Major US Ski events targeting Joe Public, should we announce Slalom in "line off" or length of rope?

[Wish]

Soaked, The Malibu Open and perhaps the Masters are prime examples of sites in the US with great potential for large numbers of the non skier Joe public to view slalom (and there were lots at Soaked). Is announcing the line "off" the best practice for getting them to understanding and develop interest interest? Trick results are understood with relative ease. Jump results are a no brainer. Most all other countries announce in line "on" but metric. Would it not be easier for them to understand that "Nate Smith's rope is only 35 and 1/2 feet long and that won't even reach the turn ball 38 feet out to the side of the boat" vs "Nate Smith is at 39 and 1/2 off the line and that won't even reach the turn ball 38 feet out to the side of the boat." I think some would think it does and others would just scratch their heads as with each pass the rope sounds longer and it all kinda looks the same. Ran into many at Soaked with blank looks as they tried to understand the whole “off” thing. It is the first and far to often the last thing Joe Public hears.

[TDL]

On a related note, I think posting tournament results in metric units turns off interest.

[Horton]

I do not think this is a core problem but I vote for the distance delta between the rope length and 37.5 (distance to the ball). 38 would be something like minus 8 inches or what ever it is.

[DavidP]

Using the color of the loop and the distance to the ball should be simple enough for Joe Public e.g. "Purple doesn't reach the buoy".

[Bulldog]

Joe Public does not care about our sport... Actual line length would make it easier for them to understand.

[GregDavis]

I agree, actual length of rope is much easier for people not close to the sport to understand. Metric measurement is also not good for sport in USA The rest of the country is does not relate to metric measurement. Football field ( USA ) 300 feet. Basketball hoop, in USA 10 feet.

[BraceMaker]

I think running format and co-events are more important than announcing line length.

 

Some attention to where spectators can watch from, seating, shade, maybe video on a big screen to get better views.

 

I think something like a System 2.0 cable set up with stuff folks can ride like wake skates/wake skis.

 

Make it a show/event

 

 

[gregy]

My first experience in a slalom course was on a public lake. In the mid 80s when I started there was at least a half dozen courses in the area on public water. Now there are zero. How many people are going to spend the money to gain access to private lakes to find out if they like the sport.? I have a portable course and I had a few people stop and ask me about when its out, but most just pissing off the fishermen. Theres just not much access for joe skier anymore. Anyway theyre Joe wakeboarder or Joe surfer mostly now.

[Wish]

@gregy @bracemaker @bulldog all valid points. But there is still a very big push and a much needed one to bring it back to the public.

 

@Bracemaker You discribed Robins Lake at the Masters to a tea. Tons of other entertainment right on the water as well as off for the same entrence fee. So the folks that dont understand whats being siad simply walk away and do something else. Happened a lot at Soaked where there was basically the entire Down Town Orlando area to wander off to. And they did.

 

@Bulldog while that may be mostly true, line off is not helping. Here you have Soaked, one of the most widely advertised/marketed to the public ski event to date in FL. Lots of expense to do so. It was stuck on a very well known landmark lake but it was horrible for skiing in every aspect imaginable and could only support a 4 buoy course. They combined it with music and a festival type atmosphere in the heart of Down Town Orlando just so Joe public could watch and then it gets announced in line off. What's the point of the time and expenses and bad conditions if your target audience is scratching their heads in confusion. That would be like announcing all of a Nascar race in English accept for the important parts. Those details would be stated in Taiwanese. Result; the stands would empty. All they would know is that the cars just go left. Why bother with the sub par sites and the vast time and expence if your just gonna babble in terms no one but us understand.

 

Educating them in the terms/lingo we use would be OK but we do it backwards IMHO and talk mostly in line off and occasionally try to explain it during an event. That's a challenge in and of itself.

 

I had several family and friends watch The Atlanta ProAm. Most knew the lingo. But many did not. My wife got a txts from a friends watching who were completely confused. My guess is they watched me ski and then just shut it off. Then had to ask how I did. The webcasts do go past just us.

