Load and Direction / Pro Ski Coach Water Ski Forum

CdnMalibu07 · #51 Mon, Jul 5, 2010 3:56 PM

Guys,

I think we can all agree that putting the principles into practice is the trick here. After having pro instruction from Seth on the water I know exactly what position my body needs to be in to smoothly carry speed around a buoy and carry speed across the wakes but I struggle to make it happen. I am fighting to get my core forward enough during the apex of the turn and as a result I lose way too much momentum and am forced to pull from a less than balanced stance on my ski........I'm still working on it, but the key for me is going to be finding a thought or trigger that will allow me to swerve around each ball in a more efficient manner. In open water I feel like a pro. In my course, I can't keep body position because my focus is on each ball, its frustrating.

JWAKES · #52 Wed, Jul 7, 2010 8:04 PM

CDN-
I feel like i have the same problem...when you say get your core more forward thru the turn...i have found this to be very difficult myself. i end up getting my shoulders forward instead of my hips. result: nothing good. i can fudge through 22-28 off at 36mph. but 32 seems impossible. if you have any good idea let me know. as is try to get my hips up/shoulders back through the turn i just end up on the tail. if i don't have my hips up my shoulders lead and i end up just losing speed and rotating my upperbody too much at the finish. tough stuff. but still fun!

J

2gofaster · #53 Wed, Jul 7, 2010 8:32 PM

jwakes, I'd look at how you are countering. Counter-rotation starts at the ankles, not the hips. If you counter from the hips up, you tend to fall on the back foot. When you counter starting at your ankles, you drive the knees forward and consequently drive the inside hip forward and inside the turning circle of the ski.

Deke · #54 Wed, Jul 7, 2010 9:43 PM

I'd like to know how to "fudge my way through 22-28 off at 36mph" I mean you must be doing something right.

CdnMalibu07 · #55 Thu, Jul 8, 2010 1:46 PM

There may be something to getting counter rotated faster while skiing back to the handle. Great suggestion! By that I assume you mean squaring my shoulders to the boat, which may also help keep me on the cutting edge.....we'll see what happens.

JWAKES · #56 Thu, Jul 8, 2010 2:39 PM

shane-
thanks i'll give that a shot. i've never thought "ankles" to counter my hips. i can counter my hips ok but it's too late....meaning my movements aren't fluid. it's jerky and forced. i just feel like my ski never gets a good release out at edge change...but rather goes from one edge...to flat...ride out ...to inside edge and counter (too close to the ball).

j

Killer · #57 Thu, Jul 8, 2010 2:47 PM

Deke wrote:
I'd like to know how to "fudge my way through 22-28 off at 36mph" I mean you must be doing something right.

definitely is doing some things right in order to ski like that, but you can still run those passes while making a lot of mistakes. There is lots of chatter about what is required to run those earlier "shorline" passes, I think its a mixture of a lot of different things, or a mish mash of certain ingredients. Sometimes its aggression and time on the water, handle control, good sharp tight line turns, etc. any one of those things can get you around 6@-28 IMO, but you will need all of those and more to get around 6@-35... check out youtube vids of those passes and then some of -15 and -22 skiers.

I'm trying to ski more like the tortoise than the hare, slow and steady (metaphorically). good form, tight line, lots of pass completion before moving on. The ski league is great for me because of how cautious I'm being with my progression; its forcing me to challenge myself a little bit more than I would normally be comfortable with. my nickle's worth