Last week may have been the worst 4 days weather wise in succession that I have ever skied in my life. I've had days that had stronger winds, but never 4 in a row like that as far as I remember. Every day was 20 - gusting to 30+, On the last day the wind was the lowest but it was raining, our water temp is below 70 (usually 85+ in early May). It's been great for adverse weather training and all that stuff and I felt like I skied pretty decent given the conditions but definately tailed off near the end of the last set. Pretty happy with what I'm working on, but still trying to find the best way for me to think about it and keep it as simple as possible. I'm also able to add in spotting the next ball earlier.

It seems to keep coming back to the inside hip action and movement. The more I can advance the inside hip into, through and on the backside of the ball. The faster I head in the other direction with minimal load. If I just had not tried to do the opposite of that for 25+ years it might be easier to commit to. 

First mid week set of the year was Tuesday, I was the only one skiing. It was overcast and cool with a little bit of wind. I was hoping to pick up right where I finished on Sunday. I did a lean drill up and down the lake and then had the driver go 32, 15off. I was kind of hit and miss with my technique. I think I was thinking so much about not overloading that my movements weren't right a lot of the time. Once I figured out some of that, I was getting good starts but messing up somewhere in the pass. I'll let y'all in on a little secret, 15 off is hard when you're not standing on the ski properly and moving properly. There were a lot of ugly passes in this set. 

Approaching 2 and a half months of my situation and I'm getting itchy for some activity increase. It may have something to do with it being 75+ here for the last week. I'm constantly torn between generally taking it easy and wanting to get some real exercise. The days have been filled with range of motion stuff, stretching, rolling and things like that. The pain seems to be  getting better each week and the numbness in my finger appears to be going away. 

I stopped seeing a chiropractor about 2 weeks ago. I was never a big believer in chiropractor care prior to this situation but I was willing to try anything at the time. I have to say that she opened my eyes to massage therapy (which was another thing I was skeptical about). If it wasn't for massage therapy, I don't think I'd be feeling as good as I am today.

I've also completed 4 Rolfing sessions, have another one scheduled and believe this is helping me. Rolfing is not cheap and I am not doing it because the sessions feel great, but after each session, a day or 2 later I feel significant improvement in my situation. 

Starting to get itchy for skiing again.

Unfortunately, it's going to be a little while before I can ski. We've had mid 70s for a week but today is the first time in a month where I can feel a little progress with my neck. Doctor told me yesterday 2 to 3 months before I can expect to be pain free. It's been several weeks of extreme misery, but I'm starting to feel some relief. I'll probably start exercising a little this week and start slowing ramping up.

Quick synopsis, I went into a tournament 2 weeks ago skiing the best I had skied in a few years. Couldn't hardly miss 35 for 2 weeks. I had a lot of confidence going into this tournament. In the tournament, the wheels came off. Saturday I missed 32 twice (2 rounds Saturday, 2 rounds Sunday), Sunday I ran 2 at 38 and then nearly fell through the gate at 28...never got to 1, score 6 at 22.

Then I had someone ride who suggested I try another ski. So I got on the Strada and was having the same issues. I rode it for almost 2 weeks, sometimes it felt good and sometimes it didn't. By my last set before the tournament this weekend, I was struggling as much as I have struggled this year, confidence was at the bottom of the barrel and I was suffering from skiing depression (a mood I visit from time to time). In the last 4 sets before the tournament, I had not even tried 35 and had missed a bunch of 32s. I was planning on riding the Strada in the tournament but I didn't have any confidence in me or the ski by Friday morning.

A big part of Friday was spent analyzing what I was trying and what I was feeling. Someone had also videoed my Tuesday set...but as usual, I didn't want to see it because I knew it would depress me more, if that was possible. Knowing my shoulder movement was a keeper, the only thing I could come up with was that I was not moving in the direction that the handle wanted to take me. I felt like I was  moving into the center of the course (trying to ski perpendicular to the boat path). I also decided to go back to my old ski. The more I though about my fix the better I felt about the tournament.

Saturday morning was cold...for us.... 47 degrees. I had only planned on skiing 1 round each day for a variety of reasons. I was skiing about 11:00 and it had already warmed to about 60-65 degrees. The plan was to be kind of cautious knowing that my old ski won't turn nearly as easily as the Strada I had been riding. I got through the first few passes and after struggling for a couple of weeks was happy just to have a try at 35. I got through fairly drama free except for breaking at 5. Got a pretty decent start and got 2.5 at 38. a hlf buoy less than my best of the year.

