Any tips?

[doonez]

This is a 22 off pass at 36 which I got a video of in practice today. I have been working on keeping my chest facing down course on my offside turn to help with my frequent shoulder dropping (as seen on onside at 3 ball). Any pointers would be really appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdHl27R9xdA&feature=youtu.be

 

(Had to put it on YouTube because it wouldn't upload direct?)

[RichardDoane]

you need to adjust the bimini straps

 

 

[MattP]

@doonez I fixed your video. FYI you can't upload video directly to the forum.

 

That's some smooth skiing!

Lets see I really like the width on your gate. You lost a little width before you turned in but not much.

I think it is hard to see everything that is going on withe the lighting and only with 1 pass to go on but this is what I see.

 

I think you and I suffer from some of the same things.@ShaneH told me this about my skiing.

"The thing that sticks out is that you never ski to the end of the rope. You get to a point where you think you need to ski too, then you half reach and come back. You don't keep your sternum continuing out. Kind of a chicken wing type thing. Cuts off a good 3 ft of swing."

I do not see this issue at every turn I think it is something to think about.

 

It also looks like you are sometimes changing edges & giving the rope up to the boat at the same time by letting your arms extend towards the boat then a quick release of your outside hand.

I would also say that you come back to the handle with your outside before the ski has finished it's turn, but you are getting away with it because you are patient and wait to load the rope. Ski back to the handle.

 

You are in a good strong position behind the boat as well. Keep it up!

[doonez]

@richarddoane make them tighter?

 

@mattp thanks for editing it. I admit that it's a pretty bad video in giving info with the sun behind etc. I'll try to find another coming back the other way into the sun and put it on. Thanks for the advice.

 

Edit:

Here's a 36 15off vid. I'm embarrassed to upload this as it was a pretty ugly pass! But I guess it'll give you a lot to give advice on...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4l28DpAEOs&feature=youtu.be

 

Btw @mattp I can't work out how you made the other video embed

 

 

[MattP]

@doonez you were using the mobile m.youtube.... link and only a youtube.com link will self embed into the forum

[MattP]

@doonez +1 on the ski choice! What settings are you running?

 

Something that @Wish told me that I see in your skiing is

What I see is that trailing shoulder get twisted back in towards the boat off the second wake. Separates your handle and hips

I don't know if this is happening because you are

keeping my chest facing down course

or you are taking to much load out of the turns and you can't manage it thus you are getting pulled around.

 

Having a little more counter or thinking shoulders in line with the rope will help your ski come around better on your 1,3,5. Right now it looks like a school bus of a turn then you load hard to make up the time and in doing so your leading shoulder is getting pulled forward right after the wakes. Along with you giving the rope/your hands to the boat right as you edge change and release all at once it seems so you can control the speed you just created when you were making up time from your 1,3,5 turn. This is causing you to loose your outbound direction.

 

Keep the handle in and take it out bound farther after the edge change keeping your hands on the handle until you feel the boat wanting to take it from you then release allowing your shoulders to fall in line with the rope. Then be patient and wait to load the rope. Ski back to the handle.

 

As your season is just starting and most of ours is just ending keep the video's coming and share your progress with us!

[SkiJay]

@doonez I'm going to predict that you are going to make rapid progress because you have a lot of good fundamentals going for you. My favorite is how dynamically you are moving your hips through a well timed edge change behind the boat. A lot of skiers don't figure this out until coming up against -32. Your edge change might get a hair earlier as the rope shortens.

 

+1 on @MattP's handle comment. Force yourself to keep the handle low and close until well outside the second whitewash (this takes physical effort) and you'll pick up another pass or two without changing anything else.

 

Finally, you're cutting in a fairly compressed posture. There are lots of guys who go all the way like this, Terry Winter and Chet Raley to name a couple, but skiing taller has two advantages. One, it would allow you to get your hips and handle together which is a very powerful and safe position. Two, Andy Mapple made the statement on a Gordon Rathbun video that if you ski taller, you have the option of compressing if you find yourself late after the ball. If you are in the habit of always skiing compressed, you don't have that option.

