Junior buoys

[Rez]

At the local lake where I ski we are in the process of putting in junior buoys inside the normal turn buoys for new skiers learning to ski the course, is there a official length they should be at? we are just judging it by what we have seen at other lakes at the moment, does any one know how many feet/meters they should be away from the normal turn buoys?

thanks :)

[Horton]

@OB why not 6.125?

[Horton]

@ob I should have known there would be a real answer. Silly me .I would have gone 6.0625

[Ed_Obermeier]

For INT League the Novice buoys are 13' inside the regular skiers turn ball. For AWSA I believe they're 10'.

[ntx]

At 6.1 meters, I would not waste my time putting buoys out. Just drive between the outer most boat guide and the turn ball. (11.5 meters) This is also known as a mini course. I have found that by starting with turn balls about 8-10 feet inside the buoys it offers enough of a challange to the skier that they have to work but also have enough success that they stay motivated. Gradually move the buoys out to keep it a challange. Once they are within about 6 feet, time to go to the big course. We use a single cider block as a anchor.

[Ed_Obermeier]

I'll probably step on my you-know-what here @OB trying to do public math myself, but here goes...

 

If I did the math right 6.1m from centerline = 15' 5 1/4" out from the inner boat guide (20' 3/16" from centerline). With the regular turn ball being 11.5m (37' 7 3/4") from centerline and 33' 10 3/4" from the inner boat guide, that makes the distance 18' 5 1/2" in from the regular turn ball. I think that is the distance for a Disabled course turn ball, NOT AWSA Novice. I have the dimensions for a Disabled course around here somewhere but can't seem to find it right now...

[GOODESkier]

Insta-Slalom puts them at 10' in from the standard big boy course.

[Rez]

Thanks all for the help, we're going to go down to the lake tomorrow night (New Zealand time) and put the buoys in, looking forward to seeing some junior skiers getting that course skiing started!

[andjules]

this topic went quickly in the direction of 'official'/'correct' measurements. I'm with @ntx - I'm more interested in the 'best' distance for teaching/training. 6.1m doesn't sound right from a learning/progression point of view. At our lake, We've got a bunch of 10-15 yr olds, and we drive a 'half course' (drive btwn gates and turn balls), and it's way too easy, doesn't teach them enough about learning the full course (they can do the 'half course' easily at 30-32mph, but are nowhere close to doing the full course at 24 or 26mph).

So, in that context, @OB, @Ed_Obermeier and others, do you think '10 is the best answer for helping new skiers en route to doing the full course??

Our group wants to put in training/junior buoys this summer so I'd be grateful for the discussion.

[Ed_Obermeier]

FWIW I'd start with a distance that challenges their immediate ability without being too out of range. I think the INT distance (13' inside the turn ball) is a good place to start. Once they're getting that you can always move them farther out towards the turn ball to up the challenge. If they'll be doing any INT tournaments I'd definitely go with that first.