webbdawg99

And here is my typical stab at 38.

I know there are some awesome skiers that browse these pages. So at the risk of embarrassing myself, I'm gonna ask for help! Unfortunately, I rarely get to have anybody watch me ski as its usually just me and my driver. I'd love to hear some feedback! Thanks in advance. The first video is 32 off at 36 mph. The second is 35 off at 36 mph.

Definitely agree that the transition is critical. Opening myself up to some feedback here. Thoughts?

I thought Andy Mapple was intimately involved with the development of ZO?

He does work at Coble and he does wear a helmet. However, I never heard any mention of this being his first year in the course. I'm sure the Coble/Eller crew know the full story. He's a super nice kid and very humble. As mentioned in another post, I don't think he knows how good he really is.

What's happened with the Raley ventral wing? I know it was a hot topic for a while but it seems to have faded....

Adam Webb, M2 skier here. I noticed Joel wears a helmet when he skis....not sure of the story there. However, I do find it VERY interesting that he took it off for that last 39 off pass! And yes, the entire group from Coble was great. I love how they all cheered each other on and all ran down the shore to meet Joel after his 1/2@41. It was an awesome thing to see!

I just got home from my first Trophy tournament and had a great weekend. But the highlight of the weekend belongs to a M1 skier from Australia named Joel Howley. Prior to this weekend, Joel had run 38 in a tournament ONCE. Then on Saturday, he did it again, setting a new PB by scoring 4@39! Quite an amazing accomplishment. However, the story doesn't end there. Fast forward to Sunday.....just one day after his SECOND tournament 38, Joel comes out and RUNS 39!!!! He's been working at Cobles this summer. He apparently had run 39 in practice a bunch this past week. However, he's never even stood behind the boat at 41 bc the shortest rope at the ski school stops at 39. So he took a crack at 41 for the first time ever and ended up getting 1/2. Amazing skiing with an even more amazing story behind it. I won't be surprised if we all hear more about Joel in the near future.

Nope. He's scared....and I hope he reads this. Haha

Let me know if you decide to. Save on driving and hotel costs!

Anyone going? I'm making my first trek to ski the magic waters. However, the guy I was going with (OB) blew his ankles and isn't skiing. Anyone looking to bunk up and share a hotel room to save on costs? Know of any good/cheap places to stay?

The edge change generally happens earlier at 36.

This about sums it up....

I could definitely see that being a factor at 34. But at 36, I almost never feel too slow at the ball.....too fast more often than not.

For me and most of the guys I ski with, we prefer to have a slight head for our most difficult pass. However, after talking to several of the pros at the recent Atlanta Pro-Am, almost of them said they prefer a tail. I can't figure out why this difference in prefence seems to exist between pros and amateurs. What are your thoughts? Do you prefer a head or tail? And if a tail....can you help me figure out why?

@OB And your ankles sure were surprised at the Pro-Am tournament. Time for a new strategy!

I've heard a couple different people say that there was a run of HO CDX-1's that were better than anything HO has put out since.

I usually bring a mountain bike along with me. I take it for a ride just long enough to get the blood flowing to and to break a little sweat. I've skied much better since I've started dragging the bike along.

Obviously, this strikes a chord with a lot of folks on a lot of different levels. It seems that some believe the underlying problem is the elitest and selfish mentality of some skiers. Although that mentality may exist, that is not the probelm. The problem is inefficiency. If the lake was packed from sun up to sun down and there was never any time to get in some quick sets, maybe there'd be another issue at hand. However, at our lake, its packed at times and empty at times......a very inefficient use of this limited resource. My original question posed to the group was "what have you done to help manage this?" Unforunately, an "attitude adjustment" just doesn't solve the problem. We are going to give the old schedule another try and politely encourage all of our members to use it as a courtesy to fellow members. That seems to be the best solution. Also, we will be managing expectations.....as unfiulfilled expectation typically leads to the greatest frustration. To quote a sticker left behind by a Mr. Corey Humburg on our dock....."Peace, Love, & Waterskiing!"

