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2tracmind

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Everything posted by 2tracmind

  1. When my Dad bought me my first waterski, an O'Brien Competitor, I was so excited I kept in my bunk bed at the cottage for the first week. I still remember the excitement.
  2. A have followed a boat detailer on YouTube whom gives some great videos on terribly oxidized hulls. He recommends 3m heavy cut then 3m perfect it exac and then fireglaze pluse as a sealant. Using 303 regularly may also be helpful. His YouTube channel is "Local boydidgood".Good luck.
  3. I place an rv dehumidifier and moisture absorber in my bow and storage locker to prevent the mold from forming.
  4. I'm cheering for Joel Howley, it's his first tournament outside of Australia since his world championship in Malaysia. If you have watched his YouTube videos of him coaching young skiers you can't help but be in his corner. Go Aussie!!
  5. Our ski group was just talking about this on the weekend. The tug of war body position BUT your not trying to win against the other team/boat, your looking to fight to a draw. Is that how you see it twhisper?
  6. Assuming your ski was well dialed in before the change you could notice a loss in performance. The foot bed thickness of the front and rear boot should match unless you have one leg that is noticeably different.
  7. Solid advice above. I have compression of the L4-5, L5-S1, "jelly has left the DONUT" due to previous sporting injuries. I keep my core and spine strong and mobile. I switched from double boots to a rtp for performance reasons 10 years ago. Three seasons ago I did a set on a buddies new vapor with double boots, skied well but realized how much more load you take on deep water starts than with one foot out. Then had a 3 hr drive home. Got out of the car and my posture was similar to Quasimodo, it took a week to get straightened out. Keep your hair dry and switch to the rtp one foot start.
  8. All the above is good technical advice and I am in agreement with T_C, your ski setup needs to be safer so these "smack you upside the head" falls don't happen. Good Luck.
  9. Jercane - I agree for sure with the fluidity in alpine skiing. My comment was more related to be confused with the trouble many waterskiers have crossing the wake and perhaps alpine skiing has assisted me in managing the pressures we feel through the legs. By extending/pushing as we approach the wakes makes crossing them more difficult and probably amplifies a body alignment position that is biased to the tail of the ski. 8 passes (successful ones) is 48 turns, that's a warm up run in alpine. We will have 500 turns in well before lunch.... That's why we struggle to break habits or progress. Golf anyone?
  10. I am in agreement with this. I have many more miles ( hundreds more) on alpine skis than waterskis. Attacking the wakes regardless of the size has never been a problem of mine (I have many others..). I have always been a bit confused when decent skiers struggle and complain of wake size. I believe my alpine skiing experience and managing the changing pressures on snow has allowed me to do this easily. When I heard Joel's explanation in a YouTube late last fall it made sense to me. The "tensing" of the muscles is what is called an "isometric muscle contraction"
  11. If you look really closely you can see that all 4 of the Professional skiers are very OPEN... open TOE piece that is. Case closed, you should ski OPEN.
  12. I skied a rtp until 10 years ago quite effectively for limited water time (32 off, 4 at 35) then got a new ski and needed new boots so the upgrade to double was only 60 dollars so what the heck,, almost everyone seems to doubles so why not there must be an advantage. Finally got some video 5 years ago and "ugh" a became very back footed. Switched back to rtp and quickly felt in better position and more athletic. I believe if you can run 35's or better than it is personal preference but i have not seen a single skier on double boots below that level that does not push the ski around with the back foot or who's body position is too far back. IMHO. The rtp needs some personal tailoring/tinkering/adjusting so the fit is right.
  13. I Agree. I find it quite painful to listen to someone giving feedback and coaching when the "Mixing of Buckets" occurs. This frustration is only eclipsed by the coaching the mistake that ends a pass ( i.e. 2 ball ) and not picking up the small changes or mistakes that occurred earlier in the pass vs their successful passes. The "Simple & Obscure" in my opinion is linked to "Rhythm and Timing" which is the key to identifying good passes from bad passes or even a brilliant set vs a bad set. A small deviation on your gate pull out intensity at your hardest pass that you can run maybe all it takes to not complete the pass BUT you might get to five ball and identify the mistake as a bad 4 ball turn.
