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Slalom skiing with an endless course? OffCourse™! Are you tired of spending more time preparing your slalom course then actually skiing? Then listen up, a new way of the slalom skiing we all love is around the corner. Introducing the OffCourse™, a revolutionizing way to roam the water, creating a slalom course on the fly. The time of big, heavy and inconvenient slalom courses are over, thanks to Swedish company Rodics Innovation. All you need to do is start your boat, plug in the OffCourse™ and you are all set. The OffCourse™ is a patent-pending device that creates a slalom course by creating water splashes where the buoys usually would be. It’s powered by carbon dioxide cartridges, that continuously fires away projectiles to the water which shows you where to turn. Rodics Innovation has not held back in the making of the OffCourse™, using aircraft grade aluminum and high-quality Swedish stainless-steel to ensure that the device holds for the impact that comes with skiing like a badass. Also, all the projectiles used are totally biodegradable which keeps the water clean even after all the havoc you’ve caused from riding it. The OffCourse™ is a result of years of work, late nights and countless testing sessions. It’s created by enthusiasts driven by a passion to change the way of water skiing as we know it. Making you able to roam the water like never before with a sense of total freedom, leaving no traces behind. It’s just you and the lake, like it should be. Find out more about the OffCourse™ at Rodics Innovation’s website or on Facebook Pre-orders are already available – and the release date is set at May 2019.

There are few names in Water Skiing that carry as much meaning as the Travers name. This is a story about the history of a true water ski family. For more info, check out: jacktravers.com/

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https://youtu.be/9tkdZ352z7Q It’s that time of year again. The pressure of the high stakes season is over and we can all take a bit of a breather behind the boat as we cruise into 2019. During the downtime, there is no better opportunity than to revaluate your equipment and consider how it will achieve your goals for next season. At Connelly Skis we’ve thoughtfully crafted a line of 2019 swerve sticks to help you smash that unconquerable pass or make for epic fun with family during your next lake getaway. Joel Howley gives you all the deets on what you need to know about each of our weapons and which one will suit you best!

Hobe Lake Ski Club is a new man-made lake located 30 minutes north of the West Palm Beach airport. It is open year-round and has some of the best ski conditions and possibly the most pristine setting to be found anywhere. The Club is proud to announce its affiliation with Wim DeCree as coach. They welcome all levels and abilities and strive to make your stay as enjoyable and productive as possible. Their exclusive booking system allows you to book time slots that fit your schedule. This will enable you to make plans to spend time with your family enjoying the quiet beaches and many other area activities Dining, hotels and shopping are all nearby. Go check out their website and keep them in mind next time you’re looking for some good coaching or for a nice ski vacation!

In its 16th consecutive year, the California ProAm brought in the best water ski talent from around the world. Never in the long history of the sport has professional water skiing seen this much talent...and this year, the Men's Head to Head final did not disappoint. Will Asher and Thomas Degasperi have been rivals since they were 13 years old. They have both won the World Championships, twice each. They have been among the best skiers in the world for the past 15+ years. To witness these legends go at it yet again in this head to head final was historic. Big thanks to Greg and Debbie Badal for continuing to bring Pro Waterskiing to the west coast, by pouring their heart and soul into this event. And big thanks to all the volunteers, homeowners and officials who helped make this event so great! First time using the new Mavic 2 Pro for aerials, and I think its just as capable as the Phantom 4 Pro. Boat speed is 36 mph, so to be able to fly 40+ mph is absolutely necessary. The thing is a beast so far!! I shot this at 30 fps and slowed it down to 23.976 fps for this edit...I kinda like the beauty it adds to the skiing, to be able to see it slightly slower than real speed.

