buski

"People will even notice less spray coming from the ski in the turn." Seems like a junk ski?

Wear socks while you put on the ankle seals

I had looked into it and seemed like consumer units were accurate within around 10 meters or so which made it seem kind of pointless. Maybe someone has had better luck.

Do you wear them under your gloves? Instead of gloves? How do you think they'll hold up?

I'm not too far removed from where you were, and really not all that far past it either. - It amazed me how much physical effort was needed and how hard I needed to work to make my first pass at 15 off/28mph, when people were making it look so easy. People are definitely working behind the boat and it's way more than you think you need. - There's a big confidence hurdle to get over. People can tell you all day about the only thing you have to worry about is body position, but if you're not confident enough to really pull hard through the wake and feel safe doing so, it's going to be hard to get. Granted they go hand-in-hand; if you're pulling hard in a terrible position you can either hurt yourself or take some bad falls, which only lowers confidence and works against you. Getting past this just takes time. This can be worked on out of the course, not doing pullout drills but wake crossing drills. - Turns matter. Again it's pretty commonly said that if your position behind the wake is good, you can do anything you want in the turns and still run these passes. Maybe that's true if your position was that of someone that can run 32-35 off. It's definitely not true while you're still building up to that position. That said, don't get caught up focusing on a bunch of different things. Mostly it should be a couple simple things getting started. The biggest culprit is just figuring out the balance you need on the ski. Likely you're too far on your back leg, especially offside so you're not finishing and getting pulled right at 3 and 5. Stand taller with more weight on the front of the ski. You'll run plenty of passes where you're too much on the front and lose the handle or get pulled out. You'll get there. - Another big culprit in the turns is just being narrow and/or too slow at the buoy, which could be because your pull between the wakes was bad, which might be because something before that was bad, etc. All the pieces work together and it can take a lot of time to get it right. - The course seems so long and it seems like you have so many places you can either mess up or have time to fix things, but the importance of getting a good gate & 1 ball can't be overstated. Getting a solid 1 ball can just make everything else fall into place, even when you're still working on your first pass. You should be able to learn the course starting at 1 ball, but make sure you are wide of it and finish your turn in at the buoy instead of riding right after it and turning after you pass it. Keep at it. You've got the will to progress, boat, water time and equipment. It won't be long.

Looks like there are two types of countries. Those that use the metric system and those that have put a man on the moon.

For what it's worth, I kept the thin liner and am using it in the r-style rear. I like it much better than the thicker rear liner personally.

I had a similar issue with the thin liner. I had a strada liner around and tried that and no more pain, but those are a little thick for my shell size. I got a goode/fm aqua liner and that is working great.

I wear 13's with a 12 shell. I don't think my feet are overly wide though. Thin liner was ok, but something was hurting my ankle. Goode/FM Aqua liner feels much better. I had a strada liner in there for a while when I was between liners. My foot fit but since the liner is so thick, there was some pressure on the toes. If you get a r-style rear (with the thick liner they're using), my personal experience was that it seemed tough to get my rear foot out of the boot in testing if the straps were even a little snug. Maybe it would have been fine in the water in a real fall but I didn't want it to get stuck. I use the thin liner that's normally for the front boot instead; it feels great and comes out easy when needed.

I just started adding some kettlebells into the normal mix of push/pull/etc. Mostly just swings and turkish getups for now. I have to think all the posterior chain work on the swings as well as holding onto the thing (packed shoulder, grip, etc) has to translate to helping me feel better after skiing. Guess I'll see.

I guess I was thinking more that the space would dampen pressure from the front foot before it puts pressure on the ski but maybe it's no big deal?

I have a 12 reflex shell on a single carbon plate. The holes on my ski match up with the second set of holes (a little further back) on the plate. The plate is a little warped in the sense that the front isn't pressed down on the ski when mounted, and there's a little bit of give until the plate hits the ski. I could easily fit a coin in there if not two at the very front. Should I shim this or just leave it as is? What's the best way to shim it?

Just to close the loop a little I decided to pick up one of the liners (actually went with Goode but think they're the same) and after a molding it seems to be just about right. I have big feet but skinny legs and because there isn't as much material at the top I can't even get the top buckle to be tight (or really too snug) so the feeling is a little different, but I imagine it will be fine starting fresh on it in the spring. Definitely easier to work with in the boot and more room for the toes.

@DefectiveDave lots of people run various bungee-release bindings. In fact it's probably the most popular. It works for a lot of people. I had one broken ankle on a mid level bungee binding before I was in the course. In retrospect that one was probably my fault for having it too tight but at the time I didn't know any better. I briefly went back to rubber bindings after that but made they my feet hurt after just a few minutes. Switched to stradas which also work for a lot of people and I always made sure to run them super loose. Still I had trouble coming all the way out of them and had a lot of partial releases, a few of which tweaked my ankle up for a few days but fortunately no real injuries. There are other stories of people having the same issue here as well. Then it was like every time I put on my bindings I had to think/worry about how tight I'm making them, wonder if I'm going to come out or not if I take a fall, etc. I didn't want to play that game any more so I moved on. If you were even considering a new ski, changing that up to a year or two old ski on ski-it-again makes up the difference in cost. On a budget I'd go with rubbers (wiley, leverage, etc) especially if you are able to wear them reasonably comfortably. You don't see too many pro's on Exos or Stealths but there are people that use them, you can search for some opinions. I didn't really want full double boots so I didn't look at those, but I'd consider those and potentially talk to @gator1 about his mod. Those may or may not require adapter plates depending on the ski though. This all of course is just my opinion.

