What do all great skiers have in common?

[Boody]

Been trying to figure this out for years.  With all the different styles out there, it gives me hope that "my" style will work one day.  I am probably not going to look like Terry Winter as much as I would like to, and I wonder if I am beating my head against the wall trying to.  No two great skiers ski alike, which makes breaking this code so confusing.

But there is something they are all doing right, what is it?  I don't think they "turn better".  I wish I could find some commonality here, or is it a myriad of things?  I would like to simplify this as much as possible, without some long equation for success.

Any takers? LOL, I don't think there is a "wrong" answer.

[Roger]

I was one of the boat judges in last year's Big Dawg final at Okeeheelee. The one thing that comes to mind is the pull position. They all had great form behind the boat, arms down at the vest, aligned with the boat, etc. The turning styles varied, but the pulls were all awesome with little or no movement while behind the boat.

[scoke]

 

i am just an average skier but i've got two reasons why they are better.

They aren't scared.

Grit, whatever it takes.

 

that's it. Think about it.....

[eyepeeler]

Strength man,  Back in the day, Chuck Forrest won 10 straight national titles.  He has the strength of 10 men, + or - one man. 

[Chef23]

I was going to add that they all have a better strength to weight ratio than I do.

[Than_Bogan]

Great question!  I love watching top skiers, and they do everything better than I do.

But if I had to pick one thing that unites all the best skiers, it's economy of movement.  This goes by a lot of names, like being "quiet" on the ski, "smooth style," etc., but what it means is that their movements are precise, but small, and that they don't find themselves out of position all the time like the rest of us do.

HOW do they do this?  Well, I'm afraid a big part of the answer is natural athletic ability.  I ask my body to do exactly the same thing 10 times and I get 10 different results.  Not so for the best of the best.

But the other aspect, that us mortals could emulate, is focused repetition.  I've noticed that most of the best skiers do a lot more passes on their "easy" line lengths than the rest of us do.  Indeed, the "greats" seem to do this the most, and the "good" skiers (I hope including me) do more of this than the "ok" skiers, too.

So why don't I just do what the best do?  Well, it's not very fun!  Running -28 or -32 over and over again until it's perfect is kinda like WORK.  /vanillaforum/js/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-smile.gif  Ultimately, I'm in this for the entertainment, and banging my head against -38 is pretty damn entertaining!

 

[slow]

Handle control and great agility

[h2odawg79]

I think before I would speculate on their Skiing ability, I would 1st have to consider one's own natural abilities or Mental and Physical tendancies or limitations...

Champion caliber Athletes do Not even think or expect like the ave. Joe or W/E Warrior. They are Normally Optimistic Overcomers That Naturally over acheive. They Do Not get all bogged down in the mental aspects of their sport and when they do over think it, they often fall into a slump like the rest of us...

Physically, they are also gifted with a great combo. of Strength, Muscle Speed, Reaction speed and accuracy, Agility, Flexability (These determine ones level of coordination) and Recovery...

Also, Picking the Sport best suited to one's attributes would'nt hurt. i.e Micheal Jordan playing Basketball vs. M.J. playing Baseball...

 

  

[bmiller3536]

I think M.J. would have faired just fine in baseball if he would have put in the time he put into basketball.

 

[thager]

Lots and lots of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[Bruce_Butterfield]

What do all great skiers have in common?  Only 1 thing:

 

http://www.ballofspray.com/vanillaforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=23&page=1#Item_0

[MrJones]

Dave Benzel had an article years ago called the pivotal skills of slalom. He said that those two skills were body position and angle. His argument was that all great slalomers were able to achieve  the needed angle to run short line, and that they had to have the body position to maintain that angle. We may think of controlling load now more than the old "pull like hell" mentality, but the basics are the same. (I include rope control, counter rotation, etc., in there with body position BTW)

While strength is helpful, I agree with Rossi that it is more used as insurance when proper body postion/mechanics break down. There are a lot of very strong guys who I have seen struggle at long line length and slow speeds. There are several girls who run 39.

  

[wnourse]

After witnessing the pros first hand at the Malibu Open in Milwaukee.

The common thread is getting it done behind the boat. 

I watched as Regina got behind in her 38 pass in the finals and she just "worked" behind the boat after 3 ball like i have never seen.

Ran the pass. 

 

My advise...........ski like a girl.

