Weight forward in the turn

[Rez]

I'm a 15 off skier looking to progress through the ranks (hopefully one day get into shortened rope) and have noticed that in my turns that I often rock my weight back through the turn. Although I find I am able to get into a good stacked position across the wakes I do not generate as much angle as i want to to be early for the next ball.

do any of you ballers have any tips to think of to help with getting my weight forward in the turns and how i could generate greater angle?

anything is appreciated!

(I will try and get video when next skiing)

[Horton]

@rez

Most skiers are your level turn on the tail of the ski. What you want to do is have equal weight on both feet or a little more on your front foot through the whole turn. If you will keep your shoulders up and carve the ski with your lower body you should be able to turn with your weight centered and the tip of the ski down.

 

Make sense?

[Rez]

thanks!- yeah for sure that makes sense! i find that usually on my hardest pass at them moment 55km i usually get to the 3/4 ball and am running late skiing towards the ball rather than being early, hopefully this will help sort it out and keep the tip down

[Dusty]

What Horton said! Moving around on the ski to get it to do something is not the most efficient way. To me, if your stacked position is pretty good, it could indicate one or a combination of several things are happening- wrong ski/length, incorrect binding location or tuning issues. I forget where I first heard it (and they were no doubt quoting someone else) but paraphrased- "There is one 'best' skiing position (for you), and there are two turns"... The 'weighting' changes happen kind of automatically, based on accelleration, decelleration and skier path more than anything else.

Another 'nugget' various coaches have yelled at me about is that if the line is too tight at my turn apex, the ski can not finish and have usable angle. Meaning too that I did something wrong well before that turn and needed to 'create space' first.

15 off is a pass where the boat is well out in front of you at the buoy, and you are not easily getting, 'free of the boat'. Try skiing it like a shorter line pass- work hard spray to spray, and keep your ski position, with the handle in and down on a turning edge,until you are out to buoy width, then release and finish the turn. You will get space and wont need to move around on the ski much at all.

[JJVDMZN]

@Dusty & @Horton, Wouldn't it better to bring the speed down to say 45km/h instead of 55km/h and shorten the rope, just to get the basics of the turn right and then increasing the speed again?

 

I'm doing the same as @Rez (Riding the tail 18m at 45km/h).

 

BTW last week was the first time that I used a slalom course, (only the inner beginner buoys) and I'm in awe and envy of the guys that's running the course at 55 & 58km/h.

 

The slalom course bug has bitten.......

[Moggie]

If you're anything like me, I get onto the back foot when I'm running late as I fool myself into thinking I need to get into a leaning position earlier to make up ground. It never works. Maintaining a balanced position and having patience to allow the ski to finish the turn does work.

 

I find the big difference between 52kph and 55kph is that you have to have greater commitment to the edge change. Make sure you’re leaning all the way to the second wake before you start the transition.

 

There’s lots of advice about how to get into a balanced position, ‘standing tall’, ‘hips forward’, ‘flexing the ankles’, ‘flexing the glutes’ etc. Everyone interprets these slightly differently so find the one which works for you and focus on it through the pass.

[ForrestGump]

Just don't get into the habit of moving your weight forward by hinging at the waist and bringing your shoulders forward over your front foot. Instead think of moving your core forward. I think of squeezing my butt cheeks together to accomplish this, and it happens after the white water and before the buoy line.

[Rez]

@ShaneH i see what you mean just by standing up and squeezing my butt cheeks together, it tightens up my core and brings my hips forward, i'll be sure to put that into practice!

[ToddL]

As I am moving through the edge change, I think about bringing my hip forward over my front foot. This is so that I am approaching the turn already stacked and core forward. As a result the turns finish better and I start the next wake crossing with better stack. This makes the next edge change smoother and easier to again move my hip over my front foot.

[Dusty]

JJVDMZN- Re: slowing down... maybe... slower usually equals longer pulling and more tension at the buoy. Much harder to maintain position when pushing more water. As a drill to learn and maintain body position it works but it is a lot of work and it's sort of like running the course from a deep water start position. Builds 'character though...!

[JJVDMZN]

@Dusty thanks for the advice.

[crashman]

@ShaneH and others once again speak the truth- I had some very bad outcomes trying to "use more of the ski" by hinging at the waist. In my own skiing I've noticed balance during the turn is correlated with adequate speed and angle generated during the previous wake crossing.

[Lucas]

I was having great difficulty getting to the buoy early and was given the most simple remedy ever. Instead of looking at the buoy, look 3m before the buoy, only have the buoy in peripheral vision and don't focus on it at all. I did this without deliberately changing my lean and I was instantly extremely early

 

[Rez]

@lucas that makes sense! will have to try it out!

[ToddL]

@Lucas, my rule is don't even look for the buoy (not even in your peripheral vision) until after you've already done the edge change. The lean should be about stack and efficiency - get there as early and soon as you can efficiently get there without over-loading the boat. When you do this, you will discover that after your edge change, you have time to enjoy the turn.

[Rez]

cheers for the advice, just to let you know my technique is now perfect and I am slaying 55/34s!

 

[Horton]

@Lucas most of the time not being early has far less to do with where you are looking than you body position leaving the previous ball. If you stack is not good or your handle is away from your body at the wakes you are going to ski at the ball no matter where you look.

[colo_skier]

@Horton " If you stack is not good or your handle is away from your body at the wakes you are going to ski at the ball no matter where you look." That is one of the best explanations to me of why if I feel my hips are up and at the handle everything just seems to work a whole lot easier.

[ricar116]

great question Rez...food for thought for another 15 offer. I think I have been over compensating with too much front foot pressure to break the rear foot pressure habit. So balanced with slight front foot pressure to initiate the turn. Then back to balanced. I'll give it a try.

[Lucas]

@Horton yea I agree with that fully, although I believe that by simply changing where I had my head pointing, I inadvertently changed my body position, giving me a much stronger position which was the reason I was getting to the ball early. It could just be me and the way I ski and might not work for everyone so I just do what Emma Sheers tells me to do.

[Razorskier1]

I wish I hadn't read this thread. Can't get the image of @ShaneH‌ squeezing his butt cheeks out of my head. Just try to always be balanced.

[thager]

Left cheek = Right cheek?

[Horton]

@Lucas‌ that actually makes sense

[ozski]

@Lucas - Emma is a good coach mate.

[ToddL]

Leading butt cheek or trailing butt cheek?

[ForrestGump]

It's just a little bit disturbing that you guys are thinking so much about my butt cheeks.