behindpropellers

I find that I can fix problems better with no balls. It takes the balls to show the problems though.

Tim

@than_bogan

To make a tournament work you need two things: 1. Commitment of time from several people. 2. Money.

Getting the money part seems a bit easier than getting the labor. Just my observation.

I ski as many days as possible but seems like 4 is the limit in a row. Mostly barefoot, trick, wakeskate and Slalom. I tend to only Slalom after a good night's rest & smooth water.

Tim

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AV-Wireless-Audio-Video-Transmitter-Receiver-4W-4000ft-/360433102867#ht_3151wt_905

Hmmm 4W version.

Good information....

I guess I will have to give this some thought.

Thanks!

Tim

Greg,

Trying to get a way to have a Video Camera in a boat and a screen with computer/projector so the crowd can watch a view from in the boat where you cannot see the course.

I suppose I could put a camera on shore in the area but it would be a pretty long ($$) cable run.

Tim

Anybody have any advice on how I can get video from the boat to shore? Wireless?

Would need to go approx 3500'

@behindpropellers On the contrary, the question of slalom course accessibility is deeply related to teaching people how to waterski. The course I ski is open to the public during all daylight hours, so accessibility is a non-issue. The issue is whether anyone has the necessary skills to actually use it!

Nate,

Not sure where you are from but in Ohio there are a handful of public courses and the rest are private. Accessibility is an issue here. There are plenty of lakes here and plenty of waterskiers. I don't think there are plenty of "ballers".

Too many to count. How many people did you teach to show ski @behindpropellers. I'm in a city of more than 5 million and yet to see a ski show around here??? What's the hold up???

@OB I quit our show ski team 4 years ago and started the club we run now which makes it possible to have a slalom course on our lake. Our club taught about 30 kids to ski last year with our Sea Scouts program. We took about 12 people through the course who had never had the chance. I taught 4 people front barefoot and 3 back barefoot.

@OB I do know one show skier in Atlanta if you want to learn how to swivel ski.

Why don't you answer my question? Too many to count? So you took over 30 people through the slalom course who had never had the chance?

Most people are saying how many they taught how to ski....my question has nothing to do with teaching waterskiing, its about making slalom courses accessible.

Think back to 2011.

How many people did you pull through a slalom course who have never done it?

Tim Cochrane

tim.cochrane@gmail.com

Current President of a waterski club that has one of the very few slalom courses in public water in Ohio.

Jody's statement is not opinion. It's fact. Other disciplines had/have little driver certification and/or safety programs. Hell, you could get in a 120mph speed boat and pull a speed skier without any type of credential. Still can because last I saw as they only basically require a driver's license and any state mandated boater safety course. Makes a whole hell of a lot of sense to me. And essentially the same for Barefoot. And have you ever actually looked at what they teach in the show ski driver student guide? Go look at a 3 boat turn, where their instruction is for the outside boat to cross over to the inside track and the inside to go out. All three paths converge at one location with skiers in tow. Seriously?

Actually:

Every sport has to have the same safety certification, go look at the rules a bit closer.

I have a class A show driver cert. Its not just pulling 3 boat patterns. Its not simple to get.

Most tournament Skiers appreciate and utilize the regional guide as a hard copy resource. I keep one in the office and one at home, we utilize it quite often on site at tournaments and at the lake for reference and information.

Ok so then they should make it an option to get the regional guide. I throw mine in the trash.

AWSA is being made to ad-hear to policy's that it should not due to the other sport groups misadventures and lack of good safety practices.

Sport emphasis and resources are dedicated to three event and out side sport group ideals and agendas do not come into play in day to day business.

More opinion. How would you fix it? What would make sense?

So your kids do not wakeboard? Barefoot? What if they did?

I personally think if AWSA and USAws were two different entities then you would find AWSA having less and less $$.

I have been reading a bunch on this breaking USAWS away from AWSA.

I don't think that it is the correct course.

I do think that USAWS needs to be overhauled. Putting an overhaul plan together would be much more efficient than starting a new organization. If the membership does not think that the olympics are part of the waterski plan....they need to quit wasting time on it. NOW!

Driving:

There should be a base driver rating. This rating will be good for sanctioned practices and grassroots events. Towed watersport wide. Once you get the rating, you have it for life. Barefoot, slalom, trick....wakeboard you name it.

Beyond this rating there should be different class ratings for disciplines. There needs to be a better system of keeping these ratings than attending a specific number of tournaments in a year. Do people forget how to drive after they have taken the time to get a rating? Why do we penalize a person if they have not been to a tournament in a few years? Life happens.

