When does the edge change start?

[o2bnMaine]

"You need to change edges behind the boat." Statements like that are so imprecise it frustrates me to hear it. But, it is what I'd hear from coach after coach. Professional coaches and friends. I'd read in magazine articles in Waterski Magazine that said as much too. I know I'm being harsh, but the above quote got me thinking about what has become the most important revelation for me after I (finally) learned how to keep my hips up!

I feel like a lot of what I've read or listened to about edge change doesn't translate well (for me). I guess that's a nicer way of saying what I said above.

Over the past couple of years, I've been listening to Spraymakers (the last few episodes are what got me thinking about this again) and a few other sources and had an epiphany of sorts. 

Back in the '90s, I was told when to change edges. I was not told how to change edges. I (mis)interpreted "edge change" to mean when the ski shifted from one edge to the other -- the point in time through the swing from buoy to buoy when the ski hits "flat" and starts showing the face of the ski to the boat. I'd hit that "flat" spot and start showing the face of my ski to the boat as I crossed the centerline! I'd find myself initiating my edge change way too early and therefore I'd have slack rope and would ski too narrow to the next buoy. I didn't think of it as a motion that has a beginning, middle, and end and will take time to complete.

I don't recall the professional in the video, but she/he talked about relaxing your legs (maybe she/he said bend your knees to allow?) and allowing the boat to start pulling you up out of your lean. I'm probably butchering what was actually said, but it clicked for me. This is when I realized the edge change wasn't a point in time, and that I've been focusing on the middle stage instead of the beginning.

Lately, I've been thinking of it very differently. Whether how I describe things in the rest of the post is correct (or decipherable) is immaterial to the fact that I'm able to ski wider, earlier and I find -28 and -32 much easier now.

I'm curious about what others have to say. I don't mean to say coaches have been coaching wrong all these years. I'm just saying that I never interpreted what they were saying in such a way that my outbound swing followed the correct path until I got with Lucky Lowe a couple of years ago. He had me do a land drill to teach me where my hips should be through the cross-course swing. He inadvertently helped me with grasping this concept more fully by focusing on my shoulders (and hips, of course) and when I should stand up (we were on land with no boat) to initiate the edge change.

Since this epiphany, I tell people that the important action of changing edges is when you START (not complete) the edge change and how you should not deviate from your current heading (direction prior to starting the edge change) yet.

I also stopped thinking of the edge change as having to be completed quickly. It is OK to have an almost-flat ski. What is NOT OK is allowing the ski to deviate in cross-course angle until you get farther away from the wake.

When I go from 1st to 2nd wake, I focus on keeping my body's directional position unchanged --- keeping my eyes to hips in alignment with my cross-course path. If I do this as I am changing edges, I find I'm not as inclined to allow my upper body to cross over to the inside of the turn until I'm farther outside the wake. On my off-side turn, my hip stays engaged much easier as well. And I find it easier to keep my inside arm close to my body thus keeping the handle at my hip and engaged for when I do start my "reach."

Is this how you all interpret the coaching you've been given? I'd love to hear what people think!

[ColeGiacopuzzi]

@o2bnMaine To clarify something important, the ONLY way we're able to edge change behind the boat is if we accomplish a lot of things before hand, we need to have sufficient angle and speed out of the previous buoy to be able to start that edge change at the ideal time. The way I coach and the way I've been coached is to keep it as simple as possible. I try to improve your movements to run a better line to work with the boat instead of against it. There's no reason to try thinking about 5 things to start the process of it. Some people might disagree with me or call it vague, but one thing I tell people who pull long or have trouble knowing how or when to start the edge change is think about "Standing up sooner" Once you feel that release and know what it should feel like behind the boat we go into the next conversation. We can release from our pulling position and into our standing position and stay stacked over our feet/ski and start that one big turn from centerline out to apex and ride the swing of the boat out. From edge change release to apex t its just focusing on where our hips and hands are. Hope this helps. 

Edited June 8, 2023 by ColeGiacopuzzi

[o2bnMaine]

@ColeGiacopuzzi I like "Standing up sooner." That works for me. 

I totally agree that there is more that happens before we get to the 1st wake. I guess I could have started my article with "assuming all is done correctly approaching the first wake..." 🙂