twhisper

This is a 36/35' pass where I have already started moving on to the left edge a few frames before...

I have a drone that I have no idea how to fly🤣

Would be interesting to see an overhead overlay of a skier pulling out, and how those line up for each pass 32'-43'.

@Horton I think I am seeing both at the same time rather than one and then the other.

I don't know if there is any "system" that can work regardless of conditions. There's just too many variables, especially for skiers traveling to different sites for tournaments. For me, it's all about the visual and the feel, and adjusting accordingly.

I wonder how many skiers get too focused on the green balls, and are not watching the gate balls enough as they are pulling out. I see the green balls, but most of my focus is actually on the gates. I think this helps with a sense of speed and timing, and allows for on-the-fly adjustments. 

I also wonder how well most of us would do if there were no green balls like back in the day.

4 hours ago, 03RLXi said:

@twhisper Thank you! I've resisted going faster and shorter as I know my stance isn't solid yet. Because of that, and because of some fear 😉 I wrote about it in this post. It even states "get the basics right first as if I didn’t, and if I tried faster, I’d hurt myself."  I feel like I've improved a lot in last couple of years due to listening to the podcast, reading this website, and by working on body position and not bouys. 3 years ago I skied like a half folded pocketknife!   

 

I will give 52kph and 14.25m a go to see what's being talked about as I've improved a lot since I last tried 52kp[h. But if my body position is at all compromised I'll immediately stop and revert to 46 or 49kph and 18.25m  

There's a lot of different approaches that can all be successful as long as the priority is making the position as close to ideal as possible. Experiment with things, but be relentless about perfecting your position.

Sometimes I think I would like to know how many, but not sure I do.

@KRoundyyes, video coaching all year and a handful of weeks at Liquid Zone throughout the Summer. 

1 hour ago, VONMAN said:

@Horton See as the rope gets shorter Terry's pick-up line load moves in closer to the wakes and the work zone is moving more behind the boat. That's why it looks so smooth. He knows that to try to load the line right after the ball is bad news as the line gets shorter. So instead of a greatest Hits run, the driver and Zero Off are happy.

Mostly agree. The harder the skier loads out of the buoy the harder it is to maintain a solid body position through the edge change. The better the skier can hold their body position through the edge change the more space the skier creates on the buoy allowing them to commit to the turns earlier and stay more ahead of the pass.

I also think that at the shorter rope lengths there is naturally more speed carrying the skier in closer to the wakes before the line ever becomes completely tight. It's not always a "choice" to load later, it just works out that way.

If I do happen to get the load directly out of the turn then usually my entire cut/load can be lighter because I know there is no hurry to get to the other side of the course. I have a target path with my vision and I can see that I need to pace myself.

Where I might run into trouble is when I finish the turn and get the load early, but ended up tilting my shoulders inside too much. In this situation I can't really control when or how hard I load. I'm just along for the ride, and the only way to keep it from "snowballing" is to make sure I hold a really tight connection through the next centerline crossing/edge change.

57 minutes ago, swbca said:

Re Squatting - what is it ?   A few top skiers ski have their knees bent at around 90 degrees except when finishing their turn.  Others not so much.

In this thread Squatting is something not to do.  What is the difference between squatting and having your knees bent ?

Freddy Winter is one of top skiers who has his knees bent more and bent longer than most other top skiers.  Is that squatting ?

The key difference is going to be how far back the hip joints are from being in alignment with the ankles and shoulders. A skier can flex their knees and ankles forward into a positive flex, and still have a straight line from shoulders- hips- ankles. On the other hand, a straight front knee/ankle with the back leg collapsing will result in the hips being much farther back. 

There are naturally different styles between great skiers. Some are softer in their legs and some are pretty tall through the legs. All great skiers have a solid alignment through the body when they need it.

The D3 gloves are surprisingly warm. Cooler full of hot water for gloves and bindings before the set. Keep the hands out of the water as much as possible. https://www.d3skis.com/product-p/15225a.htm

I don't know off the top of my head. Working on getting an answer from the factory...

20 hours ago, Mastercrafter said:

.... this makes me think I should mount up the RTP I bought last June and never used, and perhaps give the R-Style a break for a while. 

 

It has been a seriously challenging process for me, but I have learned a lot about skiing by going through it. 

One thing I have found is that it takes a lot of time going from the double boot to the RTP, but I can go back to double boots very quickly.

On 1/1/2024 at 10:11 AM, mcsd1992 said:

Happy new year everyone!

Getting the itch for some skiing early this year. Last year put a damper on our season due to the constant rain and since there's no snow yet this year here still, I'm looking to order some new gear early! 

I've currently been running an Edge front binding and a radar ARTP in the rear. Curious from those of you (if any) that have made the switch from an RTP to the reflex R style rear binding. Did it work for you? What were the challenges you faced if any? I'm curious if i like the free heel because i can move my ankle a little more freely so if i should just stick with that or maybe make the switch. 

I think optimizing the RTP is the ideal scenario. I don't think there is going to be any performance or safety advantage with the R-Style. All of the elite level guys use a RTP. Like Horton was saying the R-Style is kind of a tweener for guys leaving the double boot system, but don't feel comfortable enough going to the RTP.

The basic rubber overlay for the RTP seems to be the preference over something adjustable.

One difference you might notice is the height of the RTP footbed. Some of the guys use no footbed at all with only grip tape on the plate. The Wileys is pretty thin too, and then the HO has some padding, with the D3 and Connelly being a bit thicker. I have never used the Radar RTP, but looks similar in height to HO. That rear footbed height has a pretty significant impact on the attitude of your ski and how quickly/easily you can engage the front of the ski into the pre-turns. 

34/32’  

 

12 hours ago, DW said:

We spent hours dialing in a ski fin to the thousandths, micro-tune our boots, go to the extreme of wearing specific 'lucky' apparel and yet ...

Max Verstappen wins an F1 race with a broken front wing that spent hours and millions of dollars perfecting in a wind tunnel, Kyle Larson wins a NASCAR race after smacking the wall more than a couple of times, Mark Martin leads a NASCAR race running on 7 of 8 cylinders, injured (hence not at 100%) athletes win games all the time, just sayin', maybe Horton has a point although flapping trunks and legs in the same sentence, it is winter.

Another example of superb technique overcoming mechanical failure...

Doesn't mean we shouldn't strive to optimize our equipment, but there is also no substitute for technique.

There is definitely a lot to be learned still in binding set up. Look at what the old school jumpers used to use. Nobody is going 250' in flip flops.

65" is probably the better size if you have the option.

@Andre that’s mostly from a quick photoshop job removing the background from the image and making the lines a bit too sharp. I should have made the lines smoother. 

Nice skiin, dude

18 hours ago, DP70 said:

When leaned away from the boat your inner elbows are already pinned to your vest and the handle is low on your body between your hips & knees.  As your body starts to get more vertical through centerline and the handle moves to hip height - allow your arms to bend at the elbow to accommodate, it's not a pulling motion, it's keeping your elbows / upper arms in place and not letting them get separated from your torso.

Well said

@rawlyFrom centerline of the wakes out to the buoy I am trying to keep my hips facing in the same direction as the tip of the ski. As we pass through centerline the rope is constantly trying to unravel our hips and shoulders. I want to keep my hips and shoulders square to the length of the course, so I have to resist the unraveling force from the rope as I move farther away from centerline. By the time I get to the buoy width I want to at least have my hips and shoulders square to the buoy line, and not rotated back in to where my chest is facing the pylon in the boat.