tsixam

Even the guy who used the oil was embarrassed to tell us why he had it. It turned out that he used it on his knee to get his toe hold wrap to slide in to the right position when he did some kind of reverse trick… It is also pretty funny isn’t it? Tsixam

Well Scarlet, when I was in the water after my run, realizing it was over, I can assure you that it wasn´t funny at all. But later that day after a couple of beers and a shot or maybe 2 even I started to see the funny about it. Now days it is a funny memory and every time I meet my team member I think about it and we are still skiing together. Anyone else who would like to share.. Tsixam

John, you are not the only idiot around here and you don´t have to be an idiot just because you have a few loose screws.. At the Senior World Championship 2000 in France I was on the starting dock and realized that I had forgotten my soap and the organizer did not have any either. I yelled at a team member to get some soap quickly. He in return asked another team member and he said that we could use the bottle he had in the left pocket of his ski bag. He gave it to me and I poured it into my Wileys, put my feet in and jumped into the water. Can you imagine the feeling and the nervousness I felt when I couldn’t wash the dam thing out! I started at 28, skied it with my feet slipping around like a piece of butter on a hot pan. When the boat stopped for shortening I tried to get it out like a mad man, but it was impossible. I manage to make 32 but I couldn’t get more than 2 or maybe 3 at 35.  I am quite sure that I am the only idiot in the whole wide world who been skiing a World Championship with Olive oil in my bindings. My friends called me Oliver for the rest of the season. Lesson: Use your own stuff or at least check what you are using and teach your team members the difference between left and right! Tsixam

Now when the ice is broken…I think you can look forward to run 38 more regularly and even get a 39 in the book. Good skiing. Tsixam

Thanks for the input.  MS, I envy you. When our lake is warm it is about 80F and when it gets back from a warm spell it is about 60F.  I went to a competition today with the new settings. The ski was fine, no tip rise at all. 28, 32 and 35 was wide and early. I was quite sure that I would ski deep 38 hopefully maybe even nail it or at least make 4. Then I got a mental break down. Pulled out way too early for the gates, lost speed and went straight to 1, cranked it, and got 0.5. But next weekend there is a new 2 round competition, then..  Tsixam

My current setting are 6,87(tip), 2,52 and 0,79 (stem). I have been skiing pretty good ( new PB) in cold water, about 60F Now the water temp is about 75F and I have had some problems with slack and tip rise at the end of the turn on both sides. Tomorrow I will try these settings in a competition. 6,795,  2,535 and 0,756.  Tsixam

Our lake temp has risen from about 60 to 80F and my skiing has fallen apart. My ball count is the same but I have to fight my way trough the course and I end up way to far back on the ski and I am not able to ski wide and early. I am on Sixam 1,0 67.5 with factory setting. Any suggestions about fin settings? Tsixam

I have skied two competitions so far this summer. In the first, I beat my PB with 2 balls and in the other I skied on my PB. In practice I have skied better than I usually do and with a much higher average. I believe that the reason for skiing better is that I have tried to incorporate some of the principles from The Inner Game of Tennis. Instead of trying too hard I have tried to ski more with body awareness and I have been able to ski with more focus. I think the book is worth reading for anyone involved in any sport. Tsixam

No, unisex design. My wife is short too. She is very pleased with it and thinks it is much better than a full wet suit or a Sahara. The design is baggy but when you get all the air out it will fit tight but with a lot of movement. The price is also reasonable. I am quite sure that your wife will fit in an Ocean Tec unless her name is Pamela A. I bought ours from http://www.boarditup.com/shop/custom.asp?recid=8.  Tsixam

I used to ski the Saharas but I bought two new Ocean Tec for me and my wife this spring. We are very satisfied with them and my wife hardly ever even ski in shorties any longer. I can recommend them. Tsixam

 I thought that I a solid basic relaxed position, knees slightly bent, hips forward. I could really feel that my ski was on edge behind the boat. My head was up and my shoulder countered and I had lots of angle. Then we shot a video at 28 32 and 35 off. I did not have any problems running them, and it felt great. When we got home I looked at it on my TV. My butt was sticking out, my knees were too stiff at the end of the turn, I was dropping my head, my ski was not on edge where it should be on edge, too far back on the ski and I looked pretty silly. I really hate video! Tsixam

I am trying to be as wide as possible on each line. Obviously I am wider at 22 than at 38 but I try to be at the same place relative to the boat on each line, almost at a 90 degree angle to the boat. I know that some people don´t like to be that wide. What is working for one skier might not work for another. If you want to be wide and advace on the boat on the shorter ropes, why don´t you try to get used to it on the longer ropes?  Tsixam

I like to be wide, and I try to have a lot of speed when I turn in. If the boat is going faster than you then you have a tight line and it´s going to be difficult to make a good turn. If you have about the same speed as the boat you will have more time and it will be easier to get a good turn with lots of angle before the line gets too tight. And the forces on you body will not be that high and it will be easier to keep your ski on edge behind the boat.  Tsixam

Have any of you read or incorporated any of the principals of The Inner Game of Tennis in your skiing yet Tsixam

High volume/low intensity maybe would be to ski a lot of easy back-to-back passes with emphasis on strength and to dial in technique. Then a couples of weeks before tournaments start the Low volume/high intensity period. Ski like in a tournament, until you fall or miss a ball and maybe then step back and work a pass or two trying to fix the problem that made you miss or fall. I think it might be a good idea to ski the lines down trying to get as many points as possible right from the dock, to get your self in tournament mode. Sometimes maybe you want to start at a shorter or longer line than you usually do, to get used, if it is necessary to change your starting line at a tournament. Tsixam

