Jump to content

What I learned on the course today.


Taelan28
 Share

Recommended Posts

#1 I ski and turn a lot differently when I have buoys to go around. Also, when I free ski at 28 off I dont get nearly as wide as I should.

 

#2 I ski great at 15 off, I had so much time before buoys 2-5 today that I asked my spotter "Did that look cool?" before the next turn, but Im not consistent at it and the amount of slack I leave gives me trouble.

 

#3 Falling on my right side is most prone to knocking the wind out of me. Its embarassing every time.

 

#4 Thinking about women will cause me to miss the entire course.

 

#5 Y'all werent lying about inboards and zero off. When I pull the boat slows from 34 to 30.

 

#6 Y'all werent lying about shortening the rope being 10 times harder. Every time I've missed at 15 off since the first time I've said "Pssht I can do this" at after 2 times at 22 off Im not so sure.

 

#7 skiing the course A LOT will cause me to build muscle memory and close the gap between the way I free ski and course ski.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Baller

The course will make you humble. I've learned to never take a speed, buoy or pass for granted. The moment you do, you will fall.

 

I've learned to NEVER think, "I've got this pass in the bag if I just take it easy at the five ball". EVERY time I've done that, I've missed a pass I should have made. SKI ALL SIX!

 

I've learned that chasing that next pass is an all-consuming addiction. You always tell yourself, "I'd be satisfied to just run 22 off, 28 off, 32 off, 35 off, 38 off, etc". When you get there, you won't be satisfied -- trust me!

 

I've learned that you're always learning. I ski a lot of passes because I love to be on the water. I think and talk a lot about skiing because that's what makes me a better skier.

 

I've learned to work hard and focus, but never forget to ski just for fun. My first set of any day is always a right down the line tournament set, followed by work at my shortest and second shortest lines. Fun, but focused work. My second set is usually at my "middle length", where I just go out and rock pass after pass focusing on skiing light and skiing right. Just plain fun -- and you leave the water with a bunch of made passes and a smile on your face!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Baller
To not alway push myself to shorten the rope. I skied 4 back to back 32' passes and simply skied fluid and had fun. If I would have shortned, I would have been at my limit and there is time for that later. It's still early here in Colorado and having fun is better than "going in hard" at the 3 or 5 at 35. I won't stop trying 35 (run it 25% of the time), but there will be time for that later. Just enjoyed my sets today and felt I improved by not being close to my limit all day. Also 1st day of the year for 3 sets. Still conditioning.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Baller
To not alway push myself to shorten the rope. I skied 4 back to back 32' passes and simply skied fluid and had fun. If I would have shortned, I would have been at my limit and there is time for that later. It's still early here in Colorado and having fun is better than "going in hard" at the 3 or 5 at 35. I won't stop trying 35 (run it 25% of the time), but there will be time for that later. Just enjoyed my sets today and felt I improved by not being close to my limit all day. Also 1st day of the year for 3 sets. Still conditioning.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Baller

What Razor1 said, but I've also learned to run my first set as a tourney set (for those skiing tourneys). Shorten, shorten, shorten. Second set work technique and don't miss any balls. For years I didn't agree with this plan.

The funny thing I find is that I can run a nice 28, a CRAPPY 32, but then smoke a great 35. Normally I would have felt like a crappy 6 balls at 32 means I need to pound 32 til I get it right. Marching down the line and realizing that just because I had a shaky pass does not mean I stink today has made a difference for me at tourneys.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Baller

I've learned there is no substitute for time on the water.

If you don't miss a single pass, a two set day only adds up to about four minutes of actual course skiing. Ski four days per week and it only adds up to about 15 minutes. If the most you can practice ANYTHING is 15 minutes per week, expect to suck at it for a very long time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I learned today:

Freeskiing IS more fun than course skiing. I get more cuts and I get my money's worth.

Freeskiing poorly is not fun and is a result of not being aggressive.

