apodawil

Ballers, I'm looking at moving to durango, CO. Do you guys know of any courses or lakes around that area? Cheers...Alan

I too joined this sport later in life. I started skiing the course at the age 22. Started at 28 mph and during that spring time I got into 36 mph some time during that summer. I really got stuck at 36 like yourself. It is a hard pass! Try to pull though the second wake with good body position like you do at 34 mph (more than likely) put push down with your legs more. To say this different. After you hook up after your turn think about doing a squat against the boat, though the second wake. Hope that works. This may help, may not. if you try 34 alot take you wing off. This will give you more speed into the ball

I'll be there. One of the appointed judges

I coach a couple of schools in the collegiate waterski seen. So i see alot of beginners ski, ass out way in the back sit through the wakes. I learned to never tell anyone bend their knees. If you tell someone to bend their knees they will sit down with their ass out. But I also agree with Than Bogan you have to have your knees bent. To get around this I always stress to them to bend their ankles. You can't bend your ankles with out bending your knees. If you watch an other sport carefully the most used joint is the ankle. Your ankle can push the ski away and can pull the ski back under you. If you think about every pull through the wake as a squat i think you are stacked over your edge. The correct way to do a squat to protect your back is bend your ankles as you go down try to keep your upper body over your feet. This also keeps your ass in. To apply this to skiing, push away on every cut as if your squatting away from the boat. As you bend your ankle up your ski will get suck back under your upper body making you more stack over that cutting edge. Soft ankles that move the ski back under you is the key. Exactly what i didn't do at regionals! Cant win them all. Ask any snow skier whats the most important thing about their ski boots. I would say a really stiff boot with good progressive forward flex. To get the whole edge to grip the snow you have to get forward in the boots. To get forward you have to bind your ankles.

When I got my A2, one of my inserts was striped. Didn't call HO just fixed myself

Horton, In you review you say, "At the end of my scheduled month on the A2, I was given a 2012 spec fin. The new fin is thinner and unquestionably made the ski faster. The feeling of speed was especially apparent at gate pullout and out bound from the wakes to the ball line. This change made a good ski even better." Is this fin a BOS fin that is coming out? I thought your wife laid down the law. Or is this fin coming from HO?

So I'm trying to learn the TO wrap in right now. I can do a T-270 to 300 almost every time but can't seem to get the last little bit. Any secrets?

I have a very nice Sky System Factory Diver helmet size small for sale. If you are interested write me back. I'm on the west coast.

What size, strada are you ski on and have you tried both 66"/67"

