Buoyhead69

For $75 per set I’d expect it to be superior.

Wow really? I use Eden near Fort Myers. I believe it’s $55. If you buy a package it knocks it down more. They had a Nautique and Response last year (the Nautique had to go into the shop at one point). I heard they got a new Prostar this year but not confirmed. Good people, Prissy & Arthur are great.

If I read the website correctly it appears the cost is $75 for a set? 6 passes? That’s too much dough for a set, even with coaching. There’s better options than that in FL. My humble opinion.

Thanks everyone so much. The @brettmainer post made a lot of sense. We’ve had decent weather in MI lately, I’m looking at the pullout/gate in a new light thanks to this thread. I’ve had some good passes (still haven’t run -32) and I’ve had some garbage passes. My bottom line; I believe I need to get comfortable being wider/higher on the boat at my -30 loop, and -32, than I’m used to. At -28 I can get away with being a bit narrow, then pull like a maniac and still get wide/early to 1 but even that is inconsistent and forces a late/hurried edge change. I pull too long & too hard through the wakes in general, I believe. So being wide, starting my turn in gradually/progressively, and shooting for an earlier edge change (coming off the second wake) are my goals for the rest of fall and whatever skiing I do in FL this winter. I don’t think I can progress to shorter line lengths without this.

I stick with Masterline pro locks. This thread is evidence that when it comes to gloves there’s no clear winner- all have some negatives & wear out too fast. My complaint with the pro locks is sometimes the dowel twists a bit & it feels weird when grabbing back onto the handle after a turn. I stick with them, though, mainly because I ski almost everyday and I believe (I hope) they protect my elbows & wrists from tendinitis- not sure if they actually do but I’m thankfully pretty pain free considering how much I ski.

I’ve been on the 3.0 super shell for about 3 weeks now. Switched from the Vapor carbitex due to issues with durability. It was definitely a bit of a transition but I’m used to it and I love it. I suspect I would have adapted to, and loved, the white shell or black shell, too. I also have the carbon front toe bar. I don’t see how the carbon component actually comes into play in any way. The boot is held into place by the steel bar, it don’t even see that it comes in contact with the carbon so this may have been a waste of money.

@Stevie Boy that Mapple video is phenomenal thank you. Definitely spells it out for me. Noodles in the water to mimic gate placement? Wow such technical attention to detail what a phenomenal training tool. And @lpskier I’m also a little curious why the dislike for the @MISkier post... seems like he’s given me pretty solid feedback. Thanks everyone.

Interesting @MISkier because he was saying the opposite. He said try letting more of the boat go through the gate before starting my turn in. My last pass today at my -30 training loop, I let almost half the boat go through the gate before turning in and I had a good wide 1 (still didn’t run the pass but it was my best shot). He skis nationals (you probably know him he a lot of tournament here in MI) and I believe he said he looks for a point about half way up the boat to start turning in for a -35. I know you said this is what works for you so obviously many ways to approach this. But still interesting that it is the opposite approach. BTW I’m LFF.

As I’ve been shortening the line this year one of my biggest conundrums is when to turn into the gate. I remember skiing right to 1 ball (couldn’t get wide) when I was struggling with my -28. Now Im running it regularly & I get a good gate & wide to 1 at -28 but the same thing is happening with -32 and my training loop which gives me a -30. Haven’t run -32, finally got all 6 at my training loop (-30) this week but I don’t get consistently wide at 1. Today I skied with a guy who’s a lot better than me and he told me to start my turn in when about half the boat is through the gate. To this point I’ve started my turn in by feel but generally waiting to see front of the boat enter the gate before turning in. He said pretty much at these line lengths I should be waiting for more of the boat to pass the gate ball and look for the gate ball to be at a specific place on the boat. How many of you short line guys start your turn into the gate when a specific part of the boat passes the gate ball?

Thanks so much everyone. Day 2 so still doesn’t exactly feel 100% comfortable but I like the stiff lateral feel. Solid set today in windy conditions. Had a nice -28 in a tailwind. I already feel improved control & edge change. May be my imagination but I think the lateral stiffness helps me get a little earlier edge change.

