Than_Bogan

I'm not at the Big Dawg level, but I did goof around at 36 for one session this year, and I was surprised how little adjustment there was. I lost one pass and otherwise everything felt pretty darn similar.

I don't really see any chance of doing this this year, but one question that might be important for me in the future: What sort of stuff is around there that could turn this into a family vacation? On a general note, Sept 18/19 is a "free" weekend in the Northeast. The last slalom tournament is the weekend after labor day, although I think most folks continue to practice until at least the end of September (I go to Halloween most years). So if you wanted to entice New Englanders to make a trip, that would at least be a plausible weekend.  Much after that would feel like "out of season" to those this far north. In theory, a 6 round weekend to close out the season seems very attractive -- I often feel I peak in September. But in the foreseeable future justifying the trip is going to be very hard.

One important aspect of this is that people's lives simply contain more "stuff" now. This is not so much a reflection on skiing, but a change in people's lifestyles. For example, in the 80's on my home lake (though it didn't become my home lake until 1994), I understand it was common for people to hang out all day at the "ski beach" and BBQ, chat, ski, tube, etc. for just about the entire day. Today, the former "ski beach" isn't even maintained, because there is simply nobody who wants to spend an entire day "hanging out" like that. Folks today want to get out and ski with their families, and then get back in and do other stuff. This carries over into tournaments, and even more so Regionals and Nationals. While the cost is indeed significant, and a recession makes the costs look all the more significant, what discourages me is the TIME. There are so many things I'm trying to do in my life that it's extremely difficult to justify burning additional vacation and dedicating several full days to a grand total of 2 rounds of skiing. I absolutely enjoy doing it, and I will make the time occasionally (hopefully 2011), but it just seems to get harder and harder every year. Similarly, the idea of serving on some Regional Committee seems comical. With all the demands on my time, how could I possibly justify that? That said, I don't think this in any way means that skiing is dying. It simply means it will be different. Maybe 1000 people at Nationals (as there supposedly were at my first one in 2000/Bakersfield) simply isn't the right size for that event any more. Heck, with 400 people you could give every skier two rounds and still have fewer pulls than in 2000 -- maybe that's a direction to consider. But anyhow, attendance at local tournaments remains pretty good, and (as noted repeatedly in this thread), a lot more kids are getting involved again. Perhaps most importantly, it seems that more people are involved in the sport in a "purely" recreational capacity. Ultimately, I believe this is what drives the health of the sport. When a lot of people are doing it, the opportunity to learn will exist. If those who learn desire to compete in tournaments, then tournaments will happen. If they don't, they won't. I guess I consider that a pretty minor issue. What's important to me is that people have the opportunity to participate in this great sport in whatever manner they choose.

I definitely like the Little Dawg format. Very clever and sounds really fun. But it does something a bit different than this wacky NOPS idea, and I'm just looking for interesting and different things to add some flavor to certain tournaments. (To be clear, I'm not personally looking for that -- I enjoy simple go-for-rankings slalom-only tournaments most of all. But I also love to brainstorm new ideas, and it seemed like some comments around this forum suggested a search for new things to do. This might be one.)

Only barely on topic, but I swear 34 mph has been harder on my body than 36 was. Obviously getting older isn't helping my resiliency, but at 34 there is such a tendency to try to muscle my way back into it, and to hold onto stuff that is hitting me pretty hard. At 36, when I'd get into trouble like that, I'd just be done. Also, I believe -38 is inherently more of a "taking hits" pass than -35, regardless of speed. So the fact that I can (or could back when I was 100% healthy) challenge -38 at 34mph seems to mean more getting bashed around. So in some ways I wonder what the "point" is of going to 34. I don't think I particularly like the idea of 35, but I think it might be time to revisit when the transition to 34 should happen. It's safe to say that equipment, technique, and physical conditioning have all improved tremendously, so the situation now is quite different from when these rules were created.

Not to diss The_Krista, but I have a better plan:Â How 'bout if The_Krista babysits the thanimal's kids and the thanimal goes on a date with the thanimal's wife! Oh, and in answer to if we can get back to talking about EZFTC: No.

