What is the buoy equivalent of 30 pounds of fat?

[escmanaze]

So I'm about 30 pounds over my ideal weight. I'm convinced, that with all other things equal, if I could just get rid of that weight, it would be worth about 6 buoys better on my PB. Am I crazy?

 

How many balls more would you get if you lost 30 pounds of pure fat?

 

Or, if you're already in great shape, how many fewer balls would you get if you put on 30 pounds of straight fat?

[Horton]

when you say ideal do you mean like high school weight? or do you mean like realistic adult ideal?

[skialex]

It also depends on what you are running now... if you run like -15@30mph, and you get in shape and also improve you might run like 24 maybe 30 buoys or more. If you run -38 maybe even if you loose 30 pounds you would still not run -39

[liquid d]

When I'm 6-7 lbs overweight, i feel like a LOAD behind the boat. I can't even imagine what an extra 30 would do. Quit eatin yafatbastard!

[escmanaze]

@Horton I mean like realistic adult ideal weight. High School I was like 145-155. I'm pretty sure that if I ate healthy and hit the gym 4 days a week, I could get down to an "ideal" adult weight of 165. Instead I stand here at 195. I'm wondering just how much damage I'm doing to my skiing with those extra 30. I think it's probably a lot. I voted 6-9, but even that might be pessimistic.

[escmanaze]

@skialex Yes I'm sure you are correct that waterskiing is a sport that involves the law of diminishing returns as you get up towards the upper echelons.

 

[BlueSki]

Cut the beer first and the pounds will fall off. Not what you wanted to hear, but it will probably work.

[Bruce_Butterfield]

This topic has been discussed several times and there has not been a reasonable consensus. I think it's time to put it to a test. We need horton to put a 30 lb weight inside his vest and determine his buoy reduction.

[teammalibu]

I am hoping for 6!!

[Zman]

I would worry more about the added wear and tear on your body.

[Chef23]

It depends on what you are running. I lost 30 pounds a few years back and probably picked up 3-5 buoys. If I remember correctly my tournament ranking went from 1.5 or 2 @35 to 4@35. I was much more consistent as well.

 

Unfortunately I only had about a season and a half to work at improving at that weight before I had some health issues that have prevented me from trying to see how much I could continue to improve.

[Luzz]

Depends on the quality of fat and the quality of buoys. If you go for Canola Oil, you might get 2 to 3 good buoys..

If you go for duck fat, you can get pretty much 32 buoys, and set up a slalom course!!

 

(sorry, still in self isolation…)

[lpskier]

As @BlueSki says drop the beer. To that I would add bread and anything that looks like bread. I was 213 when I turned 49 and 182 when I turned 50. I’ve floated in the mid 180’s since, 182 when in ski shape, 188 in the winter. I haven’t had a donut in 15 years. Damn!

[skiboyny]

Well it's not all that simple. There is no way to lose 30lbs of fat without losing some muscle with it unless it were done very slowly along with hard strength training.(and depending on your age this would take a very long time) So if you lose 30lbs on some sort of a quick diet I would say 6 buoys would not be to practical. If there was some way to lose 30 lbs of fat alone I'd guess you would have a shot at 6.

[Than_Bogan]

@luzz Inspired idea to find 30 lbs of fat for sale! But, yeah, I hope you can get out of your house soon!

[jercrane]

I don't know man. I've seen an awful lot of guys I consider overweight absolutely destroy the course and my PB. Losing pure fat and doing nothing else I don't think gains you much at all. Losing fat and getting in shape (gaining strength, flexibility and aerobic capacity)? thats a different story. Just losing weight I bet doesn't do much in and of itself. my 2 cents

[Horton]

If I lost 10 I might gain a ball. IDK. It could only help. Losing more than 10 would make me sexier but I doubt it would impact my score much.

 

If I gained 30? I would likely not be able to get out of the water on one ski (or see my weiner ).

[DaveD]

Losing that much weight may gain you some bouys but it may cost you big $ for a smaller ski. And vest. And wet suit. And board shorts. You'll need to give up beer to pay for all the new equipment. :smile:

[JackQ]

Depending on the rope length, you would be surprised how much 10pds makes. Essentially everyone that runs 39 has a low body fat ratio. Primarily by watching my snacking, beer and bicycling (15K miles in last 7 years), I lost almost 40 pounds. 210-215 to 172pds. I lost some muscle along the way, but my strength/weight ratio has improved, I can ski more with less pain and have picked up about a buoy a year in my late 50s and 60. Weight is your enemy in the slalom course, small continued weight loss is the way, not a short term binge.

[thager]

Beer Goggles and a six pack!

 

[HSL]

Depends where the fat is located. Some have predicted dramatic improvement in my skiing with loss of the 20-30 pounds of ugly fat that sits above and between my shoulders. Loss of belly fat -- not so much.