Free skiing is good for stack

[Horton]

This year I started skiing with some of the kids on the UCLA water ski team. One of the girls is new to the slalom course but extremely strong and fit. The problem is that her fitness allows her to do some very bad things and still run balls. As with most skiers at 26 mph – 34 mph her stack is her prime issue.

 

The last time we skied together I told her there would be no balls. She was not happy but listened. My instructions to here were as follows.

 

1) Do not go around balls

 

2 )Find a tall and centered position on a flat ski and then keep that position as she leaned on the rope. It surprised her that the position I wanted her in was simple and basically “just stand up tall with feet flat on the ski.” There was not extra ankle bend or heel lift or weight on her toes or arch in her back or anything but stand tall on flat feet.

 

For the first few passes she worked too hard and it did not really work. Eventually I got her to lower her intensity and focus on the position. By the end of the second ride she was back running balls and she was technically skiing the best of her life.

 

[T_C]

I think one of the main reasons that it is so difficult to improve and run more balls is because we spend all our time in the coarse and it is really hard to work on changing technique when we are chasing buoys. I was able to get out on a big lake last week and spent the whole time working on my offside wake crossing. It's a lot easier to focus on one thing free skiing. Not to mention it was a ton of fun

[jayski]

"The last time we skied together I told her there would be no balls. She was not happy"

 

@Horton words need to be chosen carefully now a days

 

@skidawg @bigtex2011 what's your opinion on Horton's verbiage?

[Jody_Seal]

Say NO to dots! Dang things just get in my way!

[Garn]

@jayski I wish my wife felt that way!

[Than_Bogan]

There's no doubt free skiing can be incredibly valuable. If I were somebody's formal coach, I'd make them do it regularly.

 

But since I only ski for my own entertainment, I nearly always go around the buoys!

[skidawg]

One point to be made, if they like balls, don't take that away from them!!!!

[bishop8950]

On of the downsides to skiing private lakes all the time is it’s “hard” to free ski. If we had open water immediately next to the course, I would free ski a lot. When at the private sites, I end up focused on missing the buoys and I can’t truly free ski.

[So_I_Ski]

For my part I fully agree with John. The past two years I have had limited time in the course because the water level in our lake which is a hydro reservoir, has been kept at a level that we have never seen in the past 20 years. As a result, we get bounce back on all three of the courses which has virtually killed our course skiing.

 

Anyway, I have been doing a lot of fee skiing which feels like, and according to my friends, has noticeably improved my body position. It probably won't hold up in the course but what the hell, it's been a lot of fun and I appear to be skiing the best in my life.

 

As a Canadian where we have a lot of open water and very very few private ski lakes, it has always seemed to me that our ski cousins in the US where the opposite is true, don't have much opportunity to free ski such that one can make 30 or more turns in a row to get in a rhythm and just work on form.

 

Maybe someone should start a skiers home swap site so we can go down there to just course ski for couple of weeks and you can come up here to free ski and course ski on open water. More likely that might work for US guys who also snow ski cause we've certainly got lots of great ski hills and some of would love a warm sunny break during the winter.

[jimbrake]

@bishop8950 - one of the best attributes of the old Sacramento Water Ski Club site on Lake Winchester is the huge length of open water beyond the slalom course. Lucky Lowe and Jennifer Leachman (pre-LaPoint) did a week-long clinic there in 1993. Lucky had us spend a huge amount of that time free skiing to develop.....wait for it......swing and rhythm and connection. Yeah, 1993. The slalom course at Winchester is one of the tougher places to ski because of persistent cross winds, but that looonnng stretch of open water is perfect for close-proximity free-skiing. And trick.

[T_C]

@bishop8950 I total agree. It's next to impossible to free ski on a 2150' long lake.I haven't been out on a public lake in about 5 years and I feel blessed to be able to sky at a private site. It's hard to ski buoys when it's cold so I am planning on getting out on the public water as much as I can this winter.

[jercrane]

I have been told this is one of my biggest problems. I don't consider myself some incredible athlete but I'm consistently told after skiing by people that I consider experts they are shocked that I am able to run the passes I run with the form I have. I feel like you would tell me to quit if you actually saw me ski @Horton . :)

 

Problem is as I get older it's starting to leave a mark. Low back etc. I have to fix this before skiing just isn't a thing for me anymore.

