Bud Man

@ral, I have been thinking and using the two terms synonymously, but I can see your point. There is also a third word often used, and that is training. What you say makes sense but also raises a question. If someone like Chris Parish were to visit Chet for a couple of sets, would you say he was receiving; lessons, training or coaching?

Good point Steven. I will try to think about that tomorrow. That should help me not drop my behind as badly as I do sometimes.

@OB, It seems I remember you getting the mid ride about the same time you started getting coaching from Chet, but I could easily be wrong. I think I remember you posting your first full 11.25m pass and you were at Chet’s on your new mid ride. 1) Do you think you would have accomplished that on your previous ski being coached by Chet? 2) Do you think you would have accomplished that with the switch to the mid even without coaching? 3) Do you think it took the new ski and coaching together? I think Chet is a great coach. I think the mid is a great ski. And, I think you are a great skier. So, the answer is not of great importance, but I thought your experience would fit this thread well.

@Steven Haines, They are pay per view. I he accepts paypal. [smirk] I can’t help, I don’t have anything but phone on my phone and most of the time that does not work well. [frown]

Thank you for the great pictures and information @GregB. Which Nano is Chet on? Mid would be my guess. But there is traditional and wide to choose from. Also, what length and flex? Thank you Greg

I skied without my dry suit for the first time this Spring today. For me the dry suit is kind of like deploring a parachute, so the same amount of load I was taking with it, was way too much now without it. I found myself flying way outside the buoy line through the course and even at the pull out for the gates I was much wider than normal. I dropped from a 38 off the dock yesterday to sloppy warm ups and then down at 35 today. I then went back to 32, and worked on backing off of everything. I think I will stay at 32 for a while relearning how to ski without the parachute. I wonder if I should remove the wing for a couple of sets. I’ve heard people say to add angle to the wing when removing a dry suit, but it is not unusual for me to not flow with the masses. Anybody else experience this? @Hogexpress, Did you get a chance to ski today without your dry suit? What did you experience?

Sure looks like fun. I enjoyed watching.

I just got in from skiing. Before hitting the water, I read what you said directly above @Horton about countering with inside shoulder forward. I have been trying to keep my outside shoulder back because that is what so many people say to do. Your tip made a world of difference to my set today. In thinking through the whole thing now, I am already trying to get my upper body forward going into the turn, so your tip makes perfect sense and the old thought of keeping the outside shoulder back is just counterproductive. Thank you very much John.

Is this the big or the small vw. /vanilla2/uploads/FileUpload/17/677.jpg

That sounds like a lot of fun. Cool video at the end also. Who wrote it? http://ballofspray.com/component/content/article/35-ballofspray-water-ski-news/910-spring-break-2011-costa-rica-

Nice post @KB. I like what you said.

@GregB I feel I’ll have a better understanding upon viewing your pictures when available, but in the meantime, how close are the end tips of the inverted vw to the bottom of the ski? I read above that the recommended placement for the front vw was 7/16”. I take it that as the top edge of the base plate. I am interested in this and am enjoying your post. Thank you.

Thank you Greg, I will look forward to your pictures, and have a nice weekend. Bud

@GregB Can you post a close up picture of your fin please sir? And, what is your speed? Also, is there a chance you could post a picture of a fin with three? Thank for your post and thank you very much ahead of time for your help. Bud P.S. Are people taking their standard wings off? What setup is Chet using?

@Wish Not necessarily a simple answer. Some people will move their binding back to get their weight back. I have ridden skies where I had too much weight on the back and fixed it by moving my bindings back. My feeling was that I wanted to be balanced and I felt that with a normal stacked stance, I was too much on the front of the ski so I was instinctively getting on the back. Once I moved the bindings back, I could stand stacked and feel balanced. That is probably the opisit move from others but it worked great for me. You first have to figure out what and why. Grasshopper, you need to know the true problem to get to the right answer.

Exhalent point ShaneH, I believe I catch myself saying; I know I am obviously doing “this thing” wrong. I will fix it then think about coaching. I will latter find another “this thing” to fix, and then think about getting some coaching latter. Maybe if I got to the point in watching my videos and saying; I have no clue what is stopping me from skiing better. Then I would get to a coach maybe the next day. I can find so much that I am doing wrong just by comparing my videos to others. My biggest problem is thinking WHILE skiing.

