Whats your ZO setting and why?

[ozski]

I started on B2 and have recently shifted to C1. Skiing at 34 mph ... I made the change to C1 as an experiment and it feels pretty good so far. Practice scores are much the same so far.

[MISkier]

C2 usually. Will switch to C1 on a stronger boat. I like it to pick me up off the buoy quick and let off quick, but I don't want all the throttle at once (C3).

[mac]

See what the pros say...

 

http://www.waterskimag.com/features/2013/11/05/talk-to-the-pros-which-zero-off-letter-are-you/?cmpid=enews111313&spMailingID=18116586&spUserID=NDY0MzEwNTYzNQS2&spJobID=237325201&spReportId=MjM3MzI1MjAxS0

[skier2788]

A3 which seems weird for a guy that skis 36 32 off regularly. Reason why I am there.... Andy Mapple said so....

[A_B]

A1+. 250+ reasons why.

[MISkier]

@rico, I am 145 pounds and using C. So, I am one of those anomalies.

[A_B]

@rico, I would agree with that, absent of + settings.

I was a C2 user and did not like A1 at all. Adding plus just made A1 feel perfect for me, for whatever reason.

[ForrestGump]

I can ski any B or C setting, but typically ski C1 or C3 depending on how strong I feel I'm skiing. With A I feel like the boat is on me forever.

[chris_logan]

Typically C2 on a 6.0 and C2+ on a 5.7. I have tried A and B settings, but I still have not figured out how to build angle and not so much lean - so A and B usually put me into an inadvertent lean-lock sooner than later. I generally make aggressive turns, so the sooner the boat picks me up, the better.

[LeonL]

I used C2 until RevR came along. I then switched to B1+ for most of this past season. Why? I ski at 32mph and I like the boat to bring me in a little faster.

[MISkier]

@AB, the A1+ setting actually continues the C pattern of acceleration. A1+ is not the same pattern as A1 (no plus). That is the misleading part about the new plus settings. They don't merely augment their non-plus counterparts. They supposedly start the scale of pull where C3 (no plus) leaves off and also add that pre-gate boost. For example, C2+ is not just C2 with a little boost at the gate or a slightly firmer response and a C2 pattern. It is 8 notches of extra boost above C2.

[Wish]

Can someone post the pic of the sheet I've seen that has the horizontal wave lines that represent the pull from each letter compared to the vertical line representing the center of the wake. I want to print that but can't seem to find it. Plus I think visuals are good to referance when reading about this stuff. Thanks

[SkiJay]

C2 best times the boat's pull with when I'm ready for it.

While weight is a big factor, timing is the main consideration. ZO only knows to react when you load the line. If it doesn't know you're there until you're already in your lean, you need a quick reaction like C (or A+, B+, C+ if you're weight/power needs even a quicker reaction and higher intensity). If you have excellent rope control and pull on a tight rope while initiating your turn at the ball, C may react before you are finished turning, so increasing the boat's hesitation before it reacts by using B or even A might be better timing.

I think there's a general misconception that C is for advanced skiers and A better for novices. While this can be true to a degree, it's not universal. A powerful advanced skier who maintains a constantly tight line may need A to best time the boat's reaction to when and where the rope first gets loaded. And a novice who constantly drops too far into their lean right off the ball might benefit from the earlier reaction of C.

[MISkier]

Here is the chart showing the ZO response for the regular and plus settings. If you look at the pull and release columns, you can see that the A1+ settings have higher (quicker reaction) settings than the original C settings. The progression on the + settings does approximate a similar pattern of increasing pull responsiveness and decreasing release responsiveness as the non-plus progression of settings. But, overall, the A1+ setting seems to pick up where C (no plus) leaves off.

[A_B]

All I know is that A1+ felt in sync with me so much, I thought I was on PP again.. I just had to watch not to honk too hard in the gates, or I would be way hot and wide at one ball with the added juice.

[ToddL]

I skied A2 since the beginning until recently... A2 for me was smooth. I have always been a smooth -15, -22 skier. I'm not light (185 lbs). I typically didn't load out wide, but ramped up until right behind the boat.

 

As I have started tackling -28, this seemed to no longer apply. I've moved to B2. I felt that when I did my outbound stuff right, I ended up waiting for the boat to take me after the turn was finished. By moving to B2, I still have a little time to check my position and get those hips around and under the handle, but I am not falling while waiting for the boat. I've contemplating trying C1 next, but haven't yet done so.

