Neilly Ross - Slalom is easy. What is the big deal?

[Horton]

 

 

[Horton]

 

 

[crashman]

wow if I could emulate her glide out and move for the gate I'd be in pretty good shape.

[dthate]

watched her from the boat last summer, amazing skiing and attitude, sorta like dear old dad

[Wish]

I think Drew could tell you in detail what each person in the boat is wearing and doing. His eyes are locked on the boat almost to the second wake.

[dthate]

he pulled me two passes stopped and said your not using a wing and your bindings are ahead about two holes, I was on an old goode 9200 white top and he was correct.....hhmmm

[markchilcutt]

Wow!!!! unreal little girl!!!

[markchilcutt]

Anyone know what ski and what size she is on?

[Wish]

Looks like an Elite, which makes sence. Guessing a 64 or 65. Looks taller than her.

[Horton]

Yes she is on jr elite

[Than_Bogan]

Out of curiosity, any clue what the speed/length are there?

 

That is pretty amazing to watch. Wow.

[drew]

Neilly is riding a 62" Jr Elite, which is actually a little smaller than 62". I really like the Jr Elites for the smaller kids, as they are steady and forgiving, unlike many of the other high-end junior skis, which have livelier bevels and PVC cores.

Neilly weighs just over 70 lbs, so she could still be on the 59, but she found she liked the feel of the bigger ski. Set-up is fairly crucial, as it is dependent upon weight and performance level of the skier.

 

[markchilcutt]

@drew thanks my girl Sienna is 13 and weighs the same skiing -15 21-25mph and skiing the 59 or 62? obrien Jr Allegence. I have not done anything on set up other than move the rear toe closer to the heal of the frnt boot. Was Neilly on the jr allegience before the Elite? If So any suggestions on set up would be great we ski shallow colder water in Utah.

Thanks

[drew]

Mark, check the length of the ski as well as the binding placement numbers and let me know.

Neilly was skiing the junior allegiance before the junior elite.

[markchilcutt]

Thanks Drew will get back soon!!!!

[Wish]

@Drew how did you get her to keep her hips up like that and stay so open to the boat? That's what I can't seem to teach my just turned 13yr old. any advice would be great. Am in the Orlando area (skied Hancock tourneys many many times). Do you teach kids as well?

[DAL]

Wow, she gets airborne through the gates....

 

[SkiJay]

Neilly slaloms this well AND is setting world records on her trick ski. Genetic? Probably, but she is out on the water every day after school, rain, wind, cold and all. Neilly is earning these achievements the good old fashioned way, with great coaching, supportive family and TONS of dedicated hard work.

[thager]

@ Drew, Curious as to why you returned to the two hand gate?

[markchilcutt]

@drew My girl is weighing 85lbs her ski is a 62 and from heal of frnt boot i get 27 1/8.

Thanks, Mark

[skibug]

@thager, in the video he is using a 1 handed gate. Neilly is using and two handed gate though.

[drew]

Mark,

27 1/8 is good on this ski. 2.475 is a good fin depth, and not too long (6.720 jaws).

The anamoly is dft--when she moved from the 59 to the 62, the fin needed to go a fair ways forward (.110" from her 59 location). 1" from tail

[drew]

As the skier grows, the fin can move back...

[markchilcutt]

@drew thanks a bunch!!!! i will check measurements tonight and see where its at.

[boarditup]

When I grow up, I want to ski like her!

[Horton]

@boarditup from what I have seen she is a lot more mature that you...

[ForrestGump]

@Wish In relationship to your question about teaching your daughter, Charles Mueller was having that discussion just yesterday with a skier he was coaching while I was driving. The skier asked how he could learn to ski open. Charles reply was he shouldn't try to ski open just to ski open as it's an instinct thing. He said of all the skiers he had coached over the years, they each had an instinct for their shoulder and hip position relative to the boat course and that you could teach them within a range to ski more or less open. But that someone who skis closed would never be able to learn to ski extremely open like Neilly. And vice versa. He said the trick is figuring out how to maximize a given skiers skiing without pushing them too far out of that envelope which could be a detriment to their performance later as the passes get harder and they go back to their instinctual skiing. It would be interesting to hear Drew's take on that in regards to how he teaches Neilly and other youths.

 

FWIW, Marc Austin raves about the coaching that Drew has done with Bailey Austin over the last few years.

[Than_Bogan]

@ShaneH Definitely agree on openness. There's a range that is "wrong" but there's also a range that is "right" and that depends on individual body mechanics.

