david_quail

I have a very wide US 10.5 foot. Some football cleats, and hockey skates at 10.5 simply don't fit my foot width. Or they require a lot of stretching. So I was pleasantly surprised that my foot fits nicely into a 10-11 Syndicate hardshell. Albeit the mid strap is at it's widest setting.

One other comment as a beginner. I have often been advised that all that matters is a good stack during the pull between turns. I can respect this. If you don't have this, you'll never run the course. But for me, unless I come out of the turn in good position, I'm never going to get into a stack once the boat starts pulling. So for me, the turn matters. A lot. But then again, I can't turn unless I have proper speed coming into the ball ... Which is all about maintaining good stack across the wakes. So a bit of a chicken and egg. Which is why I'd once again highly suggest those drills Rathbun has on YouTube to break it into several movements. Allowing you, in theory, to perfect each, independent of the others. There. The $0.02 of a beginner struggling with getting into a reasonable stack reasonably consistently.

I am a beginner skier, having just run 15off at 30mph for the first time, still struggling to get into and maintain a good stack. Let me say that there is no silver bullet for getting into good position. I can flex my ankles and still have my hips over my back foot. I can put pressure on my front toe and still have most of my weight on my back foot. I can have a proud chest and still have my hips over my back foot. And yes, I can even have my back leg straight and still have my weight on my back foot. No silver bullets. The key for me, in the limited success I have had , was to realize that a good stack was needed at every point in the course. Not just pulling between the wakes. Getting into stack on dry land? Easy. While being pulled behind the boat? Pretty easy While pulling for the gates? Still relatively easy. Onside turn? Getting tricky but I'm still relatively ok. Offside turn? For me ... It's a coin toss. 1/2 the time I'm in "ok enough" position to still run the course at this speed and line length. The other 1/2 I'm in position 1 at some point in the turn, and I'm doing a slooooooow wheelie. So for me, at least I know what a good stack feels like (through doing a whole bunch of Rathburn drills), so that I can strive to get there (and know when I get there) at al points in skiing. So unless you're amazingly gifted and it comes natural to you, I feel like the only way to get there is to do drills to get the feeling for what you're looking for in the course ... And then ski ski ski ... Trying all these tips.

3 of my favorite skiers to watch. Amazing. Thanks again so much for all the tips! Very very helpful.

@ToddL and to everyone else: What are you looking at as you ski the course. I *think* I'm always pretty much looking at the back of the boat except for when I look for a moment at the ball I'm going to round. Ha, well, I also have a bad habit of staring at my ski during the turn, since I want to check to see if I'm managing to ride it flat. But other than that, I actually havent thought about what to look at. In particular, what do you look at during the pre-turn and then through to connect? A friend suggested during the pre-turn to start looking where you want to go, and you'll turn and go there. So towards the opposite shore well before the next ball. This makes sense and I tried it with some success, but it doesn't seem consistent with what it looks like the pros are doing.

Oh one other big thing that helps me. I think from junior and then collegiate hockey, I'm conditioned to treat turns like I would on hockey skates. That is to really try to crank them out with a lot of leg drive to force it arounde. It doesn't help when you see the pro skiers "appear" to slam on the brakes and turn on a dime. I find the more i treat my turn as simply a lean, and let physics take over, the better off I am. Again, easier said than done. Especially offside.

Oh. I also switched to a radar alloy senate. MAybe it's helping ... but I'm not sure I can honestly tell the difference between that and my lithium vapor. It seems if I have good body position in either ... good things happen. If my position breaks down in either ... things look ugly.

All fantastic feedback! Thank you. Since posting I've had a few chances to get out spring skiing and just now back into the course. Linked is 6 passes from today as well as warm up. I can't emphasize how much drills (dry land and on the lake seem to help). The problem with the course is you're dealing with so many variables and things to think about. All you veterans forget how many things you do naturally or through muscle memory. Doing drills helps me break these down a lot and just focus on a few key aspects. I'm a big fan of the lucky drills. Basically practicing all of the elements except the actual turn ... which I find can throw my whole entire pass off. I say this as if I'm under some impression that I don't have miles and miles and miles to go before being content with my skiing. All aspects of my skiing need a lot of work ... not the least of which is my body position ... but I've found the biggest improvements from doing these drills. The biggest cue for me is hips up. "Elbows to vest", "soft ankles" ... any of those other cues ... may work for others ... but for me, I need to think all about my hips. And even then I have a bad habit of breaking a bit at the wakes, and especially the offside turn. That was the other thing that I realized. A good stacked position isn't just relevant for when passing through the wake. But for the pre turn and the turn itself. Basically the entire time you're skiing :) Again ... I have miles to go .... but before, I used to really drag the back half of the ski through the turn while the front half was sticking out at a 45 degree angle. Far from efficient. Hips up seems to make my ski flatten out. As I alluded to, I agree that drills and avoiding chasing balls as long as possible is likely the key to improvement. But I'm guessing I'm not the only one who predominantly skis at a ski club where you're given a certain amount of passes per visit. 6-8 in our case. My free skiing time at the lake is limited to weekends when I can get the kids out there ... and the weather cooperates ... so few and far between. So as good as drills are, it's just tough doing them when you basically have 30 seconds to get down the course before dropping for another pass. That said, my new strategy is to do 2 passes doing lucky's drills, and then ski the course for 4-6 passes. And as much free skiing at the lake as humanly possible on weekends. It would probably be better if the ratio was more 1-1 while at the ski club ... but it's just too tempting to play in the course when you're out there. Anyways. As per always, I'd love any additional feedback of the video. The first round of feedback helped a lot.

