An Introduction to GUT: A Scientific Approach to Slalom Skiing

[Horton]

Written by: Adam Cord and Adam Caldwell

ABSTRACT

When we started skiing together years ago, we, like most ski geeks, wanted to try and understand the science behind water skiing. Digging deeper into ski design, we struggled to define our goals and objectives for how a ski should perform without an understanding of what a skier should be doing technically on the water. While there are many ideas about slalom technique, we had never heard a clear philosophy of slalom theory and technique based upon physical science. If you look closely at other sports, you will find that there are sports scientists that have taken the time to define the movements of their sports within the realm of physics, dynamics, geometry, etc. We have set out to do the same in our sport. The following is intended to serve as an introduction to the physical science of slalom: The Grand Unified Theory of Slalom.

 

Definition: Grand Unified Theory of Slalom (GUT); a global model in which philosophy, theory, and technique are defined to support a singular universal objective; one that functions for all speeds and line lengths in slalom water skiing.

 

Introduction – Why GUT

The general intent of slalom skiing is to run the course successfully by executing a series of movements that flow together seamlessly. The question is, “Where do we start?”

 

Historically, skiers invest tremendous amounts of time attempting to link multiple, seemingly unrelated, theories (i.e. counter rotation, swing, connection, handle control etc.) with various techniques (i.e. hips up, open-to-the-boat, back-arm pressure, level shoulders, stack, etc.). These moves are very complex and hard to master. Some concepts are great and others are not. How do we sort them out? How do we piece these seemingly individual and disconnected ideas together?

 

The issue is, there is no governing philosophy rooted in physical science that can bridge the gaps between existing theories and techniques. We need a better way to unify technical concepts, and a new way of understanding the independent complex movements as a singular dynamic process. With a deeper understanding behind the physics and geometry of slalom, and the ability to integrate all theories into one universal model, it then becomes clear what our objective as a skier must be.

 

This article is intended to introduce and highlight a few simple concepts, define our objective, and begin to peel back the layers of a much deeper, highly detailed philosophy of waterskiing that is based solely and firmly on science.

 

Perspective

We will start with a simplistic view. We all want to go around six buoys with the shortest rope possible. Simple enough, but what does that translate to for applicable technique on the water? Maybe you should counter rotate more? But how or when? Or perhaps you need to edge change sooner…or later? How do we begin to investigate what’s really going on and where to even start?

 

Before we can understand the technical movements on the water, let us begin by looking at the geometry of slalom from a new perspective. By this we mean a two-dimensional, geometric view of what events are taking place that you would see if you were floating 1000 feet above the lake and watching someone ski through the slalom course. Similar to standing over a pool table, looking down from above, and visualizing your next shot based on the geometry laid out between the balls, bumpers, pockets, and constraints of the table. This is where we must begin, as geometry is the most fundamental part of skiing.

 

The Importance of Geometry

As a skier improves, he or she will generally increase the boat speed until the maximum required speed is met. The level of difficulty increases in a linear fashion along with speed. Once the maximum speed is reached, a skier will then begin to shorten the rope as their ability improves. The level of difficulty then increases exponentially as the rope is shortened.

 

The ‘standard’ line lengths have been changed and adjusted over the years in order to compensate for this exponential change. Smaller and smaller sections of rope are removed from one shortening to the next. The first section is 4.75 meters, followed by 2.25, 1.75, 1.25, 1, 0.75, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5 meters. The real question is, why does skiing the course become so much harder as the rope gets shorter?

 

The image below is a simple representation of the path of the skier and handle relative to the boat at various line lengths. For the sake of clarity, not all rope lengths are shown. The arc of the 23 (long line), 16, 13, 11.25, and 10.25 meter ropes can be seen below. These arcs represent the rope length, plus 1 meter to account for overall reach.

 

[Horton]

Path of Handle Relative to Pylon

The purpose of this image is to illustrate how far forward, or what we call ‘high up on the boat’, the skier must advance in order to reach the buoy. ‘High on the boat’ is a term we use to describe the distance between the skier’s position and the horizontal plane of the pylon. When the skier is at the centerline (CL) of the course they are as far behind the boat as they will ever get. Conversely, when at the turn buoy, the skier is as ‘high on the boat’ as they will get.

 

Down-Course Speed

The geometry shown also helps to highlight something interesting about the down-course speed of the skier as it relates to the boat. If we look only at the direction of boat travel (down the course); when a skier is directly behind the boat (at CL), they are always moving down-course at exactly the same speed as the boat. This is true no matter how fast or slow they may be moving across the course (side to side or tangent to the circle).

