dropski

After working in the snow ski industry/world awhile, its interesting to note the difference in focus between the two "skiings". As the saying goes in snow skiing, "you date your skis but marry your boots". Seems in waterskiing the focus is on the latest ski and the boot is an afterthought. Almost the opposite in snow skiing. I have spent hours with my boot fitter trying to get the perfect fit and doing all sorts of modifications and work to my ski boots to get the perfect fit and consequently best performance. Im not a great waterskier by any means, but it would seem to me that maybe just like snow ski boots, waterski bindings would make a greater contribution to your performance than the ski itself. Where am I going wrong? Is it simply not as important on the water?

When I skied in college the past four years I had the time of my life. Many teams have a decent practice boat during the week. At tournaments we get to ski behind brand new towboats with experienced drivers. All for the small price of team dues. The tournament scene was amazing, sure there are people there with various levels of serious commitment to tournament skiing, but I know tons of people who would love to continue outside of college. Maybe collegiate tournament organizers could provide more information and incentives to collegiate skiers who will be graduating on how and where they can continue after graduation. Tons of us would love to continue.

I just moved to Utah and can't wait to ski Alta and Bird. Opening day is today for a couple places here

Hate to part ways with it, but I just moved to Utah and snow skiing is expensive.. SIA

I improved the first set after I got a reflex. Trick rope and handle are nice to have. I have and recommend ML spectra rope and hands only handle personally

I have a Wiley rtp on my VType. It's bare bones , durable and simple as you can get. You won't have to worry about it

Our family has EZ slalom and it works well, and has held up for several seasons of use. With three people you can get it up in 20 mins after some practice. The only times it may not be able to get straight is if you drop in deeper water, or drop directly on the downside of a drop off.

Good condition. Formerly owned by a big dawg skier who sanded bevels. Not heavily used, short seasons in Northern WI. No ski damage, just scuffs from binding. $400 negotiable, please PM me for any more details or information I can provide.

This is an awesome idea! Nice job, Nautique.

Focusing on keeping my head and shoulders level has helped me to carve better turns, finish my turns in better position, and ski smoother and more consistent passes

Thanks everyone. @Wish im going to work on exactly what you said, thinking about doing what you described I think it will help a lot! @wtrskior I'll work on handle connection off wake and turning sooner as well

@Chef23 @Wish thanks for the feedback. I think I understand what you mean about "keep load thru upper body but stop pressuring your ski". I will work on feeling the pressure thru my ski release in the spots you drew for me. @gregy I'll try to focus on keeping the handle in headed into offside turn as well. Im using a reflex front and RTP. The front is at 29.5 and rtp is about as close as I can get basically, I think I'll try spacing it out a tad. It seems like my ski chatters up and down in the tip around the ball and thru turns. Thanks for the help!

just fixed it!

Hi everyone, I would really appreciate some feedback on my skiing. looks fairly typical, 15 off 36 mph. I run this pass about 35% of the time. I thought my one ball was pretty good, just got a bit late down course. I seem to always get on the back of my ski the latter part of the course. I also noticed lately my offside turns have been much better than my onside, I have a tight line and can simply ski right back into my stack position. On my offside however I struggle to keep the line tight so I turn with slack and take a hit upon re connection to handle. I'm 5'10" 182ish skiing on a 67' V Type, which I like when I ski well but struggle to find consistency on. Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks!

Nice job, Mitch

I have trouble finding consistency on my '15 as well. When I ski really well I like it a lot, but I don't ski well on it as often as I'd like. Like Horton said it seems to ski better when I focus on level shoulders through the turn. Being very patient though the turn helps me personally too, so I seem to wait just a tad longer to re connect to the handle. All in all I am looking forward to a new ski but I know its 90% me. Okay maybe 75%

Skied back in March in Louisiana, and in late May at Seth's in South Carolina, but the weather at home in Northern Wisconsin has been windy and rainy lately. I hope to start skiing again in the next few days and continue with all the great progress I made with Seth. With everything I learned there, I think this summer will be a huge breakthrough in my skiing.

My Eagle Vest. I've had it about five years now and its still in great shape, if I ever have to get a new one it will for sure be another Eagle.

A used squat rack with some weights, a barbell, and a pullup bar. Throw in a bench and you can do a lot of great compound movements to build strength and muscle.

I like going heavy, working up to a single at about 95%. From there I go back down ending around a weight I can do for 5 or 6 reps. You may want to start out doing 5x5, increasing weight steadily and slowly every workout. Start at a weight you can fairly easily handle so you can progress steadily. Make sure you get your form down before you start lifting heavier. Glad to see someone lifting some weights instead of that functional training medicine ball crap that supposedly "translated to waterskiing"! Get strong!

I love collegiate waterskiing; going to nationals to ski and watch all the other skiers, especially the best, is some of the most fun I've ever had. When a "pro" is out on the water everyone is cheering them on regardless of team, because its awesome to watch. Collegiate skiing is doing great, we don't need rule nazis who aren't even collegiate skiers start over complicating a great thing.

nice job Mitch!

I've been working on the reverse backwrap this summer too and, and am probably about where you are, I can get around with two hands but can't really hold it. Lately I've been doing a lot of reverse side slides and holding them for a while to get comfortable in that position. Im RFF so I go in the left curl just outside the wake and focus on doing slow and controlled reverse sideslides, slowly trying to rotate further and further around into the reverse wrap. Another trick thats helped me is trying to put my right hand on the small of my back/butt and hold it there. You can also let go of the handle with your right hand and push against the rope to help get you into the reverse wrap, just so you can feel what its like. Focusing on slow and controlled reverse side slides has helped a lot and I'm getting closer and closer everytime. It isn't easy!

@thager I realized after I bought it I probably would, I'll have to return it and pick up a new one. Not sure if they had an 8" at ACE

@Chef23 just picked up some digital calipers but they are 6 in, do those work or do I need an 8 in?