cragginshred

Way too cold (from a Cali kid), although water skiing there sounds cool as it is an amazing place!

Yeah I know and am feeling the hand of providence! Doing lab work in the am and hoping to ski Sunday!

Sunday night at dusk I walked outside my back drive way and was not looking at my feet and a baby rattler struck me on the heel. Wearing flip flops I was unprotected. I immediately felt 10/10 pain and looked to see the one button diabolical critter curled up shaking it's single rattle to see what I would do. Of course I yelled like a girl then ran to tell my wife we need to go to the hospital due to being bitten by a snake. I thought for a moment- 'how can I return home to a live baby rattler somewhere in my yard'? I hobbled back there with a shovel in hand and he was still there to become 'rattler sausage'. As we arrived in the ER my lips were going numb and the back of my head was tingling -freaking me out. Of course every one there wanted to see what it looked like. The long of the short is two days in ICU, 6 bags of 'crofab' in my IV and one more night on med surg then home Wednesday. Ambulating with out crutches now and thinking about skiing Sunday....thank you Lord! It could have been much worse and I am super thankful!!

1) 3x a week until Sunday when I was bitten by a Rattlesnake 2) I wish 3) I own a boat but rarely use it due to a) Cali drought 2) I pay for a membership at a private ski lake 4) Yes 5) 1 hour, I work 4 ten hour days so we ski Weds pms and Fri/Sundays 6) Seek out a private lake and get a membership -benefits are through the roof.

Wanna see pics of any of those places!

The above link are liners I use. One set with them, you will never go back!

http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Overtons-Deluxe-Waterski-Palm-Protectors&i=16564

Very cool!

If he does not have you doing hip flexor stretching in 3 planes of motion you are missing a huge Cause of low back pain. The only squats I give my patients in the PT clinic are wall squats stopping before 90* at the hip/knees. Lastly Ice in the am and pm 12-15' until numb. Works for my sore back daily.

Classic!

Last night the best ski coach at our lake told me 'think 1st gear,...2nd gear' I was loading the line immediately and carrying way too much speed into the next ball which increased down course usually leading to loading up the line too much to handle. 1st gear to hook up and by the white water through the wakes 2nd gear. Many short line skier will say stop pulling by the middle of the white water but at -22 through -28 this works for me. Also see the thread about progressive gate which is the same idea. If you load 100% turning in from the glide you will have too much speed into 1 ball. Think white water to white water as the 'sweet spot'. This helped me.

I had mine dropped shipped from Radar via h2mosis

Marco, I work in PT and because I do not ski -38 my advice here is not always 'heard'. You seem to grasp the fact the fusions are never ideal and apart from your 'spondy' I would normally advise against it. I do not rehab many water skiers but can tell you one of the owners at my lake has a fused low back and skis hard into -35. The biggest thing I tell my pt's is 'do not rush the physiology'. You are looking at 6-8 months off skiing minimum but will definitely by ripping it up again! Gentle stretching of the hip flexor, ham, piriformis, calfs are all key while doing ****'non aggravating'*** cardio and core strengthening. pm me if you have any questions! Don

I thought I was going to get right into -28 but was sorely mistaken. My edge change at -22 is not solid and this put me flat into 1 ball trying -28 tonight. I get it...you can get away with a lot of poor tech at -22. So as I went back to -22 I finally felt what you all and the fellas on the dock were encouraging me to do -edge change early with out going flat toward to ball. What was key for you at -22 to learn this? I usually can only think of 1 new thing at a time to work on and have real been working on letting the ski fish the turn and getting stacked into 2-4-6. As this become more automatic I am hoping to work on consciously casting the ski out with a better edge change. Advice on making it happen and hard wiring it?

Tonight was a disaster at 1 ball over and over getting slack at -28. I nailed the opener at -22 and went to work on -28 with no success. I need to continue to work on fundamentals at -22 and -25

I noticed I was way 1/2 assin it today. The good news (sorta) is I ski -22 like -32 or so I am told. So hopefully harnessing that 'grrr' will b helpful! Great stuff thanks bro!

So I am running -22 openers and got -25 for the 1st time Friday and back to back -25's today (using the Masterline progressor rope). With this success and knowing the -25 is just a stepping stone I tried 3 passes at -28 on my 3rd set getting around 3 ball for a PB (a week ago 4 balls at -25 was a PB) So I really want to open at -22 and go right into -28 and am looking for tips to make it happen. -Gate shot; bow at gates or just before -Less same or more lean -Really working on white water to white water as the sweet spot ,which I know will be the same at all line lengths -Pull out with bow at 55's or just before, at -22 and -25 I am currently pulling out with the bow about 5' before 55's - RFF so my one ball can get slack, usually from coming in too hot and getting on the tail. -When too fast 3 or 4 ball is the end point tips for keeping it together down course Ok, thats it for now, thanks fellas.... Don

My 66" Vapor now has the front boot all the way forward and I ran a PB yesterday too!

I got bonked on the head with my ski for the 1st time today in a nasty crash and it made me think of all the TBI patients I have worked with in the PT field in the past 20 years. Thats traumatic brain injury - not just season ending but life altering. Getting into shorter lines means falls outside the control I have known before and I have seen some folks at tournaments wearing helmets, so what are some good suggestions to look at?

At sonora regional medical center where I work in PT the new addition to the total joint dept is the 'Mako plasty'. A computer guided rig that allows the orthos to do the partials or 'Uni's' with an exactness that was never available before. Faster rehab times and much less invasive! On some occasions the procedure turns into a total due to not being 100% going in but it is a good option!

Your wife is a keeper!

The current partial knees are being done with robotic technology which provides exactness that no human eye allows. In the PT clinic we are seeing very fast rehab time due to the minimally invasive procedure . As to the return to ski and rope lengths each ortho Doc will likely tell you something slightly different. But it comes down to what your day to day functional use of the knee is and are you willing to ramp down your current line lengths to prolong the new joint? Pm me with any PT related questions,...glad to help!

@Wish it is very encouraging to hear someone on this forum say 'it took a long time! I think most folks have been skiing for such a long time they forget. @Skijay great video, i have seen it many times but will re watch, study and try it coupled with the particulars you suggested!!

@SkiJay what are some particulars in doing them? I have not even tried them in a year or so. Width Line length/speed In his video he kinda raises the handle then drops into it.. How did he instruct you? The pull drill is a great warm up doing it on the left side of the boat to train my offside stack.

Any of you used the 'Whip' drill to learn proper lean. This is not for you boys who grew up on a ski lake and have mastered -38' (or maybe 30 years ago you employed the 'whip'). If you are like me (2nd season ever at a private lake) skiing 34mph and -22 but need work on your offside stack Seth teaches the 'Whip' to be able to seamlessly go from side to side in a great stack via a leaned on edge position. I see the value in this but suck at it. I have found great success in pulling out up next to the boat and holding that position for the length of the lake to drill a properly aligned position and use this to warm up.