6_Buoys

@Hallpass . Dude, thanks for the flashback. Loved those days. It only gets better, used to ask her how the ski was feeling, any adjustments? IDK.........then one day "Dad, can you take a little tip out of the ski". Then one day she beats me at a tournament, straight up with no handicap.............AHHHHHHHHHHHH...

Mine was 5 years ago now. I was not in a neutral stance for several weeks. Mine tore directly of the bone. I began to wonder if I would ever walk normal again, but I followed the Dr's instructions and was religious with PT. Ruptured mine in September so I didn't ski again for 7-8 months, but I was skating in 4-5 months. I did not regain full flexion, I am probably at 97%, I have a small heel support in my boot. It's tough now but keep the faith, you will ski again. I know several others up my way that have done this also and all are back on the water. I vote scooter.

I am coming onto this thread a little late as we just used the new optimized rope this weekend for our tournament. Most of the women said they felt no difference and most are pretty light on the line at 22 or 28 off. I heard no one say they liked it. Several of us that are 28 to 35 off certainly did not like it, load the boat and load the rope, not a comfortable feeling. I also watched several skiers that said they didn't feel a difference but also skied short of their average buoy count, the rope (maybe). Could you get used to it, probably like anything else that changes in waterskiing. But why do we have to. What was wrong with the old ropes? Other than someone found a way to make some money? Used to be that no one wanted to ski the new rope until they were stretched out and now everyone wants a stretchy rope. Don't get it. @JeffSurdej If AWSA is going to allow this rope, then they should require that host clubs provide an option for either rope.

On board with @Horton on this one. Regionals is Nationals. I would add remove the qualifying scores, get everyone involved. It would be nice if they could all be on the same day with the same schedule, but let's not limit this anymore than necessary. Even if they are on different weeks, who cares. Different site, different driver, different boat, different days, does it really matter that much. Sure some people will have better conditions than others, with skiers skiing 3, 4, 5 hours apart on the same day, the conditions are different anyway. Let the regions run their tournament the best they can in this current environment. @JeffSurdej I do applaud your efforts to make this work in some fashion. I don't think you are going to get multiple sites to sit idle while they wait for another site to pull their skier. A central Nationals with 150 skiers that can drive to the site, isn't that really just a Regionals anyway. Either way this year's Champion will always have an * by their name.

And to think my wife said we didn't have these anymore. I think @lpskier was the model for this T-shirt. There's a good chance @adkh2oskier won this tournament.

My projects all in various states of incompletion.

My most recent acquisitions.

@dave2ball in the last 10 years my home site has hosted Regionals 3 times and the Junior Open once. I am an appointed judge for this year’s Regionals as I have been in the past. I even managed to win my division a couple summers ago. So yes, I have been to the big events. I don’t ski Nationals by choice, the reasons could be another whole thread. I certainly don’t have all the answers, was simply trying to look from a different angle. In my area we have one promo boat and that guy makes a tremendous effort to get to many tournaments during the season. We have a couple of sites that have newish boats and that’s what they use. LOCs are already adjusting to this new normal. In the end, skiers want to ski. Not having the newest boat isn’t going to stop the skiing.

@dave2ball I do agree that this is probably a little easier on the local level. However, I do think that the mfg's want their product on the big stage and they would figure out how to ensure their boats are there. They still want to see records and great performances behind a tug they have their name on. Regionals and Nationals planning committees will know who in their area has a new boat for "rent". They will have to work a deal with the owner. Maybe not on topic, but should we be looking at this from the local tournament level where the majority of skiing is done or the one week a year of Regionals/Nationals. Is it a 2 part solution? All I'm saying is let the boat owner negotiate what works for them. Not dictate a surcharge on the entry fee, The entry fee will be based on many things, one of which is the boat to be used. The boat owner then has more incentive to advertise the boat and want to sell it. They decide what it's worth to haul it around and give it up for multiple days at Regionals. Not b/c they get a couple extra tournament credits from the mfg.

Do away with the promo programs all together. This is a community of very financially savvy people. Someone will figure out how to purchase a boat (maybe not a new one, but new enough) and get other skiers to pay for it. The "promo" guy no longer works for the mfg, he/she works for themselves. I bring my boat for use at a tournament and this is how much I charge and the tournament can decide if it is worth it. When you sign up for a tournament: will you pay extra for an L tournament with a new boat? How much will you pay for a C with an older boat? Let the skiers decide what they are willing to pay for: ski site, number of rounds, level of tournament, and boat to be used. The market will work it out. Maybe it forces some clubs to update a boat more often (aka: new boat sale). Maybe after a few years, the manufacturers will decide they want to get their boats back into more tournaments and create the "new and improved" promo program themselves. I know, lots of maybes.

