A pic. is worth 10,000 words! Both in terms of advice and example... Got any vid. you could upLoad? That would be the very Best place to start.

Chuck, thanks for posting. Your position looks pretty strong... although I do agree that there is not very much body lean in the picture you posted.

chuck wrote:

When finishing the turn do you bring the handle low and then lean

Yes and no. You want to time your turn so that you can fall into the body lean that you want -- if you hook up with too much cross course direction and insufficient body lean then you will not be able to sustain your angle, as your picture shows.

If you are able to time the body lean correctly, you will be able to ski into the body lean you want while still feeling the controlled cut that you are feeling now with minimal stress...

Essentially your problem stems from too much unsustainable angle out of the turn, followed by an attempt to not overload the rope.

Minimal angle is essential in learning this technique. A lot of folks say to just pull wicked hard and throw the fist, which works for the most part, but when you master the position correctly, lean happens without work and you are able to ski with the speed you need.

For more please look into getting a virtual coaching lesson with me, where I'd be happy to explore your questions in much more depth, with pictures or video and over the phone.

http://www.proskicoach.com/pros/wade_williams

Thanks!

Chuck, I think Wades got the perfect plan with video and virtual coaching...

It's impossible to tell what went on from the apex to the 1st wake. But, as Wade said you Look pretty Good. Your shoulders and Eye's are level and your not pulled way fwd. The Handle is fairly low. Just can't really tell whats going on with the hips and knees. (Blk. on Blk.)

If I were looking at me, I would like to see my shoulders a little more squared to the Back of the Boat and my Lt. hip up a bit. Which would allow for a Better lean and a Lower handle. But, it's hard to tell how you got to your pos. in that pic. and whether this is indicative of all of your off side turns...

I bet Wade could correct it starting at about the apex with a little virtual coaching...

Isolate the feel of the pull as it comes up your arm and over your shoulder (one shoulder for one-way; then the other),  Make both shoulders feel equal and you will have just sides. Arc'it or Park'it

Guys,

Thanks for the comments, but sage advice from my 77 year old ski partner here in Florida suggested thinking "lean" as you are crossing the wake.  Today I tried that repeating "lean, lean, lean", and it worked very well.  My leans where more equal in each direction and were comfortable.  It showed up in the results and started to give time to work on the turns.  A little more practice at it than we'll bump the speed back up to 34 from 32.

Regarding the back arm pressure, that doesn't work well for me.  I end up tensing the muscles in that arm, consequently can't lean. 

Chuck

Here we go again....

This is for "Some People," Not everyone!

IMO, I think extra Leading or trailing arm pressure might be needed for "some people" who naturally ski with a Biased arm. This "pressure" may need to be felt in one arm on the "on-side" and the other arm on the "off-side" because of a severe imbalance caused by the skier's "overly dominate," or Biased dominate side. Thus, for "some people" it might "Feel" like more pull through the other arm,  because there is now a little more Conscience pull effort being made to help Balance and equalize the pull between sides. (because they had not ever been pulling equally and Balanced in the 1st place.) Of course non of this makes any difference if the skier is not 1st doing what Ed outlined above on position and technique...

I'm with Ed on the word "LEVERAGE."  You could probably have Leverage and not be very Efficient. But, you could Never be Efficient and not have Great Leverage... I get a Lesson on Leverage every time I watch a top Female skier Swerve...

I think you are wise to work on proper body position. I think that those boots would work better for someone that already skis with that forward lean rather than force you to stand that way. I would definitely try before buy if possible. I would be surprised if you like them.

To improve: Video yourself and compare yourself to other videos of skiers you want to ski like. If you can put two monitor side by side and freeze frame, you will see more. Go back on water with camera and work on small pieces at a time to get your form right Then Compare again. You may also benefit from a few lessons. Achieving a lot of small goals will get you up to your big goal. Good luck and ski safely.

Thanks for the input. Sounds like I am going to stick with a traditional rubber binding for now. Today I did pullout drills on both sides and then dropped in as if I was turning in for the gates. I am right foot fortward. I have never tried that on my off side (as if going thru the gates from right to left) This allowed me to focus on getting into body position without the distraction of the turn. It seem to help and I nailed a controlled, progressive lean on a few of them.  I will keep working it. Thanks again.