Chef23

Unfortunately I have shut it down for the year with a mild back flare up. While I wasn't setting any PBs this year I did ski more than I have in about 4 years. I was skiing the course at 30 mph and 22 off but got to ski 2-3 days a week for a good chunk of the summer and just loved being out on the water with my ski buddies. It is almost October when the weather turns so I am focused on trying to get my back right and strong this off season so hopefully I can get back to 34 mph next year.

@gsm_peter I am pretty sure those tricks are still in the book but I didn't verify all of them. High end skiers have largely moved on from many of them because flips and ski line tricks are much higher point value. I am not sure they are that much harder than some in there. I know I saw a 540 line back in there which kind of boggles my mind a little.

Take Bruce's advice it is very good and he has developed some very good junior skiers. At some point a light will flip on in their head and they will figure out that they need to work hard through both wakes. My son when he was 8 was struggling to get 2 or 3 buoys at 18 or 19 mph then one night it clicked for him and he ran passes where I increased the speed one mph each pass. It was amazing. It is a blast watching the kids learn to ski better the rate they improve is amazing. I miss those days.

I have to agree that I think it is you. If the ski is plowing then it is too vertical when you are getting up. At 215lbs that ski should get you out of the water with no problem. Try to make sure that when you are in the water your back foot is tucked up under your butt. If you were on a 67” competition ski I would say it might be the ski but that Triumph should get you up no problem.

@condorpilot I am talking about how far across course the ski is pointing at the finish of the turn. The high end skiers let the turn finish and the ski pointing across course before the load. In addition they have good body position that create speed. Most 15 off skiers don’t do that or they wouldn’t be 15 off skiers.

One thing to be aware of when watching these guys ski slow speed is that they create more angle and speed than most people trying to run 30 & 32 mph for the first time. It is good to watch because their fundamentals are awesome but beginning skiers are going to have to work white water to white water. The point on Nate not really loading until the white water is excellent because it shows how he waits for the ski to finish the turn before he loads and goes. I see too many early stage skiers trying to get back to the handle fast and not letting the ski finish and if you do that you never get enough angle.

I have a 17 year old Malibu Response and until this year it has run flawlessly. I did simple maintenance on it and that was pretty much it. This year I had a problem that I never quite got debugged but I didn't spend much time trying to get it fixed. It would run and pull trick skiers and beginning skiers but not 34 mph slalom. Fortunately I generally ski behind a buddies boat. I am going to start next year by doing a bunch of the regular maintenance I haven't done distributor cap, wires, plugs etc and hopefully it will clean things up.

The first thing I thought when I looked at some of those "edging" pictures was that I don't think my back could survive it. It may be efficient for a super high end skier but I think for most average joes we would wind up where @MarcusBrown warned against and for me I think it would result in a worse back than I already have.

I have a 20 year old version of one of those and I have a thinner tube on it that I stick down the drain tube. It seems to get more oil out than I used to when draining it through the floor.

@jimbrake it does sound familiar and I have to admit when I can do it the ski slows down, turns on its own and I come out of the ball in excellent position with good speed.

@Horton great pictures. Thanks for sharing. I don't think I am qualified to really comment but I like the way Ryan stands on the ski coming into the ball. I don't think most of us are that tall or forward on the ski. It is something I was working on this summer.

Not sure if those texts are accurate but if Nate did send those to someone underage when he was legal there was definitely an issue. If he was 18 and they were 17 it wouldn’t be as big an issue but if he was 19 and they were 14 or 15 it is out of line and an issue.

That 41 looked smooth.

The Malibu Response from about 98-2002 has a good wake and you can find one for under 15K. No ZO but that is a different issue. At 9 years old 28 mph is way too fast to have him running the course but that is a different topic and there are lots of threads on that.

@skichief no real settings on the Katana just good solid fundamentals. I run a Radar boot in the middle holes. I never got actual setting for the ski. The fin isn’t adjustable so there isn’t anything there. I have been working on standing tall on the ski and trying to keep my zipper pointing down course in the pre turn. Doing that gets in to turn just fine. I could see if you were riding tail heavy the ski might not turn the way you want. If the ski won’t turn I would suggest it is a technique issue not a setup issue as there isn’t much adjustability to the ski.

I have a Katana and ski it at 30 mph in the course into 35 off. It is a great ski, easy to ski on and turns great. I haven’t skied the other skis but the Katana would work well for what you are looking for.

He looks really good. Running 34 mph from 32 is a big jump. It took my son most of a season to get there in tournaments including multiple scores of 5 or 5.5. A few things. Before the pullout have him stand in the white water not the curl. That will make it easier to generate consistent width. I would think about delaying his turn in (and correspondingly his pull out) for the gates a bit. It looks like he is a little shallow and letting up a bit. This will swing him wider and earlier into one ball and help set up the whole course better. Think about having him try to run some shorter line lengths at slower speeds. Have him try 22 off at 28 and 30 mph. When he runs those have him look at 28 off. The fundamentals learned at shorter line lengths and slower speeds translate very well. I think this helps a lot if he is banging his head at 32 mph. Mix the sets in though don't stick him at the slower speeds. If he is doing two sets in a day maybe have him run the first set maybe 28/15, 30/15, 30/22 if he runs that try 28. Next set run 28/15, 30/15, 32/15 and hopefully 34. I think doing that will help him at 32 and 34 mph. My son was coached by Jaret Llewellyn when he was in Boys 2 and that recommendation helped him.

I would check Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace as well.

If you can rinse it out with clean water vs lake water it helps. I would bring a trash bag and try to throw all your wet stuff in that if you can. I have done it a few times and if you just take it out as soon as you get home and rinse it all out it will be fine.

For many skiers they have disposable income and it isn't a choice between a new ski and coaching they can do both. In addition many skiers (like me although I did just miss a chance to ski with Wade on my home lake) live somewhere that coaching isn't readily accessible. For me to get coaching costs more than a new ski when you factor in flights lodging, food and the cost of coaching. Plus trying new stuff is fun. If I was doing more than skiing for exercise right now I would be trying a new fin at a minimum. I am not trying to minimize the benefit of coaching I always that think it is the best first choice but it isn't always either this or that.

I am not sure if people have provided that feedback to D3 but it seems like it would make sense.

That wasn’t the most forgiving ski if I remember correctly. I don’t know for a fact that everything will be an improvement over your Kidder. Some more information on your size and speed you ski at would help narrow down.

@9400 unfortunately I am not in the skiing condition to evaluate anything right now. Since I ski with Than it was more of a dig at him. @rfa on the other hand should definitely do it.

@Stevie Boy you can cover the bottom of the plate with dual lock and the binding will stick to the ski no matter what and you will release from the binding the same way you always have. I would prefer to use inserts but using dual lock to completely stick the binding to the ski will work I have done it in the past and I did it on a Goode ski that didn't have inserts with a Radar Strada and a RTP with no issues.

@Than_Bogan I was hoping you were testing a large.