 

Keeping that in mind, we can also see that while the skier is moving from the buoy to the centerline, as they are building cross-course speed, they will always be going slower than the boat in the down-course direction. Additionally, when moving from CL to buoy, they are always going faster than the boat in the down-course direction. There can be no exceptions to this rule, and it’s an important one to help us better understand our technical objectives on the water. What does that mean with regard to line length and skiing difficulty?

 

The Increasing Difficulty of Shortening the Rope

Let’s start by looking at the full length rope, 23 meters (75ft). When the skier is directly behind the boat at CL, he is 23m + arm length away from the pylon, or roughly 24 meters. In order to reach the buoy he must swing outwards and also move upwards on the boat by 2.9 meters. After reaching apex and turning the buoy, he must then be slowing down in order for the boat to move ahead by 2.9 meters as he moves back to CL. Being that 2.9 meters is a short distance, the down-course speed of the skier at nearly all times will be very close to the speed of the boat at this line length. Because the speed variance of the skier is low, the acceleration/deceleration rates are low, the loads are low, the pressure on the ski is low, and the overall level of difficulty is low.

 

Now let’s consider 10.25m (41 off). This is an extremely short line that only a handful of people in the history of the sport have ever run in a tournament. Therefore, running this pass is incredibly difficult. Just as with long line, the skier will be going exactly the same speed as the boat at CL in the down-course direction. Also, just as with long line, when considering only down-course direction, the skier is moving slower from buoy to CL, and faster from CL to buoy. The big difference is that after accounting for reach and arm length, the skier must travel nearly 11 meter (36ft) ‘higher on the boat’ to be able to reach the buoy! That’s an incredibly long way in a very short amount of time. After turning around the buoy, the skier must again slow down enough to allow the boat to advance 11 meters ahead as he skis back into CL.

 

In order for a skier to complete a pass within the constraints of the slalom course at the 10.25-meter line, the variance in down-course speed is huge! They are traveling significantly faster than the boat in the down-course direction from CL to the buoy, and much slower from the buoy back into to CL. That means the rates of acceleration/deceleration will be extremely high, the loads extremely high, the pressure on the ski and rope are extremely high, and thus the level of difficulty is extremely high. No wonder such a small number of people have ever run this pass!

 

Geometry of Slalom

So now that we have the basic understanding of why the difficulty increases as the rope gets shorter, can we define our true goal? Maybe not just yet. The next key to understand is the layout of the slalom course itself.

 

Specifically, we need to understand the distance between each turn buoy both width and length-wise. The course is 23 meters (75 feet) wide, meaning that once you make a turn, you have to travel at least 23 meters perpendicularly across the lake in order to clear the next buoy. That may seem like a long way to go, but consider that there are 41 meters (135 feet) between each buoy when measuring straight down the course. That means the distance we travel down the lake is almost twice the distance we travel across the lake! This also means that, on average, we must travel down the lake much faster than we travel across from buoy to buoy. Knowing this fact, we can begin to look at the ‘moving parts’ of slalom, namely the skier and the boat.

 

The Skier, the Boat, and the Course

On the water there is a boat which travels in a straight line at a set speed and a skier which follows the boat at the end of the line, traversing through the course. Generally speaking, the skier simply moves side to side, attempting to get wide enough to clear the buoy, and moving from one turn to the next within the time constraints dictated by the boat speed.

 

As we know, this becomes more and more difficult as the rope gets shorter because the skier must travel a greater distance with respect to the boat over the same fixed time. To do so at short line, the overall difference in down-course speed must increase greatly between swinging up ‘high on the boat’ and then slowing down to turn close to the backside of the ball. Again the loads, forces, and more dramatic change in direction at the bottom of the swing at CL make it that much more challenging each time the rope is shortened.

 

So, knowing what we have learned thus far about the geometry of the course and the skier path relative to the boat, let us stop and think about a scenario. You are rounding the buoy and now at the slowest speed you'll be both down-course and cross-course. The boat is moving down-course much faster than you are at this point in time. What is your ultimate goal here? Get wide to the next buoy? Get early? Neither.

 

Ultimately, what we really have is a race between the boat and the skier. To win, you now must try to get DOWN the lake to the next buoy as fast as possible. To run the course successfully, this process of racing against the boat must repeat six times without losing control and position. Learning to accomplish this is the biggest challenge any skier will face. Here is where GUT comes in.

