I Just Realized How Bad I Am

[Brady]

Okay, I am posting this video of today. I didn't make it through all 6, but it was also the second set of the day after skiing two sets the day before as well. i can barely move my arms to type this. I am almost out to the balls, but after looking at this, I realize truly how bad I really am! This is 15 off, 32mph.

 

Please critique the hell out of this. I know I have some very bad habits, and I want to get better more than you can imagine. This week was the first time I ran the green balls. I have two comments I would like to make. First, I feel like I am turning much faster than I truly am, and second, I feel like I am crossing the wake fast, but as you can see, it looks like molassASS. Thanks in advance, and I apologize if this video offends......it offended me! :)

 

[crashman]

That looks like the most beautiful place on earth to ski. I must ski there before I die. I'll leave the analysis to the experts.

[Skoot1123]

@Brady - your on your way to improving just by posting. Geat job. I am no expert either so I will leave the critiquing to the pros. What I do like is the free flowing rythym. Seems like your NOT in a hurry, which is good, because that is actually patience. Patience is key.

[gregy]

@brady weren't we just have a discussion about fallen back = not good. Honestly right now just ski some and get in shape, have fun. Your getting your COM back out of the turn but a lot of us are looking like that this time of year.

[RichardDoane]

@brady - you get an A for effort, it takes guts to post personal videos of skiing, so way to go. I'd get you the longest Radar P6 (71" ?) so that you can temporarily slow the boat down, giving you a little more time to work on form, timing and handle control. Resist the urge to ski multiple days in a row, you need rest to recover. If you're too tired, you'll develop bad habits.

[MISkier]

I am not an expert, but it looks to me like you are pulling in with your arms and your hands are in front of you rather than near your hips. That will pull you up and flatten your wake crossing. When you flatten your wake crossing (and lead with your shoulders), you may be thrown a bit forward going into your turn. That takes some of the natural arc out of the turn, which is moving your COM, as @gregy mentions.

 

Work to straighten those arms and get them toward the hip as you lean into a stacked position.

 

But, I expect others may be more insightful than me. I'm learning as well.

[Texas6]

Good stuff @Brady, you're on top of the water in one of the prettiest places on Earth to ski. Things always look slower on video. Hard to critique a set this early in the year, but if I were to be picky and try and focus on one thing for now that I thought would smooth you out, it would be your arms and a more stringent focus on staying centered over the middle of the ski. The arms are getting away from your body really early and the biproduct of that is a lot of upper body movement, a bit of a break at the waist after the whitewater, and loss of width. Pin those elbows to your jacket and trust that leverage a while longer, concentrate on keeping your weight balanced a bit more over the center of the ski through the turns, and the rest will come into place after a few more sets. You're on your way!!!

[6balls]

@brady you know I love ya brutha. One thing at a time.

Agree with the big ski for now, you're a big guy at a slower speed.

The level of your handle through the entire pass with bent arms is at your chest. If you did nothing else but let your arms be straight allowing the angle of your body to be further from the boat and be in a leveraged lean using your height and size to your advantage that would be a nice first step.

This correction will help but also create the next issue...so re-post frequently and we'll get ya better.

Wow, beautiful setting.

[Bruce_Butterfield]

Brady,

 

Two main things to fix that will go a long way:

 

1. Get wide on your gate. You are barely at 45 degrees with the boat. You want to be at least even with the swim platform on your pullout. The width on the gate sets the amount of angle you will get through the course.

 

2. You are shifting your weight to your back foot in the turns creating a rocking, or back and forth motion. Ideally you want an even 50/50 weight distribution on your feet at all times. To fix this, you will want to try to keep all your weight on your front foot and bend your front ankle (when you think you have ALL your weight on your front foot, you will probably be close to 50/50)

[gregy]

Slowing down is really good idea suggested above. Took me half of one summer to convince my skiing partner to go down to 28 mph. Once he swallow his pride (and that was hard for him) he started progressing fairly quickly. I had a really good skier tell me when learning a line length do what ever it takes to run six balls.

[SkiJay]

@Brady The very first thing I would do is get out of the habit of sticking your arm through the handle as you did at the end of your pass, Brah. You just have to have one dumb fall the wrong way and the damage to your arm can be catastrophic and permanent. It's just not worth the risk. Your grip strength will rise to the challenge quickly if you just keep the handle in two hands while cruising.