How much, how and how often do you ski?  I usually ski 2 sets 4 days a week. This year our boat broke in the beginning of May and we got it back in to the lake on 9/7. So I have only been able to ski less than once a week the whole summer. On Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday I skied 2 sets a day before our tournament on Sunday.  I thought I wasn’t near peak performance and my body was sore. But still I skied on my pb in one round and in the finals I skied 2 balls more than my pb. (Made it to the second place).  This makes me wonder, Do we (I) ski too much? What is the right amount of practicing? Should we practice in terms off High volume/ low intensity and Low volume / High intensity? Or is there any other way? How do you ski in off season and in tournament season?  Tsixam

Tsixam´s take on the gate.  Pull out so you are wide, and have a lot of speed, preferably the same speed as the boat. If you have a lot of speed, the forces acting on your body will not be as high as if you are skiing too slowly and you will have a better chance to keep your ski on edge behind the boat. When you start your turn toward the gate, make sure you initiate it with your knees. That will help you to keep your center over the ski and not get behind. Set your angle, aim close to the right hand ball and just hold on to what you have created. Don´t try to increase your lean, the boat will always win a tug of war. When you change your edge make sure you can feel your elbows on your vest and keep them there as long as possible. When you release don´t give the boat more rope than necessary and try to counter rotate or at least try to not fall in with your right shoulder. Keep your knees slightly bent all the time. When you know you going to make the turn, spot ball 2 and keep your eyes on it until you know you going to make it, then spot ball 3.  Tsixam

Year 2000, about 1500 hours.  I think it was some kind of fault in the casting from the beginning. There was a hole in the 8 cylinder in to the cooling channel. The size of the hole was like a dime and an area around the hole (about the size of a quarter) was “beer can†thin. I think the corrosion was normal but because of the lack off material in that area it had blown. When I recall the sound from the old engine I think it had a very “hard†sound, compared to the new engine which is much softer. Tsixam

We are up and running again with a brand new engine. Thanks for all the help and info.  We found a completely new engine with the help of Henrik at the Miami Ski Nautique Inc. Henrik took care of the whole issue, found an engine, arranged the air freight and everything. He is very service minded and a great guy to do business with. I can recommend them.  We got a competition this weekend at our lake. It has been a hard to keep the skiing stamina, but at least I have been able to ski once a week with friends in other ski clubs. I am not near peak performance but it´s going to be fun anyway. (I hope I not have to join the ski throwing club)  Tsixam

I usually try to rest 1-2 days before tournament. If I am not familiar with the lake I try to ski a short set the day before on the site to get used to the water and starting docks. In my jumping days I always tried to squeeze in a jump set or two the day before to get used to the ramp.  Tsixam

Ifound this on Nicholls, a Kris Lapoint article posted by ktm300: Where you place the wing on the fin makes a big difference–no, make that a huge difference. Even on the same ski, you may position it differently than another skier would place it. It takes plenty of trial and error to find the optimum location, but it’s worth the effort. Here are some general guidelines for adjusting your wing position: Moving the west wing toward the rear (putting the trailing edge of the wing about 0.5 in. From the rear of the fin blade) pushes the ski out in front of you in the turn and makes the ski finish the arc more quickly. This is especially good if your ski tends to finish behind you at the end of the turn. Moving the wing forward, to about middle of the fin blade makes the ski stay in the turn longer and helps keep it underneath you while finishing the turn. Moving the wing up the blade, toward the bottom of the ski, lets the ski roll up on edge easier in the pre-turn and may slow the ski slightly more than a lower placement. Lowering the wing placement provides more stability. The ski feels more locked in and is also harder to roll up on edge during the pre-turn. Wing angle is a totally separate issue. If you are using a wing, it has got to have some downward angle. The minimum is about 5 degrees and the maximum about 124 degrees. Common knowledge says the more angle, the better the ski slows down and the more drag the ski encounters while traveling across wakes. I don’t disagree with this, but wing angle plays another important role–it also affects how the ski turns. More wing angle promotes rounded constant-radius turns, while less angle yields a turn that’s slower to start with but very hard to finish. Most skiers like the characteristics of more angle on their off-side turns, and less angle on their on-side turns. Like a lot of things, with fine tuning your ski you must find the best compromise. Spend a lot of time trying new locations and angles you think might not work. You may be surprised how much difference it will make. I have tried different wing placements, but I can say that I feel any major differents.  TsixamÂÂÂÂ

I had the opportunity to ride a yellow Fischer a couple of times last fall. It was ok but I can´t say that I was overwhelmed. I didn´t reach the same score as with my old faithful. The Fish had factory settings and I didn´t have the time to mess with settings. My impression was that it didn´t carried out as well as my Sixam and that it was a little bit more unstable. Maybe some tweaking would have solved that. From what I read here and peoples talk the SS might be my next ski. Tsixam

" I am just trying to lean in as little as possible from the wake to the ball.  Same idea as Head up or stand up or be tall or … " Perfect, now even I understand. /vanillaforum/js/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-laughing.gif Tsixam

I used to be the kind of guy who tried to beat my PB every time I skied. Now days I think I ski a little bit smarter. I often ski the line down and then back of to practice a problem area. I have also found that a couple of back to back passes once in a while is good for my skiing.  Tsixam

I am still scratching my head. What JTH is doing, can it be explained as counter rotation? To me it sounds like he is starting to counter rotate much earlier than before. Not just in the turn but already at the second wake and all the way out.  Tsixam