After Saturday I started processing for Sunday. Thinking about how to do my correction better. How can I move with the boat better. What was I doing earlier in the year when I was getting "magic gates"? Why does "open" work sometimes really well and other times not so well? Why does "trailing arm pressure" work really well sometimes and other times not so well? Trying to tie all those together before a tournament round can go all kinds of different directions. The thought that gave me something to work with was "moving with the boat". Trying to point my hips where I wanted to go (not perpendicular to the boat path). Cocking my shoulders so that it drove my core where I wanted to go (not perpendicular to the boat path). And for the first time this summer counterrotating at the apex.....why?...so that when I cocked my shoulders it would drive the core where I wanted to go (not perpendicular to the boat path). This thought was reinforced by a guy that comes and skis at our lake, that can't run a full pass. (he commented while watching me ski that my turns finish cleaner when I counter rotate in the turn). My action to counter rotate at the apex is to align my hips so that hip bones align with where I want to go.

So all that babbling for a Sunday round that I expected to run 38 before I ever left the dock. It all felt pretty good even with some wind blowing down the course. I think at 35 I got to giddy at 4 and turned with habit instead of focus. I dorked that turn which caused me to loose my hips and then turned into and hit 5 and lost my hips again and couldn't get to 6 which aggrivated the sheet out of me. But I liked what I felt and want to get a couple of sets of this before we lose daylights savings time. I hope this may tie a few things together...

I'm a month into my tilt out turn movement and here's the 1 month evaluation. I like this stuff. It's one of those rare things where I liked it when I first started trying it and I still like it just as much 16 sets later. About 2 weeks in I had the ability to crush any pass I was trying...however I could still loose focus if i was knocking it out of the park or if I had a movement glitch. I got to the point where I was keeping the rope on 35 a lot, but would make a silly mistake somewhere and mess the pass up. I was about to start making sure I ran a few 35s where I run a pace 15-20 feet upcourse of the buoys just to make sure I would focus on the movement for 6 or 7 turns at a  time at that line length and then I started running a bunch of them, many of them really well. My success rate for the last 2 weeks is about 70%.

Yesterday I tried to add a gentler approach just to see if things got better or worse (and because my lower back has been tight lately because I haven't been stretching enough) and I'm not sure how to evaluate the results. I think I like it better, but I need another handful of sets to figure that part out. I know I don't work as hard, but I'm not as wide and early either, it does give me some adjustability in the pass though. For the first time since trying this latest stuff I started trying to figure it out at 38 and realized I have a ways to go there. I end up wider at 1 at 38 than I do at 32 and 35 so getting the pace and effort level right on the starts is the first thing I need to correct. I tried it 3 times yesterday and only got it started right 1 time. On that one good start I attacked/rushed 2 and got splattered going to 3, peeled both eyelids back. After this tournament I plan on skiing some 35s and 38s 15-20 feet upcourse of the buoys.

Weather is still holding out here 80 water, low 80s air. Although it looks like those will get lower next week.

Finally getting rid of this cold, allergy, virus, whooping cough disease that I got the day before our last tournament 3 weeks ago. This stuff has been annoying, particularly the painful earaches and congestion.

My focus hasn't been the greatest with my erratic skiing schedule. But I need to cement this turn style because it is special for me. As long as I think about this right (the correct way for me) it is special and when I mess something up and come in narrow or late and don't get it right it is special needs.

The evolution process is funny. I learned how to survive somewhat with my inefficient style to a reasonable degree. I learned that if I take my time at certain points with this inefficient style I could survive and ski at a certain success rate.  Then I make a trial and error discovery and as long as I execute a certain way, I can carry more speed through the turn and exit the buoy earlier. However if I fall back into my habits and years of what I did, then I can't get off the buoy at all. It's trying to retrain my brain how to react to all situations so I don't have a bad reaction. It's different and aggravating at times, but it's special when I get it right. On side is a very dramatic, wildly fast change of direction when I get it right and becoming a better turn than my offside.......(I didn't know if I would ever be able to say that). Offside has become better, but mind was fairly clean over there anyway. I'm still processing the best way to think about this stuff and now able to work on it while feeling a little better.

Saturday night was good. I had the Diablo Shores water ski tournament on the computer and SC Gamecocks football on the TV. I don't know how many of y'all watched the water ski tournament, but Freddy K doing color commentary on the skiing was fantastic. He needs to be a regular for slalom commentary.

Only 3 more months in this years skiing (if you live in the south and winter isn't too harsh). This time last year I was up against a wall, skiing going the wrong way and not knowing what to throw at it next. Right now, I feel good about what I'm doing and trying to do and just have to work on purging habits and replacing with good stuff.

I do need to replace my drysuit, looking for good recommendations. I got my money's worth out of the Bare Ultra Dry. Wouldn't mind all baggy so I could layer underneath, except that I've never tried one.

I've had several weeeks of sub standard performance so it was time to try something different. I don't like to be skiing at the same level for very long unless it was something really competitive in my division.

The idea that I had to ski upper body vertical is valid if I could execute it more consistently. I like it but I was not able to execute it well enough to make any gains so I tried a different way to think about it. I decided to try to lower the outside shoulder at the apex (the idea to level the shoulders off the turn, which drives the core where I'm trying to go). This has be to the fastest way I've ever left the buoy. It also seems to send me on a path that I want to travel.

