Too much 'Cow bell' through the gates

[cragginshred]

I can get so caught up in various micro managing of the turn other aspects of the pass but yesterday I watched 2 different sets on video and the glaring difference was set 1 I progressively dropped into my lean through the gates resulting in a slow 1 ball and running my hardest pass with good decelerated in the pre turn and subsequent controlled speed.

 

Set 2 I abruptly got in my lean and went flying into 1 ball then stood on the tail............ made the opener and 1/5 tries at shorter line after that.

 

How do you keep from hauling arse into 1 ball CONSISTENTLY? Also at your harder pass line lengths do you find you go too hard and fast into 1 or tend to?

[ral]

Abruptly is not a good word for any action in your gate or turn process. What line are you running?

[jayski]

https://vimeo.com/121869713

[Horton]

@cragginshred best thread title ever

[cragginshred]

@ral although I run it more and more often my hardest line length is -28, but for the sake of argument this should apply to anyone trying to consistently ski into the next loop -the skier tends to get on the 'cow bell' too hard coming through the gates.

 

@Horton thanks! We started saying this last summer. One of the lake owners said 'less cowbell' following a crash and it just kinda stuck!

[gregy]

Post up some videos. I have problem on my hardest passes coming into 1 hot that is from pulling to long. On my hardest passes I tend to rotate my outer shoulder which causes me to get locked in and I'll end up pulling way past the wakes and come narrow into 1 ball.

[cragginshred]

Is you tube the only way to post video here? Really degrades the video..

[RazorRoss3]

If you're posting video I vote OTF footage must be included ;)

[bishop8950]

Are you really too fast at one or are you skiing more at one which makes it harder to turn? As the line gets shorter I notice I struggle to get early width into one which makes it hard to turn which can be perceived as fast. "If I were slower I could have turned". But speed is not the problem, its direction and the fact I am not on my desired line.

 

@cragginshred what you said about being progressive is good as well. That's key for me. Build progressively into the first wake and feed my ski out progressively off the second wake. Always makes for a better one ball than spiking the line early and getting popped up through the gate

[Razorskier1]

@bishop8950 nailed an important point

[ral]

@cragginshred, just wanted to know if you were talking about 28MPH or 28 off...

 

I am with @bishop8950, as I mentioned in my previous post. Progressive is kind of the the opposite to abrupt. Video would be important.

 

Also, I really believe that the approach is progressively building angle, not progressively dropping into a lean. Where your ski is going is the important part.

 

[Roger]

Video would certainly be helpful. The most common thing I see as skiers advance to a shorter line, is not getting far enough up on the boat. I believe the fear is too much speed when in reality, not advancing enough causes the skier to ski directly at one ball with more speed than they would have with a wider gate. Been there, done that...

[cragginshred]

Video issue loading....when I drop video file here it says 'File not allowed' on Mac and PC platforms - I cannot get a response about this.

 

Focus point as gist of thread:.... speed as a result of not dropping in to gate with progressive lean resulting in skiing toward one ball as opposed to a decelerated outbound pre turn. Hence the question;

 

'How do you get a consistent gate especially at your shorter line lengths'?

 

@bishop8950 perfect answer! Can you expand on 'feeding your ski out off the second wake' especially when this does not seem to come natural?

 

@Ral -28/33. mph (winter speed)

 

 

[Horton]

@cragginshred My #1 bad habit is going too hard too early on my gates. On the other hand you must turn from wide and you need to make speed. If you make load from too wide you will get pulled narrow and that = fast and out of control.

[Horton]

@cragginshred you have to upload to YouTube and then paste the link here.

[Bruce_Butterfield]

Roger is right. For skiers advancing from 15, 22, then 28 off, it is almost universal that they don't get enough width on the gate pullout.

 

Starting around 28 off, you need to try get 90 Deg on the boat. Once you get comfortable with enough width, then you can work on the little details, but I suspect most of your issues will disappear and you'll asking questions about the gates at -32.

[cragginshred]

@Bruce_Butterfield you are exactly right. I need more width as you will see here. This is the too much cow bell off the glide you will see me 'spike the load' resulting in a way different 1 ball than the following vid

 

https://youtu.be/QnHOV248_1o

[cragginshred]

Comparing this drop in from my 1st set a slightly better job in progressively building load off the glide with much less 'Cow bell'!

@bishop8950 recognize the site? Thanks again for the McCullogh hook up!

 

2017 Radar Vapor pro here by the way -really gets the tips back down when on the tail like I like to do!

 

https://youtu.be/RwiWHNiqheQ

[ColeGiacopuzzi]

@cragginshred That ski looks good, its working for ya! The number one thing I think will help with that gate is standing tall with your chin over your front foot and keeping your shoulders level in your glide, your first move right now is with your shoulders, the minute we do that we're creating load. Try making that first move with your feet/hips so you can stay over your ski, that way you can create angle without load, and then progressively move into the back of that boat. Hope this helps!

[dbutcher]

Do your driver a favor. Use a shock tube.

[bishop8950]

@cragginshred looks like a nice place to ski. You are a lucky man.

 

A few thoughts based on the text and video:

 

Be progressive on your pull out. The first pass is to sharp. Start slow as you move left from the wake, use ski angle to load the line progressively, unload the line progressively to get wide and at least as fast as the boat. You need enough momentum to pace the boat in your glide.

 

Turn in with your own speed. You need to get most of the way back to the wake before you feel the boat. Many skiers sink at zero, the boat starts to pull away and then they feel the boat and try to go. Way too late because the boat has you and you are going straight to one.

 

I start thinking about how it will feel to move out to one as soon as I turn zero. I try to connect my move into the first wake with the move off the 2nd wake. The result I want is to feel good moving off the 2nd wake and my roll in at the gate is just the first step in that sequence. I think many people have a mental abrupt stop around the centerline and give everything up to the boat while the ski straight to one. After my max load (somewhere between first wake and centerline) I try to stay leveraged and not give anything back to the boat without adding any load. Ride the line out. I get lighter in my feet and knees to feed the ski out while keeping my elbows pined to my vest. Looking for that "reverse C" moment.

 

I think you should be more progressive in your pull out, get wider, learn to roll in with more of your own momentum, keep your elbows tight through the edge change and see if you can create more space into one. And on consistency its too simple - do it the same. There is no trick. Make sure you know where your timing spots are and make your athletic moves repeatable. I have been working on it for +20 years and starting to get there.

[cragginshred]

[Bruce_Butterfield]

Get WIDER on your gates! You are barely at 45 Dec at your max width.