Technical help for new slalom skier

[6balls]

Hi guys, this is my nephew looking for tips. Want to help me dissect?

IMG_4379.mov

 

Hmm...file format not allowed...I guess I critique myself.

[keithh2oskier]

Post it to youtube and share the link.

[6balls]

@keithh2oskier thanks

 

 

Carl is a kid who grew up getting one week per year a shot to free ski. Bought his own boat last year in his mid to late 30's. Has a place to try a course and I think has gotten 5 buoys at 15 off at maybe 30 mph. Tall dude.

 

He sent me this video from his family vaca recently behind a 2000 Sport Nautique, not sure speed, line I believe is 15 off. Obviously rides the tail. I gave him some text tidbits but looking for lots of ways to say the same thing so something clicks.

 

Thanks all.

[thager]

Start from wider on boat. More weight on front foot. Elbows pinned on jacket to get hands low. Shoulders above hips, above feet to improve stack.

[Jerry44]

More intensity on pullout for gate.

Longer glide time before the gate.

Load behind the boat (stack).

At finish of turn bring handle to outside hip.

[Intheday]

Have you tried Than document on stack that is buried in this forum somewhere.

[Kwoody51]

I have nothing constructive to add other than this is my exact story- free skiing one week a year for 20 years and then buying a boat in my mid to late 30’s.

 

Will be following this as his form looks similar to mine so can use the same pointers :)

[Deke]

Here is the link to @Than_Bogan article on leverage

[ReallyGottaSki]

Yeah, Carl's only using half his ski

 

wow, riding the tail because his face is leading his ankles. thats hard to do!

 

 

Its best he start with a fresh slate and understand a proper stance, stack, and bias that front foot proper. Start on the dock, then boat, modest cutting drills. Reset body, pull out. reset body, rinse and repeat

 

Seems he's mistakenly thinking pull with the upper body, vs pushing with the lower body

 

One moves the torso up to the elbows, not the elbows to the torso

 

And when he can harness all that leverage, he's going to have a blast

[Than_Bogan]

Also need to find better water to work on leverage position. There's rollers everywhere in that video!

[hemlock]

Well, pretty good ski for slaying all those rollers like @Than_Bogan mentioned.

This reminds me of myself when I was a teenager.

The "athletic" stance IMO is the exact opposite in waterskiing.

For example, in basketball/football/volleyball, or tennis, (as a kid/teenager) you learn a body position to be balanced, but ready to pounce forward. So you are low, and ready to react.

You have a slightly forward weight balance with a forward bend in the hips or waist.

If you do this many times, it becomes second nature.

 

Not the case for slalom skiing.

Slalom skiing requires and completely foreign body position to that of being athletic in other regular sports. (I'm generalizing).

But once you gain that stacked position, amazing things can happen. And if you are athletic you can, of course take your level further.

But to summarize, it's not an easy transition from doing something that is second nature to doing something foreign.

But once you get it? (or even close to it) oh man it is super fun. :smile:

 

 

[6balls]

Nice ski where did you get that thing? B) (my old Vapor)

 

I gave him the way too much rear foot due to rear leg too bent (@horton I told him to straigten up that rear leg!) and hanging his butt too far rearward (also a function of a bent rear leg and straight front leg.

 

He's a toe loop guy, told him that when he's standing in the wash getting ready to establish standing tall over that front binding right there. Exaggerate the front foot stance so much he can lift his back heel.

 

When pulling out more aggressively (also mentioned above), and also cross course move in the direction of travel. For pullout this means out and forward to climb high on the side of the boat.

 

Also suggested a handle on a trailer hitch, experiment with weight transfer and leveraged position, feel the pull with straight arms thru the deltoid of the lead shoulder. When you get it right you can feel how much more power is in your lean with no increase in effort.

 

He will have a chance to ski again soon, but it will be private site buoys. I wish he had some more vaca time and free ski time (with fewer rollers). As a kid getting almost no ski time he had good balance and I think had real potential, just never had the time. He's tall so once he gets stacked the leverage and lean would be great.

 

We live far apart, so I can't coach him in person which is a bummer.

 

Keep the comments coming. He's hungry.