I tried this initially on Thursday and loved what I was feeling when I did it. The first set I was probably executing at 50% success rate. I had a tournament this past weekend and had to figure out whether to try this or not for the tourney. I was able to get a practice set on Friday which is rare for me. I tried it on Friday and bumped up my success rate of execution by about 10%.

I decided trying it in the tournament wouldn't hurt since my progress was non existent with my current methods. The first gate I got airborne more than I think I've ever been in a tournament, but the rest of the pass wasn't bad. My 28 and 32 were pretty decent, but I didn't execute on my 35 gate and ended up with 1 -1/2 on my first round. I was also getting sick (that's not good!)

The next 2 rounds were on Sunday and by that time I was not feeling very spry at all. I had not been sick in over a year and was not ready for feeling like this (but who ever is). The second round was helter skelter, I was not executing at a very high rate. Executing at about a 50% rate for each pass made for some erradict passes. I got to 35 and was hit and miss at every turn. Got to 4 pretty early but but was very stop and go getting there and it caught up with me at 4.

Third round, I was really congested, nose running, coughing, sneezing, headache, all that good stuff. On my opener, I was as close to falling at 1 as I could be, but I remember thinking I am not going to fall here. I hung on and finished it okay. 28, I had a good gate and 1, and got to 2 amazingly early but missed the handle. Because I was so early and upright at the ball I had time to find the handle and get out the end. Sitting at the end, I decided that I was being too cautious and decided to attack and exagerate my dropping the outside shoulder and ended up skiing a very nice 32. Kept up the aggresive pace and really attacked the 35 gate. This shot me to the end of the line quickly (almost too quickly). I was able to do what I wanted to do and ran it farily easily (which is rare for me at 35, I usually screw up my best ones and run the crappy ones). Time for a pass I had not tried in 2 or 3 weeks, and had not gone any where when I did try them. This was also the first opportunity to try my new way to think of turning. I attacked this one as well, shot to the end of the line quickly again and dropped the outside shoulder down and fired off 1 ball. Usually I'm not efficient at 38 into 2 and stay on a little longer. It got me wide at 2 (a little too wide), but I was able to execute decently at 2 and got to 3 okay, but I was a little forward (which tells me I didn't execute the level shoulders off of 2 as well as I would like). I ended up with 3 at 38, which ties this years high score but the way I look at it, getting there the first time at 38 trying this feels promising.

The idea behind lowering the outside shoulder in the turn is to level the shoulders (not let the inside shoulder drop in the turn). The product is that it drives the core where I'm trying to go efficiently. It was the only thought I took to the water at the tournament. I liked the initial weekend of it, when I did it. Can't wait to play with it more, which won't be much this week as we're taking my daughter to Disney this week. I'll be in the water ski capital of the world and my ski will be 500 miles away.

Timing, rhythm, pace, feel, calmness. I'm still paying attention to a handfull of things like where the pressure is, where I'm facing, where I'm looking, how much leg tension is being used, how much force I'm applying. Some days I don't get much of those right and still ski okay, other days I get a lot of it right and don't ski all that well. 

One tournament last year I was watching this guy run 35 and he took a hit at 1, after that he was as quiet, still and slow and kept a beautiful rhythm for the pass until he killed 5 and stopped the ski. That image of him being really slow moving stuck with me that tournament. When my round came up, I was determined to ski mine that way. I moved as slow off and on the handle as I could and proceeded to run my best 35 of the year that round only to be told I missed my gate. It didn't matter, I was really happy with that pass (except the gate part).

I have been trying to work on this at various times for a year. Some days with great success, other days not so much. Now that I have moved my boots back, my ski carries speed better and doesn't bite so much at the turn finish. This has allowed me to be more patient at the finish of the turn, which has allowed me to run more 35s in the last few weeks than I have in a long time. I still have a lot of room for improvement, but I'm encouraged even with our hot water. Yesterday's set was 22,28,32,35,35 (5), 35 (2.5), 35, 35, 38 (3)

I ran 38 last night...unfortunately, it was in my dreams...for real. Every once in a while I'll have this dream where I'm running 38 really well, turn 5 and can't get to 6. It's usually in some weird lake or pond with stuff that's out of  place in a ski site. In this one, I was scrapping through the pass and there was no boat or rope (I guess you would call this free skiing) and I only remember some of the turns, but there were cypress trees and other stuff very close to the turn buoys.

What does this mean doctor?

In our tournament a couple of weekends ago, my 3rd round was the one I liked the best even though the buoy count was 4 buoys less. This is where I tried to move real, real slow throught the turn because our water had become so hot and soft. The next 2 sets after that were a little off pace as the water is fairley consistenty around 94-96.  I decided to move my boots back 1/4 inch for the hot water and so far it appears to be a positive move.