Thanks so much everyone for the feedback. It helps to confirm everything I experienced including my deep water starts feeling weird, & a gorgeous face plant into the gate on pass number 4. But again, I actually ran some nice passes at -28 (maybe I’ll stay there for another day? Get more comfortable before going to -32?) Not sure 100% if the size is correct but the Miami Nautique guy spent a lot of time with me on the phone so he hopefully got me dialed in. I’ll call Danny later today... Also, I did not heat mold the liners. My experience with heat molding my vapors was somewhat unimpressive so I just mounted it & skied. I suppose I could put the liner in oven later... not sure if it would matter too much. Thanks again everyone.

I’m tired of replacing Radar Vapor boots that rip in the back, so I figure let's give a hardshell a try. Reflex 3.0 with G10 short plate. Miami Nautique set it up for me prior to shipping. It felt very strange, very stiff laterally compared to my Vapor which I expected & actually liked. But, I felt pigeon toed (I’m LFF, I use a RTP). Surprisingly I ran the same number of buoys (ran smooth -28 at 34.2 passes) despite it feeling strange- didn’t have time to get into -32 today and frankly didn’t want to because it felt strange. I felt very pigeon-toed and the ski wanted to turn to the right on me. I looked at the mounting plate and it doesn’t seem to give me the ability to rotate this externally/to the left. Anyone else have a similar experience when getting used to the Reflex? Can the binding mechanism be rotated externally/leftward on the plate? Good news is I actually skied fairly well, so just get used to it? Called Miami Nautique, they’re closed so I’m trying to get some feedback on this.

I want to get video of my passes. I plan to go with the the wakeye xt one. Good choice? Any complaints or problems with it? Should I go with the newer cylon model? Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks.

OK, the amazing piece of advice; he said “You’re dropping your front shoulder. Keep your front shoulder up and back.” My prior 2 main thoughts in the course were 1. “stay on the front of the ski, stay on my front foot” so I can finish my turn and maintain angle. And 2. “Back arm pressure” to maintain adequate stack and speed through the wakes. But, as I got into -28 I struggled with the increased load and apparently, as Nate noticed, started “dropping my front shoulder.” So I’d get pulled forward by the boat, lose my stack, ski straight at the ball, etc. it was a mess. Now as soon as I finish my turn (or turn in at the gate) I think “point your front shoulder/chest at the sky” (this would be my right shoulder going from 1 to 2 ball). It has made a world of difference in terms of maintaining my stack and angle and getting early to the ball. Just got off the water & ran a smooth -28 behind a tailwind which I never would have done prior to Nate’s advice. Didn’t have time to get into -32 this morning, gotta get some stuff done (damn work!) but I’m getting to 4 ball at -32 and I hope to run that pass at some point. Can’t say enough about Nate, such a humble nice guy, he made a real difference in my ability have fun & improve in the course. Makes it real easy to root for such a dominant skier when you know he’s a good guy.

Also it’s a testament to real coaching from a pro. Nate’s advice was a game changer for me. Skied today and -28, without sounding overconfident, was automatic. Unfortunately only got 1 look 4 ball at -32 then the surf boats & jet skis came out. Hard for me to time the gate at -32.

What a ridiculously fun day last weekend skiing with Nate Smith. Second time I’ve met him, just an unreal & genuine nice guy. Our local CC dealer let me in on this- ski behind the 2019 Nautique with Nate in the boat & bring the family. Are you kidding?? My son took this video of me, here I am hammering out 4 ball at 34.2mph with Nate looking on & coaching. He gave me an amazing piece of advice, I’ve run more -28 passes this week than I had the whole summer previously (even in rough water). -32 here I come, already getting some good looks at 4 ball. Thanks Nate!!! The camaderie and generosity of those in the slalom world is beyond words, in no other sport would I have an opportunity like this. No wonder I’ve become 100% hooked in just a few short years. BTW the 2019 Nautique is amazing, a flat out ski machine- so impressive I’m considering pulling the trigger... Thanks Patty from Silver Spray, and thanks again Nate you’re the man!

