Who of you ballers barefoot?

[A_B]

Need a No, but used to.

[Fatroll]

My wife is the footer. She makes it look easy. I make it look very difficult.

[evolski]

Once a year to say I still do...

[Brewski]

I try to foot more than slalom. Depends on water conditions and boat.

[Kelvin]

Have done it in the past, but not in the last 10 years.

[Bulldog]

Only on the boom. Long line falls hurt this old body too much.

[RLW]

Agree with @Bulldog. I take hard enough falls in slalom. I don't need the additional speed and faceplants.

[skidawg]

Did for years....finally grew out of it!

[Texas6]

Once a year the bf suit comes out of the closet and every time it feels like it was made for my 10 year old. I barefoot that day...poorly.....and have a blast doing it. I am then sore for a month

[usaski1]

There's a pic of me somewhere "footing" on the tops of my shins, (think of sitting on your feet) holding on to the boom. One of the craziest things I've ever done.

[behindpropellers]

Barefooting is so much easier on the body than slalom skiing.

[Jordan]

I guess that I am actually somewhere in between the two affirmative answers. I probably go a half dozen times per summer....but slalom is king!!!!

[estrom]

One of many here who used to, but haven't in many years. Funny story - back in the young-and-dumb days, I first tried footing using the deepwater start with feet crossed over the rope. Problem was, I didn't have a wetsuit and failed to consider the effect of water shooting up my back between me and my life vest (circa 1980's vest that was as snug as I could get it). Dad hit it and I went straight down. Mom was panicking in the boat because I was gone and the rope went straight down off the back of the boat. I don't know how deep I was when I let go, but it was pitch black and it took a LONG time before I could even see light as I floated to the top. Glad it was deep water at Shasta!

 

[Razorskier1]

Good for quads and core strength, and sometimes pretty amusing.

[gsm_peter]

Never had the chance to try it out until lately when there was a waterski boat and maybe some one to teach. But I have not consider it.

Guess the risk is too high compared to the success if starting at my age.

 

However, it looks like great fun.... so I might have to give it a go one of those days.

BTW what would you consider least dangerous to start with this late in life, barefoot or jumping?

 

[FrankS]

My uncle is a former world champion and the owner of a pretty well known company in the barefoot world... It's in my blood.

 

[skifan]

Yes I do. Gives you a different feel for the water and a different type of adrenaline rush. Need to change it up once in a while.

[Edbrazil]

...as in I think I can. Been a few years, for sure. Something like the goal to take one good rideover of the jump ramp to prove to it that it didn't win.

 

Many stories from the Olde Daze about barefooting, when it was considered to be about like the pinnacle of waterski achievement if you could do it, along with SL, TR, and JU. I can elaborate, with some details from the 1950's and 1960's, if there is interest to hear "The rest of the story'.

 

And, I occasionally still have dreams about barefooting, where I do turns FB and FB, which I never did or tried back when, although fantasized at the time, well before people actually did turns.

 

Although, most of my waterski dreams these days are about trying to get a site set up for a tournament, when it is an impossible situation to do in time and I'm well behind. Hmmm...not all that different from the reality On The Tour with some events.

[6balls]

Here and there...flying deeps, body slides, tumble-turns and one foots.

[rockdog]

Absolutely, regularly. Whenever I have a ski always look to have a foot to finish the day off if conditions permit.

[tfriess]

With one of the guys I ski with, we always start out with morning with some MONSTER runs and then the freestyle makes a appearance. My favorite thing to do is a 2 ski bombout behind the boat. Such a rush! Teeth holds have been attempted but no picture yet.

[6balls]

@tfriess you can two ski bomb out but not teeth hold? I used to do 'em when my neck was younger!!

 

As an aside, I volunteered at a ski camp a few years back and Jon Kretchman showed up as well. Great guy. He's telling me he doesn't ski much anymore and really doesn't take too many risks. The campers want to see him ski so he puts on his suit and I get to pull him. It was ridiculous! He hasn't lost a step.

[Eagle1]

I've been footing since 1987. Got to where I can do every trick including line steps, side slides, etc.. After buying Eagle Sports and getting involved with slalom skiing, I'm now finding myself on the ski more than barefoot and really enjoying the challenge. I've traded slalom lessons for barefoot lessons with some of our pro skiers.

[Lucas]

I've figured out that barefooting is the ultimate hangover cure. 1 fall and you'll be well and truly awake and ready to go again

[RazorRoss3]

I know how but I fall a lot which hurts so I don't do it much and because I don't do it much I fall a lot and I think we all see how this circle keeps going around.

[SusanT]

I've had to break out the barefoot suit again as having twin 10 year old boys, they are starting to get into it. Coming from show skiing, they have seen too much of it and love it.

 

[Skoot1123]

This year was a drop in my footin' but I enjoy it immensely. Hope to do more of it next year. Tumble up turns and surface spins are great fun! That's about the extent of my barefooting tricks, but it is such a rush....and different than slalom. Gets you relaxed and pumped up!

[GAJ0004]

Longline deep water start and a few tumbleturns. It has been a while since I have tried a flying dock start, or one foots. I have not been doing as much lately since I have been doing tournaments.

