Jeff Rogers eye patch theory

[Horton]

Anybody know what this is all about? I heard that Jeff is having skiers train with an eye patch over one eye. I saw a friend wear one yesterday. I can't explain but but his skiing as come a long way.

[skibug]

Which eye gets covered....dominant or non dominant?

[Horton]

@skibug I think non-dominant

[Wish]

Speaking of Jeff, I just got facebook post with a photo of him and his wife at a black tie event of some sort. From the looks of the photo, there's no way I'd cover one eye if she was around. I'd want both eyes fully functional. Jeff is a lucky guy! Sorry, not meaning to steal thread or anything. Never heard of eye patch. Bet @John Cox might know something...

[Ed_Obermeier]

Sounds like some sort of Top Gun fighter pilot training thing.

[thager]

I can see a HUD monocle in the works. Dial it in for your line length. Hah!! I wonder if my old IFR training glasses would help?

[skibug]

Ed Neill has coached one of my ski buddies to close both eyes at the hook up off the ball and not open them until he feels the second wake. My buddy swears it worked for him and says he feels like he gets wider when he does it. Not sure how the one eye thing works.

[ral]

So after West Coast comes Pirate style...

[Horton]

Rogers is some sort of insane evil pirate genius

[Gloersen]

Yes – well known training technique here at Victory. Patch the outside eye (i.e., leading eye – eye furthest from the boat, not trailing eye) rotate patch with free hand at each reach to contralateral eye at each buoy to keep leading eye blind. It helps to exhale each time with a rebel yell embellished with Arrrr!!!

[Ed_Johnson]

Guys, I went blind in my left eye two years a go and skied a long time with an eye patch...It restricted my peripheal vision and also took longer to focus..I finally just ended up keeping the left eye closed to keep the water out while skiing...It really hurt my skiing at 38 and shorter, where everything is happening much quicker.

[The_MS]

@Gloersen That looks like a @Ham_Wallace photo

[Gloersen]

@MS - He likely engineered & constructed that snow fort; perennial classic.

[JohnCox]

Haven't heard of the eye patch theory...sorry.

[oldjeep]

Skiing with no depth perception? Sounds scary

[andjules]

While I'd love to be coached by Jeff Rodgers, I'm not sure about preventing my brain from receiving depth-perception & positional data while trying to navigate an obstacle course at high speed with complex vector-velocity relationships. Pretty sure the two-eyes thing is a good design idea.

[SMITTY]

only have vision in one eye, been like that for a long time so i dont really notice it. The late and great Brett Yeager said he wanted to see what it was like and went out and skied with one eye covered, came back and said i cant use that as an excuse because he did not notice it when skiing, he ran 38!

[Wish]

I ski with shades or clear eye wear. In late fall/winter (FL) if I don't clean them well they will fog. I have, at times, cleaned one lens and not the other (distracted). Instant fog over one eye once I'm in the water. Can see nothing out of that lens especially if it's a cloudy day. All I experience is frustration. Never a... hmmm, this would make a great training tool.

[Klundell]

Tons of respect for what Jeff Rogers can do on a waterski but skiing with one eye??? I'd like to hear his theory of how that's going to make me better because to be honest it just sounds silly.

 

[Brady]

@Klundell I agree. That would be akin to adjusting someones back thru hypnosis!

[klindy]

If I remember I think it was the Larson twins who used to do trick drills with both eyes closed. Wake backs, wake fronts, even wake back to backs. If I recall the theory was to be able to "feel" the wake and better "know" where your ski and body position was all the time.

 

I don't know how frequent they would do this nor do I recall if they felt it was successful. Might be some similar theory to one eye slalom.

[MattP]

@klindy thats not uncommon for training purposes. I have my rowers row with their eyes closed pretty regularly. Its about feeling the boat, water, and your movements. There are many blind crews that do just fine.

[Klundell]

eyes closed makes sense to improve feel and balance but that isn't the same thing as one eye at all. And I'm sure as heck not closing both of them in the slalom course.

[mwetskier]

close both eyes in the slalom course? only if i see something bad coming.

[Ed_Obermeier]

close both eyes in the slalom course? only if i see something bad coming.

 

Yeah. Usually somewhere between the end of the 2nd or 3rd OTF flip and the big splash at the end...

[Drago]

Absurd if true(.)

[Edbrazil]

There have been some successful water skiers with just one working eye. Robi Zucchi (ITA) won SL in the 1975 Worlds and was 3rd in 1979. Dave Reinhart, Hall of Famer, lost an eye in a construction accident. Still was a top show skier, barefooter, and particularly freestyle jumper. The freestyle involved tricks like Front Mobius on 2 and 1 ski, and maneuvers like back landings on 1 ski after significant distance. Amazing stuff.

Notable is that the WSDA does not count 1-eyed vision as one of their disabilities.

[Texas6]

@Edbrazil - you are an encyclopedia of waterski knowledge and history

[Edbrazil]

Note that the correct spelling of his name is "Rodgers". Born 1967, and now in M4 and 45+ on World Rankings. Could be a favorite for the Senior (aka 35+) Worlds next October in the US. But, he will be facing strong competition from some Big Dawgs, including Andy Mapple.

 

Looking him up on AWSA Rankings, he is even skiing in Men4 JUMPING! Almost think that has to be a misprint, but he has apparently gone 118 ft. in the SC State Championships.

[JohnCox]

I skied with Jeff a bunch this year, and there was never any discussion about putting a patch on one eye, or closing one eye. That sounds like an internet rumor....

 

And, @EdBrazil, you are correct, it is Rodgers, and yes, he did jump at the SC State Championships. It was at his site, and he got talked in to it......

[Wish]

I knew @JonCox would set the record straight. Now everyone open that eye and keep skiing...

[Than_Bogan]

My ski partner @MikeT has to cover most of the field of view of one eye because be has double vision in a certain area if things are moving quickly. He is able to keep the peripheral vision available though, which seems to be important. My kids dubbed him Mad Eye Mike one day, a reference to the Harry Potter character Mad Eye Moody.

It doesnt hurt his skiing much, but doing it just for training doesn't seem to make sense.

[KeownFILMS]

I've never heard of Jeff doing the eyepatch thing. Although when he skies his eyes are closed half the time...