501Brandon

for what its worth, I have been doing the "insanity" workout program for a little over 30 days, I have developed a ton of power in the lower body, leg flexibility is tremendous as well. Not to mention the overall conditioning I am getting. Plus I am running 3 miles 2-3 days a week on top of that... Next to the P90X program I would say Insanity is a really good conditioning program that doesnt require any equipment!

Thanks for all the great input! I just submitted an order and decked myself out with a new ML customer handle, rope, 1 pair of pro locks and a pair of k palms... I figure that way I can rotate when my grip gets weak I can throw on the prolocks! Thanks again for all the good info...

Getting ready to order gloves... I have been using clinchers and the Masterline prolocks. I think I have enough strength back in my forearms to go with regular gloves again... I had an old set of the Straight Line kevlar and they got me through the rest of last year. I wanted to get some opinions on what you guys use and what type of life your getting out of gloves. I am leaning real hard on the Master Line K-Palm.

@ryno I guess we will disagree on this one! Z Box is to new to decide if it will fail or not... Its winter north of the equator so a lot of us who installed Z Box have not been able to put enough time on it. Decent times are just that, Decent... If the guy is wanting to train and get back to competing then IMO he should get something that will get him there, not "decent", I can hand drive decent enough to keep times within so if he is looking for decent just practice hand driving and save all the money and get a great ski!

IMO getting a wake edition should not be your first choice... What if Z BOX is down? Simply run SG mode and your still skiing... If you have Wake edition, your surfing or boarding. Do yourself a favor and get Stargazer with Z Box. At least that way there is a back up. Nothing worse than having a screwed up ski day as a result of speed control. Especially if your not fortunate enough to live on a private site and have to drag your gear around. Imagine a weekend at the lake and the Z Box craps out on you on friday night knowing Sat and Sun are no (quality) ski days because you saved a hundred bucks on a Wake Edition... I wouldnt think you would have problems with Z Box but I have had a smart timer go bad and it sucks to load up early. I like having a back up.

Try "Insanity" it's very fast paced with a ton of basic exercises and you will get a ton of stamina!

For me it was simply the 3K for the upgrade (Zo, ECM, Malibu Harness) I didnt WANT to spend the money... ZO could have really helped and still could help themselves by offering an exchange program on the ECM's. Not sure its possible or feasible, they may not even care since they kind of have the market cornered at this point being its the "Approved" system. One thing I would like to add as a side note that may or may not sit well with some of you and I apologize if it doesnt but anyone who has been in this sport for more than a minute or two knows how much skis, ropes, gloves, etc cost... We aslo know how much boats cost (generally speaking). Its not rocket science to research and figure out what it would take a person to build and maintain a Private site. That being said, I dont give a crap if you make 500k or or just filed bankrupt, if you want to ski and can pull your weight, lets go! If a person thinks another cant figure out within a few thousand dollars what you have into your setup your sadly mistaken. I have noticed on multiple threads reference to costs and just to remind or enlighten, money doesnt make you cool its invites false friends and puts you in a different tax bracket! I hope noone takes this personal, its just a prespective I have, its not like car or motorcycle racing where you can mod and mod and keep modding until you have tons of cash into a car or bike... Generally speaking!

For me it was simply the 3K for the upgrade (Zo, ECM, Malibu Harness) I didnt WANT to spend the money... ZO could have really helped and still could help themselves by offering an exchange program on the ECM's. Not sure its possible or feasible, they may not even care since they kind of have the market cornered at this point being its the "Approved" system. One thing I would like to add as a side note that may or may not sit well with some of you and I apologize if it doesnt but anyone who has been in this sport for more than a minute or two knows how much skis, ropes, gloves, etc cost... We aslo know how much boats cost (generally speaking). Its not rocket science to research and figure out what it would take a person to build and maintain a Private site. That being said, I dont give a crap if you make 500k or or just filed bankrupt, if you want to ski and can pull your weight, lets go! If a person thinks another cant figure out within a few thousand dollars what you have into your setup your sadly mistaken. I have noticed on multiple threads reference to costs and just to remind or enlighten, money doesnt make you cool its invites false friends and puts you in a different tax bracket! I hope noone takes this personal, its just a prespective I have, its not like car or motorcycle racing where you can mod and mod and keep modding until you have tons of cash into a car or bike... Generally speaking!

I really dont like pulling the plugs over and over either... Problem is (or at least preceived) is the knock sensors are mounted to the block pulgs and dont want to modify or disturb that setup... The magnetic one sounds good I may give it a look see, that way I can blow the heater out & crack a few other lines I should be golden... Plus I am a big believer in "Anti Seize" and that crap gets all over, Part of my OCD I cant pull them and not clean and reapply...

ANybody install a block heater on your boat? Our weather in Central AR gets cold enough to freeze things up but not frozen long enough to keep winterizing the boat over and over... Would a block heater even keep it warm enough to protect it? Just kinda of curious...

