crashman

well I had somebody video me yesterday and I have to admit it watching it was terribly painful- I haven't progressed as much as I thought I have. One thing that is consistently bad is that despite my best efforts my hips continue to trail- especially coming out of my offside turn. I know I need to get them up- just having trouble getting it done. Any nuggets of advice you can share with me to help me make it happen? Here's a video of one of my painful "passes" (there's a reason they call me crash) http://youtu.be/WkUxChSypv0

skied like crap last night- repeatedly got more tip bite than I could hold and took a nice rib shot coming across the wake. I kept asking the driver if the speed was set correctly- felt like it was about 2 mph slower. I tried to convince myself that that water warming up was causing me to get more bite in the turns than I'm used to but I think the reality is I just skied like crap.

but we're still allowed to make fun of Canadians and their $40 per case Labatt's right? Just kidding love the site and come here to talk about skiing not to get miffed by political or social differences- that's what facebook is for.

thought I had good connection... until I had somebody take video today. I ski a lot uglier than I thought I did.

I like the Wilson bros advice because I find it more actionable than some of the advice out there "At the finish of the turn, focus on bringing your free hand to the handle simultaneously as your ski is coming back under the rope. When done correctly you will feel your hips and hands connecting at the finish of the turn" Now that's something specific I can go out today and work on!

great review Horton- been skiing mine every chance I get. I agree fast, stable, forgiving. Only thing you forgot is it looks cool and the ink glows in the dark!

I hate it when the water gets too warm- right now our water is 72 which for me is perfect; warm enough to ski in trunks and cool enough to be refreshing between passes. I hate in August when I drop at the end of the course and feel like I just fell into a sweaty armpit. If I lived in Florida I would have to head north for the summer.

I must have the best wife in the world. She had baby #3 1 week ago. Last night I offered to give her a break by taking the older 2 boys with me to ride in the boat out at the club while my partner and I attacked the course. She ended apologizing to me that she wasn't doing enough to help get the boat ready. I'm such a great husband that I'm taking the older boys out with me again today all day.

I think the solution here is for Horton to procreate. Given his legacy, his kids are guaranteed to do great things for the waterski world. The more little Hortons the better.

I think instead you should send WSM to the pediatrician's office. Skiing is awesome, but only for those who can do it. Most adults who are new to watersports and want to try something other than tubing hop on a wakeboard because they can have instant success. I don't know many skiers who started as an adult- I might be wrong about that but it just seems like those who ski started as kids. Personally I started open water skiing as a child but it was probably in my late 20s when I felt the first hint of cross wake acceleration and became hooked on it- probably would have happened sooner if I had been exposed to course skiing or at least proficient open water skiing earlier in life. Kids need to be exposed to the fact that waterskiing is fast and extreme even if it might take more effort than other watersports in order to have success.

don't give up man- I'm sure the first guy who said "i'm going to stand on this piece of wood as a boat pulls me across the top of this lake" seemed pretty crazy. I, however, am going to stick with my factory setup on my vice this weekend.

@gyoung I've learned at my level (-15 30-32 mph) the problems I encounter are a result of the skier not the ski. I tried moving my bindings forward about 1.5 years ago with disastrous results. Since then I'm a factory man- with the exception that I intend to remove the wing completely sometime this summer and give that a try based on recommendations I received here.

really- a judge would say that to you? aren't they fellow skiers also? I understand that in high school basketball you might get guys that still live at home with their moms or have small units or whatever that become refs just so that can be jerks but I'm surprised to hear this about skiing. Maybe it's good that I'm a ways off from having to worry about whether to become a part of organized skiing, because some of the posts here make it sound like it can be ugly at times.

@gregy that price seems outta line with what I encountered during my search

At first I thought you meant run the course at 28 off by the end of the summer. Hell I hope I can run the course at 28 off before I'm too old to ski.

@gregy some good discussion here- it's the thread I started when I was looking at slalom tugs. http://www.ballofspray.com/forum#/discussion/4341/boat-comparison-advice-needed/p1 I ended up with a 2001 nautique and could not be happier.

@gregy what line length and speed? I've skied behind a sunsetter of that era and a 2008 lxi- night and day difference at -15 28-30. The guy who owns it skis -15 34 and actively seeks out other boats to ski behind. Sunsetter might be more skiable at faster speed and shorter rope-not sure. would rec ski before you buy (says the guy who bought a boat site unseen from California)

cool video @KeownFILMS any place I can pay to download a digital copy?

@MS how about the article on how to throw the biggest spray? before I met you guys I thought that was the entire point of skiing.

this video explains it http://waterskimag.com/features/2010/05/06/how-to-fix-your-grip/

@Mr. Jones the schribner jug is one of my favorite ways to dispense "automotive fluids" rapidly without spilling a drop- very similar to the yellow jug in that video. Of course it's against the "rules" to use them for "gasoline" if you believe in that sort of thing http://www.scribnerplastics.com/

nice- and I like the yellow gas can....err.. automotive fluid storage container in the truck. I bet that thing empties 5 gal of automotive fluid in about 20 seconds. The new "Obama approved" gas cans suck.

@ShaneH good thoughts-thanks for them. I had always thought the stacked position was important for creating/maintaining angle against the boat coming out of the turn and during wake crossing, but I never gave it much credit in the preturn so I'll really focus on that next time out. This could help explain why it is that when I skied the other night at dusk and could hardly see the buoys on my last pass I was so early I couldn't believe it- probably because I had better body position without focusing on the buoys. @skibrain maybe I should just forget about the buoys for the rest of the summer and just focus on throwing bigger spray!

so @Horton @skidawg what factors do you think are most critical in maintaining outbound direction off the second wake at -15 or LL. Do you think the handle control article applies at the longer lengths? Anything that's commonly discussed regarding the subject that is irrelevant at the longer lengths?

$25 from the chairman of the long line club.