 

Would love to hear from @trs01 Tadd or Tyler on this. And by no means do I hold them accountable. They are worth their weight in gold to our sport when it comes to the big events. I would say the responsibility rests in the hands of the event planners and how they want their target audience to be addressed. If the target IS Joe public and site selection suggests it is, then rethinking how to make it easier to understand may be in order.

 

And for the pros who willingly take the time and expense to put up with the lousy conditions. we do them a disservice by narrowing the audience to just us skiers.

[Waternut]

Other.... I think one and maybe two explanations during the tournament is warranted just so people get the concept. Saying 35 feet off a 75 foot line a few times may also help get the point across.

 

Whatever happens, I think saying only one convention is appropriate. Either use total line length in meters in countries where the metric system is used or feet off the line in the US. Saying 35.5 feet of rope and 39.5 off while adding that the buoy line is 37.5 feet from the center of the course is WAY too f-ing complicated. More than half the crowd would be so confused that they'd give up or would quit watching while trying to figure it out.

[rodltg2]

Let Joe Public ride in the boat. How cool would that be ! A raffle or something of that nature. Couple winners ride. Hopefully the winner is not Chubby!

[BraceMaker]

@wish - I see the positive and negative. For one if you have an "open" platform you have the ability for folks to wander in - but you really must hold them if you don't want them to wander away. That's a catch-22 if you have a setting where people must seek you out to see the event you won't have the draw of new spectators. If you have an open setting convenient to a population that can wander through then you'll lose those that aren't held captive.

 

 

On line lengths - I like length off! maybe it is archaic - but it seems nice for the number to increase as the difficulty increases. If folks don't get the line thing perhaps rig up something like a rope connected to a weather balloon - would be tedious to have someone haul it in/out but maybe you could automate it so that it demonstrates where the skier is.

 

That's mostly spit balling - but the off nomenclature just works.

[Than_Bogan]

I've always thought that specifying how long something isn't was borderline idiotic. Horton's suggestion of specifying it as length-11.5m (coverted to English if we must) is probably the easiest to grasp.

 

That said, I seriously doubt this is a key obstacle to getting a wider audience interested. In fact, obscure terminology can sometimes help build a fan base because you get to feel like you're part of some Cool Club when you know The Lingo.

 

I think the problems are much more fundamental. It's a sport where you just can't understand where the difficulty lies unless you are a ) super-good at both physics and physiology or b) have done it. And it's incredibly repetitive, along with 60-80% of all passes being (from a spectator's standpoint) "warmup."

 

Throwing water everywhere along with a few good bikini babes are probably the core telegenic points, so I think you have to start there if looking for broader appeal.

[The_MS]

@Than is right Kinis and a beer sponsor would be the big boost. Watch the wake board tour on NBC sports or CBS sports channel. The camera starts with the boarder, pans to the babes, interview the boarder, back to the babes and repeat.

It comes down to the announcer to perform the explanation to the listening or viewing audience. If the process is explained a few times during the broadcast, they will understand what is going on if they care about it enough to listen.

[Drago]

I've always thought line off made sense.its harder. Cut it.

We need to be honest with ourselves: watching slalom from a bleacher is kinda, (cough,ahem) boring. From the boat: pretty awesome. Behind a camera: boring. With loud music: boring and loud. What part of the day do most of you enjoy? I love the 5 minutes I ski, but it's barbecuing; playing with the kids; hanging on the beach; coaching; maybe having a beer in the evening; etc, etc. we are trying to "sell" a lifestyle by pushing the sport, yet at tournaments we kill the lifestyle--no swimming, no wading and getting sprayed, athletes separated out from the viewers. Really all we talk about is gates, rollers and fin adjustments.(so, sorry to go off on a rant, but I think it's much bigger than rope terminology).

[Than_Bogan]

Wait, there are things other than gates, rollers, and fin adjustments??

[Waternut]

I kind of agree that tournament skiing is repetitive. However, so is wakesurfing, wakeboarding, trick skiing, and jumping. Trick skiing probably has the most variety but with low amplitude so the average joe public is less impressed. Wakesurfing pretty much has spins, kick spins, low amplitude jumps, and carves...over and over and over. I wakesurf but that has to be the most boring thing to watch. Wakeboarding has a lot more tricks but pro level riding is pretty much all the same stuff. Flips and spins get big points so that's what they all do....360, 540, 720, 900...it's all the same moves with just a little extra each time. It's big air and impressive for the first few riders.

