One_Ski

I agree with Horton regarding dry land drills - I was trying to work through the same issues you are, and found that what I perfected on land never changed anything for me on the water. My advice is either get out of the course altogether to learn the right body position, or ignore the balls and just focus on skiing that takes advantage of leverage and consumes less strength/energy. Pay attention to what muscles get overworked, and find a body position that puts less stress on them. No matter what I'm focusing on though, put me in a course and my brain switches from logic to animal instinct. As i approach 1 ball, the need to 'win' becomes all-consuming, and logic circuits go in to standby mode for the duration. The course helps fine-tune things, but it was never a good place for me to learn basic techniques.

I agree. Visited their shop a few weeks back, and got expert help picking out a new pair of gloves. Their selection was impressive, and customer service is the best.

@epnult - I'm thinking that, at 38' off, you better have a pretty good pontoon driver to keep that thing between the boat guides.

I have a full length Black Tec. I also own a full drysuit; something I once considered essential in cold water. Once I bought the Black Tec, I stopped using my drysuit - it's been on it's hangar in the basement for at least three years now. Guess I should sell it.

I'm looking forward to this! But really, fall delivery? Can't make it in time for this summer?

Thanks for posting, this @Wish. My wife and I are heading to Orlando the first week of February, and I've been looking for a place to ski. I'll give them a call and see if they're available. I appreciate the heads up!

Still waiting for surgery, but already checking into the bindings you'll use next time around. I like your attitude! Be patient, and be strong.

@vernonreeve - I think that's a great idea for initial entry into the slalom course; keeping it simple is likely to be the best approach. The proposed price is just slightly more than the one-year membership fee for my local slalom club -- I have to drive over an hour to get there, and sometimes wait in line to ski. I have a portable slalom course, but avoiding the time and difficulty of setting it up and taking it down makes this an exciting alternative. I can set up, take down, and ski through a portable slalom course - I think I have the wherewithal to keep from getting shot by one of the paint balls. I strongly endorse pushing this through to production.

This is the most awesome concept I've seen in a long time. Until virtual reality becomes available, this is the next best thing. I'm interested!

Have you tried an ice pick (kidding ;0))

I use one, and wouldn't trade it for any other handle. Would be a plus if it would float, but that, IMHO, is a minor issue.

I'm also in for the extra 1/8, but only if its an electronic version. When that comes out, I'll buy one. If you'd email me a pdf of the book, I'd buy that - even if it's password protected or otherwised unsharable/unprintable.

So, Nate didn't make the top 8. Fell at 2 at 39' off. Couldn't tell what happened - maybe the injury's not healed yet?

If there's an electronic/pdf/Kindle version, I will buy one. Paper, not so much.

Headline: In surprise move, after scoring two balls at 39 off, duck qualifies for upcoming Big Dawg competition.

I mounted mine in the trunk too (2002 Nautique 196). Easy to access, and easy to change the temperature. No matter what i set the temp to, seems like adjustments are always needed - probably due to water temperature. Acessibility to these controls is something to keep in mind.

I got mine today too. Hope to install it tomorrow and take it out on the lake later this week.

Sorry @greghayes - not yet. Missed the opportunity, now I'm our of the country for a week. I will post when I've had the chance - still looking forward to it.

I watched both days on the big screen TV via my AppleTV. Nicely done - one of the best webcasts to date. Thanks for all the work you guys put into this.

@mdb1056 - Thanks!

 

@scorban2 - maybe think about it this way; you deadlift a barbell loaded with a couple hundred pounds. Standing there with your back straight and shoulders back, you can hold it fairly well - most of the load goes through your frame (skeleton). Now, lean forward a little bit. The load on your upper and lower back is barely manageable. Now, still leaning forward, try to bring the bar in to your hips. You can maybe move it a bit, but your upper arms will quickly give out. This is the load your back and shoulders take if you aren't effectively putting the load on your frame instead of your muscles.

 

I've heard all the various tips that work for other people (hips up, push chest forward, shoulders back, keep your chin up, etc.), but for whatever reason, none of them clicked for me. I thought I was there, but the fatigue in my upper arms proved I was not. By paying attention to the fatigue in my upper arms, then straightening myself so this load shifts to my frame rather than my muscles, I found something I could first visualize, then make happen. The reduced load on the back of my upper arms is immediate evidence as to whether I'm doing it right. I'm basically saying the same thing others have said about stack, but maybe in just a slightly different way.

After course skiing for the past 20 years or so and always struggling with anything 28' off or better, I decided to take this year off and free ski. So, instead of a never-ending rerun of total brain shutdown at every ball followed by complete panic as I finish the turn too late for the next pull and I break forward across the wakes, I've found that free-skiing gives me a chance to retain consciousness and actually pay attention to some of the things happening while I ski.

 

For the first several weeks of free skiing, I would ski (fairly well, IMHO) until I was too tired to hang on. Climbing in the boat, I started to notice that the part of my body that gave up first was my upper arms (triceps area) just below my shoulders. I started paying attention to this, and noticed that, in my efforts to force my hips up to the handle, I was working this part of my arm to the point of exhaustion. So, to myself I say, 'What can I do to reduce fatigue on this part of my arm, so I can (in a non-self-centered kind of way, of course!) ski longer?" I reply (not out loud, as I recall), 'Maybe, if I could load my bone structure more and my muscles less, I could ski longer." So, instead of thinking about 'bringing my hips to the handle" and "driving my hips forward across the wakes," I started thinking "take the load off my upper arm muscles."

 

The next set, as I worked to reduce the fatigue in my arms, I started feeling my hips come right to the handle before the pull, and found I was instinctively leaning my shoulders back to put the load directly into my shoulder joints and down my back. Awesome! I kept this up for 20 or 30 turns, and coasted to a stop realizing I'd learned something I'd been chasing for years, but never found.

 

When I started combining this with the "power triangle" Chris Rossi talked about (i.e., keep your outer hand close to your outer hip in the turn, ski that hand back to the handle, and take the pull with arms straight), I started flying out wide, early, and high on the boat. For the first time, with the rope at 35' off, I actually started feeling (and repeating!) that pre-turn and glide I've been searching for.

 

This is fun! It's awesome when something like this happens and the stuff I've been working my butt off to figure out just clicks and makes sense. To top it off, this requires only half the work I'd been putting in. I can ski twice as long! Who would have thought? So, I had to share this, becuase I'm absolutely enjoying the heck out of it.

You tell your family about a (minor) injury and your Mom (who's perfectly healthy and in her late 80's) says: "you're getting too old for that stuff."

Awesome! I downloaded the app and set it up. Next time I go out to ski (hopefully Saturday), I'll record a couple sets and see what happens. I love the concept; free skiing then finding out how my skiing compares to course skiing. So far, so good...

Like you, my friend, the massive size of my pecs, delts, and quads makes it difficult for me to sqeeze my massive frame into waterski apparel designed for, shall we say, the less 'manly' among us. One must be constantly vigilant, since the inability of these garments to withstand an inadvertent upper body flex can result in airborne debris. While I normally flex only in front of the cameras, I cannot guarantee against an inadvertent (and, may I humbly add, awesome) flexation. For this reason, I require all females to wear protective glasses in and around the boat at all times. Yes, I share your pain!

@horton - I find that travel through the celestial plane is best when it happens behind a big wall of spray.