  14. Great question, I anticipate the top 10 on any given Sunday will be closer with more run offs between 2 or more skiers. Sentimental pick - Will Asher, Patriotic pick - JMac O Canada !!
  15. This is great information,,, I am thinking of this as the "New Stack". For the last 4-5 years i have been stubbornly focused on my stacked position with good progress in my body position but not equivalent progress in slalom scores. A big "light bulb " moment occurred early this spring when snow skiing. I was skiing our favorite run on the mountain, scary steep " double black diamond", one where if you fall your sliding to the bottom of the run. My feeling when i am snow skiing steep terrain is that my head and shoulders are leading me down the hill, as if i am pitching myself down the mountain,, otherwise your in the back seat and on the tails. Two days later I read GUT skiing with efficiency and " Wholly S---" I realized I had developed a solid stack BUT it was a "STACK vs BOAT" and not a "STACK vs SKI". The Fall Line comparison speaks to me,, Thank you ADAMS.
  16. Good thread and discussion. Many good comments. One technical body position to be aware of is losing the position of our shoulders at: transition, preturn, and reach. These can all result in tipping in, although they look a bit different along the way. What to be Aware of ? We are all aware of proper stance and body position. Shoulders need to be slightly behind the chest and your sternum up and slightly forward. (Matt Rini has a nice article on line about this). If or when we lose this position and the shoulders come forward only an inch or two, the sternum drops in and ... we lose our ability to stay level in the shoulders and head. TIP IN. So all you Ballers know, I love @solski "like a redheaded step son" and we have wasted a lot of time discussing, debating, arguing and plan old fighting at times about all things water skiing. Level Headed has been in HIS top 3 focuses ( He has 10 or more) for 6 years. He admittedly is unsuccessfully more often than not with " level Headed " skiing. When he fixes the 1st mistake, the level head appears like MAGIC. Look out , he is going to give it to me now.
  17. I agree completely. Is it the Arrow or the Indian ? 90% Indian but you need a straight arrow to be on target ! Prior to the book i knew fin tuning played a roll but felt i would be guessing and opening "Pandora's Box". My year went as follows: -bought and read the entire book -measured my ski, fin very close to stock, Front boot too far forward @ 30 1/8, - open skied 4-5 sets with Video at current settings - moved Front boot to stock , 29 7/8 - Video of 3 sets of free skiing. - independent (blinded) feedback of my skiing was " your offside turn is better and your offside stack/position is much better" BOOM. - Continued video of most of my skiing and micro adjust boot setting when early season course skiing, 29 3/4 too far back. - After 1 month of course skiing my biggest flaw was "going to the handle too quickly" on my offside ONLY. Reviewed the book looking for the right fix. My observation was that the tip was grabbing on the offside and I was going to the handle quickly to avoid ending up in the water. - Followed Fin Whispering guide, reduced LE by X, FL by 2/3 of X, DFT by 1/3 of X. - Next set ran straight up the line and backsided 4 ball at 32 off, too excited. My spotter was in the boat for the 1st time this year and stated " Man, is that ski turning on the offside !" BOOM. I have obsessively read almost everything once, maybe twice on skiing technique over the last 4 years and have been patiently and methodically rebuilding my skiing. The Fin Whisper knowledge and adjustments have resulted in symmetrical body position (stack) on both sides, onside turn that feels like magic and a consistent and confident offside. I won't regret the time spent learning more.
  18. As one of the many "Obsessed" Ballers, my knowledge and understanding of all things waterskiing and increased dramatically, my skiing performance only modestly due to water access. If the stars and skiing align this weekend I hope to run my 1st 32 off since i upgraded from 260 hp and hand driving to 350 hp and Perfect Pass 10 years ago. Ball of Spray will get much of the credit. I hope to report on my journey all things learned for BOS.