Slalom skiers are an interesting breed. They are never fully satisfied with their score, constantly in pursuit of one more buoy and usually have some sort of gripe about lower back issues. Lower back pain plagues our sport as much as fin tweaking and spray leg. Maybe even more. And you likely have even experienced it yourself. Slalom skiing puts a rather complicated and heavy toll on our body every time we ski. We might not even be aware of it but the position is unnatural for the human body and our stance screams for compensation in our body. This compensation, to make up for the unnatural stance, is necessary for us to ski our best and continue to gain more buoys. It is part of the game! But we have to understand that those compensations while we participate in our sport slowly cause the body to shift which more often than not results in bad posture and a myriad of other subconscious compensations. So what do we do? It’s easier said than done but the concept is relatively simple: We must bring the body back to it’s neutral position. Looking at a typical slalom position, we notice that we really try to resist the pull from the boat by pushing or holding the pull from the boat to create speed, torque and angle. As a matter of fact, waterskiing is one of not too many sports I see where you have two different sources of energy input. One is your upper body and the pull from the boat forward and the other input is the water where you resist against with your ski and lower body. So you will notice that those two energy sources/inputs will meet somewhere. Ideally it should happen right in the middle of your body. Then you will feel “connected” to the boat as we like to say! But that’s also where we feel the most amount of pressure. When we talk about a “normal posture” we mean that our hips are neutral (they feel tucked) straight under the center of our bodies and our back looks somewhat flat. This an ideal position. In order to achieve a natural “normal” position, you need: 1. A really well-functioning core with substantial core strength 2. A mobile spine and a mobile yet stable hip. As soon as any one of these areas begin to lack, you will subconsciously compensate in your day-to-day life which can result in long-term issues or can go completely undetected. Where the two energy sources meet behind the boat and in the middle of our bodies, we create a ton of pressure and exaggerate those areas in which we are weak by leaning on the areas of compensation. So any slight compensation you had before will just get more pronounced and made worse. It’s a habit game because the muscles which are already causing the compensation in the first place will get activated even more and will exaggerate this compensation. As an example, if you are lacking in core strength you are prone to do every single move you do over the day in hyperextension of your spine, shortening the distance between each vertebrae and in turn, shortening those muscles. In this instance the decreased muscles pulls your hips backwards causing the pelvis to sit at an anterior tilt or drop. This means that your pelvis falls forward, which decreases the space between vertebrae in your lower back even more. Muscles therefore continue to get tight and you will feel pressure in your lower back. Many people assume this means you have “lower back” issues when in realty it is a merely a symptom of an area of weakness. So like I said before, you can go on without noticing, but putting it into the slalom skiing where we live in a slightly hyperextended and exaggerated environment, under an intense amount of pressure, for our spine to resist the pull forward, this compensation will wreak havoc. The way to get out of this habit is pretty simple. If we already have this compensation, we work on relaxing / stretching and mobilizing the muscles in the lower back and hip and afterwards work on loosing the habit of our improper posture. Only after these first two steps are accomplished, we then train to strengthen the core and hip muscles (This includes your glutes, flexors, abductors and adductors). By doing so, we have a chance of decreasing the pain and issues we bring upon ourselves through slalom skiing. If you have any questions, or would like a free evaluation (either digitally via RadixFit.com or in person at our Central Florida (Winter Garden) location, please contact me at bojan@radixfit.com)

@Drago i have your IP address

The 2018 Syndicate Hilltop Pro-Am kicked off bright and early Saturday at magnificent Hilltop Lake in Arlington, Washington. With the sun out, temperature mild and water bluer than you can imagine, dozens of skiers pushed themselves to test their limits in search of that elusive personal best. Pro skiers in attendance included last year’s Pro-Mens Champion Nick Adams, two-time winner Will Asher, Jon Travers, Terry Winter, Benjamin Stadlbaur, Zane Nicholson, Dave Wingerter, last year’s Pro Womens Champion Jaimee Bull and Allie Nicholson. Check out the HO Blog for a recap, photos and more! http://www.hosports.com/blog/?p=1819

There’s something about that feeling - as the sun creeps over the horizon and you slip into your boots. You're in the water, the line comes tight, you smile at the boat and utter those two simple words – “Hit it!” We live for that feeling, we wake up every day and build beautiful waterskis because we love to be on the water. We design what we design because you live for that feeling too. We make the best skis on the planet because it’s in our blood, it’s what we live for. We create so you can enjoy. You know what to do. Just go ski.

