When should you increase speed?

[Waternut]

I've been skiing at 28mph in the course for a while now and definitely still working on form and technique. I usually mess up my first few passes while getting warmed up and then I get a little more consistent and can run the course about half the time after that. Should I be able to run 28mph with my eyes closed before I move up to 30mph or should I go ahead and try to speed up and work on that after a couple successful passes?

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be a macho man but my worry is that I'm running a 66" radar annex and I'm 6' tall and weigh 175lbs. I'm starting to wonder if the ski may be a little too small for 28mph which could be hindering my learn curve. Everyone keeps telling me to slow things down but I feel like I need to pick up the load of the boat immediately or I start sinking in the turns and the load of the boat comes on too strong for me to handle.

[Than_Bogan]

"Everyone" is right. Slow down to something you can make every time as your opener.

 

Get a bigger and/or wider ski if necessary for it to be comfortable.

 

Nearly impossible to get better when mostly practicing failure.

 

Then again, don't be afraid to try 30, too. There's also value in stretching and gaining familiarity with the next challenge.

 

At almost any level, you want a crazy-easy pass, an easy pass, a challenging pass, and a reach pass as your typical portfolio of 4 things to practice at.

[Waternut]

Hmmm... maybe when I run 28mph a couple times, I'll try to bump up to 30 and see if that feels better or way beyond my level or not. If it's worse, another guy wants me to try his 67.5" ski so I may take him up on that as well and see if that works for me. I hate sounding like that guy that thinks equipment is the source of his short comings but after 3 months, I've made virtually no progress other than taking fewer spills and it has me questioning various things.

 

I like your concept of 4 things to practice though. I've clearly got my work cut out for me.

[ToddF]

You can run at 30 mph and shadow the balls get your timing down, work on position, get used to the speed. Then ocassionally pull around a ball: shadow 1 2 3 and go around the four etc. I am sure your ski will feel better and not sinking as much.

[6balls]

66 would be small at your weight and at that speed. You may like it better with a little more speed.