 

On the flip side, skiing has the most spectacular crashes but that doesn't seem to be enough. I think @than_bogan may be on to something. The board sports cater to the horny school boy with hot chicks in bikini's rubbing up against the riders before and after they hit the water. Skiing seems to be too serious and professional.

[Wish]

I should  have used a different title with more focus. It's like herding cats. . We all know and have discussed ad nauseam about how to get Joe Public interested (beer bikinis festivals). We all know that higher numbers of viewers/audience equals sponcers outside of the ski industry not the other way around. We all know slalom can be boring to watch and hard to grasp as Than suggests.  Announcing is just a piece of the puzzle. Not the end all be all and not something that will bring in the numbers. But it is the first and often last thing a new spectator hears. How are we to expect or hope that they will just get it and become fans. Can you imagine the Italian Dancing With the Stars explaining what TGas does for a living by saying how much rope is not there?  I don't know Italian but pretty sure the translation would be how long the rope is and how it can end up shorter then boat to buoy.  We don't announce how far the jumper didn't go or how much less then the world record the tricker scored.  Just sayn....

[bogboy]

I think the tradition of using "off" should be kept, although if the announcer wants to also explain in meters, as in option 4, I think that's ok too.

[The_MS]

Its not there isnt lots of time to explain what is going on.

[swc5150]

I think @Than_Bogan and @waternut have it right. Slalom tends to be too serious and stuffy for the average Joe. Heck, I'm not even the average Joe, and I was pretty turned off to tournament slalom after spending 15 minutes with a private ski lake group - of course, maybe I was at the wrong lake? Sorry for this quick tangent, but at the time, I offered use of my brand new 196 (they were training behind an MC), insurance money, gas, course maintanence assistance, you name it, and they had little interest in even learning my name. Then we get a high-profile tourny like the Malibu Open in our state, and I could kind of care less if I go, as I'm not sure I want to drive 4 hours to hang out with those types of people. Note... I want exclude most of you BOS guys, as you don't seem so stuffy! :)

 

Anyway, without the appearance of a fun or "cool" factor, whether it be beer, bikinis, music, etc, it'll remain a small little niche sport. Coors Light and Hot Tuesday Nights helped make 3 event "cool" in the late 80's. We need to get back to that. Remember 2012's WSM boat buyers guide, where Marcus was holding the beer in the MC section? I thought that was awesome marketing...fun and relaxed in your Prostar. Things like that; make it fun! Now matter how it's announced at a tourny, no one will care if it's not "fun and cool".

 

BTW, I prefer "x"off and measure it in feet.

[rayn]

The pro events could hand out a "vocab" guide for the newbies to understand the speak also.

 

Just to latch onto another point made earlier, the fact that it is repetitive can't be one of the factors inhibiting growth, There are many sports that are repetitive/"boring" that have great followings. Sports are about drama and the competition. We need to highlight those and promote, promote, promote. We need skiers to ski and be personalities, sponsors to sponsor, and promoters to promote. Promotion is about pulling the people in and having a great experience.

 

Given how good the pros are now, they should start thinking about a minimum starting rope length(to keep it moving) in pro events. You could argue that, with waterski it is the one sport that you actually are watching the athlete warm up during the competition itself which adds to the time the event takes.

[MattP]

@rayn there is a hand out I worked on for the Malibu Open that has a lingo guide and world records ect.

All pro events have a minimum start length for the most part. They do in the finals for sure.

[rayn]

@mattp. That is great work. It has been 20 years since I went to the tour stop on CT, Which was extremely well attended.

[gregy]

They used to have a pro tour stop in downtown Austin Tx on the river. Its not very good for skiing but great for watching, I have fond memories of those tournaments, it was also used for awsa and college. Lots of exposure with events like that.

 

The guide is a good idea.

[andjules]

Don't really like the A poll choice I chose... simply because it's in feet. We've already got two standards (metric length vs feet-off-75'), so I'm really voting to just go metric. @Horton's idea is interesting but even more complex to a newbie than the already-weird feet-off-75' approach.