[Hipsup]

@Brady Don't despair, it looks pretty good. Keep at it and things will improve quickly.

 

You are a big guy and its really not easy skiing at 32mph or slower on anything smaller than a surf board at your weight. I have dropped from about 240 to around 210 this year and I cannot tell you how much easier things get when you drop weight and improve strength.

 

I know that when I was heavier deep water starts used to absolutely kill me and learning to start with only one foot in made things much much easier and enabled me to save my strength for skiing. I don't know if you start with both feet in but if you do and you have grip issues at the end of the lake then try one footed starts - as @skijay says please don't put your arm thru' the handle!

[A_B]

Awesome site. It would be hard to be pissed off even if I blew a deep water start with that view!

 

Many good points above, I will only add that you are leading with your head when the head should be up with eyes more level and lead with your hips and COM.

 

On your dry land practice site, hold the handle to your waist arms straight, CHEST UP, push your front knee over you front ankle and have your back knee tucked into your front knee, this is the 50/50 BB is talking about. You may need to add a little line to a bridle because of your height. That is how you should feel behind boat every time. If you can get this, the buoys fall in place pretty quickly. Then we can work on getting the front knee flexed going into and during the turn.

 

Oh yeah, nice spray!

[Waternut]

I'm not much better than you but here is what worked for me... I was used to skiing open water around 32mph and was convinced to go to 28mph as well. The guy I ski with actually told me to only worry about rounding buoys and he'll worry about speed. As long as your ski is big enough (most important part) so that you don't start sinking at the buoy, and you'll be amazed at how much easier it is to get into position and learn at slower speeds. Falls don't hurt as much at 28 either so you can take more chances without feeling as scared.

[ForrestGump]

@Brady I can't really add anything more than what was already said by @Texas6, @6Balls, and @Bruce_Butterfield . But I will say this....... you and Andy Mapple, Chris Parrish, Will Asher, Regina, etc all have something in common: You all went through the exact same thing at some point. The great @Mapple didn't get out of bed one day at 13(or whatever age he started skiing) and say "I've never skied before. Maybe I'll go out and run 391/2 off". All of them had to get through long line(in some cases, which is crazy hard. lol) and 15 off and up to maximum speed. We're our own worst critic when we see ourselves on video.

 

Now, zoom that camera in next time. Although the view of the mountains in the background is way sweet, it'd sure be easier to get good critique if you didn't look like a little ant back there. :)

[thager]

I agree with getting wider on the gate, just not at that line length at that site unless your fin will cut thru reeds. Definitely slow the boat down.

[Marco]

I agree with everything said above, especially with Bruce Butterfields comment about getting up on the boat. The relatively narrow line you are taking through the course dosen't allow you to get free of the boat at the buoy, and consequently it is pulling you up over the top of your ski.

 

I would also think about incorporating the reach. Two handing at the buoy is contributing to rotation of your leading shoulder (right going to 1 ball) to the inside at the buoy, again not allowing you to get into a good stacked position at the hook up.

 

All in all great skiing, especially in early season in a dry suit! We haven't even started skiing here yet. Keep up the good work!

[ral]

+1 on slowing the boat down, go to a bigger ski if needed. As @Marco states, skiing the course with two hands at 32 or faster is in fact more difficult than with one and reaching. Two hands work well at 28 or below.

[Brady]

I just want to thank each of you so much for your valuable input. What a truly amazing place where one at the kindergarten level--ME--can interact with guys at the collegiate level and above--YOU--and get incredibly valuable insight to help me improve.

 

I will admit, it was embarrassing posting that video, because I understand what is good and what is not, but for me to improve, I have to swallow my pride and go into total student mode. I think @Horton was correct when talking about listening to people with a higher ball count. The thing he didn't say was how much us guys with lower ball counts look up to all of you who are so much better! I will take all your advice to heart and will work on improving. Thanks again guys!

[SkiJay]

@Brady You are lucky you get to ski with @scotchipman. Skiing with such an accomplished and knowledgeable guy will really help your progress.

 

And a legion of intermediate skiers is lucky to have you as their poster boy. You probably represent the single biggest group of skiers visiting this site, and you're the perfect guy to do it, Brady. Many are too shy to admit their level, never mind post questions or better yet, video. Good on ya buddy!

