lakeaustinskier

I'm not nearly the quality of skier as @ Than_Bogan, however, at Nationals I spent some time examining the OB4 system and came away thoroughly impressed with not only the engineering concept but the quality of construction and the "feel" of the product. As a skier who has never been seriously hurt (but has lots of friends that have broken ankles and other things) I really like how the OB4 potentially reduces the number of variables that I have to worry about. Things like how old the Velcro is, how tight the bungee cords are, how worn the rubber bindings are etc. Sure there's still some variables - just not as many. Here in Texas it's still warm and I don't want to mess with my skiing but at the close of the season I'll probably pull the trigger and try them out.

@Horton " I just try to move my hips straight forward." I happened to ski with Trent F. yesterday and he had me working on that exact idea (I'm trying to clean up my 32 to get better for 35). The trick for me was being able to keep my upper body quiet at the same time and not break forward. Keeping quiet was easier when I squeezed my core while moving my hips.

I agree. As someone that was on site blame the system not the skiers. There seemed to be sentiment among a lot of the audience that the first ruling had boxed everyone into a corner and maybe they were trying to figure their way out.

My ski partner finally convinced me that life is too short to just buy a ski solely based on what other people think about it. Different skis fit different people. H2Osmosis has an excellent "try before you buy" program. OR depending on your risk level buy a slightly used ski, try it and if it doesn't work for you then sell it to someone else who might love that ski.

We can hear F1 from Aquaplex. If my schedule permits I'll take you for a ride (I'll have to check with the wife and family first about that weekend). Coincidentally I'll see Trent tomorrow and he is definately a great coach. Send me a message. Ted.

Split the difference and have her drive a set for you. My wife drove me about 2 hours before she went into labor with our second kid. While driving our first kid was strapped into a bouncy chair on the bottom of the boat (with a vest). When my third kid was born I picked up a new puppy the same day my wife came home from the hospital. My wife rocks!

Also trying to have a short term memory of a bad set helps me. Acknowledge that you are not skiing well, try to salvage what you can (example maybe only focus on gates) then move on. I had my best set this year this week then the next day my set was horrible. I've heard that most elite professional athletes have the ability to block out a bad performance and immediately move on. Maybe this should be another poll......but I'm curious what do people do when they are learning a new line length? Unfortunately I've never had luck with 1/2 loops or slowing down the boat. The only thing that works for me is dropping back a bit and focusing on fundamentals.

@Brady I ski at Aquaplex and am very familiar with this boat. Send me a message.

Based on my tour with Dave Goode my gut tells me Goode probably makes most of his money from snow poles (mostly) and snow skis (not as many). The snow ski market is enormous compared to the water ski market (especially for high end water skis). You don't have to own a large share of a huge market to be successful. Dave also told us that he started as a snow racer/skier and he saw the need for a durable snow ski pole that didn't break. Never went to college - just started tinkering with products.

"Goode can do a better job of building skis for his team skiers since he builds his own skis in his factory where he works. " I happened to take a tour of Goode HQ in Ogden in February with Dave Goode. I've taken many factory tours and the tour Dave gave us was outstanding. After the tour I have no doubt that Dave Goode could personally build a ski from scratch to anyone's specs (I doubt the heads of most ski manufacturers can say this). Goode is a small operation (comparatively) and as such Dave and his team can really spend the time to know their customer, develop their product and develop/tweak skis for people like CP. Other ski manufacturers just don't have this ability. On a side note, no one ever talks about Dave Goode's snow sports passion. We spent at least half the tour talking about ski racing and the design and manufacture of Goode snow skis and poles.

I just bought a 1 mm Blacktech heater top from Robby's and this top is fantastic. I was using a 1.5 mm O'Neill, however, I believe the thinner Blacktech is substantially warmer than the thicker O'Neill. Since I have a long torso I'm not a fan of a full/shorty wetsuit and the Blacktech has some extra length in it. Also, Robby does a great job with service and feedback.

Great ski used 3 months last year. Slight binding rash on the rear binding area (like all skis). If this ski sits around too long my wife is going to figure out what skis really cost. tedgthomson@gmail.com or http://www.ski-it-again.com/php/skiitagain.php?topic=Search&category=Slalom&postid=27496

@coskier I had meniscus surgery in both my knees about a year ago (both at the same time - that was fun). It took me about 4 months of constant PT and rehab before everything felt normal. My PT told me that "motion is lotion" and that the more frequently I move and strengthen the area, the stronger the knee. This off season one of my exercises is box jumps so I'm a believer. Admittedly I did not have any other injury (ACL), however, diligent rehab is the way to go.

@Horton I'm very impressed with your elapsed response time producing the bikinis and boots pic. Good job (but a little scary)

@Horton I'm very impressed with your elapsed response time producing the bikinis and boots pic. Good job (but a little scary)

About two years ago I missed the gates at a tournament adjusting my shorts. I was so mad I forced myself to stop this habit and it has taken me almost two years to get comfortable sometimes getting up with my shorts in a bad position - but I haven't missed another gate.

I had a similar injury when I broke my finger throwing a football with my son. Unfortunately the only way I could really get the finger to heal was to stop skiing for a while.

In my opinion the indo board is not relevant for slalom stance BUT the board is great for strengthening your core and more importantly teaching you to engage your lower body and keep your upper body quiet.

Compared to the CC 206 the space in the front bow of either a Malibu LXI or TXI is crazy big. Would I prefer a CC over a Malibu quality-wise? Yes, but there's no way anyone other than kids can sit in the front bow of the CC 206. I've always been a CC guy but if I had to buy another boat I'd buy a newer TXI. Malibu has really stepped up their game with that model.

I'm honestly not sure exactly what AWSA requires but a great class is the American Red Cross Wilderness First Aid Class. This class is based on the Wilderness First Aid protocols of the Boy Scouts of America. This class teaches participants the "assessment of and treatment given to an ill or injured person in a remote environment where definitive care by a physician and/or rapid transport is not readily available"....in other words a lot of water ski sites. As a Scout leader I've taken this class and I highly recommend it.

Everyone knows about my addiction but an alternate poll should be taken of how much money we REALLY spend on skiing.....................

I've also skied with Jimmy and he definitely knows his slalom. I'd also contact Trent since they are both at SMRR right now. Take sets with both!

In our area (Austin) it seems that most of the tournaments are E/L/R because once you buy the video equipment why not use it? (plus the price of equipment is so cheap now). It's possible that in certain areas with small numbers of skiers Class C tourneys are weird but I'll bet that would be isolated. Not trying to highjack the thread here but there's been so few Class C's here lately its been hard for Junior Officials (including myself) to get credit for working tournaments and advance.

Unfortunately as you get older you not only need to stay in shape for skiing you also need to stay in shape to protect yourself from potential injury (or try to). I never worried about injuries or over-use but when I turned 46 everything seemed to change. If I got injured it took longer to heal and I missed water time.

Good topic and one that I constantly struggle with. I ski 1-3 tournaments a year and my nerves at tournaments reflect it. My three kids don't ski tournaments therefore between Boy Scouts, football, lacrosse and dance team I simply cannot afford that much time away from the family. I'm also constantly trying to remember that just because skiing is my passion - I can't force my kids to have the same passion (especially with boys since there are so many other sports). Maybe I'll wait for M6-7...........