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I've been watching a lot of pro video lately, including the longline runs Seth did for us back in 2008. One HUGE difference I'm noticing between their skiing and my skiing is width.
Hop over to our videos section and watch Seth run 15@34. Then watch one of my recent videos. What's immediately apparent to me is that I'm letting go "early" because that's where physics is yelling at my body to let go. I've reached the bottom of the swing too early and I've changed edge too early. Telling myself to hold the handle longer, and I could be wrong here, without the benefit of good angle and swing through the wake won't do much good.
Check out the pics below (captions are below corresponding pictures, btw). Notice how I'm starting my turn so early- before the buoy line- and ending up kinda at the ball. I skid out past the buoy line in my actual turn (my return trip to 2-ball, if you will). I don't achieve width past the ball, then turn back like the pros. At the apex of the turn I'm barely rounding the ball- probably much like a pro at -43. I really think this is my brain doing the math, basically saying I have X speed and Y angle here. My brain is silently saying, based on X and Y: "I need to get around that orange thing. Based on current momentum (yes, use the KITT voice from Knight Rider) I need to initiate turn sequence NOW or I will run out of momentum". Using what little energy and speed I've given my brain to work with, the resultant "firing solution" is an early release, and early lay-out turn that barely clears the ball.
Blackdog, Deke, and others have talked about this extensively but it's just hitting me now, again- gate angle, progressiveness, etc. is going to be the key to the right release and width in the course. Same with each wake cross- progressive power.
Sure, elbows tight, handle control, etc. is all paramount but probably somewhat futile if you're not letting physics occur, forcing you to the end of the rope and giving you proper angle. Sorry to regurgitate what several others have said but it's making particular sense after reviewing tonight's videos.
New topic: mixing it up. I had to laugh today when after one opening pass at -15 (which I screwed up on and did not complete), Jeff said, without hesitation: "let me shorten that up for you buddy". We agreed that phrase had to be a blog post title. He couldn't bear to see me that far behind the boat. And you know what? He's right. At least for us. Going back to 15 feels SO much easier, earlier, and better than it used to. It feels like -22, but at 3mph slower, at least. All because I've been skiing so much at -22. Sure, we "hack" it up more at those lengths (22 and 28) but our bodies and minds are learning, not repeating old mistakes and getting away with them. Now I have two learning tools: -15 for working on particular things and having additional forgiveness and -22 as the stricter teacher that reminds me what needs improvement and rewards me that much more for correcting those things.
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It amazes me how little work
It amazes me how little work can be done to get to the the first turn buoy "on time" when the gate gets executed properly. I'm still working on that. I'm closer now than I was earlier in the year, but it often and easily tilts in the "to forceful" direction. You recognizing what's going on is the first step to fixing it.
In my own mind (to trick myself) I have to say, I don't want to run this pass. This is what I do to ease up on the load when I keep overloading. Loading to early will force your edge change early (as you noted) or will require so much force to hold position through the centerline that the upper body will move in to quickly and directly at the ball (at best). That is why I asked where Nate hits the throttle.
It is very difficult to control the line after the centerline if the load is to early or to hard. Good skiing is precision skiing, but it's not hard on the body and it doesn't take a lot of strength. That's why someone like Nate can run a bunch of buoys, he's pretty doggone precise, even when he messes up, he doesn't panick and get forceful.
"It is very difficult to
"It is very difficult to control the line after the centerline if the load is to early or to hard." YES! Great point. I could have great speed and angle but if I loaded too HARD that will also pull me out of position after the wake. Handle control becomes impossible. I remember during my clinic with Seth that feeling of "no load" going through the gates. All direction and no load. It's all coming back to me now.
Joel, Something really hit me
Joel, Something really hit me today as I read this and looked at all the footage and thought about what i have read in the past. The first thing that I noticed is that you are really early into 1 ball. Even though there is a lot that we are missing in between each shot, these are very telling. The pic at the 2nd spray line looks like you are in fairly decent shape. Your analysis of releasing too soon is shown in the 2nd pic. Your caption for the 3rd pic is dead-on. With that angle it almost looks like you aren't even going to make the buoy.
