Chet

My life long buddy Ed we will miss you. One of the most brilliant minds I’ve ever had the privilege to know. So much waterski history. So much love for the game. A get it done guy. Not to be forgotten.

Ok not so modern but I agree that Martin he is sooo good

Sonny Berry, Jeremy kovak, Kreg Llewellyn,

In my humble opinion pull is what the boat does. When a jumper comes into the ramp he or she is pulled across the wake, over the fiberglass surface and into the air. They hope it keeps pulling them in the air and down the lake to maximize distance. Similar to downswing and upswing. Despite the absence of anything under their skis (but air) they continue to ride the pull from the boat. We do things like lean or compress while attempting to hold angle but pull is the domain of the boat. Hopefully the boat keeps pulling us wide even in the upswing phase of the move. Absence from this pull is disconnect or freedom from the boat. Knowing that the most direct pull from the boat is directly behind the boat. The angle of attack is critical at that specific moment... where you ski is pointed determines where the boat will pull you out or in. Connect or disconnect possibilities.

Prayers are a given my friend.

Landing the first flip is so cool. It took me about 100 try’s for my first one so I love that your giving it a go. Mike Ferraro is my dear friend and one of the best trick coaches you will ever meet. He applied simple rules to learning the back side version of the trick. Bruce gave you great advice but right before I made my first one back in the day Mike said try not to go down while your trying to go up. Right before the wake your getting pretty compressed. Even though the rope and boat do the work staying solid might give you that little bump you need from the line as you turn away. Making you first flip is great but how you make it and how you learn it makes all the other flips come easier. You want to take off on a tight line and land on one as well. Good luck!

My rear end is planted in one of those bad boys about six to ten hours a day. The boat is super user friendly. Lots of space and drives so easy it’s ridiculous. As for skiing it’s addicting. I know I'm a six liter junkie to begin with but the interface with zero off is hard to beat. On top of everything else the boat has made it much easier in tournaments to interface with other boats. I had trouble adapting boat to boat but that is getting way better skiing off the Malibu on a regular basis. Great boat, great people and they love and are committed to three event skiing as are we all.

I would love that my friend. Happy your doing better.

Been steady with the prayers also. You are such a powerhouse in so many ways. Glad to hear about the forward progress.

Mr Horton I love it. And I agree. For those who may or may not want to change speeds as they age I believe Canada has a system in place where you can stay at the oldest division for for that speed as long as you like but you would obviously have to compete against younger people as you age. For example men's 6 would be your division for life if you never want to drop down to 32mph. I do think age based Nationals is a grand way to go. Hope you stand your trick run. That is in and of itself a victory at Nationals.

Ideally our muscles should obey our will. Our will should not be dominated by the reflex actions of our muscles.

Jack Nicklaus was asked. Mr. Nickalaus how much of what we do should be muscle or motor memory? He replied you should train all aspects of your practiced behavior to be as good as it can be hoping to create " good " muscle or motor memory but you never trust that because its still subject to chance or luck. The only thing you can trust today is that which you focus on and attempt to make skilled. In my opinion real change and real improvement require knowledge of what you need to do, memory (remembering to do it) and finally application or doing it. I love the quote from my buddy Noah (my ski coach) he said "Chet Just Design it in Your Mind and Except Nothing Else" Love that! In my opinion change and consistency require deliberate practice. Things you do on purpose.

We are praying for you my friend. We are here if you need us. God is good and you are not alone in this trial.

I have and would ski masters men as long as I am able. I don't know how I would have fared divisionally all these years if I had chosen to ski my division but I can tell you it did not taint the champions that did win. I think masters has been a grand experiment designed to let an open style format for 34 mph. skiers to take a wack at each other. I love the idea of choice. If you feel spunky and want to take a crack at Badal, Scott, Rodgers, Favret, etc. its there and available. I am also glad the option of attempting to win a national divisional title is available to all. I don think guilt should be applied to anyone willing to step up put their boots on and give it a try. Even the very best have to do it on that day in that moment and it is not that easy. I also know who the men's 2 record holder is weather or not his name appears in a book or not. Removing Anna and or Nate from the division roster doesn't change a thing. Every boy girl man and woman know who the very best in the nation is in their age category that year. It has been fun over the years to see the bar move and move it does. About the time you think no one will beat that score some hard working new person rises up and resets the possibility. I don't think our system is broken. I know we need creative new ways to attract the multitudes that ski and ski hard but don't ski tournaments. But I am just one voice and I love our sport and our tournaments. I think we could make some things better but at the end of the day what we have is grand. It's fun it's furious and you can't buy this ride at Disney.

Wade is one good man. He has been insanely talented since he was a young boy and worked his tail off as a pro. One of the greatest talents the world has ever seen. There is a wisdom that guys like Wade, Andy and Chris Lapoint have that has value beyond measure and will not be around forever. If you want to learn... skiing with wade is a resource that should not be passed up. Not to mention he has good stories that should be passed down ( waterski folklore). Don't forget one of the most amazing on sides ever seen. Go and learn!

This would be a serious step in the right direction. Take away the mandate and one step into the future success of our sport. Many of the families I work with can swing one but not both events (reg./nat.). And they are all qualified to go except for the mandate. It's time has come. More will qualify with the removal of those who choose not to go. In my opinion it's a win win.

Kelvin I don't like what appear to be abuses but I don't like encouraging sandbagging either. The few that can win very easily will hopefully find their way to their appropriate competitive designation. I strongly feel that each and every skier should work to the top of his or her potential. I believe winning is great but the continual strife towards excellence is paramount. To answer your question I don't think making the sport better vs growing the sport which often get mixed together is an easy task. Is that particular scenario good for the sport ...no. I would frown on the skier that has that much ability not maximizing their potential in a higher division as long as they have potential in the division they are opting to. Otherwise they will be thrust into the same environment they just left only reversed. My friend Jeff Keptcha trained and skied super hard last year. The problem is he skied too good. Now headed for Masters Men. Should he or will he go to Nationals, I don't know. He has never won a title but would love to try. He is very competitive In men 4 if he skies his very best ...I wonder if he will get to find out.

