How to cast out the ski? / Pro Ski Coach Water Ski Forum

rq0013 · #1 Tue, Apr 14, 2009 5:50 PM

Last summer I had trouble casting out my ski on my offside(LFF) turn, creating a bad turn according to a ski pro during a clinic. I feel this is what is preventing me from getting into 32' off. The water here in WI is 45 degrees so its time for me to start skiing. what can I be working on to fix this?

ColinBuchanan · #2 Tue, Apr 14, 2009 6:50 PM

Maybe think about counter-rotating your shoulders through your off-side turn. By that I mean feel your shoulders being more in a straight line with the rope all the way to the pylon. Having your shoulders and hips be more open in the preturn will lead to skiing away from the handle instead of forcing an edge change that leads to a turn where you never get to the end of the rope.

ChrisRossi · #3 Sat, Apr 18, 2009 11:01 PM

I think you are turning too much on your onside. The moment you turn your ski too far, the load you place on the line is heavily increased. This will lead to an early edge change into your off side pre turn. Focus on skiing to the handle with little or no upper body rotation through your on side turn and just leaning all the way though the second wake. This will help your entry into the off side and will give you more potential to ski out bound better. Look for my next article in the Waterskier called "Keys to a Great Off Side Turn" due out this month.

rq0013 · #4 Sun, Apr 19, 2009 11:45 PM

Thanks chris, I do turn hard on my on-side so that is probably it. I will focus on skiing back to the handle

moomba1 · #5 Thu, Apr 30, 2009 12:04 PM

take a video of yourself and see if chris is right about overturning your ski.9 out of 10 people i teach aren't getting their work done behind the boat.watch and see if your body is slowly but surely rising up towards the boat before the second wake.you may have to watch it in slow motion to see it.if your west coast it would be sooner due to the earlier pull and longer pre turn of that dicipline.work behind the boat=crisp fast edge change=wide natural ski arch=smooth turn finish=no load hookup and gone to the next ball.take a pro video put it in your lab top and put your video in the tv.go frame by frame from start to finish.find a pro who is same foot forward and same dicipline as you.what is this pro doing that you aren't?don't listen to your buddies in the boat do your video homework.

rq0013 · #6 Thu, Apr 30, 2009 6:24 PM

Thanks, So if im starting to get pulled up before the second wake that would cause my ski not to cast out?

Last edited by rq0013 (Thu, Apr 30, 2009 6:25 PM)

moomba1 · #7 Sun, May 3, 2009 11:57 AM

rq,lets start from the begining.was your pull out smooth,straight armed and leveraged away from the boat.this buys you time for the correct body positon to head to one ball.if you tried to turn in with to much line tension chances are you got handle seperation early and game over.check it out and we can go to next step

Buckeye1nc · #8 Sun, May 3, 2009 5:38 PM

I seem to be experiencing something similar to this on my offside (rff). On this side I am having difficulty driving my hips forward going into the turn. As I am transitioning to the turn I am attempting to move the inside hip out toward the turn. Any thoughts? Thanks. John.

2gofaster · #9 Mon, May 4, 2009 1:04 PM

I sort of think you're overthinking it. It's a situation of cause and effect. Where your hips go is an effect, not a cause. If you counter correctly, your hips will go where they need to be. If you're having to think about your hips, the problem is a lack of something else. IMO.

While I was injured late last year I started watching Slash. Slowed it down frame by frame when Chris, Wade and Jamie B were skiing. Something caught my eye when it was done like that. They're really open to the boat, soften their knees for the edge change, and then it's like they address the shore. Their eyes seemed to spot the bouy off the 2nd wake, their shoulders turned to the shore, their hip drives out towards the shore, and the ski starts to arc out from under them. So I started trying this. The key was when I figured out how to hold that inside arm's elbow in and the handle low at the edge change and start of the preturn. All of a sudden, I feel the boat propelling me outbound. The ski then casts out from under me and skis a wider arc than my body. As long as I keep my counter rotation that started when I address the shore with my shoulders, the ski finishes it's arc and my inside hip slides forward. So for me, it was 3 mechanics that I felt made all these other hip movements start to fall in line. Now, I may be doing it completely ass backwards wrong! lol But I'd been hearing people tell me to drive my hips this way and that way and I couldn't counsciously think about doing that and have it work.

moomba1 · #10 Mon, May 4, 2009 1:38 PM

john,back it up brother.how was your lean away when you cut in for the gates?if your old school its harder to set your cut from the apex of the turn when your rff.see how far your ski came around before you started your lean away.if you set it narrow you robbed yourself of a split second opportunity to get the handle down allowing you to leverage away from the boat.if your body is being brought up at all before the middle of the wake some handle separation is occuring.if the handle stays locked at the hip through the edge change you won't have to try to move your inside hip away it will be cast away for you.get your lab top with you on it and your tv with a pro video and go from start to finish frame by frame.place yourself and the pro at the exact location behind the boat.frame by frame evaluate the pros positon to your own.you will be shocked at what you see.the next night watch the pro video at regular speed.do this until your blue in the face.every time you will pick up something else.i got tired of all my beer drinking buddies trying to teach me so i tought myself.i learned off of slalom clinic and advanced slalom clinic by mike syderhoud and bob lapoint.short line with drew ross and andy mapple slalom video are exellent also.edged in water is my favorite for straight up jamin and music.

rq0013 · #11 Mon, May 4, 2009 3:04 PM

Moomba1 I dont have any video yet but I hope to soon. I think youre right and I do have a lot of line tension when i cut into the gates and sometimes get popped over the wakes.

So in essence, to allow the ski to cast out the easiest I need to do the following:
1. counter rotate
2.keep inside arm close to body during edge change and preturn
3.handle low

Right ??

ColinBuchanan · #12 Mon, May 4, 2009 6:55 PM

Sounds like a great opportunity for ProSkiCoach.com's online coaching!

moomba1 · #13 Mon, May 4, 2009 9:42 PM

john,have shortline over nighted to your house.i could tell you how to do this all day long but if you don't see and study a pros movements it will take forever to pick it up.the three things you hit on will help you, but short of going to ski school video is the best tool.