Russell

@igkya It's just a rough estimate and I would say that practice set would be more practical. 4 passes and then calculating total number of passes would be a little on the low side. It depends on who is using the rope. My kids will get more sets than Chis Parrish will get. It's a very rough estimate. Just as running shoes will get more mileage from 130 lbs pro marathoner vs the 200+lb runner. The idea is to have a guage for decision making that is more objective than appearance alone. Age should also be a factor. If you are pulling a rope out of your shed after 5 years you will have to adjust the estimation. Obviously at 50 sets or so, the rope will have more life in terms of strength, but the optimal pull will be diminishing. You may get a little more out of it before you start to notice it. Just like tennis balls, you can obviously get way more use out of tennis balls than 7 matches, the power and bounce will be diminished quite a bit. The ropes will still have plenty of use before you have to worry about breaking, but the optimal pull will be long gone. The swing you get from a new fresh rope and reduction in hits to the body are far superior with a new rope. Tournaments ideally should start with new ropes and if a skier is concerned about tournament performance, they should be skiing with newer ropes leading up to the tournament to be ready. Many people ski at home on very old ropes and then show up at a tournament and complain about the rope at a tournament. The rope can have a dramatic effect on performance and a new rope and a very old rope can feel as different as settings in ZO. People have definite opinions on ZO settings and which they choose. I think it's unfair to the skiers to pull a tournament with ropes that could have as many as 150 pulls on a rope. To have ropes of varying amounts of sets on them is also unfair. At least for Record and Championship tournaments, the skiers should have top notch equipment. For less than the cost of 1 entry fee, a tournament could be using new ropes.

@JackQ from our testing with the a full sampling of skiers, we found that there is a noticeable performance difference in the new rope. Nate and Regina were both in agreement over the final rope choice and were amazed at the difference in the rope variations. While we shouldn't worry about things outside our control, record tournaments especially should do everything possible to make sure that variables that are controllable are reduced. Choosing the best products to host a tournament is a reasonable expectation for the record skier paying upwards of $200/entry here in FL. @lpskier . 180 pulls on a rope is way too many. Many pros switch out ropes after 50 pulls. It's like tennis balls which are changed every 7 games in a match. You can use them for longer, but it's not the same. There is still life in them, but the ball's performance is diminishing. I have tried to squeeze more miles out of my running shoes, but sometimes it doesn't pay off. The performance of the shoe is deteriorating, but more importantly the lack of protection is outweighing the cost of the new pair. I've found it a far better investment to change out when I've reached the mileage limit. The ropes have an optimal life for performance, safety (from breakage) and a dead rope is hard on the body. Skiing on our new optimized rope and going back to an old rope, we noticed reduced performance and more body aches and pains. I have never broken a rope with any of my skiers, but I do hear of it happening and there is no excuse for this. I'm amazed when I see Record tournaments starting tournaments with well used ropes or worse a used rope and a new rope. The ride will be completely different for the skier depending on where they fall in the rotation. All of the ropes should be equal in number of uses at the start of the tournament at the very least. ML offers a program for approved tournaments for tournament rope pricing. It's only offered in the off-season, so now is the time to get updated ropes. 3 Ropes for a 1 lake tournament costs less than 1 Record entry fee.

@Roger The new slide loop will be the "Official" rope of many tournaments in 2019 such as Masters, Big Dawg, Regionals, Nationals as well as international events. Most tournaments will follow the lead of the big tournaments so they stay consistent. There is a chance you could ski in a tournament with a different line, but you more than likely will have a better chance of skiing with the new "Optimized" rope at a tournament. Tournaments, especially R, shouldn't be using old ropes from last year. They should be providing the best experience for the skiers. Our goal is to produce the best product for the skier. Check out the video of Nate skiing in the drysuit running 41 off with the new Optimized Slide Loop. https://www.facebook.com/NateSmith43/videos/pcb.2488543554494327/2488543294494353/

@klindy Thanks for the perspective. Actually, PanAm's and 35+ Worlds used different ropes. They pulled the PanAms with our Pro's and I left them the new Optimized Slide Loops to pull the 35+ tournament. I think that was part of the reason for the high scores across the 3 mens divisions. You make a good point regarding the slide loop sections from 15-28. These sections are removable and work slightly different than the other sections. I generally use a rope that starts at 28 off with my kids and don't use those first sections very often. I can't figure out why anyone wouldn't like the slide loops. These are so much easier and almost impossible to put on the pylon incorrectly. However, the 22 and 28 off sections are a little more complicated. We use this combo of loops so that the majority of skiers can just remove the longer sections and just start at 28off. From that point, this rope is super easy and far superior to any other rope I've used. My thought is that the people that are complaining about the slide loop sections are those using 22 and 28 off. 15 off doesn't have the two ropes connected so works like a normal slide loop. We thought about just making it a solid line, but it's nice to be able to remove 22 and hold onto it just in case you need it and not ruin the line by cutting off sections.