 

The Grand Unified Theory: Defined

Everything we are trying to do in the course can be directed to support one simple and logical objective. All of our thoughts, actions, movements, and efforts can now be executed to support one simple goal. We will look to accomplish this from the very first instant of our pullout for the gate, and then repeat it six more times through the course. There is one dynamic that is paramount to success in slalom skiing. It is the only thing we need to focus on, and the one thing we can build our entire philosophy, technique, and understanding upon. Our objective is to:

 

“MOVE THE HANDLE AS HIGH ON THE BOAT AS POSSIBLE, AS FAST AS POSSIBLE”

 

[Horton]

This is the Grand Unified Theory, or GUT for short. Everything revolves around this one concept. This is what drives our technical efforts to generate the speed, timing, and swing required to run each line length. The concept works at every speed and line length. Every action, thought, and effort must be made to support this objective.

 

With a clearly defined objective we can focus our vision and search for a deeper understanding of how to accomplish this dynamic on the water. Now we can use the principals of geometry, physics, and dynamics to govern and define what our actual “technique” must be. Confusion of opposing ideologies that exist today will slowly fade, as we now have a way to filter, and sort what is right, and what is not.

 

Conclusion

GUT has been written to document and share knowledge with the rest of the skiing world. By exploring a higher level of understanding defined by philosophy rooted in the undisputable facts of science, we hope to help everyone experience slalom skiing in a new way. Learning GUT will help anyone, whether skiing the course for the first time, or working on a world record pass.

 

Imagine skiing while having full confidence with every thought and every movement, at every moment in time knowing, instead of wondering, if you are doing the right thing. GUT is a proactive method of skiing rather than reactive which leads to a learning curve that is shorter, easier, and more fun!

 

Available to everyone on the soon to be launched Denali Skis website, the next sections of GUT begin to break down slalom skiing into simple easy to understand parts, and explore how this simple objective can be accomplished. The GUT information, being rooted in science, does not change over time, and will only become better understood. The GUT section of the Denali Skis website is a living document that will be expanded in months and years to come.

 

Keep an eye out for the launch of denaliskis.com!

[aussiemc]

Can't wait for the website to launch.

[Chef23]

My brain hurts. I need to read this about 5 more times.

[Horton]

@Chef23 you are screwed when they start getting into the details

[DUSkier]

@Chef23 Turn, lean, repeat!!! Much easier =)

[allycat]

this just sounds to hard from an open water skier with no access to a slalom coarse think i will just keep skiing with the kids on the orange rope (am just jealous would love to try it but round here its just to hard no slalom coarse)

[ozski]

The Denali ski coupled with the support and knowldge of the Adam (s) will make quite an impact as they transition into some volume production. As they say, watch this space, there is a serious new player in town.

[Wish]

"Confusion of opposing ideologies that exist today will slowly fade, as we now have a way to filter, and sort what is right, and what is not."

 

"Imagine skiing while having full confidence with every thought and every movement, at every moment in time knowing, instead of wondering, if you are doing the right thing."

 

Yeeeup

.

.

[dchristman]

So as GUT is a grand unification I assume it will be taking Chaos Theory into consideration?

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_Theory

[thager]

@dchristman What you have there is asymetric violence. i.e "My Style"! Very hard on the GUT!!

 

[Razorskier1]

I spent time trying parts of this theory a few years ago without knowing why it worked. Several pros had told me to build all my speed before the first wake/CL. Once I started doing that, I toyed with the "early edge change". It seemed by doing these two things I was painting the start of the turn the moment I left the second wake, and the ski felt like it was almost automatically turning.

 

Unfortunately, I reverted (again with top coaching advice) to staying on the edge longer off the second wake. This was advice I received from multiple coaches. Struggled to make it work consistently.

 

When I first read GUT it was a light bulb moment. I finally knew why what I tried before worked, and why it was the right approach. GUT has added to my arsenal of understanding and, when combined with what the Denali can do, has made me 100x better in about 2 months of water time (since after the Ball of Spray Cash Prize).

 

If you can wrap your head around it and are willing to put it to work, it makes the course a totally different game. The geometry and physics are so right, the buoys are just right where they are supposed to be, and you just ride the ski. No pain, no slack rope, just all out fun! (and more buoys, more consistently).

[pregom]

I am really hopeful that GUT will help me progress and make me succeed at running the course in 2016. I am an "analytical" person and I have enjoyed all the "technical" articles on this site. GUT promises to be the next level. Bring it on!