That's a pretty nice HHI. They oughtta be able to sell some advertising into THAT audience! Of course, 43.7 year olds can be hard to fool in buying crap they don't really want...

M8 skier getting mid 38 sounds like his NOPS points *should* be through the roof. That guy is completely destroying his peers I suspect. We've done some handicapped style things, and I definitely like those, but I think the idea here was to simply honor the best relative to their event, age, and gender. NOPS may have some "issues" but it's the only thing I am currently aware of that could be performance based, but allow folks of all ages and genders, and competing in any event, a chance. But mainly just trying to stimulate some ideas, anyhow.

In several other threads recently, the general idea of more "interesting" tournaments has come up a few times. A few years back, a MA guy named Al Stokes had a really "outside the box" idea for a 3-event tournament. As far as I know, this was never actually done, but this seemed like a good time and place to bring it up. The idea is that at the end of a "normal" 3-event tournament, you have a single elimination head-to-head based solely on NOPS points, without regard to event, age, or gender. So you could have a 66 year old jumper skiing against a 12 year old slalom skier, or any other combination. Since this would be just for fun, it would be possible to be a bit lax on some things, like using multiple boats to keep things moving. I think the most challenging aspect of this is that many 3-event sites need some changes in configuration between events, which might make it very impractical to have jumpers alternating with slalom skiers. But surely there must be some sites where this would be doable? As a specialist myself, it seems like this could be a way to bring more of my attention to the "other" events. Anybody ever try it? Anybody want to?

In a million years, Roger's age gap would be a negligible 0.003%...

But 1/3/5 and 2/4/6 already have names: odd and even. And then we'd be right back to one of the sides having a pejorative name. (Yeah, I had to look up how to spell that.) "odd" is most typically used in a negative fashion in English -- at least as much so as "off." So while I fully approve the solution of forcing everyone to the one true foot forward, I don't think it solves the problem at hand...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ED!

I suppose NH and VT deserve a mention, mostly because that's where Jamie Beauchesne and Chris Rossi developed their snow-ski-based water-skiing style. But New England snow skiing involves a lot of ice -- and sometimes so does the water skiing! Still, a nice place to live, and the job market/economy has supposedly been a little less horrible here than elsewhere. My parents have a place in Utah and absolutely love it there. Personally, it's not for me. But I haven't been into snow skiing in at least 15 years, and have become decidedly more of a flat-lander in my "old age."

(The following is not an argument; just a statement.) Efficiency is a requirement, not a method. If you tell someone "Be Efficient" you haven't told them anything they can act on. The question is HOW to be efficient.

I think I kinda like Open Turn and Closed Turn. It only took me a second to figure out which was which. (Closed better be off-side or else I actually didn't understand these terms and therefore I don't like them anymore!) And those terms seem even more obvious on the pull. One way is very much closed to the boat, and for some people they pull really well like that (my ski partner does; I sure as heck do not). The other is obviously open to the boat.

"In Marcus's own words, he states the most efficient "New School" skier is Chris Parrish." In light of this quote, I must pick: a) I never had even the remotest clue what New School was b) The term "New School" is completely obsolete c) all of the above It's hard to imagine a skier who is more clearly "old school" than Chris Parrish. If he is now the poster child for how to do new school, then I must conclude the two philosophies are now one. (That's not a bad thing, btw, and in part was what I think Horton was getting at in starting this thread.)

Well, we're all 95% Mental... But getting the right setting and getting some time with it can definitely make a big difference.

Is she particularly light on the handle? I was talking with a 110lbs-ish female competitor (who is known to be even lighter on the pull than 110 lbs would suggest) at a recent tournament who had a lot of trouble finding a ZO setting she liked. But once she settled on B1 she's been feeling a lot more comfortable. (That also happens to be my favorite setting, and while I don't exactly weigh 110 lbs, I am pretty weak!!) Unfortunately, ZO is simply different. Understanding it along the lines of what ktm said above can go a long way in getting a more friendly relationship with it. Definitely look through the ABC/123 thread that I started (which it sounds like you already have). I found the information that folks provided there to be invaluable, both in picking a setting and in getting more comfortable with what ZO was going to do. Familiarity usually leads to comfort.

