matthewbrown

Too accelerate at the finish of the turn you certainly wouldn't lean backwards toward the tail of the ski and towards the direction you just came from....that only shoots the ski out in front of you accelerating the ski momentarily but leaves your body behind, now your ski has to slow down to wait for your body to catch up or you'll fall over backwards....this can't be disputed it's basic physics....we're not trying to accelerate just the ski, we are trying to accelerate the ski+our body....also, at the finish of the turn you wouldn't lean forward putting pressure on the front/tip of the ski driving it into the water and pulling you up from your lean as @skiing2heaven mentioned it totally slows the ski down. On that plane we are talking about, you just want to be centered on the ski out of the turn, centered meaning forward and back on the ski(not referring to center being how much pressure on front or back foot, but referring to your mass ceneterd on the ski). The other plane of reference is the most critical....at the finish of the turn, is the skier leaning far enough to the inside(direction of next buoy) to ensure that they stay on top of the ski(not rocking to the back of the ski) through the finish of turn and approaching the wakes. Most of us, at the finish of the turn try to get our hips up to the handle and shoulders back into that nice stacked postion which is fine but all I'm saying is that if you can do this while keeping your mass centered on the ski, not rocking back, then you+the ski accelerate, and when you watch a skier who skies like this it looks nothing like someone riding the tail of the ski. They are noticeably lighter and much quicker on the water. Look at Nate's gate at 41, it's as if he falls straight to the right for his turn in on the gates(direction of travel) and he's still staying stacked with hips up but he's using the entire ski to accelerate staying perfect like this through the wakes. I'm not sure how many more times we all have to keep hashing this out but riding the tail of the ski makes you slower and less efficient. That being said, there is an argument out there that maybe tail riding helps you control your speed better and helps skiers fell like they are in greater control and maybe faster isn't always better.... but I think that the great skiers who do tail ride out of the turn always find a way to get back to center just enough to get the acceleration they need.

yeah thanks pal, 15lbs too many, butt back, turning as hard as I can isn't quite the ticket...I've worked hard since then to make changes, just like Chad has.

Having seen Chad ski a lot this year I can also say that he's skiing quite a bit better now then he was in that video and is definitely more balanced on his ski. You have to remember, he was at 5500' elevation, fast cold water and was probably his 6th set. All that could of caused him to be more on the back of the ski.

@Horton..."This whole too much ski in the water thing... Best skier in the world today has a lot of ski in the water all the time except when he makes a mistake" couldn't of said it better myself. Nate runs 41 easier then we've ever seen, and nowhere is he on the back of the ski with hips up leaning back. His hips are underneath him and he's stacked, but he's leaning to the inside, always staying ahead of his ski. Doesn't mean you can't ski on the back of the ski and still make it work, it's just not the most efficient way to do it. You can always point out great skiers who use the back of the ski and have learned to ski well this way. It's not like it's a giant disadvantage in fact I think in some skiers case because they have only learned to ski this way, it is an advantage for them as they like the slower feel making it easier for them to control the transisitons and they don't get too early as @skiingtoheaven was talking about which can be a big problem especially at 34...it's just that as the line gets shorter, it catches up to you. Especially at 36.

If there is tip rise in the turn, then either the skier is pulling too long or they are just transferring their weight to the back foot(or both)...on Brent's passes there are slight tip rises on 32 and 35 on his onside but it's not from pulling too long it's just from pressing on the back foot slightly..he was perfect coming into the buoy and that's all you can ask for now what you do with that situation comes down to your balance, athletic ability, etc...let's face it you aren't always going to make perfect turns even when the set up is perfect....starting at 38 and more so at 39 he begins pulling longer into 1,3,5 carrying more speed ergo the tip rise on that side...notice there is no tip rise on 2,4....but, why is he pulling longer into 1,3,5? this brings me to my next point, he's more on the back of the ski when the load comes out of 2,4 then he is 1,3..notice where his hips are.........skiing2heaven you are right to some degree in that you can get more acceleration on the back of the ski, however, ownly momentarily, once his hips fall back behind his feet like from 4 to 5 at 38, you he looses his acceleration and creates more load making it mandatory for him to pull longer into the next turn...he is getting more constant speed out of 1,3,5 by staying centered over the ski which allows him to edge change earlier into 2,4. Take a look at Badal's video, he's way over the center of the ski with his hips and shoulders and is running a super early line..his tip rise comes from pulling a little too long b/c he gets so amped up but he's a beast and can handle it.

yes we have been playing around with the "muhlitner method" as of late and pretty much have it dialed in...however...there is one last missing ingredient that we just can't quite put our finger on. We are having problems finding the perfect amount of Corona's we must consume to produce the desired "flamingo" front knee syndrome shown in exhibit A above so kindly offered by mr. smart. It's not just the amount, but also the timing. It appears that prime consumption occurs between the hours of 2:00 and 3:30pm. We've heard/seen that Richelle has the proper stats but she is very reluctant to give up that kind of info

