Bruce_Butterfield

Here’s a video I found that definitely shows Rossi with huge amounts of tip rise on both sides and a lot of ski out of the water, consistent with Bruce55’s question.  http://vimeo.com/8044786 Try a freeze frame at 1:00 and 1:07  This could be as simple as the fin being too deep, kicking too hard with the back foot, or yanking the handle in. The stills are just a little too selective to show the whole story.  TW’s idea of civil discourse is a long way from "thoughtful, substantive conversation". He uses a badgering approach that is irritating and very much one sided. He has no interest in even considering other points of view. The best thing is to ignore him while the rest of the posters do actually engage in civil discourse.

Not bad if its 35 off. And an old Jobe to boot! Push the right hip forward, the left shoulder back and keep the eyes level - she'll be smokin.

There goes that memory again! I was thinking Ben ran 4 at the BD finals. Corrected above.

Sorry guys, but there are a few pesky facts that get in the way: There is no 55kph World Record for men. IWSF does not recognize any "World Record" at that level.  Most countries recognize National records for their applicable divisions. The US National record for M3 and MM55k is 3.25@10.25, with 3.5 pending. The Canadian National M3 record is 4@10.25 (I believe Dave Miller is still M3, but I'm not positive). The results of that tournament didn't list what class it was, or what is required for a (presumably) French National record. It is quite possible the tournament is not eligible for a National Record, or if there was video of the boat path. I will also take exception to the comments that there are dozens of skiers who could get on the Nationals podium if they wanted to. There is a HUGE difference between putting up a good run at your practice site and doing the same consistently at a strange site, with a different driver and many top notch skiers on the dock. It is simply not anywhere close to the same.

Horton, you need another option:  Entry into MM55k mandatory based on placement at Regionals and Nationals. The top 3 in M3 and M4 at each Regional championship and the top 5 in M3 and M4 at Nationals must ski MM55k for the following ski year.  Mandatory entry based on buoy count has a host of issues, including the guy who runs the qualifying buoy count by the skin of his teeth and being forced into MM, and the guys who can easily make the buoy count but don’t ski tournaments or stand up ½ buoy short.  This would make MM55k truly an elite division and open up the age divisions for the “second tier†group to get some medals. Then you would really see the crowds line up for MM55k.  This could also be done for Open in a similar fashion.  Almost every other amateur sport has divisions based on ability, not just age and sex. When you get to a certain level, you get bumped up to the next level.

I don't know what it is about lefties, but a disproportionate number tend to lock your front leg and have the rear knee side by side instead of the rear knee tucked in behind the front. That is a bad habit that needs to be fixed. You never want your front leg to be locked - there should always be a slight bend. That is probably 80% of your issue and makes it nearly impossible to achieve proper body position.  Next, pull out wider on your simulated gate. For free skiing, you should be trying to get even with the boat on both sides. That will make progression much faster if you try the course.

There’s no absolute answer. I broke down a high end ski in about 2 months, but there are a couple of shortline guys riding 5 year old X-5s.  I think it depends a lot on how much you stress the ski. If you’re 140 lbs running 38 very smooth, a ski should last several years. If you’re 200 lbs yanking and cranking at 32 off, you could go through a ski a season.  The telltale signs are when your consistency goes to crap or you are struggling with easy passes. The best way to find out is to try a newer ski of the same type or put it on a flex tester (assuming you have the original flex numbers). Or you could just buy a Goode. They don’t break down. (Sorry, couldn't resist)

I’ve been a fan of Denny’s skis for many years, even though I’ve been riding others skis for almost the last 20 years (yikes!). My brand loyalty is to whatever ski works best for me. Probably the strongest point of the Kidder/KD/D3 brand is that they are easy to ride. That is most people can jump on one and feel comfortable and ski close to normal straight out of the box. The Z7 takes that “comfort†to a whole new level, but at the same time it has the “Indy car†level of performance that something like a Goode or a Monza has. Kinda like a Porsche that you can drive to work every day and still feel comfortable.  I have no doubt that anyone who has liked and skied well on one of Denny’s skis would really love the Z7. Horton’s review was a very good description of the ski (as much as I hate to agree with him). My fundamental philosophy on skis is that no magic ski will give you another pass. or even another buoy. The critical thing that the ski does is have a dominant effect on your consistency. The Z7 is has that in spades.

Now that I read my previous comment, I can see how it could be confusing. The part I was agreeing with was "Carbonfins make the rope FEEL shorter than it really is".  The one set I tried a carbonfin it set me back a pass.  YMMV.

"CarbonFins make the rope get shorter " Ya know John, it gets really scary when we agree.

Alex, There are a number of things that you can focus on. Again, all are different descriptions for the same position: - pull your outer shoulder back (exagerate the counter-rotation) - keep your head/eyes level. Try touching your ear to your shoulder - keep your shoulders level - counter-rotate your hips - focus on keeping your shoulders facing perfectly downcourse, like a snowskier keeping shoulders downhill. Good luck.