 

I really do need to get more free skiing in to break these horrible habits and reform new habits.

 

sigh ... many moons until the ski comes back out.

 

[Wish]

Had a chance to free ski my folks lake this summer maybe 10 times. Have not done that in decades. +1 for it not being easy to just free ski. First and foremost it was a blast. Second, found my eyes looking up and way way out ahead of me vs buoy to bouy. Third it was nothing but feeling the down and up swing and getting in sink with the boat. Fourth it was so nice to be able to work on me on top of the ski without worrying about buoys. Skid taller with better line control. Such an eye opener and far more then expected. Truly beneficial. Got back in the course and most of what I learned stayed with me but old habbits die hard. Need to do this more often.

[Horton]

@jercrane I can not say this enough.... it is not only free skiing but it is free skiing with low intensity.

[igkya]

Skiing and low intensity... :D

[RichardDoane]

to "free ski" on a private site you just have to ski "against the grain" where the buoys aren't and spin the islands for 4 passes in a row and then let the water settle

[david_quail]

I’m convinced that not scrambling chasing the next buoy is what is great about free skiing and it’s ability to allow you to focus on stack. You can also accomplish this in the course by practicing most of your passes at a comfortable line length that’s relatively easy, allowing you to really focus on form ... rather than survival.

Borrowing heavily here from @twhisper whose convinced me.

[igkya]

I’ll free ski our private pond a lot, just start skiing 10-20’ before the course starts.

[bishop8950]

@RichardDoane i have tried many times. But eventually there is a boat guide or skier ball in the way. Instead of free skiing I run my early passes more. But when o do get to open water I really enjoy it.

[Horton]

@david_quail all I can tell you is after months working with this one girl and getting nowhere, making her free ski led to dramatic improvement. TW and I are probably on very similar paths considering that I always push my lower level skiers to work at passes they can run easily.

[ReallyGottaSki]

Reminds me of what my sensei would remark, practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.

 

 

One most exhilarating session was 114 consecutive cuts on morning glass with no pause or turns on a lake in maine for 3.5 miles straight , just cuz we could. vs usually 30 cuts at a time between turnarounds on our usual ski spot. It was a finale run, so having blown up was just an inconsequential but satisfying good burn driving home.

Though elusive, long session uninterrupted freeskiing gives one plenty of time to fine tune all the elements, as well as experiment with biasing, intensity and angles , as well as breed connection with the water, ski, wind and experience. Not to mention endurance.

[jercrane]

@Horton totally ... I get it. I have this bad habit of freeskiing and getting way too aggressive. Need to learn how to flow more and stop fighting.

[T_C]

@Horton I spent quite a bit of time in March running passes at slow speed that TW recommended. To tell you the truth It took more time to figure out how to get the timing of the slow speed figured than I was willing to give it. It was way more beneficial to free ski at regular speed and really focus on fundamentals. It was also more fun.

[disland]

low intensity? what speed line length are you all thinking about?

[cougfan]

Every August my family takes a weeks vacation to Lake Entiat on the Colombia river. We rent a house right on the water with a dock. There are 46 miles of water between 2 dams. The water is usually like glass. We free ski and free ski and free ski some more for the entire week. This is a nice break from the coarse in the middle of the season. Gives you a chance to work on different things without having to worry about buoys. We come back home refreshed and ready to tackle the coarse. Best week of the year because the whole family is skiing together! ?

Also this time of year 2 of my ski buddies and I free ski Big lake. That’s what it’s all about, skiing for the shear fun of it and spending the day with your best friends! What a life?

[TEL]

I am a big advocate of free skiing when the water turns cooler I do not ski well in the course so I free ski and work on my many flaws one at a time. In the summer when I start making the same mistakes over and over I free ski a few sets. It really helps, most of my ski bud's say it throws their timing off, for me cleaning up my mistakes makes me early any timing issues are easy to handled.

[david_quail]

@horton - In your opinion why just lower level skiers? I believe, if I am not mistaken, that Terry skis mostly at relatively comfortable passes. Can’t even elite level skiers benefit from this approach?