 

[GOODESkier]

Was all over the map with little success skiing ZO last summer using B2 and a few tries at A1. Just felt it hammered me all the time and never let me "feel" free from the boat. I am going to say it was not releasing me earlier enough to feel like I could edge change and turn again.

 

So, I moved to C1 this summer early on and had much better luck, running my first 38' OFF. I agree, it is a timing thing for the skier. As I lost weight this summer, I skied a practice PB behind a boat that felt firmer than normal and decided to used A1. It felt great. All depends on the boat and the skier I suppose.

 

I am 180 lbs (Now) and was 210 lbs last summer

[RazorRoss3]

I'm a 185 lb 36mph skier and my favorite so far is C2. I like the idea of the boat accelerating during the time I'm pulling because it seems like the boat does all the work and kicks me to the buoy early.

[Razorskier1]

C2. Coaches keep telling me to do my work before the first wake. If that's my goal, then that's where I want the boat. Chet made some very interesting comments about speed from ball to wake and what impact that has on how stiff ZO will be on you. In short, he said that if Nate is faster from ball to wake, then the boat is less far down the course and thus, it pulls less directly on the skier. I think he's right. Skied with AM a few weeks ago and he had me working on being quicker through the ball. Felt like (a), I was super early across course, and (b) like ZO never really hit me.

[ozski]

A quick test back on B2 yesterday left no doubt that C1 is working better for me. I tend to load up pretty early off the ball and as @Razorskier1 said: I'm getting most of my work done early which gets me out wide and free of the boat sooner. When I went back to B2 I felt a little narrow by comparison.

[Chef23]

I ski on A2 I am a mid 35 skier at 34 mph and weigh 215. I was put on A2 a couple of years ago by April Coble and I don't practice enough behind ZO to fool around with settings much. I ski pretty much the same behind ZO and PP so I guess it is working okay. I would love to try different settings but I don't get the water time behind ZO.

[Wac]

@wish http://www.usawaterski.org/speedcontrol/zerooffpresentation.pdf goto page 30, this might be what you are looking for. Hope all is well with you!

[MattP]

I'm at B2 (155lbs 36mph) because thats where my coach told me to be behind CC/MC/CP and usually MB. I have only skied once behind the CP. I have gone up to C2 (per @horton's recommendation) behind a Malibu before I felt like I was getting picked up to late/soft with B2 it could have just been me. I have skied with Mapple before and he did not say anything about my choice. I have dabbled with C2 but I felt like I was getting pulled out of position/slung across the wake but I think that was due to the fact that I was not in the proper position coming out of the turn and it may have not been my usual driver. I have never touched B1,B3,A1-3,or C3

[6balls]

Skied with 3 other PP skiers in Orlando a few weeks back where boat came with the place we were renting. The other 3 had never skied ZO and I have time limited to maybe once/month and tourneys. All 4 of us sampled a variety but ended up on C settings, most popular being C3.

 

I think C3 works best for me b/c I'm a chronic over-turner and need the rope support right away...though I'm comfy on C2 as well. No time or enough personal endurance to toy with Rev plus etc thus far. At least I have my setting now and in my limited ZO exposure moving forward could toy with the + setting.

[Horton]

I use B2 because Will Bush told me to

[Horton]

When a boat feels too firm I move from B to C. That way I pull the boat down less before the ZO kicks in and catches back up.

[scoke]

 

As we are all seeing, it's an "It Depends" answer.

 

One theory that is out there, should we choose our ZO setting on how WE ski or how we SHOULD be skiing? Food for thought. For me personally, it's about evolving as a skier. So I've been migrating my skiing and my ZO setting accordingly.

 

 

Scroll down to the bottom for the charts. Lots of information to read as well:

 

http://schnitzskis.com/zerooff.html

 

 

[The_MS]

Put it on something and ski. You will adjust to any of the letters.

[JackQ]

I have not had enough time to practice different setting with ZO as much as I would like as my boat has PP. However it appears that an individual’s preferred setting is more personal than just how you ski and your weight.

I believe that I would be characterized as an aggressive skier with hard pulls, and in theory should use an B or C setting, but I use A1 . I used A1 when I weighed 210, and I still use it now at 168pds so I don’t buy the hypothesis that ideal settings are weight dependent. I have tried other setting but gravitate back to A1. Next year I will have a boat with ZO and maybe I will find a setting that will help me get past 3 ball at 39.5 now that I have some consistency at 38.

I wonder if this is more mental than reality based, I may be tone death but I cannot feel much difference between an A1 and B1 or B3 particularly when I am skiing well.

