Tips for child moving from long line to 15 off

[WBLskier]

My 10 year old (Girls 1) just reached her max speed (30mph) and now wants to start working on 15 off. Any tips to pass along to her to assist her with learning this new line length would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[lcgordon]

Is long line still a thing? I thought it was recommended to start at 15off. Sorry i dont have and answer just curious.

[markchilcutt]

Just tell her to have fun and 15 off is easier. Sit back and watch her kill it. I would forget about long line and have her only skiing -15 just one guys opinion but advice I got years ago from one of the best skiers/coaches around.

[Tmoney28]

yep! don't do long line. The above two comments are adequate and communicate what I was thinking better than I ever could

[Chef23]

Just shorten the line and let her go. It only took my son about a week when he was that age to get back to running the same speeds at -15 as he was at long line. I would suggest maybe having her go out at 15 off and run the same speeds she regularly runs. Say 24, 26, 28 and 30 mph. My guess is in 4-6 sets she will be running 30/15.

[Drago]

@WBLskier . Awesome! The wakes are closer together, so the "pull to the first wake, let up, pull to the second wake" type deal you see kids doing won't work as well. Have her concentrate on one long pull through both wakes. May want to start at -15 at the slower speeds, especially in practice .

[wtrskior]

In reading the other thread about the kid who hit shore at a tournament and being from Canada where longline IS 15off, I see no reason to have kids run a slalom course esspecially (or 1 ski for that matter) at 75 feet. Its too much rope IMO and the benefits are nil. my 2..

[andjules]

It will really depend on her current ability to pull through the wakes. If she alread pulls through them pretty well, she will adjust fairly quickly and in no time she'll realize that -15 is way more fun.

On the other hand, sometimes at slower speeds, kids can get away with flattening at the wake, as @Drago mentions (which also tends to mean a long pull after the second wake too). If that's the case, it's still going to be way more fun once she adjusts, but you'll really need to focus on pulling through the wakes.

[Chef23]

If she is running 30 mph my guess is she is pulling pretty good through the wakes. For a kid 30 is pretty fast and hard to go flat in the middle and still get out there even at long line.

 

I started my son at long line. I was just coming back to skiing after a long absence and learned long line so that is how I started him. He was just starting to run deep 30 mph when he wanted to go to -15 for an INT event because they scored 15 off at any speed higher than long line at faster speeds. I think by 3 or 4 sets he was running mid 30 mph again and ran a full pass pretty soon after.

 

Don't make a big deal out of it just tell her to work hard from white water to white water and she will be fine.

[MrJones]

Back down the speed and go to 15 off only.

[ScarletArrow]

Maybe this is a regional thing... everyone around here uses LL.

 

My son (B1) is now getting into 30 regularly and has run it a couple of times at LL.

 

I plan on him dropping the LL after Regionals & Nationals and then go 15off exclusively.

 

I took the same approach with my daughter (G2) and it worked great.

 

I backed the speed down one increment, but she quickly got back to her max speed at the new line length.

 

If a B/G1 - 3 is just starting out, especially at the slow speeds, I think LL is a good training tool.

 

The wake is already big enough at 15, 17, 19mph... why make it harder by shortening the rope?

[RazorRoss3]

-15 is easier than long line, the boat starts to help you and the wakes are closer together and smaller.

[MrJones]

+1 on RazorRoss

[WBLskier]

Thanks everyone.