I haven't missed 35 since the move but I'm also trying a mind adjustment. I'm trying to not do something stupid in order to make up for a mistake. What seems to mess me up as much as anything is trying to run passes early or make up time after a hiccup in a turn or load. Finishing on the back of the ball feels nice and you know you're early but it seems to take near perfect execution all the time and I don't seem to be capable of perfection that often. 

The hot water we have right now requires that I move real slow in order to keep a connection as much as possible. When I'm doing this at my best, it seems all passes feel very very similar. 22 never feels early, never feels late, it just feels like good course rhythm, 28, 32 and 35 have the same feeling except that hiccups effect me more at shorter rope. I've tried 38 more in the last week than I have all year. I probably have 10-15 attempts at 38 all year. Every now and then I get a pretty good start but I need to work on the same thought process at 38 that I'm using for 35. One feeling that stands out...especially at 38 but at 35 as well is that the  more force/lean I put on the rope, the narrower my path at the ball is.

The main thought/thoughts I'm working with currently are slow off the handle, slow on the handle and be open. My biggest payoff at the shorter stuff is being slow, gentle and progressive connecting back to the handle. This seems to give me a slow light feel with a good rhythm.

Tuesday - skied in the offshoot of our 3rd Tropical Storm effects this year. Debbies stuff was giving us rain and wind and some cool temperatures on Tuesday. 68 deg when our normal temps for this time of year are 90 ish. Nothing spectacular on this day. I missed my second pass(28) and then tried to work some things out with a couple of 28s thru 35s and I didn't run the 35s. Trying some stuff with my turns and I'm still looking for easy.

Thursday - This was an interesting set, 22 was wierd, 28 - I missed it again and then ran 2 28s, then went 2 32s, ran a couple of them without being very thrilled with them. Thinking that what's causing me problems is moving off and back on the handle too quickly, I tried to slow things down in order to be able to open myself up. The next 32 was pretty nice, especially when compared to most of the last couple of weeks. Then I ran a 35 that wasn't so great, it was similar to the 32s I didn't like. Then I missed a 35. I wanted to try 1 more 35 and I really wanted to exagerate the slow movements and I really wanted to make sure I was open. This was a pass that really got me excited, I had a relatively flawless start, really slow moving actions, which allowed me to really get open, which allowed me to get really wide and really early and have a bunch of space. It kind of felt like a good 28...until my patience ran out on the backside of 4. It's kind of wierd when you like the ones you don't run more than the ones you run. Unfortunately, that's my last one before our tournament this weekend. I could end up with anything from missing my gates on my opener to a PB. Hopefully I can focus enough for the PB.

Our water is getting really soft now, so the turn flaws show up more. We are forcast for upper 90s - 100 for Friday, Saturday and Sunday which means our water will be in the upper 90s at some point this weekend. It's gonna be a warm one.

I had a hard time this weekend, every pass was hard. Line was loose, path was narrow. The next day I figured I would fix it and it got worse. I decided I was trying to hard, depending on lean, being stuck and static.

My thought was to depend on twisting into the front foot WITHOUT trying to lean, just let myself kind of fall off the edge of the ski (as Rossi says). Try to keep pressure off the legs and feet. My reasoning was that this is what's preventing me from opening up when I try so hard to be open and stopping me from swinging. This seemed to work well. I was also trying to not add load as the line got shorter, just twist open into the front foot and fall off the edge without adding/applying lean....let it be easy.

Once I started trying this, I noticed my gates weren't great, but as I got into the course, I liked the flow. On the gates, I felt like I was too nuetral before moving in. I tried keeping some light away pressure to keep the line tighter and that seemed to make my gate better. 

Yesterday was a decent day after a weekend that made me want to find another hobby.

This is kind of a take off of the professor's post about changing things. I will go down a path of thinking and depending on how it feels and how the progression goes, I stay with it, try variations of it or if there feels like there's no benefit to it, abandon it.

The first day I tried openess, I felt like there was enough benefit to continue to explore it. Skiing felt easier and earlier. I was just looking for something to create more space and it appeared to be something Nate Smith was doing. I was finding that even if I got really deep, being open allowed me to handle more load.

So what's the problem? Well some days felt ridiculously easy to be wide open, facing down the lake, creating space, light load, etc. while other days I wasn't that open, no matter how hard I tried and the path was more direct. The worst part was, I was not able to duplicate the "magic gate shot". The one where I feel fast and fluid, light feeling load and I'm arriving early and wide at 1, with as much space as anyone could want.