Scot,  With the bindings at 30, I was having trouble with the ski getting behind me coming out of my strong side turn. Moving the bindings back 1/8 greatly helped and lets me keep the ski underneath or slightly in front coming out of the turn.  The toe-side turn is about the best I’ve had on any ski in a long time. The attitude of the ski stays constant pretty much all the way through the turn unless I really do something funny. I don’t have to try to turn it like most other skis. If I’m just patient and counter-rotate, the ski turns by itself.

As "stock" as I get with anything. Stock numbers with my filed Connelly wing, and as I mentioned, about 1/8" filed off the lower back of the fin. That helps the tail start to come around in the preturn for a "rounder" turn, instead of dumping at the buoy.

I have a 68" that is now my backup ski. It would be more forgiving than a 67. Make me an offer I can't refuse!

I have been holding off posting my opinions on the Z7 until I’ve had a chance to get really comfortable on it. I now have 15 sets on it and I like it more with every ride. It is the most symmetrical turning ski I have ever ridden. As long as I focus on counter-rotating the ski comes out of the turn with just the right amount of angle and HOLDS it. Its not like other skis where I have to jump on the nose, or kick the tail to make it turn, the Z7 just turns and goes.  “Stable†is a good description like many D3s, but unlike previous D3s this ski turns much harder, but its smooth.  The only adjustments I made from factory were to file 1/8†off the lower back of the fin and move the bindings back 1/8†to 29 7/8â€Â. I don’t foresee making any other adjustments at this point – its ready to rock.

Its good to see there are some folks left in the business with a sense of humor!ÂÂ

Quotes from the interview  Karina: “…….I like to keep my skiing simple. Sometimes, if you overanalyze, it clouds! “  Horton – are you paying attention?  “Horton: I am entertained by the idea of a 21 year old woman showing up at the dock and beating the tar out of a bunch of oldBigDawg skiers.† If Karina showed up on the dock at a Big Dawg, the LAST thing on the minds of the oldBigDawg skiers would be getting the tar beat out of them. Fortunately, there is 14 years or so before we have to worry about that!

Probably the single biggest common factor among the best drivers is an acute awareness of what is happening on the other end of the rope. If the driver is not 100% in tune with the skier, there is no way they can respond and precisely MATCH what the skier is doing.  I use to get excellent coaching from my favorite driver and he never snuck a look at me. He could tell a tremendous amount simply be being aware of the strength and timing of the pulls. His comments at the end of a pass would go something like: your pull through the gate was light and long into 1, you were ok going to 2, but turned downcourse and were late on the pull, you were back in shape into and out of 3, etc. etc. (not buoy by buoy, but his knack of knowing what I was doing and where the mistakes were was uncanny).  So, step #1 in becoming a good driver is to pay attention and become aware of EVERYTHING the skier is doing, including out of the course, deepwater starts and drops. Food for thought. PS - Horton, your message formating tools suck. I can't get the fonts the same, no matter what I do.

Steven, Good question. 2 related points – first it makes absolutely no difference what your hand / handle is doing IF your upper body position is correct. If you take a look at the high end skiers, their hand positions in the reach are all over the map. There is also a lot of variation in how our individual shoulders function – that is a palm down reach that is very natural for one skier may be extremely awkward for another.  However, for some skiers, trying to get the handle in a certain position can be a key to get the upper body in the correct position. Kind of like focusing on keeping your eyes level helps keep your shoulders level and counter-rotated. I suspect some well intentioned skier had a key that worked for him, but may or may not work for you.  For the vast majority of skiers, I think it is better to focus on keeping the hips and shoulders in good position. Whether your palm is up, down, or vertical makes very little difference.ÂÂ

Jim, For beginning skiers, its very important to learn to keep the handle close to the hips. John’s “Basic Relaxed Position†is good info to start with. You should be able to ride behind the boat with your knees and hips forward, and the handle right on your waist. If you don’t start with the handle in, there is no way to bring it in once you start to lean.  One of the bigger things with beginners is that when you do keep the handle close to the hips during the lean, you generate a lot more speed than you may be comfortable with – the natural, subconscious, response is to let the handle out and the ski go flat to a ‘less scary’ position.  It may be easier to practice if you just free ski, pull up wide on the boat and hold the handle in close as you turn in, the pull through the wakes and continue to pull all the way up to the side of the boat. Try to see how much speed you can generate after the 2nd wake. Coast and repeat.