 

Like many others, I don't believe this is in any way the main challenge to making slalom more exciting to watch. Like @Than_Bogan said, we're looking at way too many 'warmup' passes in elite tournaments. I understand for recreational guys, driving 4-8 hours for a tournament and falling on your first pass sucks. But at a new-spectator-heavy event like Soaked or Moomba or the Malibu Open, top skiers shouldn't be starting at 32 off (oops, 13m). Boring.

[MarcusBrown]

@swc5150 You either have a better memory than I or I erased any memory of a published picture with me holding a beer. Can't seem to find it, but maybe I can take your word for it?

 

As a Pro, I've tried hard to keep alcohol out of my hands, when on site, and hanging out around kids and young adults that tend to look up to us.

 

However, I do believe "lakelife" and the lake lifestyle allows for the presence of alcohol....its summertime, its the weekend or whatever....and folks are on the lake to have a good time. It makes sense. At least, back in the 80's/90's, that was the demographic that came to watch pro events. There were tons of folks who had probably never been in a course, or had spent little time in one, that showed up to support the pro tour. They were lake people with ski boats and an old HO Mach 1 that skied at 38 mph long line and made 5 open water slack turns before calling it a day..

 

We've lost a great deal of that.

 

Yeah, something could be done to improve tourney formats....length of events....presentation of the competition (line off or actual true length is one example)....etc...

 

But I think a huge component that never gets discussed is public lake skiing. It gets mentioned once in a while, but never really attacked, like many of the threads on this board. We have seen such an exodus of skiers from public lakes in the past 20 +/- years (to private lake sites, or moving on to other sports altogether) that relatively speaking, hardly anyone is skiing on public waters anymore. And the folks that still are, seem to experience a disconnect with the private lake and competitive skiers whenever they cross paths.

 

I don't know the answer, but I do know its not any one thing. For instance, I was more excited than I had been in years when I had the chance to collaborate with Bob LaPoint and others on a completely new ski at HO. A ski that I feel is the 1st step in a direction that maybe hasn't ever been successfully executed on before: a true public/recreational ski, that works.....one that isn't just easy to get up on, and thats the end of it. But a ski that quickly gets you on top of the water, then lets you cut with incredible ease. 24mph - 34 mph......freeriding or course skiing. A truly unique ski....

 

I shared a short film, telling a story (one persons perspective) of where water skiing is as a sport at this moment in time.....and where it could go in the future.

 

The biggest response I received from that film was from everyone under the sun, except tournament skiers. Non-skiers and people outside of the water sports industry responded with things like "I don't even ski, but that video just made me wanna try!" and "I haven't skied in years but suddenly I'm thinking about strapping it on again".

 

Those responses were an indication of the untapped potential for growth in this lifestyle and sport that we all love.

 

Sadly, the lack of 1 single thread or mention on this forum was just another indication of where "we" as a competition based sport, are focused these days: Its still about how I can get that extra advantage to help me round 1 more buoy (or maybe its "what kinda product do I need to get my hair to look like Hortons")

 

There is an unseen potential for growth in our sport. It doesn't start with better scores, or being lighter on the line.....or even in subtleties like how best to announce a pro event. It starts with public water. If we go back there....we can bring them here. Not overnight....but in a lasting way....for future generations to enjoy.

 

[Stevie Boy]

I agree with Marcus, the only problem is, Public water has rules and regulations, these rules and regulations have come about, not only to make the lakes safer but sometimes because of some irresponsible owners of watercraft, with their loud music and inconsiderate behaviour etc, same old story, the mass pay the price for the actions of the minority, this also effects homeowners who live around public lakes, and changes their attitude to "Not in my backyard" most people go to ski at private sites, to go about their business and pursue there sport capitalizing on the best possible skiing conditions, no backwash from other craft etc

The shame of it all is that the majority of waterskiers who have the own boat, understand the dangers, respect other users and are considerate to property owners around the lakes

[ALPJr]

@rayn. I took my family of 6 and a combo skiing friend to the pro tour on a pond in Hartford in 98. Easy access right off I84. At least 3 to 4 thousand spectators watching Mapple and Roberge duke it out. Carl won. Seemed to be a sensible location inbetween NYC and Boston. Love to see it come back.

