Beginner Course Work Advice

[SkiNGurl]

Out of frustration, I'm reaching out for somebody to please say something that might possibly click for me trying to learn the course.

 

I started free skiing a year ago, and been attempting the course for 7-8 weeks. I absolutely love skiing and want to compete. I ski 4-5 days/week and mostly in lessons. I just returned from Women's Week and still not able to run a successful pass. I've never gotten more than 4 buoys at any length or any speed. IMO, my passes all feel the same to me no matter the boat speed or length. I'm very close, often running over the buoys. I've been told that I pull like I'm skiing 28' off and that I'm way too flat/fast approaching the 2nd and 4th buoy and can't get turned around (LFF). When I try to do a controlled pull, stop pulling immediately as I cross the 2nd wake, I lack energy and short of all the buoys but have more rhythm. I've just not been able to figure out how to get my hips turned around 2, 4 and 6 (LFF). I lack width and space in front of all the buoy's.

 

Does anybody have a suggestion how to break this down into a much simpler approach for me that would allow my confidence to come back? It all happens so fast behind the boat. I've watched a gazillion videos/read articles....I'm making it way too complicated. I don't have a recent video of me on the course but I'll try to get one. I recently purchased a Goode Nano XT but that didn't do the trick.

 

I watch how simple others make the course look and what stands out to me is how SLOW they are skiing and how much TIME they have in front of the buoys. I'm starting my passes way outside of buoy 1 (no gate).

 

I love lean drills and can do them easily but it has not translated to "behind" the boat. Originally I was very afraid of the wake but now I'm only focused on the buoys.

[MattP]

@SkiNGurl‌ Welcome to BOS! You have come to the right place. The best way to receive some good advice without shooting in the dark would be by providing video of your skiing.

[MISkier]

You probably have all the ski (Nano XT) that you will need for a while. You need to examine your body position basics to make that ski do what it's entirely capable of.

 

1. Are your arms straight when you are pulling through the wake? They need to be.

2. Where are your hips as you pull through the wake? They should be up and getting close to the handle. If your hips are back and/or the handle is out in front of you pulling your arms away from your body, you need to bring them closer. That will get rid of the flatness.

3. You state that you do not generate much energy. Are you riding and turning on the tail of the ski? That is also a function of hip position and possibly a back leg with too much bend in it.

4. Most of what you describe regarding turns/width/space is a result of not using the edge of the ski. Body position is the key to using the edge.

 

Video will help identify the problem. Please take some and post it.

[Than_Bogan]

Definitely video. Frankly it sounds like you've been given some weird advice (or you are misinterpeting it or I am misinterpreting what you've written!).

 

General philosophical comments:

 

Intermediate skiers often tell me I do it so easily. I assure you nothing is further from the truth. I am absolutely working my ass off out there. There is nothing easy about this game. But when you learn to generate MORE angle and MORE speed, that creates the space that can make it look (and eventually feel) slower.

 

At your level, the three most important things are body position, stacked position, and leverage position. And yes, those are all the same thing. :)

[Chef23]

@SkiNGurl‌ a couple of thoughts. First for a beginning course skier your work zone should be from white water to white water. There is a lot of talk about changing edges at or before the second wake but that is an advanced topic generally for skiers skiing 32 off and shorter. If you try to stop pulling before the end of the white water after the second wake you will come up short.

 

Second how fast are you skiing? If you haven't run a full pass you shouldn't be going faster than 24 mph depending on how big (I hesitated to put that word in there) you and your ski are. My daughter runs passes at 24.6 mph and has run them slower and she isn't a little wispy thing. You might get some water in your face at times but it is definitely where you need to start.

 

Third don't be focused on the buoys when you are pulling. Pretend there is a buoy 20 feet before the buoy you are trying to get to and that is your target. When you get to that spot 20 feet before the buoy begin your turn. You should finish your turn and be heading back cross course right at the buoy. If you do that you will start to create the space you have seen other skiers get. If you wait until you get to the buoy you will ride a flat ski and pick up speed which results on slack after the turn and getting further and further down course.

 

It will come. I remember when my son started running the course he went from struggling to run 3 or 4 buoys to picking up a couple of speeds in a matter of days. Most of all have fun.

[Thomas_Gustafson]

@SkiNGurl‌ you wrote that you recently bought a Goode Nano XT and mentioned it did not do the trick. I hate to say this but for you to increase your chances of running the course I would buy a Radar P6 (best ski in the world for those who wants to learn the slalom course for the first time). No matter what you are doing wrong this ski "FOR SURE" will help you reach your goals. This ski will also allow you to run the boat speed a little bit slower so you have more time to reach the bout without feeling like you are sinking. I have helped so many skiers run the slalom course for the first time thanks to the Radar P6 (the ski makes my work so much easier) trust me!

