Swing? What are your ideas about this term as it pertains to slalom

[Joe McCreary]

Seth Sisher described slalom skiing as swinging from right to left.  Chet Raley has even talked about golf swing with water skiing.  I have been toying  with rotating shoulders toward boat on offside(toe side turn) just like swinging golf club except limiting the release of handle to chest level while leaving outside armpit closed.  It seems to work for me on offside but has created a problem on onside(heal side turn) with slack in rope and skiing over handle.  Anyone have an opinion on this.

 Thanks

Joe McCreary

[Horton]

Joey, That is the first interesting question I have read in a long time.

I can only assume what the Chet & Seth mean but I think I can shed some light. First of all you are talking about two different things.

Swing I assume is the feeling of the ski casting out wide or swinging out.

Golf Swing is something the SkiDawg told me about a year or two ago. With the Golf Swing you try to drive the handle out though the edge change and out to the ball. So on your way to 2/4/6 the handle goes from your right hip and travels left. This is a strange thing to try to do but if you get your head around it you will get super wide with a very tight line. The handle does not move so much as you try to move it and that helps pivot your pelvis and shoulders out. As you get out to the ball if you continue the motion the handle is in front of you and all your shoulder counter rotation is "inside shoulder forward" not "back shoulder back".

[RichardDoane]

Chris Sullivan described it to me once as taking the handle with your core out to the bouy line.

[skibug]

Since your off side turn is coming around better, giving you better angle and a tighter line; this means you don't have to pull so long into your 2, 4, 6.  That might have been a habbit you, not knowingly, picked up.  Now that the offside is coming around; you may have to initiate your edge change sooner going into 2, 4.

[Joe McCreary]

Skibug,

 you may be right about starting edge change sooner on healside2,4,6.

 Horton,

What I mean is when going to (toeside)1,3,5 I am now trying to rotate my shoulders and handle toward boat(pylon) which I assume means "staying open to the boat" before I release the handle with outside hand.  This does seem to cast the ski out more but turns quicker.  And I have less upper body movement.   Before I have always stopped the rotation or swing and tried to counter rotate away from boat. This would cause me to drop head and shoulders to finish the turn.    

[Marco]

Joey- Here are a couple of photos of Jon Travers that were posted by JMH at The Water Ski Forum you should check out.  The picture titled JT 1- 39 shows the later stages of what I think JTH is talking about when he describes the inside shoulder forward.  The picture titled JT 5-38 shows the result of being open  through the turn all the way to the hook up.  Notice how his head and shoulders are "outside the line" facing down the lake, not toward the pylon.

[Horton]

I think that the 38 image is something that JT would not really promote. He is open but in a lot of trouble.

[Marco]

Agreed, but it is a good illustration of the open shoulders.

[skibug]

This has also been described to me as "shooting the pylon"....as if you were to raise a gun and point it at the pylon to shoot.