Stuff rattles in my head too.

[LeonL]

After reading the related thread and many other threads detailing ski style, theory and all related strategies, I've come to a depressing conclusion. Although thinking of myself as at least average athletically, I obviously have serious limitations being able to physically do the things necessary to ski properly. But that's not the worst part. The way a lot of guys on BOS describe what they do, how they do it, how they make adjustments during a pass, it's also obvious that I don't have the mental capacity to ski short line. My processor just doesn't work that fast. Once I get to my toughest pass things seem to happen too fast for me process them and respond accordingly. Does anyone else face this dilemma?

[SkiJay]

@LeonL Unless you have the time and circumstances to ski nearly daily for a fairly long time, don't feel bad. I don't think too many adults can get beyond task overload in a pass until sometime north of 1,000 sets so the pass is basically a blur. After that, there are glimpses of lucid awareness during the pass on a good day. At about 1,500 sets, you can enjoy a relatively consistent awareness of what your doing, and beyond 2,000 sets, your skiing becomes automatic enough that you can change things at will while skiing. 2,000 sets is a lot of skiing. After all, you're only spending two minutes per set in the course--if you don't fall.

 

If you are 15 years old, you can take a zero off of each of these time horizons.

[gregy]

Sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm mainly out for fun and exercise.

[LeonL]

Well @SkiJay, I haven't been one to count sets but I've been hacking around a slalom course for over 25 years. So I'd have to guess that at a conservative estimate of 75 sets a year I'm somewhere around 1800 to 2000 sets. Doesn't look good.

[Drago]

@LeonL‌ don't believe the. 2000 repetitions hype.2000 times wrong is not "mastery". Shake it up. If you do repeats of your "money" pass, stop doing that. Cut it. Keep working on your toughest pass. You will learn it. If you get 1/4 buoy better a week, you will be there . Concentrate on your good skiing, not the latest thread on bos. Lots of things work. You don't have to understand what everyone tries to describe.. When you go out for a set, concentrate on one thing: "today I WILL ride the handle to the buoy line". Try not to correct every little thing you are doing that day. Think Big Picture. Have a plan. Avoid the comments from the boat. Tell your observer what you are working on and have him or her look for only that.

Only one or two things in your head can't rattle :)

[SkiJay]

@LeonL I guess the point I meant to make was that your frustration is understandable but that you're being a little harsh on yourself. I'll bet the vast majority of skiers, even avid skiers, can totally relate to what you're saying. Very few skiers get enough water time to make skiing second nature. It just so happens that some of them are here on BOS, and we're all lucky to be part of this free flow of ideas.