http://goode.com/images/18NationalsWinners.jpg GOODE skiers claimed 16 slalom titles – more than all other manufacturers combined – at the GOODE U.S. National Water Ski Championships held last week at Mystic Lakes in Maize, Kansas. By claiming 16 of 28 slalom titles, GOODE skiers netted an amazing 57 percent of all slalom gold medals awarded. Congratulations to the following national champions: Girls 3 – Kristen Baldwin Women 1 – Kelley Breeden Women 2 – Keri McClure Women 3 – Brandy Nagle Women 4 – Gail Case Women 5 – Alison Poulsen Women 6 – Joy Kelley Open Women – Regina Jaquess Boys 1 – Luka Zazade Boys 2 – Nicolas Nelson Men 4 – Tim Henderson Men 6 – Steve Ware Men 7 – Steve Raphael Men 8 – Bob Hardeman Men 9 – George Adams Masters Men – Greg Badal Additional highlights of the week included: A GOODE sweep of Masters Men slalom as champion Greg Badal was joined on the podium by Jay Leach (2nd), Jed Blackburn (3rd), Don Aschenbrenner (4th) and Mark Menasci (5th). Three straight titles for Steve Ware and Steve Raphael. An eighth career slalom title for Keri McClure, who in addition to 2018 also won titles in 2017, 2014, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2008 and 2000. Nicolas Nelson won the Boys 2 title on the strength of a 5-buoy PB. Kristen Baldwin winning Girls 3 slalom in only her second year in the age division. Her sister Brooke had won it the three previous years. Greg Badal and Regina Jaquess tying for the highest 34 mph score of the week with 1 buoy at 41 off. During the America’s Cup Invitational – held Friday night under the lights with approximately 3,000 people lining the shores – Regina Jaquess won both the Women’s slalom and jumping crowns, while finishing fourth in tricks. Karen Truelove was third in slalom.Dating back to 2012, GOODE skiers have won 114 out of 207 U.S. national slalom titles, or 55 percent. For full 2018 GOODE Nationals results, click here.

https://vimeo.com/284353106Syndicate Alpha Features: Syndicate PRO width profile for max acceleration and automatic turn initiation Shallower tail concave for increased turn drift for tight rope turn finishes Flatter tip rocker creates a stable platform skiers can trust Torsionally Stiff Flex: Holds shape in high load situations for great acceleration at the finish of the turn. Carbon Fiber SpeedSkin: Advanced laminar textured ski base to reduce ski drag & increase speed, with 20% less ski weight! Handmade in SeattleThe Syndicate Alpha builds on the success of the Syndicate PRO design. Asher, Travers, LaPoint and Wingerter spent the 2018 season fine-tuning a loose and light iteration of the Syndicate PRO design; the all new 2019 Syndicate Alpha. The Alpha shares the same width profile as the Syndicate PRO, but is designed with a shallower concave depth in the tail of the ski, and a flatter tip rocker, for a loose and light feel on the water. With less downforce than PRO, the Alpha accelerates with less physical effort, and projects wider off the second wake. The shallower tail concave allows the Alpha to have more turn drift for tight rope turn finishes. Optimized for skiers who prefer lower drag, less physical effort, fast, light and quick turning skis, the Syndicate Alpha is ready for combat. Who dares wins.

Introducing the RéVolution, a new ski from GOODE that delivers improved performance through breakthroughs in construction design, new carbon fibers and an advanced resin system. The result is a ski that provides a quicker, more progressive rebound, is more durable and weighs a quarter pound less than any other GOODE to date.The enhancements drastically improve the consistency and overall performance of a shape whose winning lineage includes a Big Dawg Championship and multiple U.S. National titles, including Brian Detrick’s Open Mens slalom victory in 2016. “This shape is a proven winner, but through a two-year R&D process we’ve been able to ncrease top-end performance as well as user friendliness and predictability,” said Dave Goode, founder and present of GOODE Skis. A new advanced internal construction process features an internal backbone running from the tail of the ski to the top of the tunnel. This feature leads to a more progressive “wind up and wind down” out of the turn and into the first wake. “The way the ski flexes into and rebounds out of the turn is one of the most important performance aspects in slalom ski design,” says Goode. “If the ski takes too long to rebound back to shape, you lose cross-course speed. But if it rebounds too quickly and in a jerky-jerky motion, the ski can be very inconsistent. The RéVolution’s flex and rebound is quicker than any other ski we’ve ever made, but it does so in a very smooth way that leads to great performance that you can count on.” Through a new carbon fiber resin system the engineers at GOODE were able to increase the durability of the ski while reducing weight, thereby increasing cross-course efficiency and decreasing drag – and the extra work associated with it. Additional features of the RéVolution include a water proof core and a refined and more forgiving torsional flex. What top skiers are saying about the RéVolution: “Stable, predictable and fast across course. This ski is effortless.” – Chad Scott “It gets you wide like a big ski and takes angle like a small ski. This is the best ski GOODE has ever built.” – Chet Raley “The RéVolution requires 20 percent less effort cross course than any of my previous skis, getting me to the buoy earlier and easier.” – Dave Miller “This ski has amazingly fast, yet controllable speed. The backside turns are unbelievable and the cross-course direction is outstanding.” – Greg Badal Learn more about the RéVolution here.

