9400

My name is Richard Lacey, I'm getting awfully close to 51, tournament best is 1 at 39 (that's been a few years), I plan on bumping that up some. Got involved in tournament skiing around 1985 as a jumper. Some friends and I built a jump (prior to me ever going over one) and I set out trying to be Sammy, Carl and the others. There's a saying about jumpers, it goes "there are those who have had surgery and those who will have surgery". I did not have the knees or the skill/drive to be one of those guys but I still needed a water fix. I took up slalom in 1991 and was fortunate enough to eventually ski with a lot of the greatest skiers on the planet. But I was/am a hard headed student of the sport. All of directions with technique interpretations one could go, I would go the wrong way.  I got married, built a house and had a child in 2005 and 2006, my skiing took a big back seat due to lack of time. I'm trying to find time to ski tournaments again and learn to run enough buoys to be competitive with the guys at the top of mens 4 (man those guys run a lot of buoys).Â

Joe and others, my only gripe about T&B is not knowing when I will ski my second round (I have to mentally prepare for my screw ups). I think it would be better if you had to declare you were going to do T&B prior to the second round starting so that the skiers behind you could have a better idea when they are going to ski. Other than that I have no complaints........about T&B.

Than, I stand corrected ....to some degree. The possibility is still there for interpretation, the way I see it "skiing away" and "tight line" have to go together at some point to maintain skiing control. We discussed this rule as well at great lengths. I'm pretty sure I understand the intent of the rule and see it from a different view after reading "the hot girlfriend's" explanation....(thank you ski mom). But let's say as a skier, I'm blazing into the next buoy, have no chance at the next buoy and decide to take the hit just outside the boat path buoys...and I can't hold it....there goes that handle, into the boat. After a view different viewpoints that I had not considered......I can live with it and retract my previous statement, thanks for getting me in line people.

In regards to backing off going out the gate (in the case of severe slack) and with no clear rule in place I think the driver should have the right to save the skier from himself/herself.....every skier I ski with will try to "ride that out" to some degree. I told the judge and driver that I'm glad it's not clear otherwise I would have to try to injure the skier. Â Along a similer line of thinking, this years full buoy rule is more dangerous for the skier and the boat crew and should have been left alone. ....I'm in favor of lots of leeway for very young and first time skiers, for me to pull a gate for someone under 10, they're going to have to miss them bad. I can't remember who said it on here (maybe a few people) but if there's any question about application of rules, I try to give the skier the benefit of the doubt.

I asked the question about backing off at the exit gates in the case of severe slack during a judges and drivers clinic. I won't name the judge or the driver but both have judged and driven many pro events and many national and regional events. It was clear to me that they did not have a clearly defined answer as to whether you (as the driver) could save a skier at the exit gate. I did believe they felt it was implied that you should not back off, but not clearly stated. I took this as a green light to be able to save the skier ( and all in the boat ) in a tournament if I saw the need. It's also a reaction of mine from driving practice. I'm not fond of handles flying by and rope around my neck.

Good stuff...thanks for taking the time and effort. The more we understand, the more we can make adjustments and recommendations.

Video of great skiers is what you want....as long as you know what to look for. Read Butterfield's handle control article, then watch the Wim video. Read Butterfield's article then watch Terry Winter. Read Butterfields article then watch Andy, Chris P and Chris R...see where I'm going with this? At 15off try to copy the technique without copying the pace.

Our water has cooled off quite a bit....down to 93

I thought there was video of you running into 41 on this lake

Reading Bruce Butterfields article on handle control over and over has really helped my skiing. That and thinking that when I'm doing it well....I can do it better and continuing to work on that. I've been concentrating on that for over 2 months and skiing gets more fun everyday. Thank you Bruce, I owe you!

It would be nice, if it was affordable. I've been fortunate enough to ski with some really, really good skiers. When I was driving all the time and pulling 39s and 41s everyday, I had confidence in pulling anyone anywhere at anytime. In the last 4 or 5 years, I don't drive as much and I ski with one guy that runs 38 fairly often at 34 and another guy that can run 38 at 36 in spurts....because I don't drive the really short stuff all the time, I'm not nearly as consistent at putting the boat where I want to and tend to overreact to the bangs at the buoys. That's from a driver's prospective...from a skiers prospective, I would like it even more. I get behind some not so good drivers sometimes, even in tournaments. A consistent driver is a really good feeling. Along a similar line of questioning, someone brought up drivers being performance rated as opposed to how we rate them now...wouldn't that be a better way to evaluate drivers? I'm not a very good paperwork person, and I don't go to a lot of tournaments....but as an assistant driver, I've pulled scores exceeding the best 34 mph scores on record (in a C tournament) and the mens world record, (in practice a handful of times)....now neither of these have a videoed boat path and they had more to do with who was skiing than who was driving. The point being I know of others who are pretty good drivers that just don't bother with becoming a tournament driver because of the requirements.

I went the opposite way, at the suggestion of someone in the boat. I've spent significant time at C3, then C2, then I've been at B2 for about 3 months, then switched to A2 2 sets ago which feels pretty good right now. I don't know how much water temp plays into it (our water is around 95 right now) One of these days I'll spend a bunch of time running 32s and try them all....I just don't know when.

Jdarwin, I don't really have a gripe at all concerning it, we ran it our last tournament. I wouldn't skip a tournament because of it. When we ran it at our last tournament it was communicated poorly that we were doing it, I normally can time it pretty decently when I'm going to ski, in this particular case (2nd round) I came up considerably later than I thought I would. No big deal, it was more of a case of not really knowing what was going on. It's not a big deal and I'm fine either way. I guess you could say I'm about as "on the fence" as I could be. Â I didn't intend to imply that I was against it or that it was a bad idea,.... the timing is my only issue. I'm good with it otherwise.

Scot and Drago nailed my gripes...makes it very difficult to figure out when you're going to ski

I agree, that's why I ski "Southern Middle School"...... I would also like to thank Bruce Butterfield for unlocking what is really important in my very vacant but also overcrowded head.

I forgot what this thread was about but I just love swimwear model's bodies. They just have a way of saying.................uuuuuhh....never mind

I skied my first tournament in 4 years around the 4th of July, the tournament was full and I was amazed at the number of new faces...particularly the boys and girls divisions.

I used to use liners, but hated putting them on and the feel thing, so I went to a 1.125 dia handle and the tightest fitting gloves i could get. I also keep my callouses filed down. I ski an average of 6 sets a week in 95+ water and I've had 1 very minor blister all year.

Read Bruce Butterfield's piece about handle control in the Tech Articles on the home page, then live by it.

Jeff, thanks for your insight and your story. I have to admit I'm very ignorant of the PV. Do you feel there is any technique enhancing value or is it something that distributes the load when you're in the right position? I thought Ed had an interesting take on this from someone who has tried it but did not need it. Jeff, I guess my real question is ...if you did not have back trouble would you still use it and why? Thanks again

I see both sides of the argument, I feel strongly the way Shane does...but also agree with Thomas and Scot. Shane, how many people were using it? Was Jeff the only one?

It doesn't have a bimini, it's got a tower on it and it's not sitting in the water

That area looks like it has a ski lake shortage.

I would even drink crappy beer, if it sponsored a water ski tour. (but I might have to mix it with good beer)

I'm with Deke on the "Who's the Coach?" question and also agree with skimech about some great skiers that no one ever hears about because they don't ski tournaments.