I use the Eagle Heater top. I have 2; a zip front and a pullover. I absolutely love them both. I ski pretty much every day, I hate skiing cold & I'm thin so I wear them pretty much all year. Both are 2 years old & in great shape. Also, Russell is great and so is Larry. I just had an issue with a vest & they took great care of me. However, after hearing all the praise for Camaro I’m thinking I should try one, sounds like a great product.

These guys are un-freaking-believable what they’re doing at 36mph with those line lengths. Wow. And here I am on another thread whining about my 34mph -28 pass...

Thanks @LeonL, I use that much wing because when I bought my first “real slalom ski” a Quest45 the local guy I bought it from had it set up that way & basically I just got used to it. I got an ARC last year & tried 7 degrees of wing but the ski just felt too fast for me so I went back to 9. Now, however, my stack/body position has improved plus I have my ARC dialed in (bought some calipers, I have it set basically “short and deep”) so maybe 9 degrees keeps me too slow coming into the ball hence late edge change, “standing up at the ball” and too much slack. I’ll use 8 degrees tomorrow...

Thanks so much for good thoughts & advice. Skied this AM. Got feedback from a guy who’s a tournament skier & nationals qualifier- I’m “standing up at the ball” which others have told me, also. Late edge change, not keeping back arm pressure. So my next question if I may... I ski a lot of wing, 9 degrees. Would it make sense to take a little wing off? I know, just try it & see... but in theory is this a reasonable idea?

So far I’m extremely happy with the season. After a humbling experience skiing in FL this winter I’m back skiing at 34mph. I’m running -22, a half loop/training loop which amounts to -25, and -28. I’m running -22 and the half loop really smooth with a good gate, good tight line & good stack. But when I shorten it to -28 it takes me several passes to get a decent gate. I’m getting a ton of slack at 1 and I just can’t seem to get confident/comfortable with my turn into the gate. I’ve heard conflicting advice... Should I start the turn in earlier or later than -22? Should I get higher on the boat on the pull out? Is it just a matter of more reps? Anything else I’m missing? This is my second season skiing at 34mph so not a ton of experience here but I want to start running a smooth -28 and slack at 1 ball is killing me.

@gavski are you saying move my front binding forward because of how I look in the pictures? Maybe that would help, I felt “stuck” on my turns, like I couldn’t let the ski finish the turn. I hate that feeling.

A little late but here’s an update. I slowed it way down. My first couple passes were at 31mph. I eventually got to 32.5mph. Found a bit of a rhythm, hopefully have something to build on moving forward. I’ll go back in about 3 weeks, I plan to stay at 32.5 or so and just work on position, as you can see in the pictures (couldn’t load video) I’m not in very good position even at 32.5. Plus slowing it down was easier on my body- far less sore this time; trying to hop off a plane from MI and hammer out a pass at 34mph was a lot on my body. Surprisingly windy, didn’t get to ski as much as I’d hope. But it was a blast, skied at Eden in Ft Myers. Arthur and Prissy drove for me they’re both fantastic. Prissy is from IN, skied with Nate, she’s a wealth of information, as is Arthur.

Thanks everyone. I feel a lot better knowing I’m not alone with this, it did shake my confidence a little. But, nonetheless, it was great to be chasing buoys for Christmas and it gave me a new appreciation for the challenges of course skiing. I should be back on the water tomorrow, going slooow but hopefully working with the boat instead of fighting it. I’ll try to post some video.

I was pretty proud of the progress I made this summer. Started the summer skiing 32mph and by season’s end I ran -28 at 34.2 several times and I was full of confidence. I skied at Eden Ski Lake last month and was thoroughly humbled. I lost it all so fast it was a bit discouraging. Never even got 2 ball at 34.2 skiing -22 rope. Slowed it down to 32.5 and ran a few passes but never felt comfortable- and this was day 3 after skiing about 1-2 sets per day (also was extremely sore, I work out daily but I learned it is impossible to prepare the body). My last day a guy in the boat said “you get a few good buoys but you can’t find a rhythm” he was exactly right. Everything was happening so fast, everything was a labor, and I simply couldn’t hold stack through 6 balls. So... I’m going back in a few days & my plan is this: Slow it down to whatever speed allows me to hold a stacked position. Check my ego at the door. I don’t care if I’m skiing 30mph I gotta find a “rhythm.” Is this the best approach? Any other advice?