Can you further explain why or when to use the " # h a s h t a g e s "

Well the virtual tournament thing worked for me. I did get nervous before and during my skiing. That is what I was hoping to happen. I need to get used to that. My first round: Bud, M5, Wednesday April 6, 2011, 55 kph, 1.5 @ 38 off, 11.25m, 97.5 buoys, PPC I was defiantly not feeling the groove. I was getting too wide and coming out of the buoys way too soon. When I got through skiing and got to shore, I could really feel that I had over used my back leg while skiing. That muscle was very tight. It was fun and I hope more of you will join in. Remember, you don’t have to beat someone else’s line length or speed to win. The first three rounds are averaged together, and then the difference between the fourth round and the average of the first three, determines the winning order. You don’t have to wait latter until you think you are skiing better. Start now.

I posted this question the other day and don’t see it, so I think I clicked on “Back to Discussion” instead of “Post Comment” after I typed it. So, I will ask it again and try harder to click on the right spot this time. I wonder what would the effect would be on a ski if you just put a bolt and nut through your fin to create drag. Would some drag on the back of your ski cause the front of the ski drop some? Would a thicker fin have a similar effect? Does more length give you more tip pressure? Engaging the tip sounds like it could be a good thing, but is more drag a good thing? I know at times I feel like I create too much speed and need something to kill it. I try to create only what I need to get outside the buoy at the right time, but as the line shortens and the adrenaline increases, and the thinking slows down; what I want to do, and what I do, are sometimes two very different things. Is adding drag compensating for the effect of a problem? If that is the case, then should we instead be better off to fix the problem by just not getting that extra speed in the first place? These are just random thoughts. I’m heading out now to ski my first round in the April Virtual tournament. I will post my results shortly. I have butterflies right now.

I guess it is perspective. To some that would sound like a short drive, but to me it sounds almost unbearable. The quickest way to get me to drive any where is to help someone. I generally would not do it for me. A while back I made a seven hour round trip in one day just to help out someone. From the other point of view, I wouldn’t think twice about hiking, biking or walking with my wife for two or more hours straight, but that might seem like a long time to others. It is nothing for me to drive in circles around the ski lake cutting grass for five or six hours or walk around the shore for several hours straight, running a string trimmer stopping only to refill the gas tank, but a I will put off taking a short drive to the grocery store. I don’t know why I am that way, but I am.

jdarwin, The picture looks like a large wing was cut down to a small one. And, the front edge looks kind of jagged. Does it look like that to you in person?

OB, Both paragraphs make good points.

OB, I’m not sure if there are 6 or 7 people around here that would come to ski with a professional coach. There is a small group of enthusiastic slalom skiers a bit up the interstate form here on the other side of Lake Murray that have courses on public water. No ZO boats in that group though. I believe at least two of them are like I am; capable of running 11.25m but can’t bank on it every time off the dock. Then in the other direction about 2 hours is Trophy Lakes and H2oz. Both have nice people and ski schools and of course ZO boats. I’m sort of in no man’s land. Very close to the airport and there used to be a site at the airport leased by The Columbia Water Ski Club, but I don’t think any of them ski any more. I don’t believe there is even a competition ski boat dealer in the Columbia area. Charlotte, NC might be the closest. I am trying to get a volunteer to supply a boat for the areal videoing I am going to be doing. Lake Murray is not too far and is full of wake boards and jet skis. Even though most of the time it is just me skiing and my wife driving, I enjoy if as much as probably a thousand skiers put together. When RJM came here, he wanted to help as many as he could, so I called about everyone that I could think of, and only one person came. He actually came twice and said he was really glad he did. I think I said this before, but the main thing RJM opened my eyes to was realizing that it took less of what I was already doing to get out to the buoys. Nothing really different from what I was doing, just less of it. Light on the line and low load.

Those are good MattP. I would like to see results from that poll. Even though for me, the first two questions would be hard for me to answer because the ski I bought in 2000, I skied on through 2006. I did try a Monza in 2005, but did not like or keep. I stayed off the water from middle of 2006 through the end of 2009. I tried a bunch of skies in 2010 and settled on a Strada. I am not opposed to trying something else, but I can’t imagine liking something better than this ski. As for coaching that is easy to answer. Never and zero. I realize it is good and I should, but I always manage to talk myself out of it. But I sure am having fun and enjoying skiing.

That is interesting ral. Results from a poll on that could be interesting as well. How would you structure the questions?