[AdamCord]

I've gotten a few questions about this so I'll try and give some info here:

 

The Name: Grand Unified Theory was meant to be somewhat of a nerdy inside joke referring to what is considered the holy grail of physics models, and then the name just stuck.

 

The Info: Yes, there is a lot more to it than this. This is meant to be an intro to the ideas. It turns out everything we do while skiing (or should do) can be explained scientifically, which we plan to do.

 

Why Post This Info?: We've been working on this theory for a long time, and it works. We can't think of a good reason not to share it.

 

Why Should I Care?: Honestly, we don't care if you do or not. If you like physics and want to apply it to your skiing logically, you'll love this. If this kind of thing makes you fall asleep, don't worry about it.

 

As always we're happy to answer questions!

[disland]

I thought coordinates was going to save the world? what happened LOL

[Jody_Seal]

When we first started with speed control (Hobb's System) The Chief engineer at Correct Craft put together a very similar analogy and description of the dynamic's of slalom skiing. A large part of the data acquisition and control hardware and the resulting software that was utilized at the time was based around these similar descriptions addressed above.

 

Building a speed control 101.

 

[mwetskier]

2 words -trent finlayson.

waterskimag.com/how-to/2009/09/30/find-the-perfect-line-2

[thompjs]

What ever happened to "Pull hard, Turn fast"?

[Than_Bogan]

Everyone who asked what Grand Unified Theory is, must now turn in their Nerd Card.

[DW]

Fun stuff, and in reality trying to analyze the velocities and accelerations of the skier and ski itself, those are actually different than the example shown which is actually simpler as it only considers the handle as noted in the original post. The paths of the handle, skier COM and ski COM are all different.

[MattP]

@DW

Here is an illustration of the different paths that the handle and the ski that @AdamCord made

[AdamCord]

@scotchipman great question. I can see how the wording there was a bit confusing. What we're referring to here is just the path of the skier relative to the boat, which will look essentially like a semicircle. What this effects with respect to the skier on the lake is the SPEED at which he or she is traveling.

 

The length of the path of the skier relative to the lake is interesting because depending on who is skiing and also HOW they are skiing, it will change. For instance a talented skier could run one easier pass by skiing super wide and early, which would create a longer path, or they could ski it straight from buoy to buoy if they wanted to, creating a shorter path. If you just analyzed those two paths you couldn't really learn anything from it.

 

What we are interested in is creating a faster swing to get high on the boat more quickly. The better we do this, the longer our path will be, but it becomes more difficult as the line gets shorter. Therefore I'd agree with David Nelson's findings that most skiers on average will ski a shorter path as the rope gets shorter, especially if they run their earlier passes very wide and early like those guys all do.

[Horton]

For the record : this is still all a hoax until I get my ski

[Wish]

The Warp...caugh caugh.. I mean Denali is the mail...

 

or is it?

[6balls]

I get it so far...waiting for the next installment. From a down/up-course perspective: buoy, fall down course relative to boat yet accelerate toward the wake cross-course, catch up in down/up course speed to meet at the wake, get ahead of the boat up-course out to the ball. Repeat.

Ok now I need more.

[Ed_Johnson]

@AdamCord ... This is great stuff, THANKS for sharing !!!!

 

Really looking forward to future installments...I know for me, short line skiing has become much more MENTAL than Physical......... Appreciate all your doing !!!

[Wish]

.

[Than_Bogan]

Just to connect the dots here, this Grand Unified Theory of Slalom is what I was referring to in my post regarding the Denali Summit. I honestly don't know how much people can get out of it without personal discussion with the Adams. But this stuff is for real. The math and the physics behind it hold up (which frankly is unusual), and more importantly they connect it to specific techniques that make skiing easier.

 

I think all of us who are padawans of GUT are really eager to learn more.

[Wish]

So I've been at this since Sept. As I've learned GUT and its techniques, I've come to realize why this ski is designed so differently then all others. My initial write up was centered purely on the ski and my non GUT style of skiing.(http://www.ballofspray.com/forum#/discussion/14320/the-hoax-a-squared-slalom-ski-aka-denali/p1) .

 

So while the ski was a vast improvement and sharp departure from any other ski I have ridden, the "why is that??" question was not really understood back then as you can tell from the writeup.