 

@marcusbrown well put ! And great video ! What got me into the sport was watching guys and girls rip big turns and throw massive sprays on the rivers, bays and coves in southern NJ. Hanging on the beach and taking turns sitting on the bow of our 50hp outboard so our bigger friends could get up. Today I'm lucky to have a few good public sites within 30 minutes of our eastern CT home. This would be a great place for your grassroots tour.

[swc5150]

I agree with @MarcusBrown about public access to a course. From my personal experience, whenever I put my Easy Ed in the lake, there are always a number of people who drive up with curiosity. I'm always more than happy giving pulls or allowing people to use it themselves. It's amazing how many people dig it. What's really neat is seeing how the young kids like it. For most, all they've known is boarding, so this is something totally new to them.

 

I'll try to track down that pic of MB. I believe it was 2011, now that I really think about it. Very cool, relaxed pic, that set a vibe I a can relate to.

[Than_Bogan]

@MarcusBrown Public lake skiing: This is perhaps the one area where I am not "part of the problem." I have trained on a public lake for all of my 35 years in the sport (about 15 of that before I discovered tournaments). Where I train now is actually on a state park, which is truly accessible to anyone (with a little effort; there's a tiny tunnel to get to the slalom course), and is within 35 minutes of Boston.

 

But in most other respects, I *am* part of the problem. I can make time for some posts and some crazy ideas, but I'm far too comfortable with the status quo to have the energy to take any significant action. The sport serves my need as it is, and while it would be fun for more people to "get" what the hell I'm talking about, as a math-computer nerd I'm pretty used to people not understanding me anyhow!

 

I've taught a few people to ski over the years, and help out coaching interested kids when I can. But my priority is on getting myself enough ski time, learning to ski better, and having fun & challenging myself at tournaments.

 

I believe an awful lot of the folks in the sport are a lot like me in this regard. It will take a ton of energy and effort from a dedicated group if any substantial changes are to be made. I am not presently ready to be part of that group. I can "support" good efforts, but that's only slightly above the "useless" line.

[Than_Bogan]

P.S. Is there a link to Marcus's short film? I may be blind, but I don't seem to see one above.

[The_MS]

@swc5150 You were hanging out at the wrong private sites. In Minn, MWSA promotes open ski nights that are hosted by a number of lakes in the area. I know at our site, we are always bringing in skiers to introduce them to the mix and promote skiing and our home sites. I have had lots of ballers show up to ski with us and they always have fun. @xrated came over and skied and had a blast. I think the Malibu open had lots of spectators the last 2 years and I would bet 90% of them are not private lake skiers or even competitors. I was not there but people that were told me it is an awesome event and fun was had by all.

I am from the land of 10,000 lakes and it is sad that we cant use most of them for skiing and having fun. The DNR has basically made it impossible to go out and set up a course and ski. I grew up on one of the biggest lakes in the MLPS/St,Paul area and by the 1990s, you could not ski on it anymore. It sucks that I was forced to spend hard earned cash on a private lake site but it was well worth the effort. I just dont have the time to pull the boat to the lake, fight for a parking spot, deal with the exotic species checks, permits, jet skis, fisherman and drunks just to get a few sets in.

 

[Wish]

Bump. Edit to title question. Bikinis discussed on other threads but feel free to include Kilo Kia on this one..... Ok if ya have to mention bikinis as in the " bikini girls will understand length of rope vs off" then sure but do include photos of them.........understanding.

[DW]

I get several comments from the casual watcher crowd as to why the #@$* the line is in feet off rather than actual length, which I have to agree with them is an illogical way to designate the line length, it makes it that much harder to understand the concept of what the skier is up against. The USA voted english units a couple of decades ago, the metric thing failed here.

 

As for the warm up aspect, many very popular sports go through the warm up phase as part of an event or part of the competitive season, a good 50% of a Nascar Cup race is posititoning and cruising to get ready for the sprint to the finish, the NHL uses the entire regular season as a warm up for the playoffs so I am not sure I agree with the warm up aspect. With that, the Big Dawg format certainly offers some excitement to the warm up aspect of longer line runs.