 

[Horton]

@MS Mmmmm No. I tried A a few times and it scared the crap of of me

[estrom]

**Disclosure...the following comments come from someone (me!) with no ZO experience & may therefore be WAY out of left field**

It occurs to me that different skis (Vapor, NanoXT, A3, Quest, etc...) all have different characteristics/strengths. One ski might allow you to obtain massive amounts of speed while another might allow you more control in other respects. Since people buy skis that fit certain characteristics they are looking for, is it reasonable to think that said characteristics of a ski should be able to be matched with ZO settings? Maybe this is something ski manufacturers could pursue and even make "stock" recommendations with their skis? This just hit me while reading this thread, but I'm a little short on coffee yet this morning, so take that into consideration!

[Wish]

@Scoke those were the charts I was looking for. Thank you.

[The_MS]

I ski B1 but I would not want to be put to the test on telling the driver what I think the ZO is set at. Here is what I feel.

A makes me feel like I lose space as I release the handle. I feel narrow at the ball.

B feels like it gives me a second to react (settle in) after I hook up with the handle

C feels solid with no give.

 

[thompjs]

I was on C2 until the + came out. I moved to A2+. Being a lefty it helps on the gate turn in.

Even though the boat is supposed to gas more in the course, I'm not feeling it.

[MISkier]

@thompjs, you are probably not going to notice the "extra" gas, since you were already a C skier and the A2+ is continuing that trend. But, you would definitely notice it if you were an A skier and selected A2+. It would have the affect of a quantum leap in pull intensity - similar but more intense than jumping from A to C without the plus. I suspect A skiers are registering the "extra" gas more than C skiers because they think the + just augments their gate speed into a regular A pull.

[thompjs]

@MISkier -- I think that is right. C2+ was a bit harsh

[MISkier]

When Rev R first arrived, my ski partner (a C3 skier into mid-38) tried C3+. He didn't like it and now we know why - it is a tremendous leap in intensity. I wonder if A1+ or something in the A+ range would be better and an improvement for him.

[Jody_Seal]

C-1 on Reduction 6 liter boats. B-2 on 1:1 and small block boats.

[SkiJay]

@Jody_Seal That's an interesting compensation. Wouldn't C1 to C2 or B2 to B3 be a better compensation for towing power? Using the same letter would keep the timing of the boat's reaction about the same and changing the number would change the intensity of the boat's reaction to compensate for there being more or less power/traction between the two drivetrains. Changing between B and C changes the timing of the pull. Or do you find a later but more intense ZO reaction helps you with the lower powered 5.7L boats?

[scoke]

SkiJay,

 

Obviously I am not Jody Seal, as he is the man, but I learned last September about the 6.0l.

 

I was 0 for 13 behind the 6.0L last summer. Consistently would struggle behind it after skiing well on the 5.7l. I was coming out of the water down about a pass, scratching my head wondering what was I missing.

 

Jody Seal was kind enough to inform me to immediately switch settings from my usual, at the time, B-2 to C-1. Next set out, WOW. Back to normal and the boat actually skied nice. From then on, I always switched setting on the 6.0. If all we had is 6.0's, that would be great.

 

This year, I am on a different setting all together but still down shift on the 6.0l boat.

 

 

Now there is another theory gaining some steam, it might blow your mind: switch settings based on the drivers style, not the boat to boat differential. food for thought. I've done it, it's nice.

 

[Erik4c]

I ski B2 on both the 5.7L and the 6.0L 200s. Haven't messed with my letter at all with any boat and have very similar tournament scores on all the boats. I ski primarily ski PP behind a 2005 SN and a 1993 Ski Brendella. The boat changes and PP to ZO changes don't seem to affect my buoy count.

Erik

[thager]

I normally ski C2 on most boats but on the 2013 200 moved down to C1 which worked well for me to compensate for what I thought was a stiffer pull.

[GAJ0004]

B2.. No surprises. I ski Perfect Pass Stargazer in practice.

[LeonL]

@scoke, ZO setting based on driver style? Interesting concept. I'm not in tune enough to do that, I don't think. I grasp what you're saying though.

[A_B]

@scoke, I am guessing if you think a driver is not picking you up at the ball quick enough, you go up the scale? B2 to C2.

[swc5150]

B2 in a SN200 343. I'm only 150lbs, and this setting just feels the smoothest for me.

[lpskier]

I changed this summer from C3 to B3. I found that the slightly later pick up of B3 allowed me to gain a little more angle and direction. Come to think of it, I wonder if I could set my kid on B3. He needs a little more direction, too.