 

It's an awesome list of technical keys above. I'd add that now is a great time to learn what it feels like to really ride your ski. By "ride," I mean to really get familiar with how it steers most efficiently. There is more than one way to make a ski turn. Skiing with your weight back, you are overloading the skinny tail of the ski so it drifts around the turn. If your ski were a car, it would be like doing e-brake turns where you yank on the e-brake, breaking the back of the car loose to drift it around the turn. It's a turn, and the smoke/spray is cool, but it's not the most efficient way to turn.

 

The most efficient way to turn a car is to load all four tires as much as possible (mostly the front tires) without any of them braking loose. Similarly, in an efficient ski turn, you load the front of the ski and it will respond with a hard-carving stable predictable speed-preserving turn with nothing being forced.

 

When I came back to skiing after a year out from injury, I went to Seth Stisher and asked him to start me from scratch, and his whips/rhythm drill is where he started me—for weeks. Stand tall with what feels like 80% of your weight on your front foot. Then move back and forth over the wake, staying tall and skiing very narrow. Keep it within the white water to start.

 

Play with how much weight you can put on the front of the ski by flexing your ankles and moving everything from your knees up forward. Maintain a nice tall stacked position, just move everything forward over your front ankle and feel the front of the ski bite into a nice carving turn. Strive to stay ahead of your ski with your body the whole time so you don't fall back on the tail.

 

Of course this is easier to do on your on-side. On the off-side, it should feel like you are extending your rear leg straight as you try to rotate your hips open to the boat through the finsih of the turn. You can't really get your hips open to the boat on the off-side, but it should feel like you are trying.

 

Ride back and forth, carving nice little turns until you get a good feel for the way the ski carves with your weight forward, then start adding a little more speed across the wake, maintaining the exact same stack. As the speed goes up, you will automatically find yourself skiing wider.

 

Over the course of a few weeks, you may find yourself getting wide enough that releasing the handle starts to make sense. Don't lose sight of the basics; carving the front of the ski ALL the way around turns by keeping your stacked body ahead of the ski into, around and out of each ball.

 

Getting wide by developing efficient technique will serve you better than doing whatever it takes to force getting around the balls, so don't rush things. The stage you are at may just be the most important part of your whole learning curve.

[Than_Bogan]

Great technical details above. I'll add two general training comments:

 

1) Work on one thing at a time. Well, maybe two things, but if so then one better be related to the gate and the other one better not be. Pick out what feels most critical and/or most attainable above, and really drill on it.

 

2) Patience, grasshopper. :) The biggest key to success is to have the desire to advance quickly but be WILLING to advance slowly. Get things right before you try to push too hard -- otherwise bad habits become even harder to break.

 

Personally, the "one thing" I ask my "students" to focus on first is getting those arms straight. Every instinct is telling you that you need to pull with something, and your biceps are the only muscles available. So it's hard to stop. To try to train yourself out of this, try (gasp!) a dry land drill: Stand in leverage position with a handle and then purposely bend your arms and feel as your leverage disappears and the force through your legs goes down. Then straighten them back out and "hang" the entire weight of your upper body against the line. Totally different. Now never bend them again! :)

[6balls]

If the ice ever goes out here...I'll realize how bad I am.

[madcityskier]

As you can't start wider, I would try to start the turn in later to get better angle through the gates. This will give you a better chance of getting outside the one ball. If you let your shoulders stay open until the ski is ready to turn you'll stay wider. When the ski is ready to turn, concentrate on initiating the turn with your thighs. This will cause your knees and hips to turn and lead your body across course generating angle. You're currently standing upright and dropping your shoulder. This puts you pulling your a$$ off for little angle. Try to keep your hips low to the water across the wakes. Keeping your shoulders down course will prevent loading the line to much, which will put you fast and out of control at the bouy. The previous statements about weight are also true, but I think it may be trying to pull the ski around as it never gets enough speed to break free of the boats pull and carve the turn it was made to.

There's a lot of stuff here. I would start by working on a centered stance. Next initiating the turn with your thighs. Once the turns are generating angle you will find your hips low. The angle will get you across course faster and earlier. This will allow you to change edge and use the momentum to carry you outbound to the bouy. Now your ski will have a longer setup to the turn, and generate even more angle. By this point you'll have a dozen new things to work on anyway. Oh, and gave fun. Not enough people do that in this world.