 

Marcus certainly has some excellent points. Some personal observations for both recreational skiing and maybe the pro sports side: it appears the population is dividing itself to a greater extent in terms of the doers and the rest. Used to be the rest would at least get out on a bike, ski behind a boat, throw a ball around or whatever, now it seems to be sit behind a computer or ride in a tube but not do anything that takes some effort. From the pro side, looks like Red Bull has demonstrated where the extreme sports are headed, to bump the meter you have to either fall from a space ship or fly down the north face of Mt. Everest because all the options just become clutter. Takes the old saying about Bull Fighting and racing being real sports, the rest just games.

[xrated]

@MS that was the only time I skied last year. Finally got wet this past weekend up north and definitly need some rope time! Man did I tire out quick. I need to head back to your lake soon and think about trying that course thing out.

 

@MArcusBrown nailed it IMO as a non buoy chasing public water skier.

 

The fun on our lake up north is in early morning sets with the group, ranging from 3-10 skiers from teenagers up to 70 year olds. Follow that up with fun on the water boating, swimming, fishing, party at the sandbar or naps by the dock. Or if the mood strikes maybe some shooting. And finally a great sunset session before some drinks around the fire. We do have a portable course that has been in on occasion and is actually how I met my current ski buddies up there but it seems the general feeling is why waste time getting it setup and straight when we could be ripping turns instead.

 

I'm 99% certain that if my wifes outside view of skiing was just tourneys and a course versus a few years of coming along while we free skied the lake she never would have given into peer pressure one morning and strapped on a ski. In fact I have mentioned several times about hooking up with the Pine Island ballers and she for some reason thinks she wouldn't have fun at a private ski lake made for the course.

[ForrestGump]

The Malibu Open in 2011 is the single best waterski event I've attended since the pro tour came to Emma Long Park in Austin in the mid 90s. Charles and I spent most of the weekend on stage hanging out with Tadd and Tyler. I promise you that no less than 100 people grabbed me and asked how slalom skiing worked and what xx-off meant. They had no idea what they were watching, but they were still digging it. And when we got to the night jump, they were blown away. We need to figure out a way to make it easier to understand in order to make that connection with the spectator.

[jimbrake]

Have you ever had a first-timer come out and ride in the boat while you or your ski partner take a set and have your normal skier/driver conversation during a set? You think they understand even 10% of what's being said?

 

Skier: can you hook me up, please? Yeah, 28. Thanks.

Driver: what setting you want?

Skier: C2, normal weight. Can't wait to try the new Zero Off settings.

Driver: Yeah, I gotta upgrade. Tournaments are coming soon.

Skier: yep.

Driver: gear

Skier: yep

Driver/coach: whatcha working on?

Skier: oh, trying to get over my feet better, get stacked, keep a tight line outbound, level shoulders and ride the ski back to the handle. Early acceleration. Stay behind the handle. Keep the load through the second white water. Stay on the handle. Vision. Don't rotate. Stay square.

Driver/coach: you ever think about trailing arm pressure?

Skier: yeah, for sure. Works great, but I keep forgetting to think about it.

Driver: yeah, I can only remember one or two things on my pull out and turn in, then I'm done.

Skier: alrighty, when you're ready

Driver: here we go.

Driver (at the other end of the lake): that felt nice. you got me a bit at 2, but I stayed with ya. Couldn't feel you after that. What happened at 2?

Skier: oh, rotated, pulled on the handle, got a little too much bite.

Driver: maybe you need to take out some tip. What you at?

Skier: yeah, I'm at 6.925. It is kind of bitey. I was at 6.918 and I felt like I needed more ski in the water. If I stay level 925 works pretty good.

Driver: man, that's long. I'd go shorter and maybe a bit deeper. what's your DFT?

Skier: 775 flat.

Driver: really? that's forward.

Skier: yeah. Think I'll go back to stock and start over. I got those numbers from Terry.

Driver: Well.

Skier: OK. I'm ready.

Driver: OK. Here we go.

Driver (at the other end): nice. 35?