[mlange]

Use to a lot. Scorpioned back in high school pretty badly and had to be pulled into the boat. Now that I'm getting older and have bad back problems because of that episode I wish I had never learned. Of course, at the time I thought I was the sh*t because of it. Guess I grew up too late.

[Zman]

Not near as much as I used to because slalom comes first. But, still love it - front footing and backwards. Pretty much stick to handle section on boom.

[thager]

Used to but 4 broken noses, a broken foot, and numerous free enema's cured my enthusiasm.

[Oldutskier]

Boom only. It is fun to do from time to time. I need to get @eagle1 to teach me some tricks.

[bassfooter]

Deepwater starts and a few tumbleturns. Good way to stretch out and wake up!

[DooSPX]

I have in the past on the boom, but haven't in 10 years or so.

[Moe]

been a footer for 30 years. Barefooted in Eastern Regional tournaments. love to do flying dock starts, back one foots, tumble turns, rope in teeth, rope over neck, etc. Can no longer ski due to bad hip and 2 shoulder replacements. So I have to sell my '89 Ski Centurion Warrior w/225hp Yamaha and Chariot trailer. $5900 OBRO. e-mail darylmottice@yahoo.com if anyone is interested

[6balls]

@moe loved that boat. Wish you could keep at it. Gotta be some ski show dude who would love it.

[PatM]

I use to. Learned all the tricks I wanted to learn and lost all interest (file under Been there, Done that). Slalom is such a challenge-you never are satisfied. I also don't miss the falls. I always thought that barefooting was the best way to show off on water, but a former girl friend thought watching slalom (no course at the time) looked cooler. It just add fuel to a already burning fire. Neighbors still think that my flip off the dock flying dock start was the coolest thing they ever saw. Don't tell them it was an easy trick.

[usaski1]

Thought I might show you some footing.. sorry to dig up an old thread.. but I figured this pic was worth it.

[MISkier]

Very cool @usaski1.

 

I did it for the first time 2 weeks ago - a drag-roll-up start from the boom on the first try. 40 years skiing and just now did it.

 

When I was 19, we tried it without knowing what we were doing. After trying to drag and twist into position behind some very slow boats (50 HP, if you can believe we attempted that), we tried stepping out of the ski behind a faster boat to very painful results. Each failure convinced us the boat was not going fast enough. My last attempt, at 42 mph, was a spectacular faceplant-to-submarine-to-scorpion combination with full double heel contact to the back of my head. The Russian judge only gave me an 8.5, though. My back hurt for days and my barefoot attempts were finished for the next 30 years.

[pgmoore]

No chance. 100% no.

[Zman]

@MISkier Sounds like you took the advice of John Gillette, who wrote the book on barefooting about 35 years ago and said something to the order of - if after your first fall, tucking your head does not become instinct, give this book to someone else and take up another sport.

The tough one is backward footing - can't tuck the head. Taking a fall backwards is where you learn that seeing stars is not just something made up for cartoons (like I had thought until I started footing backwards).

[MISkier]

@Zman, I'm actually amazed I had the good sense to stop after those first attempts. Well, good sense brought on by significant amounts of pain. Most everything I did back then only lacked the words "Hold my beer and watch this".

[6balls]

@MI skier love the Russian judge...we used to use that line all of the time. @razorskier1 and other brothers Dan, Joe and myself learned by stepping out longline in trunks and vest behind a 13.5 ft switzer with a 140 evinrude. We didn't know any better and thougth you had to go real fast. 50 plus mph and I was 12 years old! We got pounded until a show skier came over and set us straight. We still learned by stepping out and the Russian judge was often watching, but we were then at the proper speed...which for me at that age was only about 30.

[Skoot1123]

Don't foot nearly enough. Love watching the freestyle footers as they really put on a show. If you get a chance to get some coaching at WBC do it - Josh Groen and Ashleigh Stebbings were awesome coaches - and amazing skiers!

[foxriverat]

I can but dont very often. Learned about 20 years ago long line sitting on a knee board behind an old switzer. You got outside the wake. Then everyone in the switzer had to get in the bow and driver gave full throttle to get the old girl to plane out.

[skialex]

I can do it at the boom but have not tried it for the past 10 years.

[rodltg2]

popped my eardrum on a failed tumble turn attempt years ago and pretty much gave it up. I found course skiing shortly after and now its maybe once a year on the bridle off the boom up and back the ski lake and that's enough.

[Wish]

Was footing everyweekend with a couple good friends yrs back. We did most everything long line and boom with bridal. I stopped pushing the limits when they decided to move to long line for backwards starts. Figured I liked slalom to much to reck doing that. Didn't help that both guys would put on a neck brace BEFORE attempting LL back starts.

[6balls]

@wish wise move. Back falls are bell ringers in my experience. I never got up LL back deep but did both shoe ski and on feet backwards off the boom short-line enough to realize that it was the end of the road for me.

[Wish]

@6balls agreed on the wise move. Worst fall I ever took barefooting was a back to front off the boom short-line. Needed one then for sure. But that long line crap looked sooooooo violent before they popped up. Not for me. Nope.