Insurance/Membership.

Pay for what you are:

Every member should buy the base membership. The insurance only covers you up to events pulled by the base driving category.

If you are a show skier (and you do show skiing tournaments & practices).....you pay the showski fee. If you show ski and slalom you pay the higher of the fees.

Safety Tracking

I know the show ski team here has had many claims. Guess what....winning is the only thing they care about. Lightning? Who cares.

USAWS needs to track high risk closer. If there are more claims because of certain risk taking then that needs to be figured into the membership fees above.

Real Business.

Its time to run USAws like a real business. Just because somebody is a waterskier that does not guarantee them a job at USAws. Kill the magazine. Kill the regional tournament guides. Hey....everybody uses smartphones and ipads.....get with technology.

Last year I ran a tournament. Online tournament signup...."cool" I thought. This will make it easy! Well. After I logged everything in I posted the stuff all over the net about my tournament. Guess what..... The online system didn't work. They had a glitch. All of my time wasted. I was the guinea pig trading emails with their "tech guru".

A lot to lose..........

Interesting comments.

Personally, I think USAWS needs an overhaul. Its time for new blood.

I am the current President of Chippewa Lake Watersports association. I started our club in 2010 as it started moving from a private lake to a public lake. We will be public this summer.

Last year we had: Slalom Course for public use, 1 night a week where we supplied a boat/driver/coach on the course, Lane Bowers professional barefoot instruction for 2.5 days, and to top it off we had a figure 8 barefoot tournament at the end of the year. Everything was successful.

I have two complaints:

1. I can't get anybody with passion and dedication to help run the club. Everybody likes our slalom course and everything else but we need some people to help keep the gears turning. I don't know how to change this.

2. USA Waterski. (some things minor some major...no particular order)

a. I go to renew our insurance, call up and say I want to send the check. Their answer...."you have to fill out these 10 pages of paperwork, we can't use your data from last year" another 2 hours of mine wasted filling paperwork and faxing it in.

b. I call up and ask "what driver rating does a person need to drive a figure 8 barefoot tournament?" USAWS..."Hmmm we don't know"

c. If I have a special event and need to insure a boat for 3 days I can't do it. I have to buy a full year policy.

d. The driver requirements require more than what it takes me to retain my Pilot's license.

e. Saftey Director.... Unattainable. If I wan't to get people safety certified I have to fly somebody in. Why can't we just use a certified CPR/lifesaving instructor and go over the additional boating stuff ourself? And then....when a person gets the rating...if they want to be an instructor they have to go to tournaments. What does going to tournaments have to do with being rated to teach the class? Its a joke.

Here is what I think:

Erase the part on your membership where it asks what sport discipline. If you are holding onto a handle behind the boat you should be part of USAWS.

There should be a trained driver (initial) where you can tow anything. From there it should be different driving ratings. Just like the FAA uses for a pilot license.

Its time to automate the f&*^ing data on the website. No more PDFs. Hire some people to make the system work better.

Safety directors are a good thing. 10% should be taken off any member with this rating.

Its time to clean house. Anybody who has been on any board for more than 6 years....they need to go. Time for new blood and new ideas.

STX22-

Please contact me: tim.cochrane@gmail.com

Tim

I'm getting back into the swing of things for the summer. Just read most of the thread on the new driver programs.

So about half way through it I seriously started to wonder if I can make the club I have built up over the past couple years work.

I run a non-traditional waterski club. I worked for 3 months to get a slalom course permit on our public lake. Once a week we pull skiers through the course one evening. Lane Bowers came out last summer and we did a 3 day barefoot clinic. At the end of the season we hosted a figure 8 barefoot tournament. Nobody in our club is a crazy tournament skier at this point, but still.....some great skiers.

I used to be a show skier but I left it due to politics. Safety of our show team was always second place to having a better show. I can't even watch their shows anymore because of the safety issues.

So I'm feeling an enormous task on my back. I need to get people safety qualified again. Then i need to get an instructor out to certify barefooting and slalom skiing driving. Since I personally hold an instructor rating I need to go do my work to get it back. USAwaterski won't even answer the phone....??

Tim

Just thought I would give an update:

1 Year after surgery now. I have full ROM and hvae not had any instability issues since my surgery. I skied all summer, starting in the beginning of July. Once I stopped skiing the muscle started to go away very fast so its now back at the gym. 100% glad I got it fixed. Now I wonder how long my right shoulder will hold out!

Tim

http://fantasticfinishmarine.net/

Talk with Eric before jumping in. If it ran out of ATF then you might have cracked the drum???