james_shoemaker

We participated in one from our lake a few years back, but there was so much manual work for scoring that it didn't happen the following year, I was thinking of doing something completely automated on the processing side. Skiers input their data and the program does all the math and comparisons. Is there already a platform for hosting these leagues or is it still a manual process?

I've been bouncing the idea of an on-line handicapped slalom league (like a bowling league) around in my head for several years. Skiers would post results weekly with placings updated Sunday night. Obviously just for fun as there's no way to prove the scores (short video of each run I suppose). There could team results, individual results, even be virtual tournaments. The trick would be to figure out how to make a handicapping scheme that would be fair and competitive. Is there a formula where you can combine a 32-off skier and someone without even a reliable full pass without being unfair to either?One of the reasons I keep thinking about it is my daughter waterskis adaptive and loves the course, but struggles to get a clean pass even at very low speeds so competitions don't work well for her. She had fun in a bowling league because of the handicapping and this may be a similar situation.Any interest/ideas? James

She's on a Rocket and everyone we've talked to up to now has said she needs to be more forward (they all also seem to want her off the rocket, but the alternatives they offered were so wide she couldn't turn them). We'll try moving her back when spring gets here and we get out on the water. I'll post some to youtube tonight, odd you can't see the dropbox video. Thanks everyone for your guidance.

Thanks for the hints. We are getting her a higher seat this spring (second higher one, first up 2" new one will be 2" more. not sure she's comfortable that fast, she's been skiing at around 19mph. Once the ski season starts I'll have her just wake cross free skiing. Would some sort of audio signal to trigger her turns help? Here's some video clips from last fall: https://www.dropbox.com/home/waterski_movies/2017-10-25

She has Cerebral Palsy, not a SCI. That's part of the issue, most other skiers are SCI and have full control above a line and almost nothing below. She has partial control up high and less and less as you go down, but the 'no control' parts aren't lose and floppy, they are stiff and immobile. Lots of the standard coaching statements (lay forward on your knees, stop pushing with your feet...) get a "my body doesn't do that" from Suzanne.

My daughter is wheelchair using water skier, she currently uses liquid access equipment. I've been around the water my whole life, but have never skied. She's been working on slalom for 2 years now and is getting around 2 balls on the disabled course pretty reliably (skipping the gate for now) and occasionally getting a third. I'm attempting to coach her, I've taken a coaching class and they talked about positioning, and 'engaging the shovel' whatever that is, sometimes followed up with a comment about how that wouldn't work for my daughter due to her ability level, size, strength..... So, I'm trying to get back to basics so I can help her improve and qualify for nationals (minimum qualification in slalom is a full pass at 15 off at any competition speed, whatever that is). What actually makes a water ski turn, is it weight shift, center of pressure vs center of lift, is it the shape of the ski vs the position of the skier.... A disabled skier has much less control of some of those things and my daughter even less than most (she's an MP2 on a scale from MP1-MP5 where 5 is the most able seated skier). All the online tutorials are more structured towards improving a standing skier's performance and are hard for someone like me who 1: has never skied, and 2: is trying to translate this into disabled skiing. We ski with an 82 mastercraft power slot, she likes to run the course at around 19mph (the speedometer on the 82 reads 17 where she likes to run, but by 'feel' it's similar to 19 mph on a zero off equipped boat she has skied behind so I think the speedo on the mastercraft reads low). a confused parent James