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oneski

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Everything posted by oneski

  1. I’ll be there, and looking forward to a good week.
  2. Miami Nautique gloves. Great feel and connection to the handle.
  3. I think MattP is dead-on. The rebound (or unloading) of a “stretchy” rope during the edge change bothers me much more than the stretch (give) when you load off the buoy.
  4. A big thanks to Mr Horton and his minions in “Whoville” (aka Whitestone) for putting on an incredible tournament. It was hard to top the success of last year, but we managed to pull it off. Incredible two days of skiing.
  5. The Ball of Spray cash prize at Whitestone is only 2 weeks away. Anyone on the fence should register soon. Last year’s tournament was a blast.
  6. I’ve been to hundreds of tournaments over the past 25+ years, and I can state without doubt that the combination of having a world class ski site along with the head to head cash prize format makes it a great experience…….You don’t want to miss this tournament.
  7. It’s been an awesome BOS tournament at Whitestone. Special thanks to John and our sponsors for helping us put on the tournament.
  8. The weather in North Georgia has been perfect, the lakes are skiing well, and I’m signed up for the BOS! Time to up my skiing a notch or two (or three) and bring home some hardware.
  9. After skiing at Whitestone the past 3 days I’m pleased to report that both lakes are skiing AWESOME. The water temps are getting very comfortable, and the air has been in the mid 80’s.....Gonna be an awesome Ball of Spray tournament here in a few weeks. Sign up now.
  10. The BOS Cash Prize tournament at Whitestone is only weeks away!......Whitestone’s lakes 1 & 2 have been skiing awesome lately! Air and Water temps are warming up nicely. It’s going to be a great tournament weekend, with an opportunity to post some big scores. I encourage anyone interested to go ahead and sign up now. ??
  11. Jeff, an idea that I’d like to float regarding scoring for slalom is instead of number of buoys + line length (i.e. 3@12M or 3@35’ off) going to a standard “Course Width” +/-. Course Width from centerline of the course (at the boat pylon) to the skier buoy is around 37’6” (If my memory is correct). This number becomes Course Width which also = 0. Course Width is approximately 11 Meters (38’off). So, a competitor that skis the course at 14.25 M (28’ off) would be running at CW (Course Width) +3.25 (14.25-11) If the skiers round 3 bouys, the score would be 3@+3.25CW. If it’s a skier that skies 3@391/2, that would be scored as 3@-1.5CW. The plus sign and minus sign denote if the skier is using line longer or shorter than the distance to the buoy from the center lone. (Think about like golf. Everyone knows what par means. If you shot 1 under par you know it’s a birdie and a good score. If you shoot 2 over par it’s a double bogey. A “scratch golfer” with a handicap of 0 is thought of as a really good golfer. A golfer with a 20 handicap is not nearly as good. We have a frame of reference that is much easier to understand that just saying 9.75M rope, or 41’ off. To novice skiers these numbers are confusing at best. It would be relatively easy to explain what -1CW means. (1 meter shorter than the distance from the center line to the buoy)
  12. I think the number of sets skied is more accurate indicator of wear than years skied. I replace my bindings (Goode Powershells on a Powerplate) around once every other ski season. This year I skied over 130 days (probably 200 sets). I could likely get part or whole of another season, but the plastic in the bindings becomes loose with fatigue, and invariable I start replacing metal parts/screws/ fasteners/interlock tape. (Which is not good if it’s at or right before a tournament).
  13. Phenomenal job by everyone at TWBC! Excellent coverage of the tournament, and the giveaway prizes was also a very nice feature. I hope you are able to cover a lot more tournaments like this one.
  14. I got the ladies podium correctly in order and guessed 2@41’ would win it. I was off by a buoy.
  15. It’s an awesome event. Thanks to everyone involved in putting on the tournament and to TWBC for the excellent webcast. Watching it on YouTube is a great way to spend a Sunday.
  16. Curious to know what you folks think about rowing machines or seated cable rows for working out? I haven’t gotten on a row machine in sometime, but the muscles engaged (legs, back, shoulders, arms) are all skiing muscles. Not to mention the cardio benefit from towing. Thoughts?
  17. LeonL, I don’t disagree with you. I hate making assumptions, but my belief on the interpretation of that requirement is that a record tournament with 50+ skiers provides an overall experience for the judge that is closer to a Regionals/Nationals and avoids what could be perceived as “home cooking” in a small backyard tournament. My only problem with the requirements for advancement as written is that it excludes taking into consideration the entire body of work an Official performs. Some leeway and latitude should be considered if an Official has far exceeded the majority of the requirements if missing only one item. I also think participating in an E/L/R tournament in which a World Record could legitimately be set should easily be considered as an equivalent large Record tournament (without the 50+ skier requirement). I would have received the one remaining credit I needed if the Lymanland tournament had a few more skiers in it. The fact that it included several Open Men/Women skiers (including Regina who could have set a World Record) was not considered relevant.
