Moggie

SPECIAL OFFER!!! Order spray leg before Christmas and receive a free tampon! Call now… PANSY-555 ;)

@6balls do you have a link to that video, I'd love to see it.

Is there a way to put music to a ski video and upload it to YouTube/Vimeo etc without it breaching copyright laws? @TazyMike28 is putting a video together but has had past videos removed for copyright infringement. There are loads of videos with music and I can't believe they've all paid for licences.

Australia is pretty big so it depends where you want to be. Don't discount Perth. Great beaches, loads of sun, two great ski clubs, one with 5 private lakes the other on the river next to the city. In season there's at least a dozen tournaments in the state.

@TazyMike28 Get the blue Vapor so I can give it a demo. :smiley:

I use an insert in my rear boot to lift my rear heel by a few millimetres. When I moved to double Vapor bindings I couldn’t get the bend in my ankle to move my back knee forward. A few mill in the heel made a big difference. I also tend to stand on my toes a little during the gate-glide. As soon as I’m under load both feet become firmly planted. No idea what I do at the buoy.

Who says an 8 buoy course needs to be longer, if you use it just for practice and don’t use exit gates it can be the same length as a standard setup with pre-gates. With gates, it’ll need to be another 50ish metres long but that would allow you to run a 10 buoy course if you excluded the pre-gates. It’s an interesting idea…

I’m exhausted just reading all that!

The author’s understanding of physics is truly shocking. No question the technology has some potential but the article is just such an exaggeration.

My two cents for what it’s worth…For me, gates at our level (15-28 off) are all about consistency. I break up the gate movement into the following steps when I ski: 1 – Point at which I pull out 2 – Distance boat travels for me to achieve desired width 3 – Distance boat travels for me to match boat speed 4 – Point at which I start my turn in 5 – Distance boat travels for me to ski through gates I use the distance the boat travels as a yardstick so if I change the intensity of a pull out, what I’ve done is change the distance boat travels for me to achieve desired width. This needs to be compensated for in one of the other 5 steps. My aim is to be as consistent as possible with steps 2-5 and simply adjust step 1 for different speeds. For different line lengths each point changes slightly, but being consistent allows you to learn what’s changed and how to compensate.

@DmaxJC_ski, what you're describing isn't being too wide, its being too fast into the buoy. If you're still gaining on the boat at the buoy you're too fast which likely because you were taking your gates too aggressively. That's what causes the slack rope.

I think what @jimbrake is referring to is that when you're wide at 15off you really do feel more acceleration out of the buoy than when you're narrow. Whether this gets you to the next buoy any earlier is debatable as you have to travel further. I've had passes at 15off 34mph where I've been a good 6 feet wider than the buoy line. You generate so much more speed as the angle of the rope is starting to pull you more inbound than down course. Running 15off wide gets you closer to the whip you start feeling at 22off.

@richarddoane, if someone asked you what score are you capable of skiing, what would you tell them?

While I can see why elite skiers may take this view I’ve always disagreed that practice doesn’t count. It may not matter to other people but it matters to me. Yesterday I ran 16m at 58kph for the first time and set a new practice PB of 3@14.25m. To achieve something I’d never done before was a huge rush. My tournament PB is only 5@18.25m@58kph, so when I eventually run it in a tournament it will be more relief than joy. If you’re comparing yourself to other skiers then I agree that only tournament scores really count, but practice scores are important to me because it tells me what I’m capable of achieving.

Thanks for starting this thread @ozski. Almost everyone at my club is at the level of starting to shorten. I've been battling 58kph 18m for ages. For me I've started to have some success by forgetting 18m and 16m and I started working to get consistent at 14m 52kph. It’s helped me stay on the handle longer and improved my hook-up after the buoy. It’s also a lot more fun than 18m.

This just makes it all the more astonishing the consistency with which Nate can run 10.25m.

Don't hate me I know it's wakeboarding, but it's still pretty cool!

thanks @swerveit, some great observations. Skiing in the morning so we'll try out your suggestions.

P.S. I cannot wait to be skiing at 14m but I’ve got some serious improving to do before then.

Going 'hard off the ball' is the only way I know to get across the course with sufficient width. Admittedly it wasn't a tidy pass, big wheelie at 2 didn't help, but how would one get across with less effort? The skier on the right (actually a Radar Vice) puts in less effort and gets the same result. Not sure how he does this. It just looks like he never really slows down.

Myself and my ski buddy both consistently run 55kph 18m but struggle at 58 kph. I edited this side by side video to see where our strengths and weaknesses were relative to one another on a typical 55kph 18m pass. I was surprised by how differently we ski. It appears that I (left) take better angle out of the buoy but Mike (right) maintains much more momentum through the turns. What do you think we should each work on? Really appreciate the ballers help.

@Horton‌ - When you measure your front binding position where do you measure it from on the boot?

Haha, yeah the liners are on the right foot. They're perfectly comfortable on the dock, just painful when skiing. The big toe isn't a problem its more the arch of my foot if anything. Does anyone know where to measure front binding position from?

So I tried out my double Vapor bindings on the sequence plate for the first time this morning and wow, wow, wow, wow, WOW! I expected a change but it was like I was on a new ski. For reference of my limited ability, I consistently ski 34 mph 15off, and had only once run 36mph 15off; I occasionally run 34mph 22 off. First the performance; having such direct connection to the ski reminded me of the first time I skied my 2013 Strada, it felt so twitchy when skiing flat, it was begging to be on an edge. Across the wakes I could hold an angle I’d never achieved with the Vector boots. They felt so solid. Strangely it made the wakes feel harder, not in a bad way, just that I felt more of a thud. I really struggled to engage the turn on my onside. I didn’t feel the snap like I used to. It was turning, just slower than I expected and wanted. I will double check binding position tonight. My offsides however were great. They felt fast without snapping and just so so smooth. The result was that I matched my PB (2 @ 22off, 36mph). I should have run much deeper into 22off but made a silly error at 2 and only tried the pass once. I followed up with the easiest 22off 34mph I’ve ever skied. 22off 36mph is going down and very soon! The downside; my feet were in a whole world of pain. I’m a 11/11.5 shoe size and ordered the Vapors in a 12. Standing on the dock they’re fine, I can just feel the end of the boot with my big toe. After a few passes however the arch of my feet were in agony. It’s like I did two sets skiing on my toes. Not sure if this is good and I will adjust or whether I need to do something about it. The other thing was that my front quad felt burnt out after 3 passes. It’s like I was skiing with one leg. In my back boot I used the sole-insert to lift the heel a little so I suspect this may be why. Considering I’m often guilty of being too heavy on my back foot this could be a good thing, once my leg adjusts to the new torture. All in all, for the satisfaction of running more buoys I’ll gladly suffer the pain. Hopefully it’s just because they’re new and I’ll adjust. I could look at having the liners heat moulded, not sure how much of a difference this makes. This wasn’t supposed to be a review but I’ve just kept rambling. Anyway it’s been an interesting morning. If anyone’s had a similar experience with the Vapors it would be useful to hear how you got on with them after the honeymoon period.

Thank you all for your help.