I'll politely disagree. The reason why its popular is because its a lot easier to learn and its spectator friendly....and sure there's a social aspect to it as well. It seemed that you were lumping all tournament type skiers into an elitest group that is anti-social and discourages the growth of our sport. You just couldn't be more off base. Nothing excites me more than being out on the public water and seeing someone skiing. I've invested countless hours teaching novices to ski. Not only am I a member of Waterski Atlanta, I'm also a member of the Atlanta Waterski Club....the oldest club in the country that's still on public water. We hold grassroots tournaments, an open night for ANYONE to come get a pull behind our mastercraft, shephard spinal "learn to ski" clinics, junior development days, the list goes on and on. I spend several hours every week during the summer helping teach people to ski. The BIGGEST proponents of our sport are the ones that are the most passionate about it. I'm sure there are a few bad apples out there that are only concerned about their own buoy count.....but you cast quite a broad net that I don't believe to be very accurate. What are you and your club doing to help grow the sport?

Most of the pros in Florida ski on public lake because there are HUNDREDS of lakes in Florida. Where I'm from, there are TWO main public lakes that are quickly accessible. Therefore, traffic on those lakes is not even close to the same as traffic on Florida lakes. As a matter of fact, last time I checked, Lake Lanier (one of the 2 lakes I'm referring to) is the busiest lake in the WORLD! The only way to get quality ski time at a place like that is either when the sun comes up or when the sun goes down. This post was about managing a private site. All you did was tell us buoy chasers to get our heads out of our arses. Thanks for the added value to the conversation.

@Killer You are absolutely right. Waterskiing is far more than running buoys for 99% of the waterskiing universe. I skied on public water for my entire life until just a few years ago. I pay a premium to have access to a place where we don't have to fight with the general public for good conditions. As @OB has mentioned before, once you start chasing buoys, you either get hooked or you don't. But having an "elite" group of skiers is anything but a detriment to our sport. As a matter of fact, its this group of people that put on all the tournaments, spend all the money, support the grassroots campaigns, establish sites like ballofspray, etc etc. Without this group that is so passionate about skiing, it would hardly exist at all. This post was never about the general public that can't run the course. This is about a PRIVATE CLUB where people pay a premium for pristine conditions and tournament-ready boats. Maybe you should go ahead and hop on a wakeboard. I hear all the cool kids are doing it.

@OB Its not that we are trying to avoid other members. The frustration is knowing that if we'd come the night before, or 2 hours earlier, or 2 hours later, we could've skiied just as much in half the time. I'm a tournament skier and am constantly trying to chase those orange balls. However, it is not my life, although I wish it could be. Until I can figure out a way for skiing to pay my mortgage, it will never be my life. The whole idea is to be courteous of EVERYONE's time. As we all know, time is the most limited resource we have.

It hasn't worked. I'm a part of OB's setup

This goes out to those of you out there skiing in a club on private water. How does your club manage use of the club boat and site for its members? There are 2 different issues that my club is facing regarding this topic. First, some skiers travel a long distance to come practice at the site. For this reason, they want to avoid crowded times on the water to reduce the total time invested.....especially late in the season when the sun sets much earlier. During the late season, its not unusual to have members drive 2 hours round trip only to show up at the lake and get just one set before the sun goes down. Obviously, this is less than ideal for anyone wanting to ski and get better. Second, we have members that don't have steady ski partners and are looking to get a pull at the site. These members sometimes drive down to the site, only to sit there for hours in the hopes that someone will show up to pull them. Very often, they go home frustrated and dry. So as you can see, we have two very different points of view on the subject. One group wants to avoid the lake when occupied by other members, and the other group wants to be there when there are other members present. We've had lots of very intense discussions on how to resolve this issue and have yet to find the answer. So what is working for you and your club?