As always, this can be traced back to what happened prior. The thing I noticed is that you missed the gates early. I was wondering if you had hit your gates, keeping everything the same, if that would have put you in a better position for 1 ball. I think it would have. Then I was thinking about the fact that the gates and the boat guides at each ball are NOT equidistant. I knew this but when I looked up the dimensions of the course it really surprised me how un equal they are. The distance between the gates and the 1st guides at 1 ball is 88.5 ft. The distance between the rest of the guides is134.5 ft. Half this distance is 67.25 ft. Holy cow! That is a huge difference and therefore your "s" path is not symmetrical from the gates to 1 ball and so on. So the gates cannot be thought of as a halfway point between "zero ball" and 1 ball.
Your bad path into 1 ball is twice compounded by the natural assymetry of the course as well as your being early for your gates. If you think about everything BD says about being easy easy easy into the gates, it is not just a great idea (for body position, line control, etc.) but it is something you MUST do because of the increased distance between the gates and 1 ball. Maybe this is something that you guys already thought about, but it really hit me today.
One last thing. Being a child of the 80's I was a huge fan of Knight Rider. Joel, KITT is with 2 T's. Knight Industry Two Thousand!
Good stuff. I'm always early
Good stuff. I'm always early for the gates. It's something I don't know how to fix yet. Some say turn in when the boat is here or there, others say when certain buoys line up, others say the turn in is adjusted by when you pull out. I don't know what the answer is and it's something I've really not worried about. Prolly should, though.
I added a few stills from our
I added a few stills from our 2008 Seth Stisher 15@34 vid. He has a lot more angle through the gates.
Unbelievable! I actually was
Unbelievable! I actually was putting together a set of comparative stills for you yesterday morning when our power went out. Continued again when the power came back at 2:00 PM and had another outage within 5 minutes! Anyway, I'll just comment on this now.
Joel, you need to look at one more thing with your gate and I know it is something Seth worked with you on at your clinic. That would be your width on the pull out. I had still frames of you and Seth during the glide that show how he is more "up on the boat" and moving a bit faster at the turn in point. That gets him high on the boat approaching one. If you combine that with what fu-man is saying, moving the turn-in point further down course for better angle, you'll find your momentum going out more at one ball rather than toward one ball. I think just concentrating on the gate will fix a lot for you in a very simple way.
Link to more stills...
http://fifteenoff.com/content/let-me-shorten-more-stills-you-joel
Yes to that stuff. Also, back
Yes to that stuff. Also, back to BD's original comment, TENSION against the boat is a killer. If I pull against the goat through the gate, regardless of where I start, pull out, etc. -basically regardless of any "coordinates", that tension is going to kill outbound momentum and angle. I need to "RIDE THE WATER", not fight it, through the gates.
Looks like we're going to have an evening sesh today after work. I'll focus on tension-free gates.
Skied again tonight. Didn't
Skied again tonight. Didn't realize how much I was pulling behind the boat until I didn't pull and still got the same result. Nice. Let the boat do the work. Still no luck on handle control, gate angle, or anything else. If the course only had 4 balls I would have had all full passes practically.
So what was happening? Did
So what was happening? Did you think "I'm not early enough" somewhere and apply excess load or maybe "this is to easy. it can't be right" and apply a bunch of load. Did you just not ride the handle long enough to keep speed and direction? Did you not drive the core and just lean on the line?
What's your assesment of why it didn't get you through the whole pass? These are the times to ponder what happened out there. When you make a change, it's time to evaluate what was different and was it better or worse and where do I go next.
I'm always trying something in my skiing, sometimes it's little things and sometimes it's big things. When I first started really trying to ski lighter, I would arrive at the buoy later but leave it earlier...that took some getting used to (and still does).
BD- let me get back to you on
BD- let me get back to you on that one!