Knees

Cam · November 21, 2016

A lot of people comment that I ski with me knees apart on my onside pull, it has never really bothered me apart from not looking pretty, I have tried to change it a few times but always end up skiing the same.

Has anyone got any tips to change this? I have thought about tying them together with a bungee cord but don't think that is a great idea.

skiep · November 21, 2016

Try to square four hips in the direction of the tip of the ski. That will allow your rear knee to tuck in behind front knee better. Odds are your hips are open.

Deanoski · November 21, 2016

you can also straighten the rear foot if it is pivoted

Cam · November 21, 2016

I should have put in my question does it matter or is it worth trying to change?

thager · November 21, 2016

Are you bowlegged?

Cam · November 21, 2016

@thager No.

mwetskier · November 22, 2016

some ski school back in the day was said to sometimes tie a skiers knees together with bungee to help over come this issue. maybe lucky lowe?

So_I_Ski · November 22, 2016

Why care unless you think it is negatively affecting your skiing. And by "apart" do you mean that the back knee is beside the front one instead of behind because if you do then I think that is correct. Virtually none of the pros ski with the back knee tucked behind the front one on their pull. As their knees bend when they approach the wakes, the back knee comes up alongside the front one which is the natural position to assume.

Horton · November 22, 2016

@cam If you do the bungee cord thing please get video

I agree with what @skiep said. My guess is that your "man parts" are pointing at the boat. If you will close your hips you will have more power and your knees will come together.

Horton · November 22, 2016

@solski I respectfully disagree with your post. If your knees are side by side that means that your hips most likely are falling back. Knees side by side could mean the skier has his back heel up (bad) or that his feet are way in front of his hips (also bad).

If you are thinking about after the second wake then yes it is not uncommon for shortline skiers to let the their feet shot out in front of them for a split second but this is largely the result of too much load in the rope before the second wake.

Now this is a matter of degrees. Rarely will you see a back knee cap actually nested into the back of a front knee. No one should have their knees actually side by side at the first wake. Almost all of us fall somewhere in between.

Ralph Lee · November 22, 2016

My knees will separate during my offside preturn, sometimes dramatically, I've never really known why? I don't feel it when skiing, but notice it when watching video

So_I_Ski · November 22, 2016

Horton, I wasn't suggesting that the back knee ends up parallel to the front one but the back knee is more "beside" the front knee as is natural as opposed to being tucked in behind. For instance, the more you bend your knees like say Terry Winter, the more the back knee is visible on your off side pull as evidenced in his slow motion vid. Same thing with Regina and three others I had watched before making my comment. Part of the reason is that as they approach the wakes, the back leg is always bent more than the front one. When you don't do this you are clearly on the back of the ski with the hips trailing. Cam should also check Regina's slo mo. He will find that her legs are quite noticeably apart on her onside pull.

Horton · November 22, 2016

@soIski

When you don't do this you are clearly on the back of the ski with the hips trailing.

I am not sure we actually disagree but I do not agree with the way you are explaining it. As a skier's back knee bends more then his front knee his pelvis must move backward unless his heel comes up. Terry Winter has a crazy amount of front ankle bend so video or images of his skiing are often misunderstood.

Horton · November 22, 2016

Two reasons to not over analyze pros....

1)They are freaks of nature in terms of athletic talent.

2) A lot of the footage you see is of them at the limit when they are doing things that even they know is not ideal

ScottScott · November 22, 2016

I agree with @horton "to not over analyze pros..." I have noticed that on Ragina's onside her hips and knees face the boat more than maybe anyone.... Probably not the way you would teach someone learning. But you wouldn't teach someone to swing a golf club like lee travino either. There is certainly a lot to learn from watching one of the best skiers ever, but there are often things they do that are unorthodox which they have refined through more repetition than most of us will ever have a chance to do.

Ralph Lee · November 22, 2016

I completely disagree! There are reasons the pros of all shapes and sizes blow 99.9% of us out of the water. Most the time they make it look easy too. I've been around long enough to see how many times "we" say don't emulate that guy, he or she is a freak nature!! Only to hear years later people coaching their technique.

So_I_Ski · November 22, 2016

I am in full agreement with Ralph. And the problem with Scott's comment is that Trevino was an anomoly just like Furyk. But the golfers you do want to copy or emulate are the majority with the same technique like Mcllroy, Day or Fowler. Same with the skiers. If you watch video of them enough times you will spot the things that they all do the same. Over the past 10 years I have heard a lot of different opinions on different components of the pass and I always reference video of the best to test the validity of those opinions. One thing I know for certain is that videos don't lie!

I also don't believe that skiers who are better than I am are a "freak of nature". By and large their biggest advantage is that they grew up skiing on a course and I didn't. I have years of poor muscle memory to overcome which means focused repetition that I seem to lack the patience for. If I get something right two times, I think I've mastered it and move on to something else. Big mistake! Plus it's extemely difficult to lock anything in when you only get about 8 passes before you're worn out.

I find that this sport requires less co-ordination than many sports but less is more in waterskiing. And unlike any other sport, repetition alone will get you nowhere unless your technique is correct. So every new line length demands an improvement in your technique.

Razorskier1 · November 22, 2016

It's a good thing @thager doesn't ski with his knees apart ;-)

Horton · November 22, 2016

My original point was .... it is possible to watch video of pros or worse study pictures and get some pretty bad ideas. Kidding aside I suggest everyone try to ski like this.

Ralph Lee · November 22, 2016

After watching that, one thing I would never emulate is wearing a wetsuit in California that time of year. What a wuss!!

Deep11 · November 22, 2016

Buy a horse Cam - it may be your superpower?

Cam · January 29, 2017