To free ski better I need to try to run the course just four passes, it doesn't matter if I don't run a full pass I just need to try it. After I'll learn to be more aggressive in my pull and technique tightens up a lot more.

When my technique is good my body is in a good rhythm on the water, I'm very consistent with the distance I get away from the boat and more importantly I look cool.

The pull away left and then towards the first buoy need to be very aggressive as it sets the tone for the next 5 buoys. My pulls between buoys are only as strong as my initial pull.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Baller

OB said "...I think running 15' at full speed for the first time is as big as running 38' for the first time."

 

Amen to that! That first time at every pass is so damn amazing.

 

It kinda bums me out that I have probably done for the last time! But ya never know. Maybe I'll tame that "neutral" loop some day!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Baller

I learned I like going straight out at 32 off rather than 28. Not sure it will pay off at 38, but makes 32 the relaxed opening pass rather than one-up and makes it seem like putting it on 35 is no big deal. Today ran a couple of 32's, 4 35's (the quickest at 16.70 on PP classic), then put it on 28 and ran a 10 foot wide of the buoy pass w/hot boat time to finish up...one of the best 28 off passes of the season.

Still plan 28 as the tourney opener. Will be curious to see how this works out over time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Baller

@skijay , I have pulled @Razorskier1 at 28, 32, and then 12 consecutive successful 35 off passes in one set. Have also pulled him over 20 passes in one set...keep in mind both of these happened while on vacation where we each ski 3-4 sets/day for a week. Will have to count total passes over all sets in a day for him sometime while on that trip. Probably close to 50 passes per day on average. Oh yeah, throw in a couple of complete laps around his lobe of the lake barefooting, playing bean bag games in the yard, teaching kids to ski, pulling tubers, drinking keg beer, and staying up too late drinking gin and playing cards. Rinse and repeat the next day.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Baller
@SkiJay - when I ski correctly with good rhythm and handle control I don't use much energy. I drop at the ends just long enough for the rope to come tight again and we go again. Yesterday was two sets. This morning I ran 14 passes each set. First one I actually backed all the way up to 22 off and when I got to 32 just left it there. Second one I went out at 32 and ran 14 passes. In two days I have totally fixed my issues and am now ready to start running clean 35's with the same good rhythm.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Baller_
What I learned on this thread today.....@Razorskier knows how to take advantage of the two weeks of summer weather that MN is famous for. The rest is just winter. I'll be up there that first week of summer weather (June 30-July 9).
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tonight I learned that even though I wish my progress was faster, looking back at last year this time when all I wanted in the world was to run a single pass at 28.6 mph- running a bunch of them in a row feels pretty damn great.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Baller

What I learned in the course this week: a good gate is crucial.

 

This year I decided to completely rebuild my technique (I say this every year). It's been going well shadowing the balls, but fails apart by 2 ball every time I try to run 28' off.

 

This week I spent all my time working on a progressive turn in at the gates with max pull right behind the boat leading to an earlier edge change. This made all the difference and has let me run 28' 4 times. Slow progress, but at least it's progress.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I learned last night is that the mysterious rash on the inside of my right arm that has appeared over the last week and worsens after I ski is where my arm is connecting with my vest. Last night it corresponded with putting the PP in practice mode, adding 1 mph to my previous PB, and running it 4 times!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I learned how much i am pulling the outboard boat. I was behind an old 135hp mariner. I took one cut and i thought the rope was made out of elastic. I went back up to a 150hp outboard and notice the same sensation just less pronounced. It took a stonger example for me to feel the difference. Ill try an inboard for a few more bucks next week. I make decent cuts but my pulls are inconsistent likely due to the weak motor contributing to shaky and conservative pulls.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What i learned last week... I suck. My form is really bad from free skiing. I couldnt even run a pass at 15off at 52kmph. The woman watching from the dock said i looked cool but my driver laughed and said "wtf didnt you see him miss ball 2 on his first pass?" Thats the first time someone said i suck. Cant get angry or object. The buoys are also waaay out there, further than I usually go free skiing.