  19. Interesting, Chris Rossi had an article a few years back where he listed two words that he was using to focus on throughout the year. When discussing skiing with my buddies, whom run a rare 35 at best, pro video comes up often with what i believe is a wrong focus. The discussion often is about what a particular individual pro is doing, " Terry Winter 's Edge Change, eg", instead of what ALL of the top skiers do that is the same. Rarely have I found a skier whom can accurately pick out what they need to focus on first. Counter Rotation would be the most obvious example.
  20. No data for you, in my group of +/- 25 skiers, only 3 are on rtp's, i am one of them.I find the threads and opinions on the safety of binding systems very interesting as they are mostly based on what people FEEL is safer based on their opinion or on some anecdotal (n of 1)observations. Feelings are not Facts, but that is all we have with this topic. Moving back to the RTP after 5-6 years on dbl boots, i FEEL safer on the RTP as my form is better and I ski with more front foot pressure. I am aware others FEEL there is more risk with the RTP and I have heard their explanations, they "do not compute" to me. Data I would like to see (for starters) but we can't get: 1. Have you been injured below the knee while waterskiing ? 2. Front foot/leg or Back foot/leg ? 3. Front foot binding Type ? 4. Back foot binging Type ? 5. Free skiing or course ? 6. Water Conditions ? 7. Line length you were skiing at the time of injury ?
  21. I am assuming you inadvertently forgot Will Asher. I skied RTP from 1990 to 2002, switched to Double Animals when i got a new HO. Switched back to RTP in 2011 after watching video of my skiing for the first time, it almost made me sick. I was trying to be stacked but wasn't and the video showed a back foot dominance. It took me only 3-4 sets to be comfortable but I felt better connection and less back foot during my first set. I would never switch back. It is important to invest some time adjusting RTP to fit, I have trimmed and sanded mine so my foot fits in fully. I also use a wedge or shoe tree to keep the boot stretched, air temp can affect the fit. I have NEVER had my back foot come out by accident. Even if you prefer DB's, if i were a coach i would have students spend time training on the RTP as a training tool. Good Luck, i look forward to the updates.
  22. I need a new fuel pump on my 2006 mastercraft tournament team, where do you recommend I order my parts from ? Thanks
  23. It is important to consider the intensity and workload of exercise to understand how our body will respond. Horton, in your opening thread you stated : 98th ride of the year, 7 sets in 3 days at a tournament, 2 days off, 2 more sets = 9 sets in 6 days which represents almost 10% of your years skiing in those 6 days,, and at short line. Every person would feel that. Interrupted sleep (sleep debt) can make soreness that would normally be 5/10 feel like 7 or 8/10. That is not age, it is parenthood. I still keep up my gym work but it changes, by example, what was 4 sets,10 reps at 150 lbs=6000 lbs would taper to 3 sets, 3 reps at 225 lbs=2025 lbs. Tapering the workload out results in feeling super strong but not worn out and ready to go after shortline. It would be interesting to measure the workload of 6 passes at 28 off vs a tournament set. My pb pass feels like 50 % more work than my opener, assuming i run it.
  24. Really athletic skiing. Agreed on the gate width. A couple other observations: - during gate glide your hips and shoulders are pointing towards the wake, as a LFF this common, try to keep your hips and shoulders as square as possible ( pointing at 2/4/6). This should allow the lower body to initiate the turn and you will be in a accelerating position sooner. - your arms appear to be coming away from your body at edge change, sending you on a narrower path to the ball. Try to keep the handle low and close through the edge change and until your reach. There is a lot of solid elements to your skiing, just some little cleaning up.
  25. It is almost time to get back in the course ! I have had a lot of free skiing and i am very encouraged. I thought i took good notes but now realized that i did not record my timing ques for my gates. Please help Left foot forward, two handed gate. I am a proponent of 10 o'clock - 2 o'clock gate, i think i may have been the first to post that, i got that tip from a buddy who has done many ski weeks. When do you begin your Pull Out ? How Long do you Glide ? When do you Turn In ? What are your visual Markers or Ques ? I'll take notes this time ! Thanks
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