Kelvin I don't like what appear to be abuses but I don't like encouraging sandbagging either. The few that can win very easily will hopefully find their way to their appropriate competitive designation. I strongly feel that each and every skier should work to the top of his or her potential. I believe winning is great but the continual strife towards excellence is paramount. To answer your question I don't think making the sport better vs growing the sport which often get mixed together is an easy task. Is that particular scenario good for the sport ...no. I would frown on the skier that has that much ability not maximizing their potential in a higher division as long as they have potential in the division they are opting to. Otherwise they will be thrust into the same environment they just left only reversed. My friend Jeff Keptcha trained and skied super hard last year. The problem is he skied too good. Now headed for Masters Men. Should he or will he go to Nationals, I don't know. He has never won a title but would love to try. He is very competitive In men 4 if he skies his very best ...I wonder if he will get to find out.

Rescind rule If it were up to me I would completely eliminate masters divisions. I would attempt to keep age based skiing alive and well. It has served this sport so well for so long and has given people something to work for and aspire to. Throughout my 55 years skiing I have seen some exceptional young people that have been incredibly talented. I remember a young, young Cory trick skiing in juniors and having one of if not the highest scores of the entire Nationals. We did not quit nor did we stop competing. We worked even harder. Cory went on to become one of the greatest of all time. It made the sport better and as a result the level within the sport grew. Now I see Anna, Nate, and a plethora of others that are so exceptional and they are hard to beat at present. Most of the people I skied with in college never skied again and never plan to. Many of the young people I coach have yet to decide weather it will be a life long passion. Many of the older people I work with like Steve Raphael and Skip Dunlap did not want to drop to slower speeds but they did. And it was hard. They worked and are still working hard to see just how good they could get. I remember young Chris Parish, Cory Vaughn, young Regina, young Karen Truelove, young April Coble, young Abelson brothers young Matt Rini etc etc. etc. They all grew to maturity in age based skiing and are still active in the sport today. I think we have something really special. I like that young compete against young and old against old. Some excel some strive on and on and never win but the journey of trying is in no way failure. Choosing to ski open is an honor. Being good enough to ski open is amazing but choosing to ski your division is in my opinion a training ground for some of the greatest skiers that have been and are yet to come. Keep the speed categories and keep the age based competition. It is only one mans opinion but skiing is hard and takes a lot of work. Hope this did not go too far off topic but for the fist time in a long time many of the people I work with are representatives of the current base of competitive skiing and they are concerned.

Rescind rule If it were up to me I would completely eliminate masters divisions. I would attempt to keep age based skiing alive and well. It has served this sport so well for so long and has given people something to work for and aspire to. Throughout my 55 years skiing I have seen some exceptional young people that have been incredibly talented. I remember a young, young Cory trick skiing in juniors and having one of if not the highest scores of the entire Nationals. We did not quit nor did we stop competing. We worked even harder. Cory went on to become one of the greatest of all time. It made the sport better and as a result the level within the sport grew. Now I see Anna, Nate, and a plethora of others that are so exceptional and they are hard to beat at present. Most of the people I skied with in college never skied again and never plan to. Many of the young people I coach have yet to decide weather it will be a life long passion. Many of the older people I work with like Steve Raphael and Skip Dunlap did not want to drop to slower speeds but they did. And it was hard. They worked and are still working hard to see just how good they could get. I remember young Chris Parish, Cory Vaughn, young Regina, young Karen Truelove, young April Coble, young Abelson brothers young Matt Rini etc etc. etc. They all grew to maturity in age based skiing and are still active in the sport today. I think we have something really special. I like that young compete against young and old against old. Some excel some strive on and on and never win but the journey of trying is in no way failure. Choosing to ski open is an honor. Being good enough to ski open is amazing but choosing to ski your division is in my opinion a training ground for some of the greatest skiers that have been and are yet to come. Keep the speed categories and keep the age based competition. It is only one mans opinion but skiing is hard and takes a lot of work. Hope this did not go too far off topic but for the fist time in a long time many of the people I work with are representatives of the current base of competitive skiing and they are concerned.

Way to go Regina Ski girls are bad to the bone.

I spoke to her at the US Open and said when I look at her I see the future and it looks mighty bright. A crop of amazing kids lurk on the horizon. How cool is this sport! Congrats girl.

Hey solski I tried this quite a bit and agree it has some really cool benefits. I think some people really get advantage from some elevation. With others it created some balance instability for various different reasons. I applaud your ingenuity and action to put it into practice. Keep on keeping on.

I have been skiing Nats. Since I was a small boy and have looked forward and worked hard every year to be a participant first and competitor second. As I fully agree that the Regional requirement is rediculous for those pre qualified I also loved the regional event when it was feasible for me and my family to go. I am in no way in favor of making the National Waterski Championships into a normal tournament. It is hard yes but that to me makes it unique and special. I love the idea of the host club taking the lead as proposed and trying to make it a great event. I would leave it up to them to decide what is possible and or feasible regarding practice or additional events in conjunction with the Nats. It's a lot of work and we need a place family's can plan for. I think with practice and time the Ski club of Palm Beachs would make the event amazing if they get more direct control of the event and some of the restrictions for participating (like regionals) were lifted.

Marcus you have a serious gift. This reminded me of how many of us grew up and how fun the journey is. You made me feel,like a kid again. Thanks