[GaryWilkinson]

@Brady good on ya for posting your video of not, I imagine your best pass, but a typical one. Shows great courage and a realistic focus and determination to get better. Adda-boy!

 

First thing that hit me was how flat your ski was most of the time. This is a result of your body position and mostly your position in relation to the pull you are receiving from the boat which is all arms. The one time you set a good edge and angle, coming out of 4 ball I think, your body was straight, hips back, and handle and arms too "high" and far away from your hips and core. This resulted in your being pulled forward, losing your edge, angle and distance down course instead of across.

 

My advice? 1) read Than's article on leverage position, find a picture of this position and etch it in your mind for each set, each buoy. It will make a huge difference in your skiing! Specifically, (something I also noticed) was your shoulders and arms seem so high on your core, almost like you're shrugging your shoulders in the "up" position full time while you ski. After reading the article you will see and visualize how low, straight and close to your hips the handle is for a good slalom turn.

 

2) bending your knees and ankles slightly more will allow your body to move more forward on your ski, getting your shoulders back and arms down. It's all part of getting into an overall better, stronger position of leverage for the intense pull and resistance you get in slalom.

 

Here's the article:

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oDlyJi8MRdF9t8uQcEMCUEGsivhQ2tP7qOO6HfPgCDg/mobilebasic?pli=1&viewopt=127

 

Last thing, when you get it all right, good position and timing, it will feel sooo much easier!!

like someone moved the buoys closer and the pull was soft and easy.

 

What a beautiful feeling! Best of luck !

[jhughes]

@Than_bogan is right on the money with the patience part. In addition to all the good technical stuff above, it's going to take water time above all else.

[JTDixon]

So, and pardon my lack of knowledge here, when we say "arms straight", do we mean forearms or entire arms? Because if my entire arms are completely straight, then the handle seems like it would have to be an arms length away from my body, and thus away from my hips. I'm a little confused.

[ForrestGump]

Arms from the shoulders to the hands straight. You can ski this way with the handle at the hips.

[crashman]

@JTDixon let OB show you how!

[JTDixon]

Ok that makes sense. I was thinking more about the beginning of a run before you're able to get those shoulders back.

 

But I do have another question. Should we be trying to avoid the position seen here?

 

http://www.fantasywaterski.com/pictures/640_borgvik.jpg

[estrom]

That's a great pic of OB. Here's one of CP that also shows the straight arms with handle close to hips.

 

[estrom]

@JTDixon, he would have to have the strongest arms in the world to maintain that position across the course. And if he could, he would still be much less efficient and slower than OB and CP in their positions.

[Than_Bogan]

@JTDixon I actually think "hips up" is one of the most misleading pieces of advice out there. It's completely true, and yet (at least for me) it really has to be the result of doing other things. If I think hips up, I end up forcing myself into a horribly inefficient position with my arms bent (and I did this for a few years back before I understood). With your arms out straight and your weight lined up against the force of the rope, it becomes natural to have decent hip placement (and then you can work toward "ideal" from there). Without those things, nothing you do with your hips is gonna put you where you want to be.

 

Btw, this is VERY, VERY fundamental stuff. If you are relatively new to slalom and interested in getting good at it, the efficient position behind the boat is by far the most important thing you need to learn. On any given random public lake, 95-100% of skiers will be doing this wrong, and may even be happy to instruct you to do it wrong. I suggest starting with Horton's article (which I think can be found in the technical section of this website) about balanced position. And if you want a few zillion more words about it, take a look at mine (linked above in this thread).

 

More importantly, get truly expert coaching before bad habits become really hard to break!!

 

Oh also: The position in the photo you linked is probably temporary. Even top pros often have their arms in for a moment at the finish of the turn, but a few frames later their arms will be straight for efficient acceleration.

[JTDixon]

@Than_Bogan thanks so much for the detailed response. I'm 18, have been slaloming for roughly 4 or 5 years now, but have just recently (within the last year or so) really started to love the sport. I can't wait for my season to start and am really anxious to learn as much as I can so that I can improve as quickly as possible.

 

I read Horton's article as well as yours and they are both great. I will definitely be referring to those in the future.

 

Concerning the expert coaching, I'm not sure where I'll be able to get that at lol. I live in NE Ohio and am not aware of a lot of "experts" in my area. I think my best bet in that regard will be just uploading some video on here once I can get on the water and opening the floor to some brutally honest feedback.

