2012 Slalom Ski Thread

[macattack]

Originally Posted by Kyle

How is everyone's week going????

Not good...into my second week with pneumonia...going stir crazy since I'm on the "do nothing" orders from the doc!

Apparently, I had it when I skied my last tournament...4.5 @ 35

[JD6]

Originally Posted by Kyle

It is so nice to feel like I am giving something back to the sport....

It's nice to have you giving back too! I'm bummed I missed last wednesday's ski league but I extended my PB to 4@-22 a couple weeks ago. Now get me to -28, Kyle! See ya wednesday.

[aswinter05]

I consider myself a beginner at skiing. I've known how to slalom for a while, but have only been skiing regularly this season. My ENTIRE family is amazing at slalom skiing because they have done it all their lives.

I'm strictly an open water skier right now. I'm just not lucky enough to be around slalom courses to give it a try. I feel pretty confident on a ski at this point but I can't seem to cut really hard and create that MASSIVE spray (man do I envy a huge spray). I'll give myself a little bit of credit... I can "spray" better than the average bear.

My question for all you slalom studs out there.... How do you do it?? What is your technique??? Try and help me through the motions and maybe even recommend a couple good drills for me to practice spraying. Don't leave a fellow slalom newbie behind! Currently I'm skiing with a 2011 HO Triumph, a ProStar 209, and 15 ft. off the line. I won't be changing any of my equipment so PLEASE don't make that a suggestion lol Does line length make much of a difference in spraying?

[Sullivan]

Hips Forward Shoulders Back. Keep your knees bent and pull from boat spray to boat spray. Practice, practice and practice some more. No drills, just lots of practice cutting through the wakes and making nice and smooth turns with the focus on the above.

Good luck and pray to the slalom spray gods.

[JJMorris3]

My turns improved when I began to look up far across the wake coming out of my turn. Kind of like trying to find the next buoy. Lean hard away from boat and pull across the wake on edge. Don't hesitate crossing and no bending at the waist. Bend knees to absorb wake if needed. It cuts nicely if you are aggressive. Then start your next turn soon after crossing, and transfer into turn as though you are coming around a buoy that is beyond where you can reach. Look up and across the wake as you pull and lean away from the boat again and cross on edge. Big spray comes from transition into turn soon after crossing the wake, at speed, and then the look up and across, and pulling.

[Kyle]

To create a big spray first off dont try to make one, it just happens...

Second, dont lean back and tail ride the ski. This will only make a small spray.

To generate a huge wall of water you need to be up on the middle of the ski and really crank it around a pretend bouy and go straight across the wakes.

[aswinter05]

you guys are awesome! Appreciate the great advice and can't wait to hit the water this weekend so I can put them into practice. Keep the advice coming!

[gatorguy]

Spent the week at lake Powell with a borrowed course. Set it up day one and skied it AM & PM daily. Could hardly make three balls the first day, but by the end of the trip I was running back to back to back passes of 15' @32. My body was quite the traitor by the end of the week. My legs didn't hurt, but my back is just thrashed, andthe skin on my hands, feet, and back leg calf are all raw. I can hardly walk. I think if I had 3xweek access to a course I could actually improve.

One thing that blew my mind was what an attractive nusence those little balls are. It seemed like people came from all over to float/drive around in my course. It was in really shallow water with trees sticking up on both sides at the very right end of last chance. In one weeks time we lost 2 balls (the course not me) and someone hit a boom arm with their out drive and broke it. I spliced it with a broom handle and hose clamps and duct tape.

Chasing those 6 little balls gives new meaning to my skiing life. It's like crack, I just need more. And besides, now in open water I don't know when, where, or why to turn.

[gatorguy]

This is what I came away with for all my efforts. It hurt just to look at it. Every time I skied it felt like someone was stabbing me with a knife. Any idea how to minimize this? I've been averaging twice a week prior to this trip, and I had another 1 wk trip just a month before this one.

By the way, this is from the spray.

[gatorguy]

Here is some video of one of my passes at the start of the week. Any comments would be helpful.

http://youtu.be/NtnqKdfwf5E

Thanks