I did some checking yesterday myself as I think our particular club is in a unique situation since we have 20 members and not one of us carries any type of rating within USA WS Guidelines... After a few emails and a few phone calls I dont think any of this is as bad as it appears or sounds. What I understand is that for us to properly insure and conduct sanctioned practices all personnel who intend on driving must be a trained driver... In order to be a Trained Driver we need to sanction and host a Clinic. This is not a bad thing I dont think especially for a group who has no rated drivers. We can all learn something I am sure of that. The Motor Vehicle Report is what it is. Our objective was to start conducting Grass Roots events at our site this year so we were going in this direction anyway with a few members getting Trained Driving and a couple guys getting Safety Trained. We want to see some interest in the sport around here and feel there is a huge gap between the weekender and the C Class skier. We hope our club can be the perverbial bridge locally anyway...

How do these rules impact the other disciplines within USA WS? Do Wakeboard boat drivers, show ski drivers etc. all fall under the same rules in this regard? I am curious if "All" drivers are being grouped in under one rule.

This is going to hurt our club this year as I personally have been trying to get all the arrangements taken care of in order to host a few grass roots events and a few public invite evenings to try and create an interest at the local level. Noone in our club is currently rated in anything so I guess we are pretty well S.O.L. in all this as it appears the hoops we were already jumping thru are now moving targets... Its very discouraging that we want to try an do whats right by our sport and it is at the point that its not worth the trouble and time to get whats required. Bums me out as I was looking forward to some events!

We skied today, first day with Z-Box... I could tell even without a skier just in how it would engage coming out of the hole. When a skier was there the engine surge was different as well and seemed to be in short bursts for the skier (A1 setting). Our conditions for a good analysis were poor with a very strong wind right down the lake, in fact we probably would have left it were July it was that rough. So far I like it and am very excited about figuring out what setting works well for me!

I installed today (4days later than I wanted) planning on skiing Sunday (in dry suits). I have no idea how to report to you guys since I have very little experience with Zero Off for comparison purposes. I am excited about it though...

Some great info... @Horton that article is what I needed, I also received a chart from another Baller that is really good also especially to throw in the tool kit... I hadnt planned on making adjustments unless I sense a consitant problem. I have a hard enough time as it is so I really dont want to complicate things by creating an out of whack scenario with the fin/wing. So at this point I will measure everything out to see exactly where I am and compare to factory settings. Thanks for this input it appears to be invaluble!

I have always left my gear at manufacturers settings except bindings in which I have set them so the water breaks center of the front foot while riding flat... I keep seeing tons of reference to fin adjustments so I will ask what may be a silly question but is there a breakdown on the effects of fin adjustments in simple terms? Like fore/aft makes ski feel longer or shorter, up/down front of fin, back of fin, entire fin etc.? I was able to run 32' in practice a few times last year but cant help but wonder if some tweaks here and there might aid a little.

Z Box recieved! Install this afternoon and ski ASAP... Only I have limited experience with ZO so my comparison wont be worth crap!

I only seem to notice on overspeed if you really sling the throttle up... In a gradual takeoff I dont ever see an over shoot. Maybe its just me but I really dont see the need to slam it forward even in a short set up situation. I could be totally wrong. I am running SG on an 07 Repsonse with the 383. if you power hard on the start and push the throttle very far and over shoot it will take a moment to catch and reduce power therfore giving you a hot pullout. I just figured that the driver should catch this pretty quickly and know to get the guy out of the water and only power up to whats needed to engage???

So I was caught up in a technicality of terms I guess... At the end of the day I was leaving money, however each individual wants to justify the acceptance of the money is up to them. We all know its very expensive to own and operate in this sport so any help we can provide to another skier/club especially when you know the favors will be returned we should jump at the oppurtunity! IMO

@danbirch... exactly my point! I was making sure (I thought) that I wasnt coming around to "bum" some rides and time. I personally pull my boat >70 miles round trip 4 or more days a week. I know how much more it costs than just skiing! Luckily the guys I ski with take good care of me and for that I am ultra grateful...

I contacted a ski club just in the last couple days to see about getting a pull while in town on business... I simply asked "If you guys have anyone skiing can I buy a pull from you while in town" via their website. The response I recieved was "NOPE. our water temp has plummeted below 80F and we are hunkered down for the winter, Anyway we dont Sell pulls as you may gather from our website." I must say I was shocked. This particular club is set up on a public water way so you would think they would be more prone to welcome people. I have seen countless offers from many of you telling one another to come by when around which is very encouraging to know that if/when you travel there are friendly clubs in some areas. If anyone is in Little Rock I will be happy to give you a pull...

If you would relocate to Little Rock i'd be happy to split the cost with ya!

@OB agree! I was thinking outloud and it would really be the same if we were doing AWSA at our place since we dont have a jump all we could offer would be trick and slalom. Private sites have the right to welcome in who they want when they want and the right to regulate what folks do at their place. And I am guilty of not pushing wakeboarding. I was throwing stones at the glass house!

I would have trouble with paying 40$ for ONE Round of Slalom with INT (I dont actually pay since I bring a boat but thats the fee for everyone else) when I can pay 40 for 2 rounds at C class. I had been skiing with INT since 99 and like what INT does/did. Edited since my comments were unjust.