2tracmind

The L4-5 is very common area to injure. It is possible to have had herniations that are asymptomatic for years. I have had compressed discs of L4-5 for more that 20 years. My L5 disc is half the thickness of the one above when it should be the thickest. Find a great physio who specializes in back/pelvis assessments and you will learn alot. There are many stabilizing muscles in the pelvis and abs that most people do not activate or engage in most workout routines. I have been pain free for more than five years and I have not missed a set due to back pain since. A non-stacked position (hips back, handle separated) putts tremendous pressure on those discs. With some luck and effective exercises your season is not lost.

None of my ski buddies or I have dropped the $ to upgrade our Perfect Pass to Zero Off. We all have three different boats, 98 Malibu Sportster w 315 hp, 06 Gecko w 310 hp and no EFI, and a 06 Mastercraft 197 TT with 350 hp and powerslot. What differences in performances would you expect behind the boats ? The wake is great behind the Gecko but does it pull the same ? If you ran 80% of your 32 off passes behind the Gecko, would you expect behind the other boats ?

Our group of skiing buddies are now on the water. We will be free skiing for 1.5 months before a course goes in. What is the advice from short line skiers on tactics to maximize this free skiing time ? 1. Line lengths, if you want consistent 32's this year what length should we free ski ? 2. Width. Without turn balls to go around our width is unknown. How crucial is this when working on technical free skiing. 3. Other suggestions or strategies ? My view is to ski a bit longer line and dial things in, then shorten. My partners are choosing to free ski at the pb length almost exclusively. Feedback ?

Waterski bindings change very little until the advent of wakeboarding. As wb grew and they developed new types of bindings waterskiing started to inovate. Rubber bindings have become much stiffer and "boot" like. Data on injuries rates would be interesting, but I would like to see five years of data from1990 to 1995 and compare it to 2007 to 2012. My impression is minor and major foot injuries have increased significantly since all types of bindings have become stiffer. A well fitted Wiley's binding would be the safest choice in my mind. The "downhill skiing" like release systems on the market are late 70's technology without diagonal release systems.

Great discussion thread. What i felt was significant was 2/3 of AM's heel was to the right of center. If you are a DB skier, pivot your binding. I discussed the RTP with AM at a camp three years ago. He made two points at that time: 1. He feels uncomfortable with his rear foot completely straight. A pivot plate could deal with this. 2. Andy felt that the tongue or front of the rear double boot restricted the forward shin movement of the rear foot. There have been a few great photos of Nate Smith demonstrating how much his rear leg angles forward in the edge change/preturn. The best skiers in our small group whom are on DB use a rear that is one size larger to allow for the movement that we RTP'ers are advocates of. My feeling is that if you do not have the above mentioned movement, whether a rtp or loose db with a pivot that you are likely skiing with predominately more weight on the back foot than is ideal and will result in your hips being behind and not stacked.

What evidence/data exists to answer this ? World ranking of the top 3 skiers in the world over the last 25 years would be a good place to start. Can a computer/excel expert search this and get this data, please ? My observations over many years is the top skiers(top3) are predominately RFF. My wild guess is greater than 65% of the top 3 in the rankings are RFF. I believe that larger motors, speed control and new ski development may now be balancing the positive/negative. I am LFF but right leg dominate (university level high jumper off my right leg), if I knew then what i know now I would ski RFF.

I think in would be fair to say that if you frequent BOS, you have had the "Stacked" or "Leveraged" position driven home as the most important element up to 35 off. It is my humble opinion that if you have average or better core strength and you are unable to find the "Stacked" position you should examine your boot fitting. With the tail of our ski sitting deeper in the water (7 degrees ?) this predisposes us to be heavy on the back foot. If our rear boot does not allow flex and/or movement our efforts to be "Stacked" my be in vain. Putting in a heel wedge is a possible fix. Alpine ski racers travel across the country to visit their boot fitting guru to ensure proper flex and angles. A balance and technique drill used by snow skiers is to ski with their ski boots "unbuckled". If they are balanced and centered they can rip, if not they have instant feedback. Slow the boat down, lengthen the rope and try some old school neoprene as a training exercise.

Hello BOS,I have been reading BOS for a two years now. Really enjoy the website and like many others I am addicted. I have spent the last two years rebuilding my skiing form. Step one was going back to the RTP after attending a Andy camp. Step two was dedicating myself this year to focus on "Stacked" and "Connection". The double boot put me in a position that prevented me from getting my hips up and keeping my elbows to my vest. Wil Asher, Nate, TGas and CP all finished in the top 4 positions at the last big event of the year. All on RTP. Add Andy into the mix and those five skiers have been all over the podiums for a long time. Combine that will the number of pro's who use a neoprene rear binding and we are now covering +75 % of the top skiers. What is your view of the domination of the podiums by the RTP ? Would it be of benefit for all skiers to do some training on a well fitted RTP ? I look forward to the discussion. Cheers