Skier: I guess. Think I'll just go down the line today. Maybe I'll do a bunch of gates at 38.

Driver: I feel you getting off the line into 2,4.

Skier: Yeah, I'm taking too much out of 135 and gettin' pulled downcourse off the second wake into 24, but my offside saves me.

Driver: Be patient.

Skier: yep. Gotta stay level.

 

New observer: Wow. That's awesome, but WTF are you guys talking about? Are you going to go off that ramp? Can you do any tricks?

 

 

[Wish]

@ShaneH Thank You!!! . That is my point exactly. I had the same experience at the Soaked event in Orlando as most of my time was spent outside the fenced off area where most of the in the know crowd resided. That left 3/4 of the shores open to the public to watch and HEAR what was going on. I felt like a broken record. Explaining over and over (but enjoyed teaching them) I challenge anyone to explain line off in this thread without needing a paragraph or better. And I mean every detail which is what it took along with several edits depending on the level of knowlge the listener had to get them to that "oooooh, I get it now" moment. That just shouldn't be and I seriously dought the announcers could explain it for all the different types of learning styles and preexisting knowledge that exist. Even with all the "time" that we think they have.

[The_MS]

@xrated you are invited any time. I ski after 630pm weeknights and all day Sunday.

[gjohnson]

@ShaneH That was a great event in 11' One of the things I witnessed that still cracks me up is Dave Miller explaining how slalom works to a passer bye using meters. Conceptually explaining how slalom works is pretty simple. But conveying how the different line lengths change the nature of the beast is really difficult to articulate.

[disland]

Use those flags with the line color on them. Half the time the announcers dont even know what the line length is. This happened at the masters last weekend

[OTF]

@xrated come on over, bring your wife, we can ski, grill out and just enjoy being outside in the sun ( should it ever shine on MN again). I am home by 6 every night and have no weekend plans all summer.

@wish next time explain it like this. "The higher the number the harder the crash" if they need video evidence I've got plenty........lol.

[E_T]

@disland the announcers at the masters are two of the best in the world. Im pretty sure Tadd knows his lengths

[xrated]

@MS and @OTF if we ever get summer again I will for sure come over that way. OF course I left my fine wet suit up north so I will wait until the water warms up.

[estrom]

xx-off is the lingo of the sport. It's no different than golf with par, under-par, birdie, bogey, etc... The language isn't attracting to, or keeping people away from the sport. At events, I would suggest having simple, quarter page hand outs available as people come in that explain the events. Something like, "Slalom is judged by the # of bouys attained at a certain rope length. The turn buoys are 38' from the boat. After each completed pass, more length is taken 'off' the rope, which starts at 75' in length, making the pass more difficult." Seems easy enough IMO.

[estrom]

Another thought - are programs printed for these events? If so, a brief explanation of the events like I mention above should be on the inside cover so people could reference it. It might also include current world records, etc... to provide perspective of what people are accomplishing that given day.

 

[Wish]

If you have to hand out pamphlets (that will end up littering the ground) then you've already admitted the need to stop announcing in line off. Golf is not a lagit example. To popular. Nothing against pamphlets. Space for good local advertisers would pay for it but all the folks I spoke with did not pay to get into Soaked and unless you had someone running around with them they won't get one. It's very "simple" for us to understand and strange to us that others don't pick up the concept easily. But I'm telling you, they don't and not knowing what's going on WILL cause the casual on looker to walk away. It may not be the hook that makes instant fans but still seems silly to expect them to self educate when they would obviously gravitate closer not further to something that is easily understood. Plus no one has come up with a reasons why it would be a "BAD" thing to announce in rope length. What does it really change, harm, alter, cause issue with any aspect of the event itself???

[ral]

Thread for USA citizens, I will not comment...

[estrom]

When I golfed last week, my first home run went through the basket incurring an icing penalty. That sucked because I thought I had hit a touchdown. Instead it turned into a 3 pointer rather than a fielders choice.

 

All that to say popularity has nothing to do with the language of the sport. Every sport has it's own language that everyone needs to learn at some point or another.

 

I can agree with the mess/littering aspect of pamphlets, but using the programs, or some other methodology can be used for education. I don't buy that the language would keep folks away.