So I started watching videos on youtube. Mostly 2 skiers, Chet Raley and Nate Smith. There's a video of Chet at 38 off in 1/2 speed. I noticed Chets gate turn in and I watch it over and over. I also watch Nate's turn in and his 2 - 4 side turns because I believe they are the best in the business. To me these 2 skiers seem to do something that I felt was important to my skiing. It's something I want in my skiing and would find from time to time, but needed to figure out how to think about it. From the apex to the turn finish, they have a vertical upper body and the whole upper body moves in behind the handle with very little shoulder tilt.

So how do you do this? It has been explained various ways and now that I understand what I'm trying to do, it makes those explanation's make more sense. Here are some ways I've heard it explained before: Sit on the buoy; or Left butt cheek on the ball (going from 2 to 3) right butt cheek on the ball (going 1 to 2). So why does it matter which cheek you ask? Well this has to do with keeping your upper body vertical and facing down the lake. (keeping shoulders over hips).  Now I'm going to TRY to paint a picture. Imagine standing on your ski, tall, weight on both feet, shoulder over hips over feet. One foot in front of the other, ski pointing down the lake. (we've pulled out for the gate, so we have a SLIGHT edge away) How should we initiate the move for the gate? Imagine there's a bench, PARALLEL to the ski about mid thigh high. How would you sit on the bench AND keep the ski parallel to the bench? You would have to open the hips to sit on the bench. This is the way I was picturing it this weekend. I started getting some good gates again (not all the time, but more than I have been). I keep this thought for both side turns and had very favorable results.

I was getting more swing, good line tension, good space and a good mood. Saturday's set 22,28,28,32,32,35,35,32. Sunday's set 22,28,28,32,32,35, 35 (1/2), 35 (3-1/2). In the 35s I ran, I didn't get good starts in any of them, but made up ground in the course to finish them in decent shape. In the ones I missed I got really good gates, but put a little too much energy in the gates and ended up very, very wide and early at 1, and couldn't handle prosperity.

Does any of this make sense or did I confuse people?

Tuesday - 100% chance of rain...at least that's what they said. Beryl was suppose to be on top of us by now, but the winds were calm and it wasn't raining so off to the lake I went. When I got there and got ready, it started to rain. We went to the boat under a canopy with all my gear on and waited. It started raining harder so we sat there and waited then it lightened up some and I decided I would do what I could do in the rain.

The plan as it has been lately is to be open and spot my targets at the apex. As long as I do a reasonable job of this, I'm running decent passes through 35. So I have decided to try and cement this into my actions, try to commit it to muscle memory. In order to do this I need to be focused on it pass after pass after pass until it just starts happening because that's what you do when you get to these points in the course.

When this is my focus, I'm usually pretty good for the first 4 passes or so, but I'm trying to be good through 8, 9 or 10 passes. So I go out at 22, then 28, then 32, 32, 32, 32, 32, 32, 32....I really don't know how many 32s it was. I just wanted to keep running them and keep spotting my targets. Somewhere in there, after a few of them it started getting harder and choppy. I didn't recognize that my target spotting was getting weaker, I just reasoned that if the passes were getting harder, then I must be failing in my goals so I tried to strengthen my target spotting skills and things got better again. I'll work on this for some sets until I get a good grasp and don't have to think about it as much. This really seems to clean up my turn finish..as long as I don't rotate the turns.

I flaked out for a set or 2, trying some variations of thoughts that were obviously not a beneficial way to think. So yesterday I tried 2 basic things: Being open and downcourse vision by the time I hit the apex. My confidence was not at a peak because of my last set, but I tried to do a lot of visualization and dry land movements prior to this set. I had planned on grading myself after every pass while at the end and try to visualize getting it right prior to the next pass. Very little words between me and the boat between passes.

I get off the platform, the boat tightens up and then the boat won't accelerate, several tries, boat won't go.@#$%^! Take the ski off, try some things with cruise and boat. %$#&@ ILLMOR motors!!!.

I guess the boat decides it's finally ready to go up and down the lake. Grading wise, I'd have to give myself a pretty high grade for spotting my intended target. I was able to spot my target everytime by the finish of the turn. There were times I should have spotted sooner, but if I can spot everytime before the finish, I'll be reasonably happy....for a while. I'll go B on the vision grade. As far as being open, I'll have to grade myself a C or C-. I did not exagerate this enough for my liking. I was not closed off, but I was not as open as I would like. Skied 22, 28, 32, 35, 38 (1/2), 35 (2.5, was in better shape on this one and left the handle too soon and too quick, then a 1-1/2 again too soon and too quick).

I think I've got a little better grasp on what I want to refine right now. I want to get better on the 2 things I discussed above. I'll ski this tournament and then get back to just running passes. Run more 28s and 32s, hoping to move the work lines to 32 and 35. I want to thank the professor for reminding me of a few things and talking me off the ledge at times. There's going to be a few fun nerves this weekend.

Ohh! and guess what...another Tropical Storm is expected to develope off our coast this weekend.

Tropical Storm what's her name formed off our coast this weekend, tropical storm usually sounds worse than it is unless it sits on you for days and days.