Adam, Yes, you’ve had too many PBRs/vanillaforum/js/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-tongue-out.gif  I’m sorry to say I know what PBR is, but glad it has been many years since I’ve had one.  Get your handle section, and a friend, and try this simple exercise to see if it makes more sense:  Stand straight up in a normal slalom stance with the handle at your hips and have your friend pull from the side, smoothly and firmly, while you let the handle “bungee†out to shoulder height. What happens to your edge change? Pretty much nothing. That’s the third picture (the first Big Dawg winner BTW). The boat is now 3 ft farther down the lake and your ‘edge change’ has done nothing. Now hold the handle FIRMLY to your hips and repeat. What happens to your edge change? You get pulled over very dramatically. The boat is also 3 ft farther down the lake, but you are now solidly on your turning edge and you are continuing to advance on the boat - and you maintain control of the handle. As for Jamie, I have not studied his specific style, but the “compressed†style with the handle down very low, can still have that steel cable between the navel and the handle. In fact, its critical for that style to maintain that connection – it is just more difficult to do correctly. If you want to see the potential of the compressed style, try the above exercise while holding the handle firmly at your knees. VERY hard to do, but when done correctly, the edge change and carry out are awesome. Glad to see others like the article.

From the earlier description, the arm tuck is a good way to think about achieving the desired handle control and body position. I think many people put far too much emphasis on “edge changeâ€Â. If you have proper lean through the wakes and handle control, the edge change will take care of itself. The important thing to be careful of while doing the tuck is to not let the upper body break forward. The goal is to tuck (keep the handle close) and keep the upper body upright. I do disagree that the edge change is what separates the good skiers from the great skiers. I’ve stated before that, IMO, this separation is caused by how close and how long the skier holds the handle into the turn. I really like that picture of Cale. It shows excellent position into the buoy: handle in close, ski well on its turning edge, but the upper body and head are upright, with the eyes level. Note that there is a lot of angulation between the upper and lower body.

Its 2 very different issues between going right down the rope on the first day back and getting sore. Its simply foolish to try to get right back where you left off before the winter as you will undoubtedly be reinforcing bad habits/form. Worse case is getting hurt with bad form while trying to 'go for it'. IMO, either of those really are so bad. The far better thing to do is ski as many passes as you can at an 'easy' line length/speed that you can do with GOOD form. As soon as form starts to fall apart due to fatique, get in the boat. You will very likely get sore, but you will be reinforcing good technique and building 'ski muscles' back into shape. FWIW, I usually spend 3-4 weeks on easier passes in the spring before even thinking about shortening to my hardest passes. And yes, I usually get sore the first few days.

As a rule of thumb, consider the importance of the general level of fitness as 90%, while ski specific strength is 10%. If you cross train and are in excellent shape, you'll be back in 'ski shape' in a matter of weeks of getting back on the water. If you only focus on 'ski specific' excercises, but neglect overall fitness, it will take longer to get back in 'ski shape'. So if you bust your tail at running, basketball, mountain biking, or whatever sport you enjoy to stay in top shape, you'll be better off than someone who does only a limited set of specific excercises. Putzing around on the basketball court once a week doesn't count. MO, YMMV.

Random thoughts First off, thanks Tadd for taking on the task. The ski test is impossible to do perfectly and VERY hard to do well. Please take my comments as constructive criticism. First off, the main thing to keep in mind is the audience – what is Joe skier looking for in the ski test?  He wants descriptions of what Brand X does good and bad, vs what Brand Y does good and bad as information toward what which brand may work better for him. “Try before you buy†is always the best advice, but how can a skier narrow his choices to 1-3 skis to try based on the ski test? That detail seemed to be lacking. Also key is how many of the testers could perform “up to or at†their normal performances? Did one skier gain 3 buoys off the dock on Brand X and the other 9 testers couldn’t make their opener, or vice versa?  This type of info was completely missing.  The initial description of the ski was apparently written by the manufacturer, followed by one or 2 of the most positive comments culled from the test team. Might as well be the Boat Buyers Guide. Readers shouldn’t have to “read between the lines†to guess at hidden meanings – they will nearly always get it wrong.  The “Keys to the Brand X†were so general and fuzzy as to be completely useless. What is Joe skier suppose to get out of “Proper fin setup is essential� Does that mean don’t change it at all from factory, or it has to be moved ¼†in all directions to make a pass?  So, suggestions for next time: -       Keep the manufacturer’s descriptions and note as such. -       Include direct comments from all the testers on each ski – the good, the bad, and the ugly. -       Fin and binding setups are obviously critical. The test needs to include changes from “factory†for what worked for the testers. -       A ranking by each tester of their favorite to least favorite ski (and why) would probably be the single most useful piece of information out of the test. Include their current ski in the rankings as fair disclosure. The rankings by any one skier don’t mean that much, but if most rate Brand X in the top 2 and Brand Y in the bottom 2, then you have real information. Similarly if the 38/39 off skiers loved Brand X, but the 28 off skiers hated it, you also have real information. Thanks again. Good luck next year.