Top Tips For Running -35

[ozski]

For the guys who own -35 and upwards what is your best advice to progress beyond -32. From my own perspective -28 / -32 sort of come together but the jump to -35 is a significant barrier.

[Horton]

Learn to be 100% stacked. Learn to keep two hands on the handle out to the ball line. Move around on the ski less.

[liquid d]

What speed are you skiing?

[Wish]

Visually differant. Something your eyes need to get used to. Your head/eye site line becomes more on the inside of the buoy line at the turn. Also the completion of the turn will happen further down course in feel compared to 28/32. Won't get that backside the ball feel. Trying to get that feel and the whole body around ball can cause skiers to make abrupt correction to match what is felt and seen at 28/32. That can hold you back. There is a trust level. Trust that the feel of just the ski going arround is enough and trust that you may feel later out of the ball but most likely your not. All of this is very pronounced at 38.

[GOODESkier]

I would say make sure you are backing up your passes @ 32. I felt like my trick to get better at 35' OFF was found in fixing some of my inconsistencies at 32' OFF. Working STACKED at 32' OFF and making sure you don't just "make it through 32" OFF to try a 35' OFF. Run back to back 32's until you miss. I am betting there is something in your pass at 32' OFF that you can manage to get through, but it is holding you back from running 35' OFF all the time. The shorter it gets, the more amplified the blemishes............ It happens to us all at some point. Just when it happens at 43' OFF for the pro, we don't look at it as a blemish, cause CRAP HE JUST RAN a bit at 43...........

[TravisNW]

Own 32 inside and out. Horton is right good alignment of your body during lean is imperative for leverage. Edge change needs to be early and handle needs to be inside the Bouy line. Also try and keep a tight line, slack line = delayed acceleration and you will get late. Also try the pass early on in your sets at least by the third pass and try it 2 maybe 3 times Max per set so fatigue is not a factor. To often I see people take to many passes, it's better to take more small sets, I take 6 passes max and am a fitness freak running mountain marathons, crossfit etc. I'm a trainer. Slow the boat down if you need to.

[skier2788]

ort of the buoy at 90 degrees to the pylon. I found myself pulling harder and longer at 35 but still ending up narrow! It's very frustrating so say the least. I did not start running 35 consistently until I grew my confidence so I stopped pulling so hard/long, and finally the lightbulb went off that I will not see outside the buoy line on any line lengths past 32 off.

This is what Rossi said in an earlier post. Copied and saved. Something I will read a lot over this summer.

[ColeGiacopuzzi]

Make sure you have a great gate, once you hit 35 off, you have to make sure your gate is wide, and you don't load too soon, if you do, you find yourself flying into one ball. On your gate, staying on the front of your ski, your turn in should be from a wide point up on the boat into the white wash, but the turn in is only creating angle, once you get to the white wash, you then load the rope (which should only be behind the boat) you will find yourself wider, and not as fast into one ball, because the time you have spent loading the rope has decreased. What you do in your gate translate into the course, wide gate=wide in the course, narrow gate=narrow in the course. Another big thing is confidence, once you know you can do it, you can.

[rockdog]

I didn't know ropes could go that short.

[Jordan]

Try to finish your turn at the buoy, instead of starting your turn at the buoy line. Everything has to happen earlier.

[markchilcutt]

Disclaimer i dont own 35 or 32!

I second what @Wish had to say. I believe we can ski it pretty close to the same as -32 if not for the change in vision. I have a tendancy to pull to long going to the bouy @35 because my vision of the bouy has changed and my brain says keep pulling or you will never get out there when in fact it is the exact opposite. If i am stacked as @horton stated and can complete my pull by the center line of the wake and trust i will get my ski around the ball i can run the pass.

[A_B]

Wish has some good insight. I think most guys over-pull to the buoys to get the "early" sensation of longer line. This sets up a lot of bad reactions at the ball. Better to be on edge and not flying and just get outside the ball when in trouble. Think of skiing away from the handle for the last bit of width vs pulling your butt off.

[Razorskier1]

Don't get in a hurry to get to the ball and turn. Do what @Horton said and it will get you there.

[Booze]

@skier2788, do you have the link for that post from Rossi?