I going to try the A2 and a 66 X7

So this winter I worked for the infamous Eric Lee. My payment was snow skiing at Squaw Valley everyday and a new slalom ski. (Eric, I’m the best skier on the Ball of spray website! Look up GNAR, great movie) First when I made this agreement I was a little scared that Eric would make me a Slalom Ski. But thank god, we listened to Horton and went to H2o Proshop and got on the RIDE BEFORE YOU BUY program. So far I have been loving this program, the guys at H2o have been so nice and helpful. Thanks Tadd. Next, since I know one of you slalom guys are going to ask. I’m 5'10/9" and 170ish. I ski 36mph and my PB is 2 at 35 off. But skiing without time I’ve gotten 4 at 38off thanks Bob-O for the pull. My theory in slalom is; measuring your fin is stupid. If you want to move your fin just know where it has been so you can always go back. A tenth of an inch doesn’t matter just ski and shut up. First, I’m coming off a 66.5 D3 Custom X, I loved that ski. Who wouldn’t it got me from 28 mph to 35 off in 5 or so years. I would highly recommend D3 to any beginner because it is super stable and so predictable. I even use to kid around and tell people I could save gas and just call in my score. I never had a bad ride on the CX. I feel that anyone can ride a D3 at a very high level. So First, I tried one of my buddies D3 X7, thanks Harley. It was a 67" with the fin stock but move a little back. (don’t ask me for numbers because I don’t have them) The ski was amazing on my offside and great at getting angle both ways. The ski felt like my CX but the Z7 was faster but still Super stable and predictable. The biggest thing I didn’t like about X7 is that is shut down before the ball and you cant get wide. The ski is all about hand control and the edge change. The best description I can give is; pivot turn, pull, pivot turn, pull. Next H2o sent me a 67" Radar Strada. H2o said the numbers are Length: 6.850, Depth: 2.499 DFT: 0.760 Wing: 9 Degrees But don’t ask if it was because I never checked. I really like that ski. First off Black and red graphics just speaks fast to me, and it was. Way faster than the CX and a little faster than X7 and surprisingly stable for how fast the ski was. I love the width I could get on the ski. Skiing a wide and early 32off pass is so much easier. I had the ski for a week or so and ran 32 , 3 times and I PB on it getting 3 at 35. Well with that said you probably like Wow, just keep it but in the same week time I messed up my opener 2 times. Both times I have to say I was burning the candle from both ends and tying one back the night before. But isn’t that what skiing is all about!!! Biggest things I noticed were it had a smaller sweet spot than the CX and you really had to be slow and smooth in your turns. If you are patient the ski just continues to get angle. Some time I felt like the ski slide out a little in my offside turn. I believe this is just a fin problem because I tried the sliver Strada last year and felt it even more than. (No I don’t have the number) I also got to try a 66" Radar Strada. I don’t have the number but the fins looked identical. Lucky when I was out helping to coach UC Davis, KUZ or Mike Kusiak had a 66" for me to try. I highly recommend getting coaching from him at Bell Aqua near Sacramento, CA he helped me so much on my gates and my edge change, Thanks KUZ. There was no difference on speed than the 67" during the pull but is shut down more during the turn. I also notice that I didn’t have to push it as hard in the turns. This makes me believe that it will be a better 35/38 off ski for me. Next I going to be trying the new HO A2 its in the mail :)

So i see and hear alot of pro Slalom skiers snow skiing in the off season.  My question to you guys is what do you thing is the same and what is different about the two?   Alan/vanillaforum/js/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-cool.gif    Â

I believe T&B is not right because it is convenient for the skier. If a skier can not stay the whole tournament why did they sign up? why should i have to wait for you to ski two sets before i ski my own? A tournament should be fair for every person. Weather can change, different light conditions, Different boat drivers, different judges, ect... We have all wetness the change of wind from the start of a event to the end. i believe this could be an advantage / disadvantage from skier to skier if the time in between there two rounds is different. The change of light conditions from shadows to where the suns at could give a skier a advantage / disadvantage. And a person that knows the site will get move advantage then there already is. Drivers... We all know that drives even now, some our better some our ok. If you have example (Just to name one) Will Bush driving for you in one round and another driver that something he has done you dont like (anything goes around the island to fast, pick you up to fast, in gauges ZO funny, pull soft, pull hard, Hugs one side more than the other) This could be a advantage / disadvantaged Judges... We all no some people are more Russian than others and some judges look to pull gates more than others (i will not get into trick calling here). This is also an Advantage / disadvantage Rule book that Im really going off of is 2.03 Schedule Changes Changes in the schedule during the tournament shall be made only for weather, water conditions, safety or a similar reason, and not for the convenience of any skier. A majority of the Appointed Judges must approve the change, and all affected contestants or their representatives shall be notified. Although schedule changes are discouraged, the judges should not hesitate to make adjustments required for safety.

Congrates on all the teams that made it to College Nationals this last weekend! But what school is going to get the last stop, The Wild card spot. Any predictions? Tune in tonight and watch it unfold, http://ncwsa.com/index.php/component/content/article/41-rotator-news/599-2010-wildcard-show-live these are the school that are in already; 21 of the 22 teams heading to Austin, TX for the NCWSA Nationals are set after Regional Championships concluded all over the Nation yesterday. Division 1 Lousiana-Monroe Lousiana-Lafayette Texas A &M Wisconsin-Madison Purdue Missouri State Arizona State Cal Poly San Diego State Alabama Rollins Florida Southern Division-2 Texas Texas State Ohio State Cincinatti Clemson North Carolina Western Washington UC San Diego Chico

This is a guess, because i not the owner or builder of the lake. It was probably named after Mt Diablo which the lake sits at the foot of. Than Bogan I think you are right with the saying of it. But Again who really cares...