Rich

I also would "test" my self on the water with drills before heading into the course, whip drills for edge change. Leaning drills where I have the luxury of a 3000 ft long lake, I would lean away for the entire length of the lake, feeling my body moving away/forward in a lean instead of leaning away/back. That builds stamina and teaches my mind that its OK to have a slight forward momentum instead of the what I feel is FEAR based learning where we as skiers learn to lean slightly back and away as we move into the wakes instead of moving slightly forward and away in the direction we want to travel. (I do this by bending 1st my ankles, then kness, raising my inside shoulder, feeling my COM moving in the direction I'm going using the forward momentum of the boat as my energy source. Water sking is often counter intuitive, at least for me it was. Realizing that the only thing out there moving was me (the skier) that the buoys are always in the same place, (which sounds weird, but was an eye opener, an "ah ha" moment for me) that all we really need to do is link BIG ROUND turns together as efficeintly as possible is always my goal. By doing these drills I feel like I was able to relearn how to ski in a much shorter length of time. So it was a combination of dry land training, followed by on the water drills to make sure I was doing it correctly, followed by sking in the course. I also learn new line lengths by sking in front of buoys the entire course and also sking just inside buoys, then finally sking around the buoys. It always amazes me how when I see most people practice they just go down the line, making the same mistakes over and over again. I remember a saying. "doing the same thing over & over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity" Think outside the box and open new doors, create your own paradigm shifts in your awareness & your skiing.

I learned how to move my body in a more effecient manner with dry land training. My logic behind it was I had done thousands of turns leaning on my back foot. Years of practice = muscle/mind memory. Since I had so much time on the water doing it all ineffiently, I decided to relearn on dryland in my workout center/garage. Every morning as a part of my training I did a step up exercise where I stepped up on a box learning to move my COM up as I stepped up on the box. I moved my COM up on the box standing on each leg 100, 200 or more times per day for months. (that would have taken years actually water sking) As I moved up on the box I also raised my hand up in a forward reach position. Another drill is leaning on a ski rope attached to a weighted rowing machine. I lean in the direction of I want to travel Keeping my core tight, raising what would be my inside shoulder in the direction I'm going. This all = relearning how to move my body in a much more efficient way from the way I learned to ski, which was leaning back, and away. (THE TUG OF WAR between myself and the boat) I wanted to learn how to feel on dry land how it felt to have a resistance and move my body in a much more effcient way. Mission accomplished. This worked really well for me, it took me from a 35 off skier to a 38/39 level. It also helped my snow sking. I also use a skiers edge machine. It builds strength, is a plyo metric drill done on dry land. It helps with standing tall sking into the appex. These are all drills that had I only "water skied" it would have taken years to unlearn what I had learned, (tug of war with boat) vs learning how to move with my ski. I accomplished it all in 1 off season winter. I continue to use this dry land training as my body can only ski so much, and I can stay sharp with these drills.

https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/photo.php?v=510687785636682&set=vb.326792574026205&type=2&theater

Learned to ski @ 3 in a pool. I lived on the "Lagoon" in San Mateo growing up with a boat in the backyard. My family belonged to a social club called "Aquablades" I skied alot as a kid, back before you ever saw a slalom course around. My 1st experience in the course was in 1971 at Mike Suyderhpouds on a family vacation at Lake Shasta. I was able to run into 22 off @ 36 my 1st go in the course on a 67' wood Maha, Mike was pretty impressed and said to get better you need to practice 3 x a week, sent me to Berkeley aquatic park and Al Frosini. Avid tournament skier all through HS, 3 event back then. Pretty solid in slalom & jump, could run 32, jump around 110' trick 2500. As a part time skier since I was involved in HS sports, football, wrestled, & baseball. Sking partners were some pretty good skiers, joining Diablo water ski club.The Morrison Bros Doug & Don, Rich Pato & Leroy Burnett, Rich Slingerland. Stopped sking in college to concentrate on an education, started a State Farm Insurance Agency, a family, then resumed skiing at 33, and haven't stopped. All 3 of my kids did compete at the National level, they lost interest in HS as other sports called. A founding member of Twin Cities ski club in 1993. Still having fun and chasing buoys!