Hi all, I'll be in Montreal at the end of June for a conference and would love nothing more than to be able to break my days up by getting some skiing in. I can't seem to find much on the intertubes, so thought I'd ask you all if there was some sort of ski club in the area. Much thanks!

Water at Shalom Park just south of edmonton was 16C a few days ago! Balmy!!! At Wabamun (a much bigger body of water) ... not so much. What a difference 7 degrees makes.

BTW. I'd take the reccomend video with a grain of salt. It has numerous mentions of "pushing out" and "extending the ski as the boat accelerates." I know I'm beating a dead horse hear, but for me, "extending" my legs is the last thing I ever think about. As the boat accelerates I think about the opposite. Allowing my legs and knees come closer into my body without resisting that. I never really "think" about extending my knees ... but if i did, it'd be when I'm up and already plaining on top of the water. As others have said, stick with the old ski that's easier to get up on for now. Don't underestimate how taxing on the body (and the mind) false starts are and how much they impact the rest of your set.

I struggled through deep water starts last year (my first year), and would be lying if I said I dont get a touch nervous even now! So first off ... You're not alone! It's part of the progression. For me, there were 2 keys that really help. 1. As everyone says. Stay balled up. Let the pressure push your knees even closer to your vest as the boat takes off. Don't resist it. Just when you think it's time to stand up ... Don't. Wait another second and then stand up. 2. I leaned too far back for some reason thinking this is what I should do. Now I focus on getting as much of my ski and upper body out of the water as possible. I literally think about not getting my hair wet ...and making sure the tip of the ski stays out of the water. The second the tip goes under the water ... You're done. I have both feet in. Most people say that one foot in is easier, but I can't do that for the life of me.

All booked in to ski tomorrow afternoon up here in frigid Canada and couldn't be more excited!!! Forecast is for 24C and sun! With the goal of, as always, becoming a better skier and getting around more balls at faster speeds, how do you guys look to start your year after a winter hibernation? I think ideally I'd spend a bunch of time free skiing working on form and technique, before even getting a sniff of the course, but our lake is still under ice, so I'm looking at a couple weeks of skiing at the ski club - 6 sets up and down the course at a time before hopping behind our own boat. Would you still spend the first couple weeks shadowing the course, focusing on form? Would you go up and down the course doing drills (which ones?). Or would you jump right into chasing balls again? Thanks as always for any advice! BTW, I'm a beginner skier ... just managed 15 off at 30mph at the end of last year ... perhaps beginning of the year strategy is highly dependent on skill level.

@Fam-man where near Medicine Hat is that? I grew up near Swift Current Sk and my family still has a cabin in Cypress Hills. I go back to visit the cabin often and hadn't really considered getting some skiing in while home (but love the idea of it!!!).

12 inches of ice on our lake in Alberta as of April 2nd. :( As soon as it frees up, me and my drysuit are ready.... However, settling into the idea of that not being until May this year. You southerners are lucky ....

This is what happens in Canada when you leave the course, dock, lift, etc in just one weekend too long and are stuck removing in these conditions. Boooo , hiss winter ...