 

Fast forward to today and I can say with confidence that while the ski is like no other and will improve your score it is only half the equation to unlock its potential. As I learn the practical use and implement all the slalom techniques the Adams have spelled out and centered around the GUT theory, my skiing has only gotten better. A lot better. I no longer use 28...been 7+ yrs since I've done that. More 38s then the last 2 skies I've owned combined. GUT techniques have allowed for much longer sets as they rest on efficiency of the handle path. And for this time of year when I usually dial skiing way back, I'm putting in longer ski sets with less physical fatigue and soreness (slalom fountain of youth). I anticipate spring scores to be high (I realize I just jinked myself)

 

Bottom line for me is the forethought the Adams have put into GUT, the techniques that follow it and the ski designed around it is something tangible and answers a lot of the "why" that's out there in slalom. Lots of thoughts and ideas out there by the best of the best but I feel these are based on how things feel on the water making for many schools of thought as to why. Having GUT changes all of that to one single driving force based and rooted solely in science data on and off the water that just so happens to feel great.

 

I have not seen another company put so much intellectual (scientific) thought into ski design or technique for that matter. To me it feels like ski design is driven by the need to have a new ski come out by Nationals or a quick design fix as the ski design may not have been what they expected. Technique is driven by.."hay, doing that seems to work..let's tell skiers that". Thats probably over simplified but you get the idea. They do make both sound good, new and innovative. But is it when you have a deadline or the need to stay relevant? Are their athletes/testers/thinkers the actual CAD designer and the actual hands on ski builder with the degrees to back it all up? The Adams have painstakingly put all the parts to the slalom puzzle together and assembled what will make us all better skiers both in technique and ski centered on GUT in my humble opinion. The selfish part of me wishes they would keep all this to themselves giving me the distinct advantage. That same part wants them to not make a production ski. I'm not sure that being a year ahead in the learning curve by production date is enough to stay ahead of the other skiers that will soon be tapping into this knowledge. In other words...I wish it was a HOAX.

 

 

[Razorskier1]

Agree with @Wish -- I gave up 28 off this fall. It is a stupid pass to keep in my sets on the Denali applying GUT principles.

[Horton]

@AdamCord I follow 99% of what you wrote (or think I do). What I do not follow is the difference between "high on the boat" and "wide"

[Than_Bogan]

@Horton That was my biggest revelation while I was in FL at Denali Summit! I'll let someone named Adam give you the real answer, but just for fun I'll point out that cos(20) ~= 0.94. That means you've achieved 94% of the possible width at a point that you could still go 20 freakin' degrees higher. (Yeah, I couldn't believe I'd never thought that through either :) )

[Wish]

For me...Mental pic. Wide is a long time mind set that that's been drilled down to a must do and makes you think side to side is most important to slalom success. To much attempt at geting wide causes separation off second wake. I can get very very wide at 15 off. But when things get short, its not even a thing. But I can beat the boat to a high point next to it with the correct management of speed at the correct time and not get separated off the second wake attempting to get wide. Truly amazing how much space you find yourself having if you focus less on wide and more on forward with the appropriate speed management and a great GUT gate start technique

[ozski]

Yeah I wrote about the whole getting wide issue on here a while back... I don't think I got my point across very well. It helps if you think about the handle path, and take some time watch how well Nate manages his width on short line.

[Ed_Johnson]

Difference between Wide and up on the boat ?

 

Assuming a tight line, while you can be Wide, but not up on the boat, you cannot be up on the boat and not be Wide.

 

The pull out for the Gates is the perfect example. It's relatively easy to progressively angle out to a wide position while the boat is moving away and not be Up on the boat. It is much more of a challenge to "accelerate quickly" to a position up on the boat. So instead of thinking I want to be wide, think I want to get Up on the Boat as quick as I can. Once you take this mind set, and get "Up on the Boat," you will also be Wide. The best of both worlds, which will allow you to start the course with more angle. It's much easier to start with angle, than to try to achieve it later.

 

 

[Than_Bogan]

Geez Ed, if you explain it THAT clearly then everyone will be doing it! ;)

[Steven_Haines]

Well let's get with the explanations! I'm ready to have my mind expanded!

[AdamCord]

@Horton that's a great question. As @Than_Bogan and @Ed_Johnson mentioned there is a difference between being just wide and being high, where you will be wide anyway. I made the diagram below to show what Than is referring to:

 

 

As you can see you can be pretty wide and still not be all that high on the boat. Focusing on getting high instead of wide does two things.

 

First it changes your focus on where you want to go. That alone can completely change your skiing for the better. We'll dig down into the details of why this happens in later chapters of GUT but this is the key to staying connected, or "handle control".

