jimbrake

that's what she said

I didn't say squat about squatting. Although, I get where you are going JTH. I agree - basics first. Jayski - agree on position. To me, overloading comes from too much upper body effort lean and not enough lower body lean. I like to develop more edge angle with hips and legs and have less upper body load. Colo_skier - if facing the boat is making you squat, putting you on the back of the ski, and making you ski narrow, then something else is amiss. Got any video of you? I like that Will Asher pic. He and Jamie B. are the men. So's Parrish, too, though.

Horton - In answer to your question re: rotating a RFF skier's hips clockwise on his/her offside pull, I'll tell ya how it helps. It moves mass forward more over your feet and actually puts more ski in the water for better hold and better carry out off the 2nd wake. It also allows you to keep your hips down and the resulting ski edge angle is better. Rotating your hips the opposite direction (on the same offside pull) will not help this. I know water skiers think this is an awkward move, but it's not as tough as you might think. Yes, it's a bit more "twisted" than the natural position you have on your onside pull, but it still works and works well. Snow ski racers (and I know most of you aren't one of those) understand this hip rotation and what it does to your position over your ski(s) and how it biomechanically allows you to move your hips down without over-leaning your upper body. I really ought to do a quick youtube video on this ala RJM to demonstrate, but not sure enough people will understand or agree to make it worth it.

I'm also a huge fan of the 200 and so are my sons who are in Boys 2 (11) and a first year Boys 3 (14). Malibu pull and wake feels decent and the MC feels good to me at 32' and shorter, but the MC is pretty hard on my 11 yr old especially. He deals with it well and skis similar bouy counts behind all three boats. The 200 just feels better and gives him (and me) more confidence.

Obviously.

Will Asher and Thomas Moore. I like where their vision is and how they stay open with the shoulders back to the handle.

Eric, You left out some stuff. Weren't you at Squaw for awhile? I remember seeing you loading the gondola way back when. That must've been before you went south, huh? Jim

bmiller 3536. whew. I feel much better then. What you quoted Terry saying is what I was getting at. "Open" to me means facing off the side of your ski to the extent possible - easily achievable on your onside pull, not so much on your offside because of stance, but you can still be quite open (and stacked). There is a transition of hip position during the edge change. I think you thought I meant to stay open to the boat all the way through the edge change.

bmiller3536 Bro - sounds like you are pissed.Â

I disagree with "open hips causing you to generate a lot of down course speed on your edge change". Open hips (hips facing downcourse) alone does not dictate how you will carry out off the wakes. Opening your hips, or think of "rotating" your hips, (clockwise going left, counterclockwise going right) is an effective way to move weight forward directly over your feet causing the ski to be in a more tip-down attitude and hold better angle through the wakes and outbound. Also, not sure how being open with hips makes you a pretzel. Try being open with your shoulders and torso on your offside pull, but closed with your hips. Now that's a pretzel. But to address mtnskiskate's question (are you a x-country skier or something?), keeping a level handle is probably a valid thought for you to cause you to focus on your position behind the boat and through the edge change. Everyone has to have their "keys" and if that one is working for you, then stay with it. I have a key thought that is working really well for me that is similar and that is "level". I try to keep my shoulders level (and my head vertical) throughout a pass - from the initial pullout, to the turn in, through the edge change and especially as I ski back to the handle. That one thought causes so many good and correct things to happen for me that it is a #1 must do item.

Snowbird is in the Rockies.

Jim Brake - 52 (last yr of M4). Began skiing at 4 yrs old when we lived in Houston, TX. Moved to the SF Bay Area when I was 8 and we began skiing with friends on the delta, but no access to a course. Several fun years of free skiing with family and friends on various foothill reservoirs. Skied the course for the first time at 17 in 1975 when I drove past the Santa Clara Co. WSC pond and a collegiate tournament was going on. I stopped to watch and a guy I knew (great tricker Mike Wendt) saw me and said we could say I was from De Anza JC (I was in high school) so I could ski. I missed one ball (!), but wanted to keep at it. Went to Suyderhoud's in '76 and progressed from 28LL to 34LL in five days. Also learned to jump. Joined the Santa Clara club in '77. Skied for Chico State '81 - '83. Went to grad school at San Diego St. and skied at Mission Bay and in southern Cal tournaments '85 - '87. Moved to Sac in '87 and have been skiing all around this area since then - Bell Acqua, Sac Water Ski Club, various other private sites. Practice pb 2 @39, tournament pb 4 @38. Haven't jumped since '90 but pb was 132' in 1983. Snow ski raced for several years and became a full-cert snow ski instructor at Squaw Valley, but now only teaching my two boys - 11 and 13. They are hooked on slalom and are both working on 22 off - one at 34mph and the other at 36. Still enjoy tournaments, especially now with my boys. 67" A1 with D3 rubber.