The skiing has been a little stagnant and the gate seems to be not as easy as it once was. I saw some several week old video of my skiing. It's the first time I've seen my skiing in 8 years and I'm amazed I can run the buoys I run. I was a bit overwhelmed when I saw it. Yesterday I had a skiing partner ride and his comment was "I'm getting a better look at something that I see in the mirror and it's been bugging the sheet out of me. You need to level your shoulders!" One of those things that I sometimes think about when I have a free moment in the course. When ever I take the time to have that thought, It usually results in a better crossing. He made this comment about 5 passes in, and I worked on it a few passes. I had to go back to 28 to try to get a decent feel for doing it everytime and when I did that, the pass was relatively drama free and felt pretty easy compared to what I had been doing which was being open but leading shoulder dominant or tilted to the lead shoulder. Hopefully I can do better with this next time out because I could use a jump start in my skiing about now. I've been running a bunch of 32s, but feel like they should be less work than I'm doing. Hopefully this change will make that difference.

We had a fair amount of wind this weekend with the TS. After running a bunch of 32s, I thought I'd take one try at 35. I had my worst crash of the season without a doubt and was pretty stiff for Sundays set.

I like this square to the course stuff because it's kind of simple and kind of forgiving, it's easy on the body for the most part. But as Johnseed mentioned it will let you know that your core area is doing some work. I have been doing more stretching and more yoga as a result of what I'm trying to do now to keep the lower back from being to tight. I am now getting to a point where I can be wider at 32 off than I was at 22 off a month ago come back in and hit the backside of the buoy with my shins. This is important to me because I haven't been able to do this since 2004ish. Now the wierd part is I didn't miss many 35s that year, but right now I'm capable of having an earlier and wider line right now than I ever could then, however I'm not running near as many as I think I should be. Right now I get to exicited when I do something really well , for example: Lets say I get this crushing start at 35, 1,2,3 with a nice tight smooth line, my brain will start talking to me going "that was a freaking awesome start!" or "you just nailed that load turn combo!" and I'm out of the moment. I love the feel of a good pass, no matter what the line length or speed.

Yesterday I go out and have this amazingly fluid start on my opener and I'm coming from what feels like 20' wide and 40' early (probably an exageration) on buoys 1, 2, and 3 hitting the backside of the buoy, about as tight as I can finish a turn, carrying more speed than I know how to carry and I have this flash "THIS FEELS FREAKING AMAZING!" and in the blink of that sentence, I've goobered that pass. So I go back and run the 22 this time instead of being amazed. 28 uneventful, 32 goes just like the start of opener, wide, early, fast (but in a slow feeling sort of way). This time I'm hitting every buoy on the shin at the backside of the ball. I'm surprised I stayed focused on that one. Then went to 35 and was cruising well through 4, when I just had to go back to old habits and rotate in which killed my speed and I went down at 5. Even at 5 I should have taken my time and did it right and would have run it no problem. I'm to  used to being narrow and late at 35, that i don't know how to handle prosperity. Now along those same lines, I did detect something on my gates at 35, I tried several of them, and even though I was having a gate problem, I was still running them well until I would make a big blunder somewhere, often times in very good shape. By this point, I was starting to get a little tight in the arms and get a little frustrated. So I went back to 32 trying to fix my gate problem, which was loading before being open or rotaing in to the load as opposed to rotating out in the load. For what I had just butchered at 35, this was a good pass. I'm going to spend the next set with a bunch of 32s...but a 35 or 2 as well...right professor?

Thursday - I had the girlfriend of one of my ski partners riding in the boat while I skied. She is a young attractive girl who happens to be a snow ski instructor. So at the ends my simple instructions were to keep my chest facing down the hill. As long as we were doing that, or making sure I get back to that quickly, we would keep running buoys. 22, 28, 32, 32, 32, 32, 35 2-1/2, rushed rotation, 35 3-1/2, 35. I still have a tendency to rush turns at 35 even though I'm in fine shape. I don't take the time to make sure I'm open before I take the load. On the one I ran I was able to take my time and finish turns before I load. I should be running these everytime now based on the space I have. This is the best paths I've ever had at 35 when I execute the plan. Back in 2004 when I was running this all the time, I don't think I was running them with as much space as the ones I'm running now. I just need to get my consistency up. I'd like to be spending my work time at 35, but only if I'm running most of them.

Saturday was the day to recognize I needed to back down  on my line length to figure out something, so on to Sunday. I have accepted the fact that I have to clean up some things to continue making progress. Sunday I came out with opening up as a priority (I believe in this more every day).

