lcarnes

We absolutely love our Wally buoys. Unfortunately, the jelly blobs love them too! By the way, that buoy is at least a couple of years old and has been in the course the whole time.

She Skis Strong is a new website focused (mostly) on getting more women on the water. The site also has a page to find all ski schools, including those on open water, in America. You can see it here. Please check out this new resource - either to find a place to get on the water OR to help make it more complete. Note: If you find an error, there is an email address at the top of the She Skis Strong page to send corrections.

We caught up with Austin Abel this week, who had prepared at our lake all summer for the Malibu Open. He talks in our conversation about handling disappointment, peaking in training, and what happens when he puts pressure on his ski school students. Here's the link - scroll to the bottom of the page to watch the episode.

@WaterSkier12 we are going to have at least one women's week next year. If she is interested in getting updates, message me with an email address and we will keep her posted.

Sorry about that - link fixed!

During the Malibu Open a couple of weeks ago, we were able to talk to April, Will and Trent. Every conversation had a different slant, all relevant to skiing, plus relevant to business (we did the interviews for our business podcast My Boss My Mom). April has a balanced take on dealing with a poor performance, plus several nuggets on working with family and the inspiration that skiing provides. Will talks mastery, practice, visualization and how he questions everything, including the basics we thought we all knew. Trent was just coming off of skiing less than his best and had some nice insights on how to deal with that, plus he talked about what it took to coach me to run my first ever 22 off pass - something we didn't think would ever happen! Here's a link to the three interviews.

Awesome shot. One more reason to love the sport. ;)

I voted for "insult" but agree with those who say it's more nuanced. I can't think of another sport where the top athletes in their "world class events" compete in little league conditions. Example: The US Open (tennis) is happening this week on a big stage, not on a random cement court. Outdoor sports by definition create conditions that require athletes to adapt. However, let's start at a location designed to showcase (and respect) the athlete. If the weather conditions are horrible on the day of competition, so be it. But start in a venue that respects the sport. What concerns me most about our sport is that we are so desperate to get eyeballs that we have to make the trade-off to ski in horrible conditions to get an audience. It's ironic that the most addictive sport I've ever experienced is having this problem. I applaud the efforts of many to find ways to bring the sport back - it is going to take new thinking to make it happen.

I skied behind our 1988 Mastercraft for years and LOVED it. Evidently, it had a bad spray for shortline skiers - but that was never a worry for me :smile:

This is what I'm doing to extend my season: Wim Hof Method

Looks like a blast - what is the ski schedule?

I've had the same questions, also driving 39/41 almost every day (and 28 mph 15 off). It absolutely makes a difference to the skier. There is a lot of subtlety involved. Want to give a "great driver" tournament-like pull without hindering too much or doing something that won't be done in a tournament.

I’ve gotten a couple of questions about this workshop. (So far, no one has asked if we can use skiing for the learning. I thought about it – for people who don’t already ski, it’s too hard!) If we have skiers that sign up for the workshop, we may have them come in a day early to get some sets in before the workshop starts. First, we picked shooting and whitewater rafting for activities because they are both “edgy” sports and they are really good for meta-learning. (ie learning how to learn on the fly). Second, the program requires a decent level of fitness (we have to carry our kayaks out about a half a mile up a hill) so that’s why we have an application. Plus for all the fun of the program, we do want to make sure people are coming to take their game to the next level. We will be doing some proven but intense mindset exercises outside of the sports activities. Hope that helps.

Totally pinch myself every day I get to ski here. Then this showed up this weekend. Mystic Waters magic. Austin Abel coached lots of dads for Father's Day skiing joy too!

This interview goes into depth on how he thinks about taking this crazy risk... http://tim.blog/2016/05/17/alex-honnold/

PVC Sub Buoy, filled with foam. This shows attachments (the rope is from the bottom of the jon boat, not part of the set up.) The stainless steel is vinyl coated to train the critters not to bite vinyl things.

We completely rebuilt our course with stainless steel line and PVC pipe "sub-buoys" because of beaver and other critters that seemed to think that our course was "food." Exactly what @A_B is suggesting. The pipe sections are about 12 inches long injected with spray foam. Haven't had a problem since. I will see if I can dig up a picture.

If you are willing to do some repairs, I know of a Wally sinker that is available.

I'm a regular at Jack's and ditto the comments that they will work with you. Chris is a fabulous coach. It's 40 minutes to there from exit 352 on I-75 in Ocala.

I do have a friend who does the "switch foot" thing. He's not a shortline skier but skis about equally on both sides. According to his back doctor, the choice was the stay even or quit skiing.

Since this topic is still going, here's a short wrap up we did from the Coble Women's Week on "Why Women Ski".

The real question is “why would we want more women to ski?” Do we want to fill up tournaments? Or expand water skiing as a lifestyle sport? Who benefits if more women ski? From a product sales standpoint, I’ve always said “If you get the moms, you get the world.” For the tournament path, you sell the competition, and it’s a very steep path if you are starting from just learning the course. Most women starting later in life are not going to be competitive in their age division. For the lifestyle path, you sell the fitness, joy and achievement. I’ve seen many women get hooked on skiing – and they get just as addicted running the “green buoys” as someone trying for 35 off. They buy boats, skis, and all kinds of gear. What gets in the way is for skiers with one set of goals to de-value those with a different set of goals. As for where to put Waterski Magazine? How about the gym? There are thousands of women bored and fit that would love skiing if they knew about it and it were accessible.

Love my Denali. Have never felt so confident and comfortable on a ski. Can't wait for summer!

@lcgordon I am a 15-offer and absolutely love this ski. First time I rode it, it felt like I was cheating...smooth as silk.

Ski just for the joy of it.