KRoundy

Confession time - I am getting older (50) and need to lose weight. But I love to ski and have been getting back into it a lot more lately. I skied daily as a teen and got pretty good, but kids and job and responsibilities.... But that is the past and I really want to ski a lot more. I'm down about 10 lbs from the beginning of the ski season but have a long way to go. I'm at 260 right now (I'm 6'-1" tall) and ski on a 71" Radar Senate. So, appropriately sized ski for a big boy like me. The question I have for the forum is about cincher type gloves. I have a pair of MasterLine Pro Lock gloves and I really struggle with them. This last weekend I struggled and struggled to even get up on my ski, which has really not happened before. I eventually just wore myself out trying to hang on for dear life with these gloves. It felt like the handle would slip out of my hands right at highest drag moment of a start, right before my ski started to plane. All my friends (who are in much better shape than I) were giving me advice on how to get up on a ski. I know how to do that. It simply felt like I could not grip the handle tight enough. I even tried getting rid of the gloves completely at one point, but with nothing to help provide grip my bare hands didn't stand a chance. Some thoughts - do I have the wrong size glove? I currently have a size L pair, but find that in almost every other type of glove (snow ski, workout, etc...) I wear an XL. Would moving up to an XL help? The Pro Locks feel really tight across my hand (as if the palm of my hand is too broad), but the fingers of the glove seem long enough. I cinch down the strap around my wrist really tight, since that is now the strap works. Should I give up on the cincher type glove altogether? All my skiing friends swear by them and say it saves their hands and arms, which sounds like a great thing to me. Perhaps the size I have are too big? I can't tell what they should feel like since this is the first pair I have tried. I do have the dowel in and have not tried them without the dowel. Another thought - I have a desk job and perhaps I just need to work on my hand/arm strength? I've been running to lose weight, but that obviously does nothing for my grip. If you work our your arms or hands for more strength for water skiing, what do you do?

@Lieutenant Dan - I'm going to PM you.

Lieutenant Dan - do you have access to the ski settings part of proskicoach.com? I tried to go pull the data but it says you have to be a member to go to that page. But when I try to become a member it leads to a dead website. If someone can pull that data before it disappears forever that would be great.

OH MAN! I was going to make a web site to do this, but got so caught up with work the last few months I have not had time to complete it! Well done. Now I have to think up another use for the domain I purchased, waterskitech.com. Ha ha... Maybe I should just have links to these two apps. Paul - sent you an IM. I have some settings in my database that you do not. Kevin

Agreed on the sharp graphics for the 2017 skis from Radar.

That is freaking awesome. Love it.

I actually know a guy who works at Connelly and I'm going to reach out to him.

Hey everyone, I've been working on a project for a couple of months and I'm close to getting ready to roll it out. I've been working to collect the factory ski settings. I am creating a place where the settings can be recorded and hopefully it will be an easy resource for skiers, particularly in the secondary market. I'm reaching out the the BoS community to ask: do you have a record of any factory setups? What I have so far is: Radar: 2014-current HO: Syndicate V-Type R, CX, Superlite CX, Women's CX, Boy's CX, Girl's CX, TX, Superlite TX, Women's TX, Freeride, Women's Freeride, Boy's Freeride, Girl's Freeride D3: Helix, Helix GS, Quest, Quest GS, Fusion, Fusion GS, Z7 ST, Z7 ST Diamond, X7, X7 Pearl, X3, Z7, Z7 Diamond, Nomad RCX, Nomad RC, X5 Pro, Pro Rose, CX Goode: ReV 6, NANO XTW, Nano XTT, Nano XTM, Nano One XT, NANO ONE, Nano 1FT, NANO 1, NANO 1XT, Flextail Connelly: 2017 O'Brien: G5, Conquer/Pervail, Elite Alpha, Elite Quattro, Elite Jr., Endo, Synchro, Siege, Allegiance, Siege Jr., SIXAM SS, Seven, Mission, Pro Tour I am probably missing some obvious / easy ones on the web. I should have the data put together and be ready to launch my site to the world soon.

Great pictures. Skiing in the Sound is a unique experience. Astounding scenery everywhere, and the taste of salt in your mouth. And there is always the chance of having to avoid the orcas...

I love the sharp and modern look of today's equipment, but back when, the pinstripes on the mid-80's Kidder Redline Pro Graphite were a cut above everything else. Yeah - I'm a bit old... :)

Thank you, Jay. This is like getting a free update to Fin Whispering! :)

Well said and worth saying. Thanks for this site!!!! I hope we can find a way forward as a community.

I'll agree on a great experience with the 71" Radar Senate. (I have the Lithium version - I got a great deal on an end-of-year sale). It does not "feel too big" at all and it is a rocket across the wakes. It will do anything I ask of it. I'm 6'-1" and looking to drop down from my current 250lbs. I'm quite confident that it will work well down towards 200 lbs.

Congratulations! Well done.

I'm out of town this weekend or I'd be there. PLEASE come back next year and I'll make sure I don't have a conflict.

Wow. That looks AMAZING! Can't wait to see a video of that running through the course.

Cool. Could we get a look at that installed on a fin?

Wiley's would be quite similar to the KD wraps.

Sorry, but I found the data! Perf Ski to the rescue:

I need the binding location (Bf) measurement for my 2015 Radar Senate Lithium 71". The Radar support site isn't working right, so I hope somebody here has the data for me. For the record, the fin settings that I have as: Ski Size: 71" FD: 2.452" FL: 6.978" DFT: 0.785" Wg: 9 degrees Bf: Thanks in advance for the help!

Heading out to my garage tonight to do some measurements.... Good advice for all, even if you ruffle feathers along the way. At least today we have factory insert locations to go by. Back in the "good old days" ski blanks were drilled by a shop. I purchased a new high-end ski in the early 90's at a shop near my college in Texas. I found the ski, which I had skied a lot before (an older model) frustrating from the get-go. The next summer I then skied on a one-year-newer model that my brother had purchased and found it skied like a dream. The word on fin settings and moving boots was gaining a lot of traction in magazines and through that education I decided that perhaps the problem was that my boots were too far aft. In fact, the shop I had purchased my ski from had put the boots so far back that when I took my ski to a reputable shop back home in Seattle they had to drill new holes! After that fix the ski worked a ton better. All this to say that I agree - Moving boots and making sure your ski is set up properly is HUGE!

Is there any data publicly available about how many ski boats are sold each year - and how many wakeboard machines?

This is a great idea. The "scientific method" somebody mentioned above is very valid. I have missed the reviews a lot and look forward to their return. Many happy turns @Horton !

Loved the article. Congrats SkiJay!

Neoprene glove "palm pads". They are cheap and really help.