[eyepeeler]

Scot Jones, Boody's question is about all the great skiers, not a gym musclehead that is learning the course.  Even Lucky Lowe, one of the weaker of the great skiers could do 30 one arm chin-ups. 

[h2odawg79]

re: "My advise...........ski like a girl".

O.K. I'll try, but I know how you Guy's are, (bunch of pigs...) -just keep your crude comments to yourself! 

[Ed_Johnson]

I would attribute Great Skiing in this new age of equipment,  (Zero-Off + Carbon Skis),  to handle control,  plus efficiency of movement.

I know I have spent a vast  amount of time changing my form to take advantage of the selectable pull I receive from Zero-Off. If I could sum it up and place a Bumper Sticker on the back of my Boat it would say,.......

                                            

                                                "HE WHO MOVES THE LEAST, WINS."

Regards,   ED

[Dirt]

A great ski coach told me a long time ago that the best skiers were able to hold angle from the second wake outbound rather than move down course. He also talked about good natural balance, rythm and high strength to wt ratio. He said good skiers get good angle from the buoy to the first wake but are unable to carry outbound like great skiers.

[ForrestGump]

But what is it that they do that allows them to move outbound off the 2nd wake, Dave?

[Dirt]

Shane, you better ask Skidawg, Chad or Scot Jones. Their scores show they have figured it out, mine cleary show that I have not.

[lkb]

Shane, I'm definitely not good enough to group myself with the skiers Dsmart mentioned but i have been trying hard lately to work on the handle control that Bruce Butterfield talks about. I hadn't been able to execute it well enough to make a difference until yesterday when I skied with Seth Stisher. He had me accomplish the move by originating it in my hips not with a twisting motion of my shoulders as I had been trying. So for example when I'm going from one into two when it came time for the transition I originated the move by advancing my right hip toward the shore. It worked great. It moved the handle to where it needed to be and gave me great outbound. My whole point being that once I was able to control the handle it sure did make for some easy and wide passes. So maybe handle control is the key to great skiing.

[Stevie Boy]

Try looking at the direction/course of the line/handle after the center line, understanding that is the key, transition at the center line , ride the ski down the handle path, release, counter rotate allowing the ski to move outbound and back in around the bouy, if you look most make a transition around the centerline and ride the ski out they do not continue outbound on the back edge , its the acceleration from the bouy to the first wake, that gives them time. Just my thoughts and observation, could be right or could be wrong ?

[Stevie Boy]

Just an add on, to explain my reasoning, with the boat in motion the arc of the line will flatten off after the center line, so when you release and counter rotate, the idea is that you maintain the arc of the line as if it was stationary, maximising width.

[adamhcaldwell]

The thing most of them have in common is that they understand skiing on a very fundamental level, focusing onthe basics, while all of the other average joes spend their time trying to mimic and copy them, rather then understanding the true meaning behind what is really going on.

 Read this and youll see what I mean.  http://smoothwatershortline.blogspot.com/2010/08/so-whats-is-this-guy-doing.html. Start to hti

 Things are not alway what they seem.  Take on a new perspective and your mind will open up to a thousand different possibilities.   

Start to think about slalom as a a process of energy transformation.  From Generating Energy, Transfering Energy, Storing Energy, Recaptureing Energy, and maybe you will start to see something different in these "pros" then what you saw before.  Aslo you may begin to realize that no matter what they style and technique a person emulates on the water, the fundamental building blocks are the same, and the process is the same for all. 

ski SMARTER not HARDER.

 My question is, how much time do you commit to "studying" the sport as compared to falling at 3 ball?

[thager]

They are not me!!!

[lkb]

Adam, in your example of the pole vaulter, are saying that he is actively moving with the energy created instead of passively waiting for that energy to propel him where he needs to go?

[lkb]

Adam, in your example of the pole vaulter, are saying that he is actively moving with the energy created instead of passively waiting for that energy to propel him where he needs to go?

[adamhcaldwell]

Passive nothing.

 

Always driving and pushing the top of the pole to vertical to translate kinetic energy from the run into potential energy in the pole, when all energy is effectively transfered (through the drive phase), vaulter releases stored energy by swinging hanging leg + colapsing bottom arm and swining to an inverted position, and continues to press and turn off the top of the pole until apex is reached.

 There is nothing passive.  There is no "hanging and waiting", only "driving and pushing".  Energy is always moving from athlete to pole, and back.  Never a passive moment.