Ya, I'm not saying it's too narrow. But it's certainly a very short set up and a width that is far less aggresive then most. Seems like a very Good way to get consistancy w/o all the variables of a longer and wider set up... (he's also moving faster going into his turn in, w/o all the gliding and slowing of a typical P/O...)

In the video, watch the white water coming off the side of the Boat (lower left of screen) at his widest width of the pull out @ -32. Now watch the rest of the Balls 2,4,6 on that pass.

Now do the same thing on the -41 pass to me, this clearly shows a significant difference between Both P/O's and @ -41 he is much shorter (narrower) on his -41 P/O then the -32 P/O or the rest of the -41 2,4,6 Balls...  -well, that's my perception anyway!?!?

Anyone else see anything?

Check out Rossi's explanation from a while back:

My goal with gates is to accelerate from the starting point.  I used to focus on falling away (more forward) and catching the boats load when I reached the bottom of my fall.  This works fine but I found that my speed was developing too late so I was ending up too wide on the boat.  I focus now on getting into my accelerating position before starting my edge out for the gates.  Standing more center-to-back, engaging my hips forward, torquing from the trailing arm, and attempting to leave my ski more out in front of me during the first stage of the gate sets me up with a better line.
The starting point is the spot you stand in before edging out for the gates.  For me, it is as close to the wakes as possible without being in the dip.  You should not be standing out in the whitewash created from the spray of the boat.  I place 60% of my weight on my back foot before starting my edge out.  This allows my right hip to be forward with my legs fairly straight.  I focus on having my right hip connected to the handle and when I want to start my edge-out, I transition to my right hand (torque) and think about keeping the ski out in front of me while powering the left edge of the ski.  We want to be able to ski out on a tight line, so by keeping the ski more out in front of me, I keep the ski on a more realistic trajectory. 

The first stage of my gate is from the starting point to the edge change out for my gates.  We normally edge change in the course at the second wake.  My thought with the gates is that we are already starting wide of our preferred edge change location (2nd wake) so I am trying to get my speed and direction set earlier (first stage gets shorter in duration).  This gives me more time to ski away from the boat on my turning edge which helps me to keep a tight line and be able to roll in with speed.
For a right foot forward skier, if you are too front foot heavy in your stance for the gates, you will not be able to edge change early enough to ride a tight rope out to the apex.  Most skiers think they want to be really free from the boat to turn.  This is not the case.  What you are looking for is a tight rope (no bow in the line from pylon to handle) while you are extending away in the pre-turn.  At apex, you will feel tension from the pylon that will start to pull your inside hip forward, and you will slide into the handle.  There is zero rotation from the upper body as you ski into the power triangle.

Last edited by b-rad19 (Thu, Oct 21, 2010 1:15 PM)

B-Rad did the work for me.  Those are my gates as I see it.  Gates are an evolution.  I have been doing a OHG for 10 seasons now and this is where I've ended up.  Who know what it will morf to in the next 10 years!

Chris

#1. The Pull out Starting pt.?   (i.e. the 55's)

I make my decision to start at about 6 feet before I get to the 55's.  I used to go later, but I like knowing that I have enough time to really let the ski finish its roll in from apex to handle without to push on the ski.  As soon as you push, you start to load up the ski.  This will come back to get you at the edge change.  The more load you build, the more direction you will lose after the edge change.

#2. The proper width?  (i.e. all lengths do not appear to be the same width?)

I don't really think about my width during an edge out.  The crucial component to success on gates is to be accelerating after the edge change before going to one hand.  If this comes at too wide of a point, you will have slack turning in and will load the line too much.  That's why some people think I am running a narrow gate.  I don't believe my gates are narrow.  I am just getting my speed to come earlier in the turn.  This is more like when you are skiing the course.

#3. The Turn in starting pt.? (i.e. when the Lt. gate buoy aligns with 1 buoy, etc...)

I don't use visual clues, at least I am not aware of them if I do.  Skiing is about making the best of where you are at.  You will never be in the exact same place on any gate.  Speed and direction will be slightly different.  Thus, your visual will be slightly different every time.  I focus on getting everything right on my way out to the apex.  From apex, I just feel the ski start to roll in and focus on allowing the ski to complete the turn.  By allowing it to finish, I end up in my stacked position with very little load.  There is no rushing through this phase.  So my only focal point is my starting position.  After that, the rest is set.  If I miss my gates early and feel like I did everything I wanted on the way out, then I know I should start my out a little later.  If I have a great out and end up late through the gates, I start slightly earlier.  I miss my gates at least 30% of the time in parctice now.  In the beginning of my one handed gate learning, I would miss my gates up to 80% of the time.  You have to be able to finish what you have started in order to learn where you will end up.  This allows you to build confidence in the gate.  So for me, its all about when I start out, not when I roll in.

Hope this helps.

Chris

Thanx Chris,
Great Stuff right there! That makes a lot of sense. I can sure see some Killer advantages to your Gate technique. Though I am LFF, I am going to work with some of those principles next season. Being LFF. it is much harder to consistantly get a great line and ski angle on the off-side turn in/pull, it's harder to finesse and not over/under compensate and it is very easy to over Load and get pulled up after the edge change... 

But, just rolling in with more speed and not trying to foolishly get so freakin' Wide will be great starters!

Good Food for thought. Thanx!

I don't have near the issue during the off-side turn. But, this yr. I noticed a big disparity between my on & off-side pulls. Especially evident while doing off-side lean drills. I was Horrified at my tech. on the off-side lean drill! That made me more conscience of how much my Gates were lacking. I'm going to work on those right from the start next season on open water B4 I start complicating everything in the course...

Chris,  how would your gate change if you were to go 34.2 mph?

The only difference for 34 would be that I would start my edge out a little later.    Other than that, everything is the same.  It is easier to load the line at slower speeds, so you really have to focus getting the edge out right so that you can ski into the handle with as little load as possible.