Joel Poland - what do you see

[Horton]

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Joel Poland (@joelpoland)

[UWSkier]

He's traded the custom green top sheet for an even cooler set of bottom graphics

[Horton]

@UWSkier What about his skiing?

[skiboyny]

He constantly has to redirect his ski.

[Horton]

@skiboyny Good eye. That is not what I was trying to point out but there are certainly some interesting conversations to be had about that. 

[MISkier]

One-handed gate.

 

Edited March 18 by MISkier

[skibrain]

Incredible talent. More rope slack than I was expecting to see. 

[MISkier]

Another thing I noticed was how long he delayed after the turn before loading the rope.  It’s semi-related to the resetting of the direction of the ski, but is also a noticeably later start to the work zone than mere mortals.

[Horton]

@MISkier

If you go back to Freddie’s 39 in the finals at Moomba and watch 1 ball you will see something similar. Freddie seems to do this at 1 semi-frequently. I was in the boat when he was at 41 last year and he did the same thing. When I showed him the video of the 1 ball @ 41 ( that I thought was bad ) he said it was good. I was puzzled but did not get an explanation. 

I think it was @twhisper who explained it to me. It is something like …. Mortals like you and I feel the need to keep our tip down make angle from wide. At 39 or 41 it is ok or maybe preferable to let the boat move down the lake a little and stall before making load. At super short rope if you load from too wide you may create too much load by center line.

I have also heard that at least in the past Joel runs a HUGE long deep fin. That could also be a part of what you are seeing.

[ColeGiacopuzzi]

@Horton That is exactly right, your convo with Terry is spot on. Building on what you said at 39, 41, 43 if you watch Nate, Joel, & Freddie they don't finish with their ski pointed 90, because it allows them to control when and where to start loading instead of having to load immediately off the ball and get peeled apart at centerline because there's to much load/speed to handle. I've been working with Rini a lot on my own skiing and learned a ton, but with all of our conversations The things that stand out to me the most with Joel is his legs and what has doing with his arms off the 2nd wake. His legs are super strong and he tries to not to let his legs compress anywhere which equals speed. His arms off the 2nd wake are insane. He rides the swing of the boat so well, I remember talking to @Chris Rossi watching Joels 41 off  he ran and what he does off the 2nd wake saved him in the back half of the pass. 

[Horton]

@ColeGiacopuzzi Yeah man! It is Joel's stance and leg power at the centerline that originally caught my attention in this video. 

[rockdog]

What I notice is Joel has a super cool eclectic taste in music, always good sound on his Insta posts..

[coach3]

Joel has a ton of ski in the water, right after the edge change, which means he is balanced coming off the second wake, both sides!

[vtmecheng]

The real question everyone wants to know. What’s up with the sock on his front foot?

[BlueSki]

@Horton I recall @Adam Caldwell’s comments about controlling his head, especially as Joel enters the first whitewash off of 2/4. 

[MarcusBrown]

@Horton  I’ll just drop this right here. Because I think finally you and I are agreeing on something…

 

https://youtu.be/M535uGHhPFA?si=P1rZaFjSm3jOmot4

[LSskier]

@vtmecheng if you have a hard-shell, vapor, or something of that sort, try it out. Makes a world of difference in terms of comfort and a better feel of connection to the binding. 

[vtmecheng]

45 minutes ago, LSskier said:

@vtmecheng if you have a hard-shell, vapor, or something of that sort, try it out. Makes a world of difference in terms of comfort and a better feel of connection to the binding. 

Coming from a ski boots, I definitely understand the benefits of a tight fit. In snow skiing, too much boot volume is a horrible thing and many end up going down a size because of this. I am currently using a Radar Vapor boot and just ordered a size down to try for this specific reason. I wasn’t sure if Joel uses a sock for a tighter fit or because he just likes the style. I would think that a thin neoprene sock would be better for performance than a standard nylon but haven’t compared personally.

[Drago]

4 hours ago, MarcusBrown said:

@Horton  I’ll just drop this right here. Because I think finally you and I are agreeing on something…

 

https://youtu.be/M535uGHhPFA?si=P1rZaFjSm3jOmot4

I was just about to reference MB's post and how y'all thought he was nuts

[Octopus_Paxarbolis]

@Drago please explain

[1skinut]

@vtmecheng I switched to a hard shell last year. I have a very wide foot with a high instep.  It was difficult for me to get the boot on and off. The liner seemed to grip my foot and it would end up inside out most of the time when I removed it.   I saw someone skiing with a sock and thought I would try it. It is now easy to slide my foot in and out of the hardshell boot. It’s weird, the boot feels larger with the thin nylon sock than it does without the sock. 

[6Ball_Dan]

Tips up!

[skierjp]

Coming into 3 and 5 just before the buoy it looks like he’s pulling on the handle. Some call it advancing on the boat. Awesome handle control.