@Spineofgoo Couldn’t disagree with you more. It’s not a forearm strength issue. In fact forearm and bicep strength training makes it worse. The pain generates from the elbow tendon being restricted in movement as you use your forearm and bicep. @gmut Cortisone is king. Got a shot every 3 months for 3 years. But eventually that starts to risk a tear. So had to have surgery and get the area cleaned out. So far so good.

Thanks for all the advice. Recovery is going very well. No skiing with the frozen lakes, however plenty of hockey and gym time. Already planning to utilize a couple of different handles. Thicker and radius. Maybe I should be searching for the fountain of youth.

I pull all the drain plugs and hoses, including to/from heater core, and drain all water out. Leave drain plugs out and begin to refill with pink anti freeze. When pink drains from plugs, then replace the drain plugs. I like to have liquid in the engine when I start it up next spring.

I've skied on work trips when traveling alone. Not when I have to share the rental car. Both in Orlando and Lauderdale, easy in easy out. @jepski You don't need the Sport tube 3 if it's just you and one ski. I have the 3 and it carries 2 skies and all the associated gear. Also, tie the pin to the tube to help TSA not lose it when they open it up.

@MDB1056 it is my left arm and I am a RFF, so something there. I appreciate all the advice, but I wonder if it is about different gear or if the different gear just changes how the tendon is utilized. Therefore, releasing the tension that comes from repetitive use of the tendon. I already use ML custom handles and 41 tail gloves, although not the newest rope it is a ML that only I use and its 2 seasons old. @A_B you must have been watching me ski, pulling the rope in and letting the boat take is back is definitely not helping my elbow or my buoy count.

I just had anthroscopic surgery for lateral epicondylitis ("tennis elbow"). Did not get it by playing tennis. I went to a double overhand grip when getting up (too little to late). I'm looking for some advice on minimizing the strain on that area so that I don't re-injure the elbow. One fellow skier says that he has several handles of differing diameters he uses while training to change the points of stress on his hands and arms. I know some skiers really like the radius handles. For a guy my size I use a thinner handle at 1.03, feels great however wonder if that size has some negative effect on elbow tendon. Anybody else having or had similar issues? Any advice is appreciated.

I usually say: "gear please and then go boat". What I learned was that if it's a driver new to me, let him/her know that. I have had "gear please' turn into lets launch this new 6.2 into full throttle.

My favorite dealer has one. https://www.lakeflowermarina.com/default.asp?page=xPreOwnedInventoryDetail&id=7731596&p=1&s=Year&d=D&t=preowned&fr=xPreOwnedInventory

NO.

Best part of the summer, watching my daughter set new PB's in slalom, jump and trick. Worse part of the summer, she beat me at one tournament (not really the worse thing, in fact i thought it was super cool). She had a great season and therefore so did I. I also significantly increased my trick score now that they changed to rules.

Just came across this post. Great stuff and good reminder for those of us trying to figure out why we can't shorten the line.

I have been on the NRG for a season and a half. Really like the ski. Demo'd the R1 and the EVO. I am a mid 35 off skier. The R1 rode more like my NRG in that it has a phenominal off-side and is consistently stable in the turns. I had to move my bindings back a little to get the R1 to ride smoothly out of strong side turn. I did find the EVO has more acceleration, however I needed to be in a well stacked skiing position which is not always how I come out of a turn. . All that to say, I am staying with the NRG. I didn't feel the R1, for the price, was going to get my any further down the rope than my NRG. The D3 demo program is the best out there, try a couple.

Skip the kids ski for now. Go in your basement or your buddies basement and grab an older, heavier 68 or 69". Take off the fin box. Grab your skill saw and cut the tail off square at 64". Cut in straight to make room to replace the fin box. Don't worry the tail is cut, kids are not working that fin hard enough for anything to come apart. The ski will stay in the water and the much wider tail will keep the ski up and not have the tail sinking in the corner while the kids are learning to turn properly. I still have ours in the garage, she rode it until she could run 28 mph in the course. Been used for a few more beginners also. Get a front rubber binding that fits properly and releases appropriately. Use a rear toe plate.