[A_B]

I bet more 35 and 38's are missed because of pulling too hard and long than anything else, once you are capable. At least that seemed to be my experience.

[skialex]

Great discussion, I'm planing to read the tips very carefully before hitting the water next Saturday!!!

[skier2788]

http://www.ballofspray.com/forum#/discussion/comment/159846 @Booze‌ it was a great thread but not many comments

[ozski]

@OB genius

[Than_Bogan]

Here's two things that I feel are noticeably different from -32:

 

1) Get up high for the gate. No, higher.

2) Learn to leverage while travelling up-course. Many people talk about not pulling too long, which I think is accurate from a certain viewpoint, but thinking about it that way doesn't work for me. For me personally, it doesn't correspond to coming off my pull -- I'm too weak to give up any pulling! What it does mean is that I have to be willing to travel in the direction the rope wants to go, and NOT try to set some angle and just stick with it even as the handle begins to swing up-course after the centerline.

 

I guess another way of saying it is: I don't try to let up early; I think that's a recipe for disaster. Instead, I keep loading while changing my direction to be a hair less cross-course and a hair more up-course.

 

When I do that, I suddenly stop fighting with it and it can seem easy. When I don't, it can be a really ugly struggle.

 

Fwiw, these also seem to be keys at -38 and maybe even at -39 (as if I know anything about THAT!). They both have to happen even more.

[ski6jones]

@Than_Bogan‌, this makes sense to me.

"I keep loading while changing my direction to be a hair less cross-course and a hair more up-course."

[Ed_Johnson]

Just go and watch a Video of Nate and do what he does.

[Wish]

Actually THE BEST video to study is @twhisper‌ slow motion 28-39. THE best technique period. And the best slow motion footage. If he was as tall as Nate (3 cheers for short guys) Nate would have his hands full.

[T_C]

@wish people need to be careful about who they try to emulate. I tried twhispers gates for two years. Last year when Terry was in the boat he asked me who's gate are you trying to use? I said yours. He said dude your gates suck you need to go to a two handed gate. Lefties have a hard time with a one handed gate.

[gator1]

@tc‌ Terry said "lefties have a hard time with one handed gate", meaning left foot forward?

[thager]

Actually I was taught that it will help lefties by Drew Ross. Explanation was that it makes it easier to rotate the turn in. For me it does help.

[gator1]

This lack of consensus crap makes me nuts.

[Ed_Johnson]

My only other advice is "Don't Get Married," that way you won't be bitched at in the morning about going to ski, will feel more positive, and will probably run it.

 

PS: MS is the exception, a lucky Man !!!!

[Wish]

Hmmm. His gate. Did not think of that when I posted it. I would not recomend trying that. BUT once he hooks up for the gate.....ya....study the hell out of that !!

[waterskicorey]

@Ed_Johnson not only in the morning all the time :))

[ozski]

Just for the fun of it I went through some of my own video skiing @ -32 compared it almost frame by frame to TW. Its a humbling exercise but it does very clearly show up where I'm giving up the most space. From the moment of edge change TW carries a much more aggressive edge change outbound, he's traveling much further on the inside edge than I do, the spray coming off my ski looks nothing like what his does. His move up over ski as he reaches is also more pronounced, as a result he's much more centered and has a lot more ski in the water. Easy enough to see, not so easy to transfer onto the water. From center line to turn, handle control, use of ski , body position... Its all good.

[ozski]

Something to focus on over our winter

[GaryWilkinson]

So much coaching, so little time!

I've seen this Video at least a hundred times and every time it just seems the message is simple:

 

1) set a good stacked position of leverage and crank it thru the wakes !

2) keep the handle in close till you reach course width, then and only then, reach and turn your whole body and ski completely till you get to ball backside in a great stacked position and repeat.

 

The big thing I see what I'm not doing enough of is getting a far-enough- back and stacked position to generate enough speed from buoy to 2nd wake to then cast wide pre-buoy and then slow down enough to turn in control.

 

If I specifically look at the difference between -32 and -35 the degree of intensity of TW stacked position from buoy to behind boat, and check it out, there a correlation between degree of lean and timing of edge change. At -35 has a stronger, higher intensity pull but is definitely shorter in duration and length cross course.

 

Now if the ice would just leave the lake .......!