Glad to see this topic, you are not alone.

My wife's normal practice is with Perfect Pass 6.4 behind 2002 CC 196 at 34mph 15/22/28, 115 lb kx normal.  She never used Zero Off until 2 weeks ago at her 1st tournament in 2 years.

It was a last minute decision to enter and she had not researched ZO settings.  Poor 1st round behind Malibu at B2 setting, she says pull was very different and she was scrambling as she fell on opening pass.

Rounds 2 & 3 she tried C2 behind Nautique and MasterCraft w/ C1 and liked it better but could not finish 22.  That is usually an easy pass for her but I think the A,B,C confusion got in her head.

Her plan for this weekend tournament is C2 behind the Malibu & Correct Craft and C1 with the MasterCraft. 

Any advice appreciated.  Should we change KX or make other changes to PP 6.4 during practice?

C is not stronger. It just picks you up sooner off the ball.  From my experience this year, this is what I see.........

22 off and under skiers:

They seem to like B, with B1 being used behind the MC, B2 behind the Nautique, and B3 behind the Malibu.

28 off and shorter skiers:

They seem to like C, with C1 being used behind the MC, C2 behind the Nautique, and C3 behind the Malibu.

All bets are off with 36mph skiers because we really only have a few. 90% of our skiers at the tournaments are 34mph.

from http://zerogps.com/information.php?info_id=25

What boats will Zero Off be available for?

Currently the Zero Off speed control system only works on 2007-2008 boats with a drive-by-wire, GM 5.7L & 6.0L engines that use an eControls ECU.

JayG wrote:

from http://zerogps.com/information.php?info_id=25

What boats will Zero Off be available for?

Currently the Zero Off speed control system only works on 2007-2008 boats with a drive-by-wire, GM 5.7L & 6.0L engines that use an eControls ECU.

Isn't it rather strange how the Powers that be have completely shut out the Really good folks at Perfect Pass and then decided for all of us that we all Now need to update our boats just so we can practice with the new Monopoly system???

What a freakin' joke!    What Boob had this "sport saving" idea?  Wait a minute, how many Boobs did it take to go along with this???

ZO -just another nail in the Slalom coffin...

I've been thinking about something similar - not tournament specific, but for when you get upset in a given pass. My reaction coming to the buoy if I felt late at all was to lose all the form I've been working on and go shoulders forward & butt back - then if I made the turn w/o falling, give up my counter trying to get back on the handle right away.

I'm so inconsistent right now, that every few passes or sometimes every few turns this is happening, which is killing my progress. So, in the middle of a frustrating set last week, I decided if I was going down, I was at least going to keep my position. All of a sudden I was making all thes buoys that I felt or actually was late for and even started catching up relatively easier for the rest of the pass.

So I feel like I changed my "scrap" reaction from a real negative, to a big positive... I just hope I can keep this going.

MiSki,

That was a pretty funny reply as I could picture the shoulders forward and butt back when I get into trouble stance...  But I like the fact you opted to try to ski with good form and crach rather than bad form and maybe make it...  Sounds like it is paying off.  After my first set last night I too opted to try and ski with my head up and boy was it tough because I straightened my legs or something (I will continue to work on this however)...

RC

What I've been doing is skiing PP Classic on my 2002 SN with KX++. With that setting and using C2 in the tournament last weekend, I was able to ski closer to my practice averages (mid 35) and the boat didn't feel so hard. I have been afraid to try ++ on PP or C on ZO, but I put all that behind me since my tournament scores have sucked so far this year. Turned out those settings are not so much harder than what I was using (Normal on PP and B1 on ZO).

Regarding your suggestion... I am headed to the lake in about an hour and I will be sure and put the boat on KX++...  Thank you~  Hey have you ever tried running at a little faster speed to make things seem easier at a tournament?  I know that may seem like a bad idea, but maybe just 34.6???

Thanks RC....

I went out today and checked the boats KX and it was at ++... 

From checking with the guys it has been at ++ all year!  Tomorrow I will try picking up the MPH a little and see how that goes...  We did start pretty early in the season and now 34 is feeling slow so maybe this will be a good thing...

Then I am going to change the crew weight  later on to see if that will make a difference.... We don't have skier weight anymore because it is Feather, Light, Normal and XL... 

Today I was pretty consistant 2 sets and both were 5 at 32 off...  I am happy with that!  But I can't seem to get comfortable with tournaments...  Every year they get to me...  I am going to read a book about performance and maybe that will calm my nerves a little....  Thanks for all or your helpful tips~

I would like to see them reply as well...  I have been to a couple of Big Dawg and remember seeing a lot of streching and running...  We will be going to the Diablo Shores Pro-Am in September~  This is such a great event.   I will try that today, but I don't get those same nervouse feelings when I am skiing for practice


I just found a book that my husband read and I am going to try my best and read it too... It is called "In Pursuit of Excellence" 4th edition by, Terry Orlick, PhD.  It is all about preparing the mind for excellence in sporting events...

Anyone other things you guys do to prepare yourselves for tournament skiing?

Back when I was running track & x-country in college, the warmup of choice before a race was about 10 minutes of very slow jogging about 40 minutes prior to the gun (not enough to get the heart rate up much, if at all), then stretching & staying off your feet for 20 minutes, then staying as relaxed as possible at the starting line. But it was definitely more of a psychological thing since it took me about 7 years to find something that made me comfortable. No matter what I did, there were always butterflies in the stomach. And nowadays, I hear there's a debate on whether stretching before a race helps or hurts one's performance.

IMHO, it's all going to vary between people. What works for some might not work for others.

OK...  So we have "3"  2 round tournaments in Sacramento this weekend and I have done a lot of thinking on what to think about prior to my ride...

All of your suggestions have been great and I really hope some of you have learned a little something too as I have....

I will be thinking of skiing in practice as I have been... I will be getting a slow gate with awesome angle and as I come into each buoy I will Rise, Reach, Open and Wait..................................  Then do that again 5 more times...

I will report back....