Passes per set and routine advice

[501Brandon]

I have always thought 6 passes was a standard set, is this old school thinking or is does this still apply?

On a three set practice day would you treat set 1 different than 2 or 3? I am currently feeling pretty good about 34/22' off the dock and decent at 28' off and have only ran 32' once and these are ALL personal best for me (great season thus far). A 35' pass would be awesome however I would like to be where I was running 22' & 28' ninety percent of the time and even a good amount of 32'... Knowing this is there a particualr method to the madness that one could instill to maximize the water time?

[Santa]

That's a good question. I think this used to be the standard but folks are chilling out now. Probably for a lake where ther are a lot of skiers waiting, you still need to maintain a limit, but all of the places I've skied recently just tell you to go to your heart's content.

 

However, I do find that even at the peak of my (short) season, there is a point where any extra passes are not doing me any good, but rather the opposite. Folks I ski with all agree that as you body gets tired, you unconsiously take a diferent, more defensive body position and then frustration sets in and you decline. So less can definitely be more, especially in this sport.

[Ham_Wallace]

We have a 6 pass or 2 fall rule when people are waiting to ski. I usually run 5 or 6 the first set and 3 or 4 the second set. Never ski 3 sets. There is a desired time between sets. I don't think it does ant good except in the early part of the season to ski mega sets. Early on we'll run back-to-backs. Usually 10 28's. The normal set at our club is 28,32,35,work on 38 a few times for the first set. The second set usually is 32 or 35 and work on 38 a few times. Then relax with a cool one. If you are skiing with less than 30-45 minutes between sets, you are probably breaking down and reinforcing bad habits. If you ski after work at night, don't ski early the next morning. You need at least 12 hours between sessions.

[Than_Bogan]

I personally recommend relatively frequent sets that begin with two of each of your first two passes. These are the passes where you can really work on doing something different and better, and then hope to carry it over into the harder passes.

 

In your case, I tend to think a 34/-15 (or possibly a 32/-22) would be good to keep in the mix for now. I always say the most important passes are the easiest one (where you can really focus on good technique and making improvements) and the hardest one (where you need some repetitions to start figuring it out and pushing your mind).

 

So most of my practice sets look about like one of these two templates:

 

"Low end" set that concentrates more on technical improvement

- Very Easy (pass you run essentially 100% in all conditions: In your case I think this is -15)

- Very Easy

- Easy (pass you run 100% in good conditions: -22)

- Easy

- Hard (-28) until you run it (but go back to Easy if you're totally screwing it up - never cement bad habits)

- Reach (-32) a few times

 

"High end" set that concentrates more on gaining familiarity with your reach pass:

- Very Easy

- Easy

- Hard

- Reach a few times

- Hard

- Reach a few times

 

In my opinion, it's extremely valuable to go back a length as I've shown above. It's amazing how you can apply what you've just learned on your Reach pass back to your Hard pass. In fact, every so often when you are feeling strong, I recommend a Double Reach (in your case -35) even when you haven't completed your Reach pass. Just do this once to feel the gate and then go back. Suddenly your Reach pass almost feels long...

 

There are plenty of other things to do to break it up a little, but the above two templates have been a great base for me.

[nam1975]

I try to mix up the following for 2 sets

Easy set

Harder set....start at 1 up from your easy opener

Ski down the line until you miss.

 

I also only ski 3 days in a row max.....I'm not worth a shit after that....usually my hands are done too.

I think I ski best after 2 or 3 days off with a jog or workout during that time.

[501Brandon]

Thanks a lot for the responses, I am going to try and get a "Normal routine" for a few weeks to see if I can become a tad more consistant! It does appear when I spend the first set running a few back to back that I am more relaxed and confident... Especially if they go pretty good!

[Nick Sullivan]

I'm with Than Bogan on this one. I follow what he suggested alot.

[Nick Sullivan]

Oh yea, my sets end up being pretty long as I fall often. 8 - 10 passes

[Horton]

2/3 s of rides are back to backs at passes at hardest pass I can run.

So 28

32x1 or 2

35 x 3 or 4

 

[Horton]

100 balls a day is a lot to me.

[Than_Bogan]

Just getting back to doing some arithmetic here (edit: Which I did totally wrong the first time!). Horton, you don't mean you AVERAGE 100 balls per day, do you? I think I average less than half of that. My typical scenario is 2 sets of about 8 about 3 times a week. That's something less than 300 buoys in a week, or just over 40 per day on average.

 

I probably ski a bit fewer buoys than many others at my level, but averaging 100 per day would crush me.

 

However, I sometimes do about 100 in a single day, which I'm guessing is what you meant?

[501Brandon]

On Saturday I skied sticking to a plan and trying to run a few clean back to back passes before moving to the next rope length...Today I was a little off on set 1 and terrrible in set 2... I came back and did a third set and started at 34/22' and ran 8 straight and binding came loose on start of the 9th pass. I was going to go until I missed or fell. I think some of our problem is I am skiing with only one other guy most of the time with noone to spot or point out mistakes... We have had folks with us this year and it did seem like when we had somone with knowledge we seemed to ski a little better. I dont know if its because they give you a focal point or just reassuring what you thought was wrong...

I also must say that this forum and site is by far the best I have found and the knowledge base on here is absolutely incredible. I appreciate all the input you guys have given so far and look forward to meeting some of you guys in the future.

BA

[Than_Bogan]

This site *is* amazing. Since I really can't justify a real ski school trip at the moment, this site has been the next best thing, and has truly made me a better skier. "Ski Year 2011," at the age of 40, was my best in almost every possible measurable way. And "Ski Year 2012" started off well on Saturday.

 

Keep the questions coming. I love helping the intermediate folks (because they're the only ones I *can* help...), and it sure seems the real gurus on here love helping wannabe-gurus like me!

[GAJ0004]

I usually run 7 or 8 passes per set, and usually no more than two sets per day. I get as deep as I can into shortline, and work on my hardest pass(32 or 35 off)depending on how far I get. If I have time I will do more than 8 passes, but I start lengthening the rope as I get tired to work on my endurance.