 

$25 for 4 passes is not worth it, thus I free ski most of the time. However if I got six passes I'd run the course A LOT more often. This place gave me six passes because the people in front of me got six passes, but when I got done to pay they said the bill was $75, like I went 3 times not two.... fiddle sticks.

 

Yesterday i learned didnt lose as much as i thought. I didnt run the course but i got nice and wide at 22 off and had good rythm. Skiing in horrid windy conditions can be as helpful as running the course. I also learned that the shorter the rope the better my timing needs to be. At 15off i can turn whenever I please. At 28off i gotta whip out fast, lean to decellerate and wait for the right moment to turn if i want want to be jerked around.

 

I also became a lot less numb to the position of my body. Before i was way to far back with pressure on my back leg. The adjustment really want big at all. I skied fairly consistently then got sloppier. All i want is consistenct and speed...and big spray... Chicks dig watching me ski. Really.

 

The rainy season is coming and i want to be pounding the course to force me to ski aggressively.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

learned to stop staring at the damn buoy as I round it- basic lesson I know I just didn't realize how much I've been doing that until an observer pointed it out. Made a big difference for me- I was able to put the .4 in 30.4 a few times rather easily.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

#1 Im no longer numb to the feeling of the inboard and outboard. The difference was noticable before, but now its night and day. Any thing less than 14 meters on an outboard is impossible.

 

#2 Outboard boats cause a lot of imbalance and Im at odds to properly balance on the pull, which causes me to pull way past the mid point creating a lot of slack even when I have a great pull.

 

#3 rolling wake waves arent nearly as big of an issue behind an inboard boat. Because the pull is much more stable I can deal with one inbalance instead of two.

 

#4 Skiing behind in outboard I ski like a beast only some of the time. Behind an inboard I ski like a beast all the time. Its less physically punishing, more physically demanding, and I ski awesome even when I was up to 5am drinking the night before.

 

#5 Getting through the gates sucks. I compromised two passes ($12) just to try to get through the gates. Someone on my salary is making foolish investments in leisure.

 

#6 Running a pass behind an inboard is harder, less physically punishing, more physically demanding and more predictable, thus eventually it will be easier :D

 

#7 Free skiing up to this point has been a means to improve technique through high repetition, an the ability to reset right away after a mistake. I would not be as good as I (think I) am now without it. However, the path of my ski on the course goes way out to the buoy then waits. To do that i needed to pull way past the centerline thus I have slack. Proper ski path has the ski constanly going out to the buoy. I cannot teach myself this manuever free skiing. I need a ball to go around and A LOT more practice.

 

#8 Free skiing once is a great and proper warm up before running the course.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

#1 Im awesome. I ran 28 off behind an inboard for the first time. and I did it with barely any skiing this week.

#2 I need to stop double tapping where I hit the brakes to stop myself on the way out, and then hit it again in my turn. Its really obvious in the video. I need to make it all one smooth motion.

#3 I have a tendency to get out stand up straight, lean, then turn. Proper technique is to lean on the way out and stretch... all in one fluid motion of course.

#4 Rolling waves suck. Sure the water is glassy but the leftover rollers, no matter how harmless they may appear, are hindering. I cant turn as hard, I cant get out as wide and I cant pull as hard. Using an inboard helps this but its still an issue.

#5 skiing when the water is flat is EASY! My god Everything came together right away. Getting wider, stretching and turning all in one motion made it darn easy. If there were buoys I would have been running ahead of them. AND I did it in the dark.

#6 Before I'd need two or three continuous days of skiing to get in my groove (outboards and wakes do not help), now I can warm up in a kilometer of skiing. Sweet.

#7 Rain at 70mph hurts. A bee sting to the nose at that speed hurts like hell! I thought I had metal shrapnell lodged in my nose.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51vccPFermQ&feature=youtu.be

 

Finally, forget 6 buoys, or even 12 buoy madness. This manmade lake is 2km long and was used for rowing competitions in 1988. Today its used for boat races. No rollers here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...