As a brand that has lead the market with 53 years of industry-first innovations, Connelly Skis operates on a mission to continuously push the future of high-end ski design. Although their crown jewel has always been the GT, this year, they are forging a new frontier. To inaugurate the 2019 season, Connelly Skis is excited to announce the launch of their all-new flagship ski, the Connelly GT-R. Designed with the same superior performance and control at high speeds that has been a staple quality in the GT for years, the GT-R is a fine-tuned weapon that boasts epic efficiency and maneuverability for the ultimate slalom weapon. The brainchild of Joel Howley and Doug Cannon, the GT-R was built fusing the best qualities from both high and low riding skis. With the GT-R, skiers will be able to grip through the apex of the buoy for graceful, yet powerful turns and unleash at the finish for maximum angle and acceleration into the wake. Here’s how. Like the GT, the GT-R’s tail is fashioned with a reduced sidewall, which allows the ski to anchor through the turn for heightened stability. However, new to this model, the reduced side wall now extends up past the bevel at a 45º angle. This causes ski to water contact, which generates lift and reduces drag. The results? Snappier finishes and electric speed out of the buoy. Additionally, the GT-R’s sharp to round bevel transitions set the ski deeper in the water, while the long, flat underfoot provides a distinct center zone for effortless balance and less tail blowouts. Combined with our advanced technologies in the core, flex pattern, hybrid texture and V-Step, the GT-R has set the standard for a whole new pedigree of high-end slalom skis. We caught up with the brains behind the GT-R for a little Q&A to learn more about the skis’ inception and its capabilities. Connelly - What was missing in the high-end slalom ski market that you sought to remedy? Doug: A deep riding ski that would stay planted in the biggest turn, yet still yield massive acceleration. Connelly - Walk us through the process of formulating the 45º angle. Doug: When we first began developing the GT, we started with the 45º top edge bevel, but did not implement it into the final product. However, we revisited the 45º bevel for the GT-R and found it was monumental, so we stuck with it. Connelly - Why is the technology behind the GT-R such an advanced feat for slalom skis? Doug: We amalgamated V-Tech step technology, reduced sidewalls, 45 degree upper surfaces and hybrid base textures, squeezing all the benefits into an outstanding whole. Connelly - Why should people consider the GT-R among other brands? Joel: Connelly doesn’t claim to reinvent waterskiing every 12 months. Only when we actually take a legitimate step forward in technology do we release a new ski - ergo the GT-R. This ski has more grip and less drag than anything we have ever produced, and I am very confident that skiers will perform better on it than any other. Connelly - What is one thing you struggle with in the course that the GT-R will help improve? Joel: I often fold at the hips exiting my onside turn. The lift created by the GT-R’s tail allows me to rotate the ski faster, giving me more time at the back of the ball to travel inwards before the rope tightens. As a result, I can take the load closer behind the boat, which is a much easier place for me to hold my body position. Visit www.connellyskis.com/gtr to learn more and watch a video of Joel explaining the technology step by step. Skiers can sign up to receive an email alert when their GT-R is available for purchase.

The Syndicate Alpha The Syndicate Alpha builds on the success of the Syndicate PRO design. Asher, Travers, LaPoint and Wingerter spent the 2018 season fine-tuning a loose and light iteration of the Syndicate PRO design; the all new 2019 Syndicate Alpha. The Alpha shares the same width profile as the Syndicate PRO, but is designed with a shallower concave depth in the tail of the ski, and a flatter tip rocker, for a loose and light feel on the water. With less downforce than the PRO, the Alpha accelerates with less physical effort, and projects wider off the second wake. The shallower tail concave allows the Alpha to have more turn drift for tight rope turn finishes. Optimized for skiers who prefer lower drag, less physical effort, fast, light and quick turning skis, the Syndicate Alpha is ready for combat. Who dares wins. This new design is available and can be found at the HO Skis/Syndicate booth at the AWSA National Championships in Maize, KS. Stop by, say “Hi” and check out the all new Alpha!

All new 2019 Senate Pro! The Senate Pro is the latest creation to come out of the Radar Lab. For 2019 we updated our Senate to follow the design of our 2018 Vapor and with that we created the best Senate yet! We instantly knew we need to make it out of our signature ProBuild construction and manufacture at home in the Radar Lab! PMI foam is undoubtedly the lightest, most responsive foam on the market. We wrap that foam in Textreme spread tow carbon to make this all-new Senate Pro the fastest, most aggressive Senate we've ever created. Now those skiing 32-34 MPH in the course truly have a racecar of a Senate to write home about.