[SkiNGurl]

I'll try to get a video either tonight or tomorrow night.

 

At the moment, I've pulled a muscle in my back on left side below my shoulder blade which I have to assume is for pulling entirely too hard. I have nothing left to pull any harder. I have to address my position and HAVE to figure out a way to CHANGE it.

 

Thanks

[SkiNGurl]

Pertinent information about my skiing:

 

LFF/righthanded/51 years old/very athletic/135 lbs/5'7"/65.25" ski/28 mph/15'/2 hands on handle all the time. I can ski 6 passes or 18 passes/day with ease. But never achieve more than 1,2 sometimes 4 and 6th buoy. I'm always too narrow at 3 and 5. If I pull super hard I can reach 3 and 5 but the next buoy is out of the question. My position needs to be fixed and I apparently need to hear it differently from what I've heard or read because I've not been able to process everything once behind the boat. I don't have any "feel". I'm literally skiing along, mentally flipping pages in a book about what-to-do-and -when-to-do it! Makes me so LATE!

 

I've skied at speeds anywhere from 21 mph to 30 mph. My thoughts were that faster speeds would generate more energy (glide time) but I'm skiing flat and past the buoys, headed down course. I've never made a successful pass.

 

I ordered a Radar Lyric before I ordered the Goode Nano XT but haven't received it yet. I didn't know about the P6, but I'll certainly look into it. Trust me, I'm coming at this dilemma from every angle I can possibly think of. Up until 2 weeks ago, I was skiing on the only ski I owned, HO Couture Freeride and I was literally leaving the water at wakecrossings (scaring the devil out of me). I also learned to ski behind our 2012 Mastercraft Maristar Wakeboard boat (hence my fear of wakecrossings). All of my course work has been behind a Malibu Response which has been so nice.

 

A video forthcoming.....

[buski]

I'm not too far removed from where you were, and really not all that far past it either.

 

- It amazed me how much physical effort was needed and how hard I needed to work to make my first pass at 15 off/28mph, when people were making it look so easy. People are definitely working behind the boat and it's way more than you think you need.

 

- There's a big confidence hurdle to get over. People can tell you all day about the only thing you have to worry about is body position, but if you're not confident enough to really pull hard through the wake and feel safe doing so, it's going to be hard to get. Granted they go hand-in-hand; if you're pulling hard in a terrible position you can either hurt yourself or take some bad falls, which only lowers confidence and works against you. Getting past this just takes time. This can be worked on out of the course, not doing pullout drills but wake crossing drills.

 

- Turns matter. Again it's pretty commonly said that if your position behind the wake is good, you can do anything you want in the turns and still run these passes. Maybe that's true if your position was that of someone that can run 32-35 off. It's definitely not true while you're still building up to that position. That said, don't get caught up focusing on a bunch of different things. Mostly it should be a couple simple things getting started. The biggest culprit is just figuring out the balance you need on the ski. Likely you're too far on your back leg, especially offside so you're not finishing and getting pulled right at 3 and 5. Stand taller with more weight on the front of the ski. You'll run plenty of passes where you're too much on the front and lose the handle or get pulled out. You'll get there.

 

- Another big culprit in the turns is just being narrow and/or too slow at the buoy, which could be because your pull between the wakes was bad, which might be because something before that was bad, etc. All the pieces work together and it can take a lot of time to get it right.

 

- The course seems so long and it seems like you have so many places you can either mess up or have time to fix things, but the importance of getting a good gate & 1 ball can't be overstated. Getting a solid 1 ball can just make everything else fall into place, even when you're still working on your first pass. You should be able to learn the course starting at 1 ball, but make sure you are wide of it and finish your turn in at the buoy instead of riding right after it and turning after you pass it.

 

Keep at it. You've got the will to progress, boat, water time and equipment. It won't be long.

[Chef23]

@SkiNGurl‌ slow the boat down. 28 mph is way too fast for you right now. I would try 24 mph and see how it goes. At your weight the 65.25" N1XT should support you fine. While I wouldn't have necessarily recommended that as the right ski for a beginner it is a pretty forgiving ski and it should work fine for you for a long time. If you have a Lyric coming it should support you a little better at slow speeds.

 

Faster speeds require better angle and technique to get across the course in time to get to the next buoy.

 

Your back issue isn't a result of pulling too hard it is likely a result of improper body position.

 

Video would be great. Welcome to the insanity.