I started last year as well - not able to get out of the water in august - but have skied a lot since - so am probably a bit ahead in the learning curve having just run the course at a modest 30 mph and 15 off. Regardless, I can relate. First off, I doubt the wet suit causes much of a difference at all. Nor the position of the attachment. That said, I can relate to your troubles with deep water starts. I would go 18 starts without a fail ... and then suddenly one day ... fail 4 in a row and be unable to get up. I think these streaks are natural as ones consistency evades them in the early going. What makes matters worse is after a few fails, fatigue sets in. Don't underestimate how fatigued you are ... and if you're like me ... you psych yourself out after a few fails and there's little hope for getting up again. I convinced myself to just "reset" after days like this and focus on the basics (head and shoulders out of water, knees to chest, straight arms, making sure ski tip stays out of the water etc etc) and not be too critical of myself. Easier said than done though. There's nothing more humiliating than failing a start - and until you're consistent, its hard to focus on the actual set when you're worried about not even getting up. Again ... I don't think what you're describing is all that uncommon. Just fight through it and one day things will click and you won't really think about starts again. As for the wake crossing, you'll hear a million and one different words of advice on here - all of them good. I'm sure you'll hear mostly about getting into a great stack, which is valid. That nothing else matters until you have a good stack position. Again - this is true. But for me, my offside turn was so bad that I felt like I was never in a reasonable position to actually get into a good stack. I finished the turn leaning forward, and at that point the only way to get into good position was to overpower a 1800lb boat. Wasn't going to happen. The last month my offside turn came a long long way. and what really did it for me was 2 things. Perhaps this will help. 1. Really focus on "finishing" the turn. Allowing my outside hip to ski all the way to my right hand before I "reached" for the handle. 2. I'm sure you've heard to really load the front foot. Especially for the offside. I heard this too ... and it always seemed a bit counter intuitive. I'd try ... but never really that much. Something in august clicked though, and I realized that on my offside, it's pretty much impossible for me to put TOO much weight on my front foot. I was always a bit worried about going over the front until then, but now that I really really really load the ski up, the ski just comes around on it's own. Once this happened, the ski came around and was pointed across course rather than down, the handle was at my hips, and I felt like a cannon ball being launched across the wakes. Oh, one other bit of advice wrt offside turn - or any turn for that matter. When you watch the pro's it always looks like they just snap the ski around. It happens so quickly. I'd always try to emulate this. And really force the turn. Instead of that, I just kind of let the ski arc around now. I can't force it to go any faster. It just needs to swing away from my core, following my hips back to the handle. One of those things that's hard to describe. But essentially I stopped thinking about forcing the ski to whip around, and thought of it more as following a path with my core as the pivot point. Oddly enough, when I stopped thinking of forcing a fast turn ... my turns became much smoother and faster. Finally, the only other bit of advice that I have is ... that you'll hear a lot of advice on hear ... like what I've just shared. Most of it good. But ... what it really takes is just time on the water. If you're like me ... you'll take a step forward ... 2 back .... 3 forward ... 1 back ... etc etc. It's frustrating as heck. But there is really no substitute than just getting comfortable skiing and spending as many hours as humanly possible to help any element of your skiing - from start to wake crossing. So find that ski buddy!

Help! I'm a newbie skier running out of season to run the course (30MPH, 15off), as was my beginning of the season goal. Feedback on any and all aspects of skiing would be incredibly welcomed. But in particular I feel like my offside turn is killing me (but am aware that it might be something independent of the turn itself). As seen in the video, best case scenario is that it's a slow and methodical. Worst case scenario, I end up upside down in the air. Either way, 1, 3, ball are ok. But 2, or 4 will sink me. Would love your thoughts and feedback! 30MPH, 15off, getting 4 or 5 balls but no more. 186lbs, 67' vapor (yes, unnecessarily good for my level). Free skiing video below (apologies I didn't edit out the start etc).

I can squat, deadlift, and press twice as much as my wife, but she's kicking the crap out of me in our first year skiing. Needless to say I don't necessarily buy the whole "guys are stronger so more keen to ski" mantra. Photo of my wife, daughter and 2 friends who were trying slalom for the first time ...

"Ok" to get it in gear. And "ok" again to go. Very original.

@Horton I think you are right, from everything I've read, about the senate being a better ski in hindsight for someone at my level. But happy (kind of) knowing "it's not the ski"

Hi guys/gals. Newbie skier. 1st year skiing let alone the course. So so so much work to do but on the cusp of running a modest 6 balls @ 15 off @ 30mph after getting 5 on Friday. Question about skis. I'm 6'0, 186lbs. I'm a sucker for new technology and buying the latest and greatest toys. So I'm skiing on a 67 lithium vapor. Obviously it's more ideal for faster speeds (34MPH+). But how much of a disservice to my skiing can I blame on this? My assumption is that there's a million and one things in my skiing holding me back more so than the ski. And that I could nicely graduate into it as I progress into higher speeds. Perhaps it's the end of season sales ... but I'm considering getting a Senate to use as I get into 32MPH. So I guess my question is ... is using a ski like the vapor that I have actually holding a skier back that much at slower speeds such as 30 and 32MPH? Would a ski like the senate really make that much of a difference?

Back in May I received a bunch of advice on here about our first ski boat purchase. Based on that we ended up with a 2003 nautique ski 196 and couldn't be happier 3 months later. At the time of the thread I promised to post a photo of the new tug ... So without further ado ... My wife, daughter and 2 friends learning to slalom for the first time taken just today. Thx again

https://www.periscope.tv/w/1eaJbLAbVnYKX Btw. I believe you can watch live using periscope. Although slalom finals are now finished I believe.

@Bill22 the water out ther last week was about 68F when I last skiied at shalom. Average air temperatures since then so i would guess that'd be about what it was on the weekend. No idea how that compares to other global sites