Oh yeah, that's another reason I ski tournaments:Â So I can be more important and more credible! /vanillaforum/js/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-wink.gif

"I was definitely psyched." Think you just answered your own question. Btw, the "right" answer for you could be to go to a tournament once every three years. Maybe that's the right blend of the "psyched" part and your time commitments. I personally couldn't handle the dozen+ tournaments that many people do every year, but I enjoy 5-6 a year quite a lot. Skiing tournaments doesn't necessarily require any specific rate of participation.

I am extremely thankful that INT exists. It has exposed tons of people to the concept of competitive waterskiing in a friendly, non-threatening, "fun-focused" atmosphere. It seems to be by far the main source of "new blood" for AWSA tournaments. I am also thankful that AWSA events are not like that. I don't want to listen to music. I don't want to watch someone wakeboard. I don't want ability-based divisions and qualification standards that are based on participation. I just want to ski with the best folks around and measure myself both against myself and against others. So I reject the standard criticism I hear (not from boarditup, just in general) that AWSA is doing it "wrong." I think they are just providing one small piece of the puzzle that serves a very narrow clientelle. They and others should strive to serve more clientelle, and that is happening. But serving more clientelle doesn't mean "one size fits all" -- it means having more options so that everyone can experience water skiing in the manner that THEY enjoy!

Another reason to do tournaments: Helps finding your way out of a slump. Almost by definition, a slump is a state where you keep doing the same thing wrong, but you don't know how to fix it. A fresh set of eyes or a new perspective is often the best hope to break that cycle. In fact, this happened to me quite recently -- not technically AT a tournament I must admit, but skiing a practice set at a tournament site with someone I would have never even met had I not done tournaments. He saw some technical and setup issues that my regular ski partner had not. I ski with a guy who is a GREAT skier and a GREAT coach, but he sees me doing the same wrong things all the time. A fresh set of eyes found things that got me right back on track!

Reasons I ski tournaments and/or benefits of skiing tournaments. These are in reverse order. 3) I enjoy measuring myself. It's a different accomplishment to try -35 off 20 times during the week and run it once than it is to go to a tournament and run it. And when I see my ranking, I know it means something and that I've accomplished something. This is purely a personality thing (arguably a personality disorder...) To me, structured competition itself is a unique kind of fun that can't be duplicated in practice. 2) I've made friends and built a "network" of fellow addicts so that I can ski whereever I find myself in the country. 1) I've become a MUCH better skier. Doing tournaments has had numerous positive effects on my skiing ability. At one level, it is very motivational. I go out there and do worse than I hoped and I find yourself with a renewed desire back home. I cannot match this from practice alone. Also, I see other skiers skiing well and I desire to be like them. If these folks can do this, why can't I? But most importantly I learn a TON about skiing, much of it "by osmosis" just from hanging around with serious skiers -- watching them ski;  talking to them about life, stupidity, preparation, or even skiing(!); listening to what THEY are working on; learning about ZO, skis, gloves, handles, etc.; and perhaps most important of all: getting a different perspective that I don't get every day. The bottom line is that almost everyone I know who started skiing tournaments ended up a much better skier. You in particular are only 1 pass away from qualifying for Nationals. Skiing tournaments quite possibly could get you there over a few seasons. I find it's pretty darn cool to be able to say I'm qualified for Nationals, even on years where it doesn't fit for me to actually attend (including this one). Of course, if you don't really care how good of a skier you are (and I don't mean that in any way sarcastically) and just want to focus on having fun at your lake, then there really IS no reason to do tournaments. My dad loves skiing, is totally comfortable running 28 mph all the time, and has no desire whatsoever to ski in a tournament. It's not for everyone. For me, it's been great.

"There was really only 1" I wish I could believe you. If I had a Flashie Thing from Men In Black, my first priority would be to erase Highlander II.

"In the end there can be only 1."Â If only they had listened to their own advice and never made Highlander II...