  18. Broussard, I agree that the requirement to judge at 3 Regional/National tournaments is important, and I’m not suggesting that the requirement necessarily be “relaxed”. I’m just pointing out that additional alternative ways should be considered in order to gain the experience needed to be tested up to a competent Senior Judge. I have been unable to attend Regionals and Nationals for the past two years (through no fault of my own.) My only options now are to wait another year for Regionals or to travel 1,000+ miles round trip to find a “Record tournament that has 50+ skiers”. To me it seems a bit silly given the work I’ve done to date. I’ll also point out that there are only 4 Senior Judges in my home State (Georgia), and two of them have not judged in a tournament for at least a year (probably longer). There are only two ski sites in Georgia that have hosted tournaments this year. My home site has hosted 5 tournaments, 3 of which I was CJ. All were class C, because of the difficulty in getting the Senior officials. If you look back at the weekday tournaments we hosted they were all titled “Slalom and Officials Development”. One of the goals is to grow the sport by getting more people involved as officials.
  19. Broussard, I absolutely agree with you that more practical (hands on) experience at clinics would be a positive step. However, I still believe the requirements for advancement could be improved. Here’s an illustration: 3 people are looking to upgrade to Senior Judge. The first person is a recently Open Rated skier that has never judged or scored a tournament. The second person has worked at 15 tournaments, 12 of which were class C, and 2 Regionals and 1 Nationals. He (or she) served as CJ at 3 tournaments and scored 5 times. The third person worked at 25 tournaments, 18 of which were Class C, 1 Nationals, 1 Regionals, and 5 additional E/L/R tournaments. He (or She) served as CJ at 9 tournaments and Scored at 8 tournaments. The last person (which is me) is not eligible to test up to Senior. I think requirements for advancement should put more weight on practical judging experience and adequately displaying knowledge of the Rules rather than just being an excellent skier or checking off a box.
  20. Richard, I agree with you wholeheartedly that we are all volunteers do this for fun.....I’m not sure if changes would happen through the Rules committee or through the Judges and Scorers Committee. I would believe that the requirements for advancement would go through the Judges/Scorers Committee, but I could be wrong. One change that I would suggest is the requirement to allow a “large Record tournament (50+ skiers)” to serve in place of a Regionals/Nationals be reworded to allow either a certain number of E,L,R tournaments and/or a World Record Capable tournament. The 50 skier requirement should be eliminated......I judged at a recent Lymanland Record tournament in which Regina could have set a new Woman’s Slalom World Record. The skiers along with the officials and technical requirements were at the highest level that exists in our sport. However, since the tournament didn’t meet the “50 skier” threshold I was not able to use it for my last judging credit to upgrade to Senior.
  21. I think it may be worth considering incorporating into the requirements to upgrade an apprentice and performance evaluation. Right now there is no formalized training for a judge. There are only boxes that need to be checked off. (i.e. Tournaments worked, Serving as Chief Judge, Scorer, etc...) Once you have checked off all the boxes you take the practical and written test before becoming a Senior Judge. (And that only applies if you're not an Elite rated skier). I think it would be helpful for someone seeking to upgrade their status to serve as an "apprentice" at one or more L tournament(s) under the supervision of either the CJ or another Senior official where they can learn "best practices". (i.e. Managing responsibilities of being a boat judge, understanding re-ride situations, properly communicating unusual situations such as a zero gate call, etc...). I also think that with the "apprenticeship" the Senior official in charge should provide a verbal and written evaluation of the judge. (Put them in as Boat Judge and evaluate their performance in changing out ropes/handles, calling in times and scores, communicating with skier, driver, and scorer). Right now there is no evaluation process. I've been to many tournaments (L included) where the boat judge didn't properly perform a basic responsibility. (Usually incorrect boat speed or line length). A boat judge that can't manage those responsibilities really shouldn't be able to upgrade to Senior. I think there should be more emphasis placed on learning and demonstrating competence on the duties required as a judge. Right now it's about the quantity (number) of tournaments worked in various capacities, and I think it should be more about learning and applying the rules in a consistent way. Just my two cents....
  22. Bruce, I don’t have specific recommendations on how to improve the process. Honestly, I’ve just focused on understanding the rules and working in various capacities at tournaments. It wasn’t until recently that I looked more closely at the requirements for advancement and fastrack program. In order for me to be able to test to upgrade I need one additional Regional/National judging credit, or a “large record tournament with 50+ skiers”.
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