[SkiJay]

Gordon Rathbun is on a personal crusade to prove that nearly all the top skiers ski less open than they preach by showing photos of how closed their shoulders are to the boat approaching and through the wakes. He'll have a hard time finding a photo of Neilly like that.

[Roger]

Gordon Rathbun is on a personal crusade to prove that nearly all the top skiers ski less open than they preach by showing photos of how closed their shoulders are to the boat approaching and through the wakes. He'll have a hard time finding a photo of Neilly like that.

 

Or Nate...

[markchilcutt]

Or Rossi or Marcus or T whisper or Parrish or Will or etc etc etc

[skicoug]

A couple of observations: First, Pupil has surpassed the teacher. Second, strength to weight ratio. Third, the hip-counter rotation...crazy. Forth, very nifty reaching motion. I would be willing to be she is self-driven, crazy competitive and very smart......I am raising a daughter like this too.....her sport is soccer.

[SkiJay]

The teacher ran 4@-41 at the first RC tournament of the season this spring with virtually no practice ...

[ForrestGump]

@marchilcutt - Even those skiers you mention aren't completely open to the boat. Their hips follow the direction of travel more, and they have a down shoulder especially as they come into the load point behind the boat. Even Nate. They're not completely closed like Lucky, lets say, but they're not as open as some people would think. Which is the point that Gordon is trying to make. They've balanced it out. Neilly is different in that her hips are completely open to the boat also, which very few people can do effectively.

[thager]

@ Skibug Drews last microsecond was a quick one hand hybrid. All he rest was traditional two hand pullout and glide.

[SkiJay]

Another thing worth noticing in these two videos for anyone starting out fresh with their kids is that Drew skies with two boots but he has Neilly using a rear toe loop.

[skibug]

RTP...Parrish, Smith, Asher, Mapple....and a few more...maybe there is something to it.

[MattP]

Fisher, and Triplett

[Horton]

you guys can turn anything into a geek discussion

[thager]

A compliment from the Galactic Ruler of Geek?

[RichardDoane]

as the "russian" judge, I think she misses the entry gate on that pass

[skicoug]

@skijay.....obviosly she has not surpassed daddy in score.....but taken the videos above.....i would rather ski like her......I bet if someone in here did some relative analysis of a 70 lb (guessing 4'10"ish) score vs a 6'3 adult score, she would win .......bottom line pound for pound......not many in here would want to mess with her.

[liquid d]

My hips don't do that anymore...hahaha

[DanE]

@drew Is it a common pratice to move fin forward in extremes for kids that are on skis that are slightly big?

Got a 12 year old son who´s growing like weeds, it´s hard to keep up with the right size of equipment

as he also is progressing very fast.

He cleared the course in mid summer last season for the first time and now he´s already halfway through

32 mph @15 off skiing 30 mph in good body position (we live in Sweden so fairly short summers it is).

He´s on my old 67" HO S1 wich has been a very stable ski for him to learn on and it´s set up very close

to factory settings (just took the wing off when I quit skiing on it into 38 off and left the fin setting as it was).

Now, he is a big boy for a twelve year old weighing around 150-155 Ibs and close to 6´tall, should I try a

move of .100 forward with the fin?

I might add that he feels very confident on the ski and he is very reluctant in trying something else right now.

[drew]

Dan,

Sounds like you have a giant on your hands...I am not sure what the factory dft setting is for S1, but I would be careful about going too far forward given that your son is in a "normal" mass range. I think the reason that I have arrived at the numbers I have with Neilly's ski is largely due to her light mass and low mass/ski size ratio. I plan to move the fin back in small increments as she grows.

[Brian_M]

@drew I was wondering what binding options are out there for kids (age 7-9)? I believe I've seen a few of them in Wileys but can't tell if Neilly is using something else?

[MrJones]

If you call Wiley's they will make you extra small kid size bindings. Just tell them what size. I don't think they even charge any more than they do for stock sizes.

[drew]

Neilly uses Wiley's that I have customized. For kids they come out easily and offer great support.

[tru-jack]

Drew, or anyone with experience with kids; I'm getting my 6 year old girl going on a single ski and now needs a slalom ski. She's about 55lbs and only skis about 18-20mph depending on conditions. What suggestions do you have for a ski? the local shops have a 62" d3 z7 and 63" radar lyric but I'm open to other suggestions as well. I also think that Wiley's are the only way to go with her size 2 foot. thanks

[ToddL]

After looking at this video again, I'm pretty sure that she is using a "junior" or light weight rope. Notice how the rope bounces just after the turn. If that had been a standard rope, I'm pretty sure it would have struck the water and caused a nasty fall, possibly an OTF.