Detrick

Thank you guys @Than_Bogan @keithh2oskier @Chef23

Thank you @Rich

@Murrski Sorry I just saw that you tagged me. I hope you were able to try the ski on Saturday.

@303Skier I believe Reflex is making G10 for size 12 now. I saw one at the US Nationals that was for all sizes, including 12. Not sure if they are available to purchase yet.

I was asked to share my post from social media on this thread so here it goes.... I still don’t want to believe the news the water ski community received about the passing of Andy Mapple. Andy was the Michael Jordan (basketball), Tony Hawk (skate boarding), Tiger Woods (golf) or Kelly Slater (surfing) of water skiing. The man that dominated slalom water skiing for nearly two decades and one who everyone in the sport idolized and admired. Andy wasn’t just an athlete, he was an ambassador and leader of our sport, a mentor, innovator and tester of skis, boats and speed control systems, a coach and someone who would do anything to help others. It was never about him, it was about helping someone else whether it was a new ski, coaching tips or advice. He will be deeply missed by everyone in our community as well as the other communities he was involved with including cycling. Please keep the entire Mapple family in your thoughts and prayers. Here are a few memories I had with Andy that stand out. As a child I remember having the opportunity of watching Andy ski at the Malibu Open’s at Bell Acqua Lakes in Sacramento, CA and at the U.S. Open when it was part of the U.S. National Championships. I first had the opportunity to meet Andy and his family when they came to ski in a Western Regional Championships one year. His son Mike was around close to my age and I hung out with him and the other junior skiers for the week. I remember thinking it was really cool that I was hanging out with one of my idol’s son! Over the last few years I had the opportunity to get to know Andy and talk with him. Last year I had the opportunity to ski against Andy for the first time at the 2014 Moomba Masters. I never imagined that I would have that opportunity. After the first round, I asked if I could have a picture with him to remember that moment. One of my greatest memories with Andy came a few days after that. I advanced to the finals and ran 2 ½ at 39off taking a big hit trying to hold on for the full three but moving into the lead. Next thing I knew, Andy and Nate Smith, who were both knocked out in the semi-finals, were in the safety boat picking me up on the Yarra River. Here was Andy, the greatest slalom water skier of all time, and the current world champ, my friend who has been kicking all of our butts the last few years picking me up. Andy talked about my skiing and congratulated me on a great event. Even though it was only a short ride to the dock, the conversation the three of us had seemed like 20+ minutes. It is like time froze and it was just us; even though there were thousands of people on shore. It was an amazing experience to have one of my idols compliment and congratulate me on my skiing. Later in 2014, Andy put on an event at his site, the Mapple Challenge Cup. I wanted to support the first year event and take part in this unique formatted ProAm event. Unfortunately the condition were horrible with 25+ mph wind straight down the lake but it was fun to still battle it out. I had an opportunity to talk with Andy a lot during the event about different formats and how to grow an event from my event planning experience. All he wanted to do was continue to help promote the sport and help the current pro skiers have more events like he had back in the day. I was able to win the inaugural Mapple Challenge Cup. Looking back at it, I am sooooo glad I took the opportunity to go to the event. Just recently (a week before his passing), I spoke with Andy and Deena at the U.S. National Championships in West Palm. I saw Andy from a far and went out of my way to say hello. We talked for a few minutes about skiing and the Mapple Challenge Cup event that he was planning on having again this year. I'm glad I took the opportunity to say hello because little did I know it would be the last time I would see him. These are just some of the memories that I had with Andy that I’ll always remember. Andy, thank you for everything you did for our sport. I hope you knew how much everyone idolized you and loved you. May you rest in peace my friend!

@ToddA Thank you for the shout out, I appreciate the kind words and thank you for organizing the clinic. I enjoyed my time in Washington coaching the clinic at Hilltop and spending a day at the HO Factory. I look forward to coming back later in the summer for the Hilltop Record! Thanks again! @bogboy Keep up the skiing. Congrats again on your pb!

@goodeski123 yes they are great cameras to use for edits!

@richarddoane‌ Thanks! You've welcome to come ski whenever you are in CA

Hey Ballers! Christmas came early! Everyone enter to win some amazing prizes on my LockerDome contest. Thanks to my sponsors In Tow, HO Skis & WOD Repair Lotion for the support. Hope you all are having a great off-season or start to your season depending where you are. http://lockerdome.com/7057886706674753/7208446080722202

This is great! This product could be a huge asset to our sport and become a component in our everyday training. Tracking path and speed allows us to dissect our technique even deeper than we all already do; hopefully giving us more answers on how to improve performance. I am excited to see @dlokshin‌ taking an interest in our sport, being involved and answering questions. As a skier and a coach, I see Trace products (once tweaked and finalized to adapt to our sport) being very beneficial if used frequently during training. I am looking forward to getting my hands on them in the near future. @dlokshin‌ I would be very interested to participate in testing your product to see how we can maximize the precision and for the use in our sport.

@Horton‌ No, you do not want a bunch of load and you do not want to load the line all at once by dropping your shoulder. You always want to keep your shoulders level. I believe coming out of the finish of the turn with level shoulder, you want to have your center of mass moving across course towards the first wake as you progressively start to build your angle; which will create the load. As your momentum and angle generated moves you into the first wake with the ski under line (in between you and the boat), you then give you a quick max load (your "pump on a swing or jab in boxing") leaning away in a stacked, tug-a-war, position through the centerline of the boat. From the centerline on, you do not want to be in a pulling or loading position. You do want to keep tension through your arms to receive maximum outbound direction. If you pull past centerline, then the boat is now pulling you down the course preventing you from reaching your maximum outbound direction. Pulling past the centerline also creates more speed into the buoy which creates a loose line at the finish of the turn. I hope this clarifies it. Feel free to ask me questions if something doesn't make sense.

When coaching, I like to use the analogy of a swing set. I believe that it is very similar to the ideal pull for skiing and something that everyone can relate to, even the kids. It is similar to what @TallSkinnyGuy‌ mentioned about watching Nate; an aggressive, short, quick pull right before the white water into the first wake. Similar to a jab in boxing (80% power, short and quick but effective). When you are on a swing on the downward motion, you do a quick pump to give you the maximum speed and momentum to carry you as high as possible to the other side. If you do this pump to early, to late or to long, you will receive a jerk on the way back down; similar to losing the line just like you do at the finish of the turn if you pull to long. I believe the ideal pull with the max load is short and quick and the location is in the quadrant between the finish of the turn and about 3-5 feet before the first wake. Nate obviously has figured it out just like Freddy has in jump. Nate gets an extra swing off the second wake unlike anyone else just like Freddy gets the extra lift unlike any other jumper .

This was a great event. Even though the high winds made it very challenging, I had a lot of fun. I have never skied an event where I ski 3 rounds and they are all different. Rd 1 - Normal 6 buoy course Rd 2 - 6 buoy reverse courses (right to left for gates) Rd 3 (Finals) - 4 buoy course - 6 boat rapid head to head final Having the handicap format made it exciting and fun for all skiers involved. Congrats to John Phillips for having the top score after round one and being the #1 seed into the finals. I think @Mapple‌ is onto something good for our sport. I hope more events get creative on how to change things up and make it more fun for the skiers and better for the crowds to watch. The 6 boat head to head final was a great concept.

Webcast link http://1019ampradio.cbslocal.com/u-s-open-of-water-skiing-webcast/ Tricks start at 10:30, women slalom 12:30, men slalom 1:15 followed by jump. I don't recall the times