off but they weren't pretty. The biggest problem I'm having is monster slack at the one ball which throws of the rest of the pass. What are some tips that I can focus on to help prevent the slack?

 

[LeonL]

Two things immediately come to mind, but without seeing you it's just a guess. First of all don't get excited and kill the gate with too much speed. Second you must maintain outbound direction to keep tension on the line.

[ForrestGump]

1. Lean against both arms through the gates with your head vertical.

2. Drive the ski all the way through the wake with your core

3. Don't let the core fall behind the handle- Keep it engaged with the handle. The second you let your elbows come away from your core, your core and the ski fall behind the handle and take an arc that's inside the arc of the handle.

4. When you know you're wide enough and the ski will clear the buoy, shift your vision to something like the next set of boat guides. This will keep the head up.

[Skoot1123]

@ShaneH - excellent! I suppose this applies to a lot of the line lengths as well, you'll just notice it more at 28 and 32 off. Next time I ski I need to focuse on keeping head level and where I look!!

[Wish]

I would add that looking for or at the nose of the boat would be a good focal point until your at first wake. Turning you head before the ski has finished does not always work well and that can happen when you start turning your head to search for the next ball. And obviously you can't think of all these things at once so pic a couple, make em muscle memory and move on from there. Odds are the one or two things will clean up several other things.

[Dusty]

All good stuff here. I might add- slack results from skiing faster than the boat- the cause is from pulling too long and/or in the wrong direction as well.

[mshaw200]

My two cents.

 

First I slightly disagree with the first post regarding gates. While I do agree that you don't want to kill it at the turn for your gate you do not want to back off on the intensity of your lean thru the gates. And you may even want to ramp up the intensity. I promise you my gates at 39 & 41 are way stronger & more intense then my gate at 35 & 38.

 

In my opinion the major cause of slack is direction. To keep a tight line you have to maintain your outbound direction past the 2nd wake even after you change edges. Typically, especially at a new line length there's excitement and the feeling of things happening faster, what usually happens is that when you change edges you immediately let go of the handle and thus give all of your direction away and now are skiing straight downcourse at the next buoy. When this happens you're now going faster than the boat and when it's time to turn there's no way to do so without getting slack.

 

You might end up a little faster at the buoy when you maintain better outbound direction (it's not a bad thing) but you will be ok because you'll have a tight line when you finish your turn.

 

Good luck

[Chef23]

@mshaw200 summarized it very well. Focus on intensity behind the boat and riding the handle out to the buoy and you will be good.

[Razorskier1]

@mshaw200 hit it on the head. I know for sure that when I am skiing a new rope length I can sometimes get excited going through the gate, then look right at the one, stick the handle out and ski straight downcourse at it. Result -- faster than the boat and in the same direction -- slack, late turn, done. I have seen others do it to. I was working on my 38s one day and my wife simply said "stay away from the one ball". This translates in my head to exactly what mshaw200 said above. Stay outbound and don't look for the one. The boat and the arc of the rope will take you there if you execute a good gate and keep a tight line.

[lb]

having struggled through this before. I found the jump from 15off to 22 the hardest. A pro coach once told me at 15 off you need to work really hard for a longer time (you pull past the 2nd wake) at 22off you need to use the same amount of energy but for a shorter amount of time. you need to get all your angle and speed from the ball to behind the boat then start transitioning (using all the good advise above)

 

I found that going from 15 to 22 I end up pulling to long and would end up trying to hook turn and hold on through the slack hit.

 

now I just start the season at 22off and slower speeds

[lb]

having struggled through this before. I found the jump from 15off to 22 the hardest. A pro coach once told me at 15 off you need to work really hard for a longer time (you pull past the 2nd wake) at 22off you need to use the same amount of energy but for a shorter amount of time. you need to get all your angle and speed from the ball to behind the boat then start transitioning (using all the good advise above)

 

I found that going from 15 to 22 I end up pulling to long and would end up trying to hook turn and hold on through the slack hit.

 

now I just start the season at 22off and slower speeds