[Wish]

@doonez. Start with the start. Your glide is good, and you load the line in the right place. But there is a little work to be done between those points. Try to lead the turn in with your hips first. U tend to lead with your shoulders then hips. Causing you to put more weight on the back foot and that will kill a little speed as the back half of the ski sinks a bit. Will also affect how you should b turning in. Hips first will keep more the the skin in the water. As @SkiJay mentions compressed yes and taller would serve you better . Most likely will eliminate some of the air time off the second wake as well. To get rid of the separation, try feeling more pressure in your trailing arm (right going to one and left to two) off the second wake. That would be the physical effort @SkyJay is talking about. Should do two things. Line will be tighter/closer to you and the ski will cast out under you vs you getting twisted and leaned toward the boat. Will set you up for a wider arc. Will feel different.

[doonez]

@mattp I am running Joel's settings. I practiced keeping that trailing arm down and tight. It made me feel a lot more stable off the second wake and there was definitely a lot more width! Also I thought about staying open for longer on my onside which allowed me to get a lot more angle.

 

@skijay thanks. My head was kinda full in this mornings sets with all the other stuff but I will definitely try standing taller across the wakes next time I am at the lake.

 

@wish I will definitely try to turn in for the gates by engaging with my hips next time I am out. I have tried it before but sort of forgot not long after as I was working on other stuff at the time. I remember it feeling really good when I got it right and it set me up for the whole pass. At the moment the turn in looks and feels awkward.

 

By simply trying to keep the handle in and down I went just inside 6 ball at 28 twice this morning

[woolly110]

nice skiing hope i can start catching up to you soon as its my last year at 58kms. did you sell your a2 yet?

[doonez]

@woolly110 thank! The A2 is still on the market

[Zman]

@Wish I always like reading your comments and find them very helpful. But, have to ask if you had a typo above with "try feeling more pressure in your trailing arm (right going to one and left to two) off the second wake".

@Sethski and others - I thought - just cleared this up in another thread, and just watching others ski, the left arm is "trailing" the right arm going to 1,3,5.

And, when I skied with @Rossi he always referred to the hand/arm coming back onto the handle after the turn as the trailing arm. Like your suggestion to @Doonez he felt I needed to get more load on this hand sooner than I was. He wanted to see 50/50 load in each arm as soon as I was settling into my new lean.

[Wish]

@Zman. Guessing your referring to which arm I am talking about? Trailing isn't the best term. This is always confusing because so many say it so many different ways. But the right arm going to one ball and the left arm going to two is what I am saying. Think of it this way for which arm I'm talking about...your going right so it's the right arm. Going left, left arm. This does not work for everyone. And some say the opposite. But, I think it may be worth a try for a set or two in this case.. and at a pass that is normally run. I like the 50/50 to the centerline, then I pick up a bit more load, which at this point is becoming much less, from center line to the release. But, it's not extreme. I still have load in both. It's enough to keep the handle close and low and not get twisted back into the boat. Hope that clears it up :)

[dave_n]

@doonez solid skiing. Sound basis to work from.

I know there's a chance of being off topic, but I feel it's important to make my point in this thread, straight after @wish has stated his opinion about which arm should be referred to as what in the course.

Back arm and front arm can be confusing. ( old school v today's skiing )

Leading arm and trailing arm must be the most straightforward terms to use. The leading arm will always arrive at the wake before the trailing arm. ( because it's leading ) The trailing arm will always arrive at the wake after the leading arm. ( because it's trailing ) It doesn't matter which ball you're going towards. All the time both hands are on the handle this rule always applies. As soon as only one hand is on the handle ( reaching ) the arms can be referred to as the inside ( still on the handle ) and the outside arm ( outside of the arc that the ski is scribing )

This has got to be the easiest way to refer to which arm's which at any point in the course, without writing a short essay about which buoy you've just turned and which one you're travelling to.

[Wish]

or right arm going right and left arm going left. That seems easy ;-)

[ForrestGump]

If you're trailing arm ever gets ahead of your leading arm, you are screwed.

[The_MS]

@Shane That is good advise

[thager]

Just check six!

[Zman]

Thank you @dave_n - although we may still have one disbeliever. Trailing arm quite simply trails, so LEFT arm going right. (Would love to see the ski style that has the right arm trailing while going right)! Like @ShaneH said - that person would be screwed. lol Maybe we need to back up one step and be sure everyone knows which arm is the right vs left. :)

[doonez]

Bump... I have been running a few 28s and done a little bit at 32 recently but would like a bit more help from all of you before the end of the season (southern hemisphere)! Do you think you could offer me a little more advice? Would really appreciate any input! Here's some clips... (that's the farthest through 32 I've been (First set with Horton's Vapor settings)

 

Edit: Ignore the bimini strap

 

 

[Rez]

you could do with trying to initiate the turn earlier