 

Secondly in order to get high on the boat, you must be going FAST. Think about the skier as a pendulum, where the potential energy of the weight at the end of the string is a function of its height. The higher the potential energy at the top of the swing, the higher the kinetic energy at the bottom of the swing, or plainly, the more speed you will have. Again, in later chapters we get into the details of why speed is your friend, but just briefly, the loads will be lower, it will be easier to stay connected, and swinging faster means you will get to this high point on the boat more quickly, aka you are earlier.

[Razorskier1]

That drawing puts @Than_Bogan 's math into a great visual!

[JackQ]

I guess I don't see how you can be wide without being up on the boat or up on the boat without being wide.

 

My biggest distractor from running 38 more consistently is that I inadvertently try to get too wide (mental picture of where I should be from years of trying to get wide at 32&35!) when I end up too wide I am to far up on the boat and make the pass much harder than if I ski more at buoy width. Maybe if I could some how comprehend on how to get up but not as wide, I may have something to work on.

[Razorskier1]

@JackQ -- that is where this is going, particularly at shortline. It is both physical and philosophical. For years my focus was on getting wide and creating space, and the method I chose for doing that was to point my ski at the shore. However, this approach to width creates separation from the handle and, your ski is sliding down-course while pointing at the shore. The GUT approach to width is to use your speed created prior to CL to change direction and follow the handle path after CL. In this way, what you are striving for is height (which creates natural width), not width (generated from pulling after the CL). By doing so your ski is moving in the most efficient way to the widest point by going in the direction of the handle/boat. You will get to the buoy/width earlier, with width, and with the right amount of speed. From my own experience at 38, I'd say if you can apply it, this will improve your consistency at 38.

[mwetskier]

@JackQ -you can get your ski very wide by simply releasing with one hand at the same time you change edges after the second wake. your entire body length plus your stretched out arm will shoot that ski way out there. unfortunately that maximum width will be achieved long before you get down course far enough to go around the ball. and by the time you *do* reach the ball you will either have been pulled back to the inside or will be going so slow that you just dig in at the ball and cant take the resulting load from the boat.

 

getting way wide too early is just about the worst thing you can do on a short rope. getting farther up on the boat first before you release and reach is the very essence of ' handle control '. maintaining speed after the second wake is what gets you up on the boat and getting up on the boat is what allows you to choose *when* you get maximum width. focusing only on getting wide often results in being too slow and auguring in at the ball when you do get there.

[Horton]

 

[Razorskier1]

Don't you love it when @Horton 's head is about to explode?

[chris55]

@AdamCord what I am reading is super interesting but as a beginner slalom skier (30-32mph at15off) can I apply "going up" as a mental focus and mental technique ? As I see myself skiing at 15off, it is hard for me to imagine skiing up to the boat, it seems to me I have a too long rope. My real question is : is all your GUT theory does apply more for short line skier begening at 28off ?

Anyway thank you so much for sharing all your knowledge and can wait to start the new season in 2016

[Chef23]

It seems that one of the key tenets of this is to focus on creating speed before the centerline. This requires efficient body position and good stack as soon as you hook up to the handle after the ski completes the turn. It seems that it is important to still focus on allowing the ski to complete the turn, get angle then put the hammer down.

 

@chris55 I do think this is an objective of all skiers but like most things I think it is a technique that more advanced skiers can execute on better than skiers that are working on running 15 off up to max speed. I think that skiers that are learning the course don't have enough speed to ski up to the boat which is why they usually have to work through the second wake then let the ski travel.

 

I may be wrong though who knows.

[RazorRoss3]

@chris55, even at 15 you climb up the boat. Just not very far. If you think about getting very high on the boat at your pull out and then try and generate as much speed as you can across until the center line and then make a complete edge change after the center it will help a lot.

 

The trick is at 15 off it can be harder to "feel" the physics at work because you don't "feel" the pendulum effect but as @Chet told me last spring: 'you can't ski by "feel", it's never going to "feel" exactly the same. You ski by complete awareness of where you are and what you are DoiNg not what you are Feeling.

[thompjs]

@Razorskier1 -- Good likeness of Horton too...

 

 

[AdamCord]

@chris55 you are still on a circular path relative to the boat, so you definitely are moving up on the boat from CL to buoy. As @RazorRoss3 said, you don't have to move as far at 15off compared to shortline, so it's not as noticeable. All that means is that your job is easier at 15off.

 

As @Chef23 mentioned it's about getting speed before centerline. If all you do is focus on this you'll be swinging up on the boat naturally. The next segments that we are going to release center on generating speed with less load and riding the ski efficiently. I think those will be of interest to you.