Whatever helps you to recover from exercise will be of benefit. No you don't want a bodbuilder body. Lean and strong/ light Eat a balanced diet, drink lots of water. Find a good massage therapist. Get plent of sleep/rest. Avoid over training. I'm a big advocate of Bikram Yoga. Look online to see what over training really is. You can measure resting heart rate upon waking. How far do you want to take all of this. What are your goals? Alot of good info has been put in this thread. Get your strength to weight ratio at your best, get your % of body fat as low as possible. All of this takes some sacrafice, I find it fun & part of my lifestyle. Good Luck!

It really depends on your evolution as a skier. I was a big advocate of free sking. However now that I have 40 plus years sking buoys I don't free ski too often.. I also don't take much time off either. When I'm working on a pass I do ski in front of the balls and go around 5 & 6 great for learning a new line. If you are a 35 or less skier, by all means spend some time free sking. If you cruise 35 1st day out, you might not be asking this question.

I think the difference between 34 and 36 at 38 or shorter is between 2-3 buoys maybe 1-2 . 36 is less forgiving, at 36 you can attack more, however you have to edge change sooner at 36. There are trade offs. Bottom line short line slalom 38 39 41 is tough at any speed. At 34 @ 35 or longer the buoy difference might be more in the 4-6 range. Maybe Rossi will chime in on this also.

@dan how do you do that?

@wish I like how you put it. Is he waiting? Maybe that is what he is actually doing. Think about what works. If the ski goes out in front of the skier at the completion of the turn, the skier will be able to be closer to the center line when getting rengaged with the boat as the skier moves forward in the direction of the next ball, the angle will lesson as the skier moves in towards the center line with this technique, much greater chance for success to absorb the "hit" Skier can be stacked and ready to GO. At the ball the skier is most vulnerable to over turning, falling, stopping, ect... I wonder if Rossi actually thinks about this?? Maybe he'll answer for us. I for one have learned a valuble lesson. Thanks @wish ; another "awha" moment! Over turning is almost always the end of a pass. This technique allows the skier to continue moving & advancing to the next turn.

white water to white water... need I say more. I see Rossi never over turns, he under turns. This allows the ski to keep moving. Something to be learned here. I for one almost always over turn, ski stops, game over. Not one of these turns is perfect, however the ski always keeps moving. Lots of space even at 41 to make an error, as long as you don't STOP the ski. What do you all think about that. Lesson learned NEVeR STOP THE SKI! Thanks for sharing this video, lots to be learned...

Just curious, how often are you taking video? Evrything happens fast enough to have a review. Do you ever video your boat path?

Badge... I DON"T NEED NO STINKIN' BADGES LOL...

@horton, now don't be giving me the panda, where are the final scores??? from the finals which I believe are complete?

I hope Gordon has video of all this, puts togeteher a DVD for sale with all the drama, laughs, & competition involved. I for one would be interested... hint-hint...

hey now I resemble that...

The toe side turn is awesome. Someone with some computer saavy, do a side by side of this video with a from the boat vdeo of CP on the goode. Side by side comparision. That is something I'd like to see. This ski looks really good. It does look like AM has come up with something special.

WHere is the list of skiers???

I like the betting page, nice job!

where is the skier list

That is awesome! I wish you the best of luck!!! Take it to 'em I'm hoping at 56 I get the opportunity to ski against both you & Kris at a Big Dawg Stop, now that will be a treat!!!

If Andy places in the top 10 at this Acapulco Invitational Pro will he continue to be eligible for any more BIG DAWGS in the next 3 years. I think he is signed up for Moomba Big Dawg, and his schedule says he will be at others. AAWWW its getting interesting now. This Acapulco tournament isn't on the official list, so maybe its OK if he places, (all it takes is top 10) if he runs 39 @ 36 places in the top 10 will he still be eligible for BD. Maybe Greg will chime in on this. Or maybe the Acapulco Tournament isn't rated, even though there is money for the winners. Maybe its an exhibition???

http://www.ski-it-again.com/php/skiitagain.php?topic=Search&category=Slalom&postid=17779 Great ski, buy it NOW!!!

I have a great ski for you. A Goode 990 wide ride. In freat shape. Check it out on ski it again. http://www.ski-it-again.com/php/skiitagain.php?topic=Search&category=Slalom&postid=17779

I try to water ski about once every 10 days, to stay in tune. Snow ski about 25 days, so that is recreation. Bikram Yoga 5-6 days a week. That is the best way to stay in condition for the season. Some weight training, I have been doing less of that as I want my BMI to be lower, so I want less muscle that is just weight.

I haven't owned a boat for 15 years. Co-OP with 12 others. Thay are just a tool, ownership is overated.