Is this an awesome edge change or....?

[Horton]

 

 

[Adam Caldwell]

For running a mini course!

[lpskier]

Way too much rubber.

[MISkier]

Seems like a little early handle separation.

[Horton]

I am waiting for somebody to notice the timing

[JackQ]

Hard to tell without context, but head is up, good body position and both hands on handle. If he has already generated all the speed necessary for the what ever pass he is on he is looking good. If not, edge change may be way to early as I at least attemp to change edge at the 2nd wake and then push the forebody of the ski into ski into the water.

[matthewbrown]

At this point, the ski should still be closer to the boat then his body, he’s got the opposite going on.

[klindy]

I think that was the idea behind @adamhcaldwell comment too. Maybe it's a cable course.

[ScottScott]

Maybe he has a strong tail/cross wind.....

[Horton]

@ScottScott @klindy

 

http://media.tumblr.com/fe497dd337d9af8479bb6398b9565d16/tumblr_inline_mg6n5ltl6X1rxe4lt.gif

 

[ScottScott]

Im so proud.....took almost 3 years of stupid comments to get this......

[Horton]

Well I was hoping this image would create some interesting conversation. When I first the image in the first post I thought it looked like a crazy early edge change. The reality is Cole went WAY too hard out of the pervious ball and a over energetic edge change was the result.

 

 

 

[AdamCord]

@Horton I meant to post earlier but didn't have time till now. That second pic you posted is exactly what I expected. The position and timing @ColeGiacopuzzi achieves through that edge change can ONLY be the result of tons of angle and speed into the wakes, most likely at a long (for him) line length. Anyone who is intentionally trying to look like that, especially on their harder passes, is going to find it not only very difficult to do, but detrimental. Cole can do it because he knows how to build speed and angle incredibly well. If he tried to do that at 39 or 41 he'd end up as @adamhcaldwell said....running the mini course.

 

As the rope gets shorter the connection to the line and therefore the boat becomes increasingly critical before, during, and after the edge change. It becomes more critical as the rope gets shorter because we have to swing more quickly around the pylon to cover the same ground (water?), therefore the centrifugal force goes up. If you're not in a position to handle that centrifugal force (conveyed via line tension), you're going to get separated early and your swing rate around the pylon will diminish rapidly as you start to run parallel to the boat too soon.

 

With the direction Cole's ski is pointing, the amount of roll it has, and the fact that his hips are already so far from the handle, he'd be well on a path to separation if this were 39 or 41. So yes it's a cool shot and very impressive that he was able to generate enough speed to get into that position so early, but probably not something most people want to emulate.

 

 

For reference this is what being wicked connected through the edge change looks like, and I'd be willing to bet most of Cole's edge changes look a lot more like this:

 

[ColeGiacopuzzi]

Right on the money, they usually look more like the above photo of Mapple. Like you said @AdamCord its definitely horrible to do at short line lengths and usually puts you on a straight line to the next buoy. The photo below is more how I strive to look at edge change.