Dsmart - you must have video on your helicopter, right? Could you start taking some aerial video of me and my kids when you fly over Bell Acqua? I think the aerial perspective will really help us understand our angle and line better. I'm sure your boss won't mind. thanks, Jim

My experience with A settings is that I get too deep on my onside turn which is my main problem anyway behind any boat, any driver, any speed control. C settings (haven't tried C3, though) feel good, but can result in me being narrow due to lack of gas behind the boat. This past weekend I went with B1 behind a 200 and it was by far the best feeling boat/setting combo I've experienced in the past 3 years. I haven't been that wide, that early, had that good of angle and acceleration out of the turn in I don't know how long. Of course, I still managed to f-up my 35s, but that is a function of going too hard on my gate and I'm in the process of fixing that. I practice behind an '09 196 with ZO that feels OK with B1, but it is definitely harder than the 200/B1 combo (I wonder what the prop differences between the two boats are). ZO settings are so personal, that you just have to figure out which one feels best for your style/technique/size/speed/line length/ski/water temp/shorts. I know guys that swear by A3, guys that swear by C2, guys that swear by B1. I now swear by B1, but then my shorts are like a camo with a black grid overlay pattern. So, you know....

Forget Pickett. Please send to me personally via email. I would like some free Chet Raley coaching and don't want anyone else to know what this "something" is. Just kidding - I hope you can figure out how to post the sequence.

Whew! When I saw this post title I was afraid it was about me, because in a tournament yesterday I threw a little private s--- fit when I missed 35 AGAIN. Oh, the answer to your question -Â I have no idea, but am voting for tequila. We're voting, right?

The other day I forgot my ski shorts (Hyperfreaks) and had to wear my everyday, walkin' around, shorts (cotton Quikhurlabongs or somethin' like that) to ski. My god. Getting up felt like I was dragging a sea anchor. I was so tired after four passes I had to take a breather. Next Spring I'm going to train in some baggy wool pants or something just to get my ski strength up.

Seriously.

My experience has been that my wife doesn't sit around with other ski wives talking about how long their husbands take to master a line length. Jayzus. I can barely even picture that. I wish that were the case with my wife. Oh, but you asked a question, though. The answer is probably anywhere from days to years. Kids that are getting the hang of new speeds and new line lengths (and this is probably true of older but athletic, fit beginner - intermediate skiers, too, but is especially true of kids) can improve dramatically in a matter of a few sets and certainly can improve several speeds and even line lengths in a season given enough sets. Older (like me) skiers can take years to get to a new line length. As you get past 40 I think you have to work your ass off to stay strong enough and you have to be mentally "youthful", so to speak, in order to believe you can improve and to have the will to keep fighting to learn and improve. When I was in my late teens and earliest 20s I improved a pass or two per season. That learning curve slowed during college and afterwards, but kept going upward with time and sets under the belt. Late 40s and beyond has been a flat line to a decrease to a plateau, but I keep fighting to turn that curve back up. And...f__ anyone that dares to think you should give up.

The old one piece alpine race suits? What do you think they race in nowadays? All alpine events are run in one-piece race suits these days. Those aren't fart bags anyway. Fart bags are the totally ghey, one-piece powder suits that amazingly some guys still rock. My apologies to any of you that actually wear one of those. It looks good on you, though. I don't care how well they keep the powder out, if you wear one you are either mocking '80s/'90s ski fashion (which is commendable under some circumstances - like a costume party) or you are....you know.

Not over everyone's head, Kona. If your ski doesn't have the ridges you can still slap on some skins.

I'm 6'0" and 195 lbs and just tried a 68" Strada a couple of days ago. Loved it. Only one set on it so far. Did two free passes, 2 28s and 2 32s and ran them all really nice and ahead. Very nice acceleration and angle seemed to increase progressively. Felt like I was able to ski with less load than my 67 Nomad or 67.5 A1. Looking forward to 35 and 38. Live in Sac and our water is varying in temp from 80 to 85 roughly. I'd rather err toward a slightly bigger ski than slightly too small especially when our water gets closer to 90 during hot spells.

I usually just get stuck on "tacos and Corona".

Horton - I'm working on something similar to your point about letting the handle out too fast that is really working for me. At the end of the edge change I want to still be on the line such that I can really feel myself "letting myself ski away from the handle into my extension". It's just a consciousness of the load after I've change edges, but am still traveling out. It feels like I am letting myself down from a one-arm pull-up (not that I can do one-arm pull-ups, but you get the idea). Works every time, all the time. If you edge change and then are free from the line, the boat is no longer taking you out. It's like when someone pulls out at the end of the lake hard then lets up into a bunch of slack. They don't go far. But if you pullout and stay connected, the boat takes you out much further. Check out that video of Rossi in slow mo where he's talking about his offseason, the new ski, etc. you can really see him doing this very well. Jim

In that picture of Scot Jones it looks like he just cracked the other guy with his bindings and the guy is trying to stand back up all wobbly. Scot was like "out my picture, fool!" Carry on.Â