22 & 28 were very wide, almost scary wide. I'm trying to be more aware of controlling the line, now that I'm getting used to more crossing speed and direction. Staying with the handle and moving slower off the handle just adds to the width I'm getting. Then I decided I would stay at 32 and just keep running passes and see where it took me. I wanted to experiment with a few things and see how clean, wide and early I could ski. First I tried to see if I could find the ability to be to open to the boat. So I would just try to open as much as I could and kept finding that the more I opened up to face the boat in the load, the better the wake crossings felt and the earlier and wider I would get. I think I'm actually getting used to this a little now after a few weeks of trying it. While I liked the width  and space, the turn finish felt to hard so I started looking for a way so finish the turn with a little less bang. First I just tried to tone it down and skied a really lame pass. So in replaying some of my better previous passes, I realized that I had a long time to look at the buoys from a early view, but I was locking on them at the finish of the turns, causing some bite at the end of the turn. I started getting back to picking up the next buoy out in front of the boat and the turns got much better, but at the expense of being open in the load. It looks like I'll have to work on those 2 back and forth for a little while to get the skiing to take another uptick. Hoping to add some rope shortenings if I can get these two intergrated.

Usually sometime in May, summer arrives here. I think it actually arrived last weekend. Our water is now over 80 and in a couple of months it will be mid 90s.

I tried to add some vision improvements to my skiing yesterday but it became obvious that it was to soon to try an addition if I was going to be as open to the boat as I wanted. So far I have not found out how far to open to the boat is. Before this year I don't think I've ever thought about being open to the boat in the load and it feels very different than any way I've ever skied before. I don't think about hips/core leading the way or getting staked or aligned or anything like that, I just think about having my chest face the boat and space/speed just show up. But I do have to think about it and open up as much as I can and this is what I notice: It feels like I'm going faster than I've ever gone at times.  I fly past the buoy line and it feels like there's no way I will be able to turn with a tight line and then as long as I don't rotate in (which I still do way to often), I come in right on the back of the ball early and hopefully open up as I'm doing this.

I'm starting to realize with my speed and direction, I can slow my moves down some. I feel like I'm getting to the point where 35 will be my work on things line. Even though yesterday was not as focused as I wanted in the opening up part and I missed more passes than I would like, it was another day to be able to learn and grow.

Missed my 22 opener (yea!), then spun a 22 (forgot we had a high water level and it was bumpy), ran 28, missed 32, ran 32 twice, ran 35, 35 (3.5), 35 (2.5), 35 (3.5), 35 (5). I'm mostly early even on my misses. Here's what I think I'm finding. When I ski in a closed to the boat fashion all the time, I can ski fairly consistently, through 32 and then anything could happen at 35 and I have virtualy no chance at 38. When I ski open, I'm earlier, faster and wider, and it feels like the ceiling is much higher (we will see)...however when I rotate in on a turn (while skiing open), the pass can be over in the blink of an eye, so now my survive ability of errant turns (rotations) is much less....now the variations in my body positions are working me over a little bit.

I've been all over the board with a few things in my skiing. Somedays I'm trying one thing and leave the set thinking I'll go try thinking about things in a different way. Before Saturday, I thought about the pointing the inside hip where I want to go (from Joel and Deke taking about it on here). I t5ried it the whole set. About 12 passes at 28 off, some parts of it felt okay and some parts of it felt wacky. I could not get consistent or wide or early. So I watched some big dawg and Nate Smith you tube. Then I started thinking about my skiing and what I'd focus on the next set.

The best think I llike about my skiing right now is my acceleration and direction on the pullout. The thing I hate the most is my skiing is my inward rotation  on my 2, 4 turn. I also thought about my thought the first time I ran 38. I want to get my hand back on the handle before I try to accelerate. So I tried to combine those 2 things and leave out the inward rotation thing by thinking like this. Establish trailing arm position, twist open into the load. Ski to the buoy line, then I don't try to turn, I just try to reestablish trailing arm pressure, then twist open into the load. I know this sounds goofy but if I think about a turn, I'm a mess. 

I ran up the line (I'll only do this if things are feeling good). Good start at 35 until I got to early in to 3 and messed up my pace but still was able to keep my thinking alive. I wanted to run some more of those but my driver was pressing me to 38. I try a couple of those and get to 2 okay, but the thoughts get a little scrambled there right now.

In the quest to get more buoys, I don't mind trying things. I try to have an open mind  (some times I don't) when trying stuff and need to look at parts of what I'm doing and not necessarily the totality. I'll give it a fair chance and if the progress isn't there, I'll look for the next thing. Sometimes I'll have to reach back to get something I tried and combine it with something I'm doing now. I'm looking for the most production for the least amount of thought. The thing that produces the proper release, direction, line tension, consistency, etc. without having to think about those things.

I've had a couple of things I've tried earlier in the year for a handful of sets and was not getting the results I had hoped to achieve. Then I went back to trailing arm  pressure and for the first 5 or 6 sets, I was wondering why I ever left it. One day (the next set after my best set of the year) I had a driver I had never had before and had one of my worst sets of the year. I spoke to a few people that also had bad sets behind this driver, so I didn't dwell on the bad set.  After that, for the next 3 or 4 sets I was very inconsistent, sometimes I could do what I was trying to do and sometimes I couldn't (even when very focused on it).