@bishop8950 That is the new optimized rope he is using in the video. Nate loves the new rope and was very involved in picking the final version. I would say that he would also agree with you that it is partly the rope. Matt Rini was a big help in the development along with Drew Ross, but in the end the final say came down to Nate and Regina because they were doing the most testing and experimenting and were very vocal that this was the most "optimized" version for all around performance.

@Nando Thanks for your support and patience. The majority of the orders we receive are turned around quickly. We received yours on the 5th and shipped on the 8th as you noted. Most of our orders are shipped within this time frame. We do have a shortage of some handle diameter's that will be back in stock by Monday of next week. A large percentage of the products we make are custom. Colors, Lengths, Engravings, Diameters, Special combinations etc. We offer many services that other companies don't. All of our products from Vests, suits, skis, ropes and handles are customizable. We do the best to turn around orders as fast as possible. Many orders are shipped within a few days if not quicker. We have control of many of our materials, but we have had some issues with vendors supplying us. There aren't a big selection of rubber molders wanting to make water ski bars for the price most want to pay, for example. We have grown and we are working hard to update our processes and we have increased our staff to accommodate the sales. We thank you for your patience and I think that most will find that their order is shipped very efficiently and we will continue to improve on that.

@JAG we have been inundated with orders over the last couple of weeks. We are backordered on the handle bars, but are expecting more by the end of the week. Our website currently doesn't have inventory tracking turned on as we build most products to order anyway. The site would always say "out of stock". If you had ordered 2 weeks earlier, the particular handle would more than likely have been in stock. Sorry for your wait.

@EdBrazil, @dchristman The problem with tricks as a sport is the scrutiny. Everyone thinks they are an expert and nit picks away at an incredible performance, unlike slalom and jump. Every old timer comes out to put their negativity on an amazing performance. How about some kind worlds instead of your criticism. @edbrazil - here is the rule for TS before you mumble about NC. I'd like to know why and how you would measure 2m. AWSA Rule book: "A Side Slide includes a 90-degree turn from skiing position and a return to skiing position in the original direction. In order for a Side Slide to be a creditable trick, the skier must hesitate before commencing the trick, turn 90 degrees to either side, stop, return to the starting position, and stop. To perform the reverse, the skier must turn 90 degrees in the opposite direction, stop, return to the starting position, and hesitate again." You had a comment on her Mobe5f in a past video. Instead of praising her for being the first women to do a RMobe5F you comment about it landing short a few degrees short. How about keeping it to yourself if you can't say something positive. As far as W7, you are incorrect. Maybe our sport would have more participants and be successful if people try to praise and celebrate good performances instead of tearing everyone down. There are less imperfections in this run than many past world records. Judging criteria changes and makes setting new records almost impossible. Most will never ever put the work in that it takes to achieve this level of skiing. Most will never know what it feels like to do this in a sport that gives so little back. And almost noone understands the feeling to get almost more criticism than praise for the best performance ever in a sport. Thanks for those who have sent kind words, it's much appreciated to know that some do appreciate and respect a great performance. Congrats to Anna and Aliaksei on new pending World Records established this past Friday at Fluid. I'm sure that these videos will also be protected until reviewed by the committee. Unfortunately we can't promote the sport with them instead.

@Drago - Goes to show the state of our sport. She tricked 10,620 points at Fluid Sports Record Tournament at Lake Grew behind USAWS last Tuesday. They had an invitational tournament during the week leading up to the US Open. If ratified after review, it will surpass the old mark of 10,460 set by Erika Lang. She worked really hard for it and it has been a goal for many years. I thought it would take more to get there. Funny how kids can surprise you. Luckily she loves to ski.

The edge change and plane of travel are not the same. I'll try to find a video. If you compare your back to front front flip to my back to front back roll, the first half of the trick is identical. If I hold on with the other hand, my back to front back roll looks like your back to front front flip, but its not a back to front flip. Compare your back to front flip to Erika and they are not alike at all. I can't do it like Erika's, but I landed the inside the line on the 2nd attempt. They are different and the correct way is much harder. The hand you hold on with does matter. A front flip shouldn't have an edge change and swing to the start of it like a back roll, which the inside the line front flip has. Why not just do it on the outside of the line? Let's see back to front outside the line. For 850 points the entire trick should be a front flip. The problem is that the judges have a hard time calling it as it is. Keep it simple and just define a front on the outside of the line. The girls all do it straight on the outside of the line and it's not confusing to watch them trick.