No binding is 100% safe, but if you can get past the cost I don't know what gives you a better chance of being safe than white reflex & rtp or r-style as far as commercially available options go, unless you really want double shells. I don't trust bungee any more.

Thanks all for the info & help.

I have thick bony ankles and wear a 12 reflex shell. When I used the stock liner (thin version) the shell had some pressure points on my ankle and hurt enough that I almost had to give up on the boot. Since I had one lying around I tried my strada liner and while it's a little thick, it eliminated the issue and was pretty comfortable. That said it's a little tight in the toes plus a little hard to get in & out of the shell and I'll probably tear through the heel of it at some point at this rate. Where does the FM liner fall compared to these two? I'm hoping to find one thick enough that the shell doesn't bother me but easier to get in/out.

40k is probably in the ballpark of an 07 or 08 VTX then but may have to stretch that a bit.

Sunsetter LXi from something like 99-04 is a foot longer than the response lxi, I think a little deeper which might help in chop, and supposed to ski nearly as well. The problem with any DD being used as a 'family' boat, and wanting to be able to ski while there are still 4-5 people in the boat is the pylon making the back seat unusable. There are a few ways to address it and still go for a direct drive assuming you can't fit everyone foward of the plylon (or don't want to since the bows are shallow already). - Boat with a rear tow point. Fine for small kids. Definitely don't want to ski hard behind. Malibus and many Mastercrafts have one already, Nautiques have the lifting ring which shouldn't be used for that and you'd have to install one. Still only good for light kids if you're playing it safe. (Or wally out and hook up to the D rings instead, maybe that's good enough for free skiing days?) - Tower (or extended pylon, etc). You still don't want to ski hard on it it. However, if you get your skiing in on ski days, maybe you will be content doing something from the tower on family days. Wakeboard, learn to trick ski, or maybe something like a Satori/Freeride to still feel like you're skiing if you're just going to be free skiing anyway. Do that on family days, ski hard on other days. - Get a boom and learn to foot ;) You can still run into the swamping issue if the lake is really that big/busy, only you know what you're comfortable with. Something like the Sunsetter Lxi, or maybe second generation Mastercraft 205 had some freeboard added (maybe 95+?) if a normal tournament boat is too shallow. A Response FXi might be in your range but are hard to find, basically a Direct drive VTX. Have heard some people like them, others that the wake was better but not better enough to make up for losing the v-drive advantages of the VTX. Worth demoing if you happen to find one.

Two skis at long line? Is a junior line worth it?

I picked up one of these super cheap used on amazon. It's pretty good especially since there's a void of trick info around otherwise if you don't have anybody to learn from. http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0960649603/ref=tmm_other_meta_binding_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used&sr=8-1&qid=1382703825

I just started and only get up and ride a bit so far. I've tried doing a side slide and can get the basics of it anyway. I find though as soon as I turn and break the ski free, it feels uncomfortable/out of control/out of balance etc. I feel like I have to immediately right the ski or I'll be in the water. Is this normal and just something new to get used to or am I doing something wrong? (ie standing straight up when I should still be in a small lean or something).

@eleeski I had a wiley on mine but it cramped me up too fast and it wasn't enjoyable or conducive to learning as I couldn't last on it very long. I thought about just going to a reflex but I only use the trick ski as a hobby for now and wasn't sure I wanted to drop the money on it yet. I found leftover strada's cheap so I threw one on. So far no complaints but all I do is get up and ride around. That said I ended up with a leftover reflex shell after trying black & white on my slalom and could probably just pick up the completed plate for the trick if it'd be all that worth it. What do you think? For reference I can't do diddly yet; if I could work up to your college girl run I'd be pretty satisfied. By then maybe I'd find out if I wanted to progress any more.

Anybody actually use the indo/balance boards? If so what do you do on them? Any particular program? Just stand on it every now and then in different positions to work on balance? Incorporate into workout? (squats, etc). I put my trick ski on the inflatable pad thing yesterday with a handle attached to a basement pole and it was a lot harder to balance on than just the normal board I use for some reason. Then tried to do the back positions (I only just started on a trick ski and just get up, cross wakes, fall) and that was even harder. Not sure if that will translate to the water or not if I get better at it over the winter? Guess it wouldn't hurt.

I tried the thin liner with the front foot an the shell was a little more uncomfortable than I wanted to deal with. Also the strap on the liner always made it hard to buckle the top for me. I tried my Strada liner in the front and that solved both problems without having to order another liner. Then since I had the extra thin reflex liner, I tried it in the r-style and it's a lot easier to get in & out of the shell than the thick silver liner. I can buckle it tighter and it still slides out, where I would run it pretty lose on the thick liner and sometimes I'd still wonder if I'd come out. I'm sure I would have but I like the feeling of the thin liner better.