matthewbrown

The question is pretty vague, what do you mean by best? Now or of all time? Male/Female? Slalom or the other disciplines? It would have been nice to have a straightforward question, something like this—- “which slalom skier in their prime would Vegas favor over any other slalom skier in their prime, in a head to head best 3 out of 5 rounds?”

Can’t believe I’m saying this but @horton is right, slowing down the edgechange is better. Unloading during this transition is not what you want to do, staying resistant with the legs, and having hips on top of ski is again optimal physics.

@Edbrazil I agree except Kristi was about twice the size of Regina. Yes, Regina will run 41, she had that if only the damn driver would have cooperated a little more.

@Chad_Scott straight as a Grizzly's dick

This guy sounds like he is really important to himself, a little less of that these days in general would be greatly appreciated.

The reason Parrish pulls past centerline at 41 is because he has not generated enough speed in order to initiate the ideal transition earlier as @Sethski so nicely put it. All caused by his hips sinking back and lower starting at the gate. With this heavier load, you will see an all at once edgechange well past the second wake on both sides, not quite as noticeable as DeGasperi, but still not ideal. Ideally, the skier should begin the transition at the first wake, but should take as long as possible to get to the flat ski, and then eventually the other edge. As @Sethski said, your edgechange is a function of how efficient you are out of the buoy so it will change positions from one buoy to the next since you are not a robot. I believe the more important question everyone needs to think about is...”what do I physically do when I initiate the transition?” Because that seems to be a little murkier water.

I think I might win, the far Northern California Valley can be a real bitch

If you value your life, you will not use Coppertone Sport or any other product that has Oxybenzone in it.

@Kelvin so that would only be 3/4” at each buoy but when you couple it with the max tolerance of the rope and driving, you still almost end up with a 6” advantage at each buoy, that’s plenty enough to make a big difference at super shortline.

Our course has 2 settings for the turn buoys. We have an actual setting that was used when the course was surveyed, but we also have an inside setting which is 4.5" narrower than the actual setting. It's still within tolerance and would pass any tournament inspection. The idea is to put the buoys on the narrower setting in the spring, to avoid handle/ski throws and yelling at the driver, and then move to the actual settings in the summer and fall when the elements are a little more cooperative. The difference between the two settings for an elite skier, one who is looking to run 39 every round and have a crack at 41, is absolutely ridiculous. It takes a 2 to 3 at 41 off skier, and turns them into a 4,5 and 6 at 41 off skier. You throw in a rope that is 3" longer than actual and on top of that you get a driver who is 2" on your side at most of the buoys(all within tolerances) and you've got quite an advantage over a different ski site that has their buoys on actual settings, actual ropes and super tight driving. Even for 35 and 38 off skiers the advantage is huge. I'm not saying this is what happened in Spain at all, but I think what @Horton is saying is that there has to be a specific set of reasons why some scores at some sites get inflated, other than everyone was pumped up and feeding off of everyone else. Even if the reasons are legitimate and merely just pushing boundaries, it's tough to compare those scores to scores from tourney's where everything is super tight. We took away the ability to give the skier a 16.28 with speed control and everybody is on the same page with that. I would be very surprised if everybody was on the same page with course, rope and driving dimensions.

@Drago schnitz just ran 43 at Okehelee, although I’m not sure about my sources, or the lake setup, boat path, speed, rope, hat, etc...

Oh no, no connections only played it once with some insurance guys but it was unreal, I think I hit every sand trap they had there!

@liquid d Spyglass Hill

Firebird is great for reducing your buoy count by 90%, increasing the breakdown time of your ski/boat via salt infiltration, blow drying your hair with 60 mph crosswinds, and lastly it’s perfect for skin radiation as there are no trees and the temperatures are 115+ in the summer. @Horton

I reckon that his biceps and iron will had more to do with his good results than jesus, rock on Jim @Razorskier1 and Fuck cancer!

he did use to be a pro football player

@horton i was driving

@skidawg it's either that or tequila shots...i'm an all or nothing kinda guy

why does it feel like i'm going to be forced into drinking beer at this tournament, i hate beer, billy allen once tried to get me to take shrooms at a lake 3 tournament, i think that lake is a bad influence.

@AdamCord couldn't agree more...we've been coaching exactly what KC is doing for the last 20 years and that shit ain't easy to apply. It's much easier to try it a couple of sets and then go back to pulling hard and just running buoys. I remember talking to Scott Jones at the Big Dawg finals a few years back about staying inside the turning arc of the ski for as long as possible without trying to rotate and grab more angle. I was basically trying to tell him to keep the ski behind him, he perplexing looked at me and then went out and beat me in a runoff.

the most important aspect of the gate turn or any turn for that matter is that your body stay inside the turning arc of the ski until the load comes. if you lean back out of the turn to take on the load earlier, your feet get out in front of your knees/hips/shoulders and your acceleration phase is over, thus causing you to pull longer. you might be nice and stacked, but you are on a later line with more load. so even though you see pro skiers leaning back, it is not ideal. doesn't mean it doesn't work, and for most of us maybe it is just easier to apply, but it is not the most efficient way to ski. nate does it better than anyone, he is leaning in toward the wakes so aggressively on his cuts that he stays ahead of the load allowing him to create great speed and is able to let his ski swing through much earlier for the edgechange. standing tall and balanced at the gates, and falling in toward the wakes while maintaining a stacked position is the ideal gate. thinking front foot in the turn is not relevant in my opinion, however thinking front foot when the load comes and on your way to the first wake is.

@Horton make sure to have appropriate counterweight in boat

i've always been told my handle is a little on the long side....

Gotta squash that threat by hook or by crook.....I wonder who the "They" is in the "They won't let him ski" scenario?

@Horton 's tournaments should be a class J for Joke, so that shouldn't count, let the guy ski for crying out loud.