@dchristman That's not Frank. This is a video of Ace doing a Front flip on the outside of the line like they should be done. There are some good examples of how not to do a back to front front flip and it would be nice to compare to Erika's outside the line back to front front flip which is 1 of the few good ones.

@bobbulfer I can probably find a ski for you. You can email me at Masterline. My 6 year old uses the size 4 Reflex with an Intuition liner. I got the liner from Jager Sports in Canada. It's thicker. The smallest boot will be to long, but it doesn't matter. The key is that it is tight in the ankle. The length won't matter. They will have much more control and comfort than a rubber binding. For the rear binding I usually use 2 rear binding overlays instead of the rear toe rubber piece. These will stretch a little when they kick their foot into the binding and hold their foot better. I would choose a hard edge ski. They ride easier and turn easier and work great for hands and toes. The younger they start on the hard edge, the better. They will get use to the looser feel. There are all sorts of ways to pick which foot forward, others may have more insight on a good way to choose. I usually go by what they do on a scooter or skateboard or what foot they plant when they kick a soccer ball. You might find that learning 1 ski on the trick ski could possibly be easier than a slalom ski so don't think that they have to learn in a particular order that many in the past have followed. I tried different things, but my past experience and what I thought of as a logical progression probably held Anna back in some ways. Sometimes kids learn in different ways. I wasn't willing to have my Ella (at 5) try 1 trick ski because I thought that she needed to learn 2 skis first, since she could only do the trainers. Ella was asking to try the trick ski and Anna taught her while I was at work. In 20 minutes she was riding around the lake on 1 ski. I don't teach the full back position or 360's any more. I start with wrapped backs and BB's and move on from there. Eventually they will be able to do the full back position and 360's without the hard falls. My point being that you might find that learning on 1 trick ski and spending lots of time learning control might be better than starting on a slalom ski. Be willing to experiment and go with what they are asking to do. I would never have them ride 2 trick skis. Most are to big and they have to be spread to far apart. There is no benefit to riding 2 skis and it can possibly be dangerous because they can catch edges and do the splits. None of my kids ever skied on 2 trick skis.

I recommend starting with at least a 40" hard edge trick ski. Not a trick from a pair of combos, those shapes aren't as good. My daughter is 6 and learned to trick last year. She went from 2 trainers tied together straight to 1 trick ski with reflex boot. The single trick was easier for her than combo kids skis. The kids combos had to much drag. She learned very easy to get up. Go around 11 mph. If you have a boom, that makes it really easy. She also runs the mini course on the trick and just skis around cutting the wakes, jumping the wakes, SS, B, F, WF and the mini course. It's the best way to teach young kids to ski.

@emartski10 It's a good start and many start it this way. To perfect it, you will want to start working on the timing of the 3 key elements. The key 3 steps for SLB should be done in this order: edge, push with your legs, pull off the top. You are doing it in this order: pull, then try to edge to beat the rope, no push with legs. The key is to edge first then pull. Many slb's are done the way you are doing it and the rope dips in the water making it NC. Here is a video on youtube of a SLB: His pull starts at the same time as his push so it's not quite controlled enough, but it's still very good and credit. The slack at the end of the trick can be controlled better by the timing of the push of the legs and the pull on the rope. You have to set a good edge that loads the line, but doesn't create to much speed. The push off the edge into the wake is what carries you over the rope. Notice that his right shoulder is always lower than the left keeping the momentum heading into the center of the wakes. I learned this trick watching Patrice Martin and this specific video https://youtu.be/qtTQpnLHn28. 1 key is don't over-pull. Use your legs and learn good edge control. Look how light and easy it looks for Patrice. He isn't pulling that hard. He is putting his handle down, but the rope is a pretty light pull for him. The mistake I see is that many pull so hard and they go flat. You have to hold the edge to prevent advancing forward. If you advance, you will stall out half way through the trick and not be able to get over the rope and finish the turn. Patrice is pushing off his edge almost away from the boat so that the rope stays taught throughout the trick. This is a fun trick that looks relatively easy, but is actually very complicated. It's a very fun trick when you do it right and a great building block to much bigger tricks.

@ToddL has a point. I'm not sure about that sample logo, but something simple is best. I like them until I thought about a sticker on the car and then realize it's to much. Best logo in sports = Ironman logo. 3 events, but their logo is simpler and immediately recognizable.