Fin/technique adjustment????

[bhs]

So here is my question… how do you know when to adjust a fin or when to focus on technique?

 

Let me give you some back ground to help muddy the water a little bit.

 

I am skiing with a friend who recently bought a 66 Fisher yellow, and is really struggling with his 35 passes. He runs it but it is ugly! At the end of the turn the ski pops up and the rope drops in the water, big hit and he is off to the next ball only to have it happen all over again. Last year while skiing on his D3 he had a similar problems at 38 but was able to cut to 39. Nowhere near that on the Fish. The guy has a great attitude and comes from the school of thought that he should run 39 on a 2x4 and wont blame the ski. Set after set he tries new stuff but all with the similar results.

 

When he bought the ski he flew out to Jodi’s, skied with him for a couple of days after he set the ski up and it hasn’t changed since then…I don’t have the numbers and we can get into that later, but what does everyone think, Technique or ski adjustment? There is no question in my mind that technique always needs to be improved. But when does a tweak on a fin here or moving a binding forward there help? Only after perfect form is achieved? Or can a fin adjustment help to overcome bad form?

Ideas, thoughts?

[skidawg]

both!

[bhs]

I really appreciate your reply and like you said what does he have to lose.

 

Here is another question; does weight effect fin adjusment? Would the stock settings work for someone who is on a 66 and weighs 160 be the same for someone weighs 130? I ask becuase he is on a 66 and weighs in at 130.

[bhs]

Brent,

Thanks again for your reply.

I just read Horton's "your ski is a lever" and according to his article I thought it would be taking out depth. Why do you say DFT?

[RS]

It sounds to me like a technique issue first and second a minor ski tweak issue.   Is he carrying momentum through the turn, is he trying to force the ski to turn because it doesn't feel like it's turning quick enough?   Occasionally I'll find myself not letting the ski finish and what you describe is what happens to me.   I push the ski a bit trying to get it to finish sooner and in reality I've hosed up the turn so I end up with the stop/go style instead of carrying speed through and getting a nice turn with speed and angle into the 1st wake.  

[bhs]

RS,

Thanks for your response and I think you are right about technique first, ski second. But my question is If you don't ski with 100% sound technique(and what that technique is,west coast, compressed,old school, could open a whole other can of worms) how do you know if a ski is set up properly? How do differentiate a technique problem from a set up problem? Has anyone ever come up with drills you could do outside of the course that would let you know if you have proper set up? How does one know,given their current level, that they are getting the best performance out of their ski?

[bhs]

Brent?

[skidawg]

a poorly set up ski will cause you to initiate bad habits to try to make it work!

[eleeski]

What are you afraid of? Change the adjustment! Of course I'm typing this as I'm icing my ankle.

While Dawg and Horton might be able to feel .005 adjustment, I need to make a .020 movement to feel any change. If I really want to make the ski feel different I will change .100. If things improve, good. If not I go the other direction. I have my old numbers so I can go back.

Bad habits can be broken easily with a ski that doesn't encourage the problem. A couple of rides on a weird setup won't scar your form for life. An evaluation ride won't have you laying it out for that ankle biting buoy - unless the new setup really works.

Another reason to adjust is that settings change. Travel, bumping a buoy or a myriad of different factors can knock that fin out of adjustment. Know your baseline and check it often. Certainly after every great - or horrible - ride.

It's always the skier that determines the buoy count. Switch skis or styles for fun. Eventually you must forget the tweaking and just ski. But make sure you are assured that you are getting the most out of the setup first.
Eric

[skidawg]

very well said!

[bhs]

I want to thank everyone for responding to my question. To update, we have started to adjust the ski and as it turns out Jodi set his front binding about a quarter inch too far back. Just making that adjustment helped. I still find that the idea of having a ski "set up" as somewhat elusive. How will I know when I have it done right?

[Marco]

A lot of people like the binding back on the Fish, but it is all personal preference.  There is no "right or wrong" as to the set up of a ski, it is basically whatever works best for the particular skier.  Every adjustment has tradeoffs, and you will know your ski is "dialed in" when any further adjustment you make decreases the performance aspects you are looking for.  Not a technical answer I know, but is is the philosophy I use.  I will leave the technical discussion to the pro tweakers...JTH, Schnitz, etc.