[GOODESkier]

I'll repeat what some others have said. This comes from my experience teaching my wife (125 lbs, 35 yrs old, athletic) how to ski the course:

 

1. 24.9 MPH is the place to start. And stay there until you have BODY POSITION, STACKED POSITION, and LEVERAGE POSITION dialed in. Get video of yourself. Honest, ski the rest of the season at 24.9 MPH. Start next season at 24.9 MPH It is not too slow. This is where you can learn all that you need to know to advance in speed and rope length. My wife didn't drop a hand in the turns until she was running 30 MPH. Now it is second nature for her. You can hang on with both hands well through getting everything else in place, BUT in the end, you will need to master this piece as well (Leave it alone for now).

2. My wife skied growing up, but never on a course. I bought her a Radar Lyric. We worked on that ski for TWO YEARS trying to run a full pass at 24.9 MPH. Not once did she get more than 4 balls non-consecutively. NOT ONCE. While in S. California she hoped on a buddy's wife ski and ran a full pass the VERY FIRST SET! Went back to the RADAR Lyric and never ran a full pass on that ski. I bought her a Nano ONEXT with Powershells (what the loaner ski was she ran full pass on). NOW SHE IS RUNNING FULL PASSES AT 30 MPH AFTER JUST ONE SEASON. I expect her to be able to run 32 MPH by the end of the season......

 

Take that info for what it is worth, but some skis work for people and others don't. I never got the Lyric to work for her. It was easy for me to get the Nano ONEXT dialed in. No sense in learning how to drive a ford fusion if you can have the Ferrari experience. Get someone to help dial the ski in and get you set up.

 

Just my 2 cents

[zippin_2]

@SkiGurl video will def help the coaches here on BOS, of which I am not one.

It clicked for me when I was told to stop pulling and start leaning. I stopped using the word pull, stop thinking of it as a pull and changed my mindset from pull to lean or "leverage" (if that helps). This helped me to see (when I watched video of others) the correct position-balanced underfoot, hips up, elbows in, shoulders square and just 'lean back'. I just tried to mimick what I watched.

I also found it more helpful to watch video of female skiers rather than the pro men. When a 5'4" teenage girl runs 38off it's not because she is muscling her way through the course. She cant, she must use proper form and function or 'body position'. Search for this type of video. NOTE: this is not true of all women, Regina can muscle her way better than most men, when she needs too. However, there is a good slow-mo of her running 32off posted by Kevin Kelm on youtube.

If you pause at :17 seconds you will see proper position on her pull out and again at :34 for on-side and at :45 for off-side. You should notice that she never pulls with her arms, she just leans away from boat.

Hope this helps, keep searching :) .

 

 

 

[Joeprunc]

Not sure what size the ski is, but this may be an issue. I bought a ski for my wife's weight and speed, and didn't realize I should have bought the next longer size.

 

This happened with me too when i started skiing the course. I weight 150 lbs and free ski at 34 mph, so I bought a 65" thinking it would work. But when I skied the course any slower the ski sank and stopped...much like what I am hearing your problems might be related to. I bought at 66" ski and picked up 8 balls in one day.

 

I'm experiencing this with my wife this year too. I broke my foot and had her ski my ski, it was a whole new world for her. Proper equipment does make a big difference. Maybe next time you are out try someones ski that is 1" longer.

[SkiNGurl]

My mindset may definitely change if I use the thought process of lean instead of pull----because right now, I'm pulling hard enough to move heavy furniture around a room. I've watched Regina's video a million times but never stopped at those frames and really studied it. I hope to one day look relaxed and confident like that. :)

 

[gsm_peter]

Fully agree on above comments on work on stacked position.

I am just a few seasona ahead of you.

It took me about 70 sets to make all six first time.

Coaching made me more consistent by work on rythm and timing.

 

 

[SDNAH2OSKIER]

I dont have any technical advice and I know how frenetic the pace is behind the boat, but I was told to ski at the lowest speed you can, thats about 28 for me on my ski and the balls still seem to fly up on me. The advice I will give you, and it may or may not work is this, I could really care less how many balls I get and I am not out to impress anyone and try to have fun. That is sometimes counter intuitive to hard work and discipline, but it may help you to clear your head and just ski. Its a hella of a lotta fun and you are awfully lucky to get to ski as much as you do!!!

 

[gregy]

Your in north Carolina, go ski with Seth Stisher when you get a chance. Some of the best coaching I've had.

[BrennanKMN]

While I am no means someone you should be taking advice from, one thing I can say is think about 1 thing per set. If you go out there any try and do 3-4 things differently each set you will have a bad time. I am not talking pass, I am talking set.

 

Work on 1 and only 1 thing until it is second nature. At that point you move on to the next thing. You will almost certainly struggle if you try and fix several things at once.