My 2 cents worth since I was there, and did ski(and of course Horton twisted my arm to get on his website and check out how cool he is)...but first let me digress and say that the highlight of my nationals trip was when I decided to spend $20 to get a massage by the lovely lady at the end of the lake, as we waited for the lighting break to be lifted at the end of OM slalom. Almost as if scripted, as soon as that Andrew Jackson hit her hand there was a simultaneous lighting strike, monsoon rain and a 50mph wind gust that completely uplifted her canopy and blew it down the lake shore. So, there I am chasing a 10’ tall metal structure down the shore line in an epic Hurricane rain, trying to help this poor lady out..and all the while I’m thinking…shit…I’ve got to ski tomorrow I need my rest, damn I can’t believe I haven’t got struck by lightning yet, and then the strong painful reminder came that I definitely put the wrong sunscreen on, the kind that burns your eyes so badly that you can’t even see where the 55’s are on your first pass. Now I’m basically worthless standing there acting like I’m helping her with this metal heap and all I can think about is, I wonder if I’ll get my $20 back!! So, anyway the skiing….the skiing was definitely difficult, I do acknowledge that, however I will also say that mentally preparing for my ride, scouting the conditions and talking with some of the other skiers was the most fun I’ve had at a tourney in a long time. It was a challenge, something different where everyone has to adapt and everyone has to push themselves in a different way. It was great seeing those not normally in the hunt, right in the thick of the scores. It’s kinda cool to see those who embrace the challenge of competition, and those who didn’t like it or made excuses. Too many excuses these days out there---the boat did this and the driver did that or this water is too fast or you hit a roller, my ski sucks, my fin moved, how about just working with the cards you are dealt and if it’s not your day then have the confidence and the belief that someday it will be your day. Look I get it, you drive halfway across the country, pay an extraordinary amount of money to get there only to see the skier before you have very few rollers and little wind, while you get heavy gusts and constant rollers. Maybe what you didn’t see was that the skier before you actually got a shitty pull from the driver and you got a great pull. This is competition, things happen. We all want the same conditions that we practice in everyday so that we can run the same score we always run and everyone can place generally in the same order they always place, matter of fact why don’t we just call our practice scores in?? The unknown is what makes it so challenging and exciting. It feels like this competition mindset is fading away in our sport. I probably fell harder and went down earlier than most people at nationals, but will that deter me from doing a sport I love, not a chance. I tell you what would deter me from coming back, is if I was always chasing a top buoy count and always skied my hometown tourneys, with my hometown driving with my hometown boat…and then I actually had to step out of that bubble and ski somewhere that doesn’t feel like home where I skied well below my average. I think our sport is gravitating toward this train of thought and I can even catch myself thinking like this at times. Maybe it’s not our fault, with the technology now it’s so easy to get spoiled. I even get pissed off when someone pulls me with the wrong ZO setting for my first pass. There is a time to chase buoys on wonderful pristine lakes, and there is a time to roll your sleeves up and compete…either way maybe we could focus a little more on enjoying the process. How am I doing for my first post Ham?

Thanks, I had a blast! Thomas is correct, Chet was on a Goode...when we skied head to head I was only about 10 feet from him resting in the hole. After patting each other on the back about our styles, I could tell from there he was on a Goode. He may have tried an A2 prototype but I know he hasn't tried the version I'm on.

The ski is an A2 and the production on these should be coming out soon....

Training with arguably two of the most technically sound skiers in the world(Terry and Marcus) I can tell you they make it look simple. But there is a reason for this. They actually keep it simple. They only try to do two things. Stay centered on the ski and always go in the direction of the line. It doesn't matter how smooth your turn is or how late you wait to fill the load, if you are not centered on your ski you will have at least some problems. 99% of skiers are too far back on their ski when the load comes, consequently at the second wake and in the preturn they get pulled to the inside and are no longer going in the original direction of the line. Perpendicular speed and balance is then sacrificed with parallel speed and unbalance. Even if they are centered on the ski but load too hard through the second wake, they get pried from the handle and once again are forced in a different direction then the natural arc of the line. It’s fine to  say… well, you let the handle out too soon, or you were turning too hard, or were rotating your shoulders at the finish of the turn. These are all great insights but why are you doing those things?? It comes down to one of two things...you were either behind the ski with your center of mass or you were loaded too hard away from the boat. I really think if people become more aware of their body realationship and less aware of the trying to do all the little movements it can make a big difference. I don’t presume to know anymore then the rest of you I’m sure you all understand all of this but I think by simplifying down to two basics can make it a lot easier on your body and mind.Matt