 

About the temporary position, I was thinking the same thing. Maybe almost like springs on a bike???, in that they have an ideal resting position (analogous to arms straight), but that they can compress (analogous to bending) to absorb inconsistencies or whatnot (analogous to a slack in the rope or something like that). Idk I could be thinking of it completely wrong but that's just how I'm visualizing it right now.

[jsta281]

Brady, is that Logan UT? I am from UT, I really appreciate your video and the comments I will be following this thead with great anticipation. I am going to take up the course this season after 25 plus years of open water skiing, now that I have my own boat. Good luck with the progress.

[The_MS]

@OB Are you getting used to it? It took me 2 days to make the switch. I carried a parking wand around with me for a few days.

[jsta281]

Scott, I don't know, just heard there is a place near logan, and that looked like Logan.

[The_MS]

Have a rampy toss you a wand up to the cockpit and just switch hands back and forth for a few legs.

[fu_man]

@OB wondering why you are switching your grip? A handful of really good skiers ski that way. I was under the impression that it was personal preferance.

[crashman]

@OB I will trade you my grip for your body position! @Than_Bogan good advice about being patient. I put soooo much pressure on myself last year to advance the boat speed that it definitely hurt me at times. This year my goal is primarily advance my body position and let the boat speed come when it does... Though I really really really want to taste 34 mph

[MattP]

@OB the less you actually think about it the quicker it will become more confortable. Your mind is powerful, don't let it work against you.

[A_B]

I switched years ago and well worth it.

[Horton]

@brady

One of the rules that I live by is that we all struggle at out own level.

Every single skier thinks their ball count is lower than it should be. This sport is just as challenging at your level as at a higher level. In fact you have the advantage of potential.

 

If I wanted to move my PB up by 4 balls I would have to quit my job, divorce my wife, work out every day and move to Florida. You on the other hand are on the up swing. You might gain 12 balls in the next year. I am jealous.

[escmanaze]

Hi Brady, thanks so much for posting this. First, I'm in almost the same position, and second, because you shared the beauty of our lovely UL course #1 with everybody on here.

 

I'm in a very similar position. I used to get 32 mph at full length line consistently, but then a few years of too little skiing and putting on 30 pounds changed that. I just got a bigger ski this year so that I can slow it down to 28, so that was great to hear a few folks say to do that. I'll keep watching this thread and hopefully see you on course #1 soon :)

[SkiJay]

I think it's really cool that you are making the hand switch @OB. Especially in the context of: "You got where you are by doing the best you can. To go somewhere different, you'll have to do something different." The hand switch may unlock some other piece of the puzzle.

[Brady]

@JTDixon I believe @AB lives up in your neck of the woods, and he is about as good of skier as they come. And as good of skier as he is, he is even a nicer guy! Just throw him some sweets, (doughnuts, candy, pastries, etc.) and he will have you ripping it up in no time!

[RichardDoane]

@OB - it took me about a half dozen sets to get comfy when I made the switch, and am glad I did, it really helps the off side, and even though it's been about 5 years, I still have to make sure I set my hands correctly as I'm going around the island

 

[markchilcutt]

@Brady good work bro we all were there at some point so dont get down on yourself!! Its all about time behind the boat for you. Make every pass count. Have a game plan before you ski ie ok i am going to ski -15 30mph 3 passes and -15 32 mph 3 passes etc etc make sure you take some time to warm up before you ski especially this time of yr in Utah this is prob the most important thing you can do for your body and your skiing always warm up Cardio Cardio Cardio. BTW most of this info is not mine but came from a close friend who is a shredder thanks @chrisrossi!!!

[drewski]

Check your grip.For RFF put left palm up. And slow the boat down a mile or 2. Also, according to Lucky, you can run the course into 28' off with 2 hands (definitely old school but still...) so I wouldnt worry about one hand turns yet. That will just add an extra layer of complexity for running the course.

[Skoot1123]

@OB - good on ya for making that switch with your grip. +1 for what @skijay said too. I made the switch the first summer I started skiing the course and while awkward at times, it got to be normal. My offside turn also dramatically improved!

 

@brady - the one handed turn will in some ways "come natural." I think it is a combination of trusting the ski and the speed you have coming into and out of the turn. This early in the season - just being on the water is a plus!!

[A_B]

Don't despair @Brady....

 

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