Rich

I just broke my ankle a few weeks back. I never hit buoys, Never go for that late quarter!!! I has coming into 2 ball @ 38, backsiding it. I was wide & early, and hit the buoy! My front reflex released, rear power shell with just one strip of 220 interlock didn't My new set up will be the half boot on the rear, and reflex style front.

Bondo

Heres a pic

I love the boot & liner, My first thinner foot bed cracked within a week, HO replaced it with the ticker version which I cracked with in a month. I filled it up with Bondo, it works great

The first BIGDAWG was really fun, First time the best of the best 34mph skiers all in the same place, getting to know everyone, fantastic Bar B Que, I guess the idea worked out pretty well.

Balance, if you want to be good you cant be balanced, you will be lucky to stay married... water skiing is a time consuming repetitive motion sport Good luck with balance

FYI on your claim Jody, that is a property damage claim from the driver who hit you. Based on your story. That has nothing to do with boat insurance... You didn't involve your insurance company. Therefore you had no agent dealing in a complex process, you were trying to deal with a claim process with a claims team. Sounds like your insurance agent, if you have one & your company could step up on your behalf and end all the frustration... and now we know more of the story. Yes insurance is complicated. You need someone you can trust who knows the ins & outs of the insurance business. I see this all the time, people watch TV ads from the GEKO & FLO & think this is easy, this is just a commodity that I want for the cheapest price. I'm here to tell you that you are dealing with legal contracts, and if you don't have an agent who understands those, well GOOD Luck, you can always hire an attorney at $350 plus an hour to unravel the mess. I stand by State Farm, they have treated my clients well for over 32 years and continue to do so!!!

Jody, why don't you utilize your own insurance on the boat for your claim, thats what you pay for! Your insurance company will subrogate from State Farm. Much simpler than doing the work yourself. just a thought...

Hey Brian, great story, I have watched it unfold first hand, you are a great ambassador for the sport! Great Family!!!

I have been a State Farm agent for 30 years. I insure alot of boats We handle claims exactly as promised. I have had quite a few claims with my clients over the years, and each claim was taken care of, the client was made as they were before the loss. If you use the boat in a competition, State Farm excludes that, so another carrier should be used if you use the boat to pull tournaments. Other than that, State Farm insures more recreational boats in the USA than any other carrier... there is a reason for that. If you own a boat, have cars & a home an Umbrella should always be a part of the protection plan. While price is important, protection is really why we all have insurance. Get a good agent who knows his stuff, and don't listen to silly advise from people that aren't experts.

Make an earlier edge change on both sides, but especially into your on side turn.

Love the superformer II I have a funny story behind mine... I used to ski with Leroy Burnett who was the designer of the Obrien glass skis back in the 70's, The red white & Blue one called an EP, they made for a season, soft with painted bottom & painted top, and the Obrien SPECIAL an all white ski. I skied on the Obrien EP, and ran over it right before Regionals with my car in late June '74 In 1974 the Western Regionals were at Radar Lake, then called Obrien Lake. Leroy told me to go to Mello's Ski shop and find a Superformer II as that was a soft ski, and he felt the softer ski was much better than the Aluminum Top ski that they built that year. Leroy hand tuned that ski and it was a MONSTER. Great memories! That garage is full of great stuff!!!

Frank Harrison & Charlene Brown are at Shadow Lakes, Great site.

Bikram Yoga is great for water skiers , and this posture in particular for your elbows. I have zero pain in my elbows, my back, shoulders ect... It works!

I skied in my 1st tournament at Lake Berryessa in 72, after a lesson at Mike Suyderhouds on Lake Shasta. So lake sking was a great way to get into this tournament thing. Not at all like today. It was an American course, so the gates were farther from 1 ball than now. I think they changed to metric in 73. Skied behind an Avenger outboard in Mens division, on a 68 in' MAJA. They used hand held Minerva sweep stop watches. (nothing digital at that time) No mid course times. I ran 36 LL and I guess they didn't think anyone would do that, so I went back to sit on the beach. After all the skiers went, they measured the line to shorten, 15, 22 28 off. I ran 15 & 3 @ 22. Still have the Berryessa Open trophy. Fun times, and the start of my addiction... Oh my! There were quite a few AWSA future competitors there that day to get a taste of tournaments. Bill Mahanah, Randy Shelly, Steve Larson, Stacy Spiker, her brother Randy, Dave Holder, & a few others. Probably about 30-35 total skiers skied that day. Felt good to win that 1st one, & a great memory for a 14 year old boy!!

Interesting I think I have an answer to my question. I believe that its important to be aware of each moment in the slalom course. I was speaking with a friend and he said " 4 years ago you told me to spot the ball infront of the boat, at 1 look at 2 in front of the boat, great tip... I forgot, or tried to change, I was struggling with looking at 3-5 at 1 and 4-6 at 2. That just felt off to me. I can slightly rotate my head if as a reach the buoy, spot the buoy in front of the boat as I reach 1 spot 2 in front of the boat. This results in very slight head rotation, keeps inside shoulder high as I approach wakes, which keeps inside hip rotated forward. Problem solved.

As a long time slalom skier, I have a habit of rotating my Head across course on the off side. I have used this technique unknowingly to initiate the turn. Thru 35 it rarely causes a problem. At 38 my shoulder drops, my inside hip trails outer hip, I get a hard turn. I can run the pass when I hang on to that hard turn. I believe this is the key to my lack of consistency at 38. It is very difficult to look down course for me on the off side. What are the better skiers focusing on to look at as they 1 Approach offside buoy 2 Reach Appex 3 Complete turn 4 from completion of turn to first wake Where are you looking? Do most of you know exactly where you look through out the slalom course???

Dixie Gal... 1960 Century Resorter

Congrats Don, you crushed 39!

Its with a heavy heart that I part with this perfect WARP 14. Wife says sell it. This is the ski Horton says is the best there is. In great condition. call me at 925 640 7029 $2500.

2015 Warp...

in early season trainng after volume sets, I use 36.5 mid loop as I start going down the line. Great training tool.

Volume is the key to reaching peak performance. Holding a peak is dependent on how long you keep volume up. The longer you want as a peak, and the higher the peak is dependent on how long you use volume. I have my best season's when I ski lots of volume. Volume will last approx 3 months, For me that is April May June. I look for High performance in mid July Aug to mid Sept. Peaking in late July early Aug and trying to hold that into Sept. I have used very long volume for a high peak with success. Starting the season with 28 & 32 repeats working up to 12 pass sets. Progressing to running 20 35 back to backs in June. I also use spinning 32 & 35's using 6 pass spins at 32, then 4 pass spins at 35 progressing to 6 pass spins at 35. I work on technique at 28 & 32 in early season back to backs. The 32 & 35 spins create a high level of fitness. After At the ski lake where I train, no one else is there on week days, my driver doesn't love spending 45 minutes driving me, but the results are really good. I'm surprised more water skiers don't use volume training, or periodization. It works for me.