FlowPointMethod

Sorry to hear your knees are hurting! @ghutchhas good advice with KneesOverToeGuy on Instagram. Be sure to start with the “less is more” approach though to see what your knees will be okay with. Each situation is different. Starting to just gain range of motion again by spending time each day in the bottom of your pain free squat depth and working toward increasing that range of motion is huge. Other exercises: split squats, glute strengtheners, toe raises. Also working the tissue all around the knee (upstream and downstream) with massage, self my fascial release, Graston, voodoo flossing and just regular good old stretching of the quads, hamstrings, adductors and calves. If you want more info or help, we have more with this on FlowPoint Method program.

Huge Congrats to Chelsea! She has broken the mold for many future skiers, and continues to break new ground! Starting the sport so late, I don’t think there’s ever been anyone that has taken their skiing as far in such a short time, as this girl! Well deserved performance!

@Dano you are spot on! If someone were proposing that we all come into the buoy on the back of the ski, and Stay on the back of the ski all the way through the turn.....then yeah, I'd have to call BS on that nonsense. That idea wouldn't work in the physical world and is nowhere close to reality, nor is it what I'm claiming. The Physics on what I'm talking about are simple: the highest probability of a repeatable change in directions in shortline slalom, requires a weight transfer at the right moment. But most people are doing it backwards....they are approaching apex with their weight neutral or slightly back, and then transferring weight forward near the finish, to engage the shovel and get the ski to pull through the backside of the buoy. Unfortunately, speed is conserved (a trimmed ski, tip down, is more efficient than a tip up ski) which results in advancing on the boat and creating loose line. IF that loose line thingy doesn't happen, it means the skier was able to or has learned to engage enough of the tip that the ski very quickly rotated....BUT they instantaneously find themselves in a high load situation (ski pointing ~90 degrees across, rope instantly tight, and boat still moving at top speed down course). And that almost always ends with a loss of direction moving outbound into the next buoy. Often, by making the move to the tip of the ski at the finish of the turn, we see the tail of the ski blow out. This happens because more effective edge is engaged....the ski is flatter to the water in the "trim" plane....which means the fin is shallower or closer to the surface of the lake...and we know what that means: more chance of blowing the fin. I am guilty of promoting this old way of thinking, since the late 90's. It was based on this idea of leading your feet with your center of mass, through the turn...specifically leading your front foot. Yes, it works at longer lines...works quite well. But at shoreline (38 and shorter), it is a lower probability move. The higher probability (more repeatable) move, is to trim the ski out as much as possible on the preturn (center of mass over front foot), so that you have the "room" or ability to advance the ski through apex without falling completely off the back....you do this by shifting your weight back and creating an impulse load through the back leg (at the right time,...timing is everything) which momentarily creates an inefficient planning surface. With less ski in the water, the ski rotates quicker, decelerates quicker and will basically be impossible to blow out. At the finish, the ski decelerates relative to your body (because as the tail digs in through the finish, the feet are decelerated too) and as the boat begins to pick you up, you land back over your front foot in Athletic Stance, matching the boat's speed and progressively applying lean and load as you move towards centerline. Ideally, you need things setup right into the turn to give yourself the room to make this happen. But if the right motor patterns are learned and engrained, this move will open up a whole new world for the skier, and they will be able to manage a much higher amount of "bad lines" into the buoy, and still be able to come out of the backside of the turn with a chance to continue skiing. Many great skiers actually do this move, on 1 or both sides....but most skiers do this move as a reaction to skiing into slack...its the natural way we decelerate to quickly get the rope tight so we can begin stealing energy from the boat again. All I'm saying is that there's magic to be had if you actually learn how to utilize this "move" on purpose...preemptively, earlier than we ever thought. And yes, this is backwards compatible. Is it necessary at 35' off and longer? No. In fact, I'm a huge proponent of the Basics over everything else. So if you aren't a shortline skier or you don't have access to a coach that can guide you through this process, I would recommend you tuck it away in the far reaches of your ski mind and keep working on the fundamentals like Athletic Stance, Timing, etc... But for shortline skiers struggling to make a breakthrough at 35 off or shorter, a concerted effort to chip away at this new turning paradigm could absolutely change the game for you.

Here’s an answer to those who asked about yesterday’s post on instagram, regarding how to best turn a water ski. ***Keep In Mind, this concept is a higher level concept because at rope lengths shorter than 35 off, it begins to be a crucial part of consistency. HOWEVER, it is backward compatible: meaning, it will work at 30mph 15 off, but it’s definitely not a requirement.

@Horton here's a quick screenshot of just a portion of the ski drills we have on FPM. @chrislandy is right, and you Horton are right as well....is there a replacement for skiing? No! There's no "putting green" or "driving range"....no way to deconstruct skiing into more fundamental elements. However, there are certain Archetypal body shapes, weight transfers and movement sequences that can be pulled out of skiing, brought to the comfort of your own gym or living room (with a handle, superband, etc..) and worked on at a much higher repetition level than what you can achieve on the water. Sounds silly, but we are seeing a lot of success with these drills and we feel like its some of the lowest hanging fruit for quite a few skiers. Incorporating a ski drill into your pre-ski routine is a phenomenal way to prime your mind for the movement patters you're looking for, from the very first pass. This reduces wasted passes (we all know what those are) and ultimately increases the quality of your movement on the ski, and the quality of the outcomes on the water.

@Skoot1123 thank you! Funny thing is, I need to work on pretty much everything I told John in this video! It always goes back to the fundamentals! @Rednucleus unfortunately I don't have a fix for the brain ache problem!!

@adamhcaldwell It would be nice to hear the WHY behind your belief that level shoulders is bad, and that you want your outside hand forward and over the inside edge.... As a matter of objective science (and in an absence of good information,...which seems to be where our sport has been since day 1) its often too easy to fall into Confirmation Bias, and believe that something we have taken note of Must be the reason for the favorable result. Andy and CP are 2 of the best, but that doesn't mean they were/are perfect.

We've been seeing a lot of folks asking about how to train (especially in the Off-Season) specifically for water skiing. The FlowPoint Method is a program that gives you the tools you need to take your own skiing to the next level: Technique, Concepts and Theory Equipment Optimization Ski Specific Fitness Nutrition for Sport Mindset The program gives you daily workouts, specifically designed for every week of every year (currently in Off-Season training) as well as ski specific programming for each ski day of the year. Additionally there are quite a few resources and content centered around the "How To's" of water skiing, body maintenance, nutrition and mindset. Membership also includes 2 FREE @Givego Direct Connect sessions a month, with either @JennyLaBaw or @MarcusBrown ($480 value) as well as $600 off any new Syndicate, 30% off any HO Gear purchase of $1000 or more and 2 Free in-depth Video coaching sessions with either Jenny or Marcus, as well as a few other things. We are stoked to be able to offer a comprehensive all-inclusive program, one that gives you the tools and resources to take skiing into your own hands, and we are here to answer any questions you may have....so feel free to ask us anything about the program.