Diben44

So I ended up on a waterski for the first time last summer, 2018, and got hooked on the idea of slalom skiing pretty quickly. Earlier this year I picked up my first ski, a 2018 Senate Alloy, and so far am loving it. Here is a video of about where I'm at, currently skiing at 15 off and between 29-30 mph. I only have access to free skiing right now but am really hoping to get on a course at some point in the (hopefully) near future. I'm thinking that's the only way I'll develop any sort of timing, or fluid rhythm (but correct me if I'm wrong). With only being able to self coach videos based on things I've read/seen online any advice, tips, or tricks would be greatly appreciated.

FWIW, I agree that they don’t need to be mutually exclusive. I grew up as an elite gymnast (probably the equivalent of a good 38 off skier) and fortunately paved my way through a D1 program and although I just recently got bit by the Slalom bug about a year ago, I already see a lot of similarities between the two sports. All the way from the technical dynamics of weight transfer, to the variations in the size of the sport over the past 30 years. If the sports aren’t taken seriously, there will be no forward progress in the elite. But if there was no fun in it, no one would even get to that level in the first place. (Sometimes the fun is just buried deep down, and occasionally really deep down.) There’s always a balance between the two, and I think that’s important to keep in mind when trying to explain the sport to someone you’re trying to pull in. I think that there’s both a place for fun and hardcore determination as well as a hybrid of the two. So when trying to grow the sport, I believe it’s about knowing your audience and emphasizing the aspects that you believe will appeal to them. Either way, I’m just pumped to get behind the boat and really learn how to ski this summer, I only have the means to free ski but I’ve had a brand new ski sitting in my room for a few months now and I fully intend to get as many hours on it as I possibly can. Hopefully sometime in the near future I’ll be able to find my way to a course.

@Jboss Only been on a slalom ski for a year, started out on a mid 80's HO turbo competition, jut picked up a 2018 Senate about a month ago, currently living in Wausau but am up in Minocqua most weekends in the summer so if you'd like, you can add me to the list.