I needed to get back to feeling like I was progressing and thought I needed to open up more (open to the boat) and the next set tried opening the shoulders to the boat. This worked decently for a set, but then the next set was having trouble again. Thus time I was trying to open up various ways, shoulders, hips, whatever I could get to face the boat. When I finally tried tucking my trailing elbow into my trailing hip...this is something I've done for my pullout fairley consistently at times which creates a fast fluid acceleration with direction and good line tension. This was also something I was doing to get some really good gates a number of sets ago, I just didn't know why I couldn't do it in the course. (probably because I didn't know what I was actually doing).

So yesterdays set was trying to do that on every acceleration move. My first couple of passes was just attacking that movement or position without flowing into it. This was making me load before movement and while it was still productive, the best results were from always fluid gentler movements as opposed to the aggressive, attacking movements (which I tend to do when trying something different).

Yesterdays set was 22,28,28,32,32,35 (1-1/2), 35,32. Best results were from getting the movement right at the gate and moving fluidly. Anytime I rotated shoulders in the turn I would lose my hips. Anytime I was able to stay square, slide and tuck the trailing elbow into the trailing hip, I would get really nice angle and carry out into a wide early position set up to make the perfect turn.....now I need to make a habit of making the right move everytime.

One of my ski partners is in the Southern Hemisphere, living the dream. About a month ago or so, we're texting back and forth about skiing and stuff. I was not really thinking about skiing that much, if at all, when he ask me about what I'm  going to do skiing this year. I replied something about skiing smarter, getting better, controlling the load more, blah, blah, blah to which he relied "so..same as the last couple of years, right?"

Immediately, after that exchange, I had to process that a few minutes. I've got to see/process some things different on the water and in my head to get better. My reality tells me I'm a skier who runs 35 off a fair amount and can get 2 at 38 most days and 3 or 4 at 38 on a really really good day. Last year showed me glimpses of better skiing but I'd fall back into my bad habits that limit my buoy count and make me feel old.

My first set of the year was sometime in January and I was planning on skiing light, keeping a connection, riding the rope out and all that stuff. What I did was load the line, loose the connection, free fall out to the buoy feeling like I was traveling 100 mph, overshooting course width slamming a turn and then repeat until I was either swimming or out out of course rhythm or somehow managed to run the pass. I was feeling the abuse on my body immediately.

A few weeks later I ski again with the same plan...the only difference being I have to trick myself by saying "I don't want to get to course width, I just want to be light/easy and control the line tension, turn slowly, just ski to the end of the line, move slow back to the handle". This time it was different. I felt slow, I had tension on the line most of the time, the pressure felt like I wasn't doing near enough to be as "on time" as I was. I was able to "2 hand" out to the buoy line and stand up the turn. Now it wasn't perfect, but it was a whole lot closer to what I was looking for. For the 2 billionth time I gave myself a lesson in load management, hopefully 1 day it will stick and become habit.

2 Hand out to buoy width is something I have to be able to do, if I can't 2 hand out to the buoy...(in control and feeling slow) then I need to be able to recognize that I've loaded to early and to hard and focus on correcting that. Thinking here right now, I will need to work on 2 handing some passes this year.

Just got back from the H2osmosis warehouse with 2 sets of high quality (I hope!) buckles. No more duct taping myself into my boots. By the looks of these I should get a few seasons out of them. I've got so many scavanged boot parts in the garage and even have 1 set left to scavange the buckles off of, but that's my wife's boots....best to stay away from those even though thay haven't seen water in a few years.

I haven't skied in a few weeks, maybe this weekend.

So...I hit a burnout wall. I guess it was to many tournaments, to much afternoon glare, to many things not getting done around the house. I skipped skiing in our last tournament and haven't skied in over 2 weeks...which is the longest time off the water in about a year and a half. Depending on how you count, I skied in 6 tournaments in a 4 week period, the last one with my 5 year old in tow all weekend.

I failed to meet my stated goals this year, although I intentionally put them very high in the hopes that I could really push myself to never seen heights (that didn't work). So where did I really end up this year? Depends on how you look at it. I rediscovered how easy I can ski at times, I just have a problem trusting it all the time...or even half the time. I didn't equal my best tournament score of last year or my best practice score, however I feel like 38 is more doable now than I did last year (I don't know how this works)

Physically, I feel pretty decent, a few aches, but nothing bad. Trying to motivate myself for off season conditioning..but I talked myself out of it yesterday.

I want to try to get on the water once every week or 2 and try to incorporate some of the good things I did this year and hopefully weed out some more of the bad....mainly trying to remove the excess force and load.

Oh...the most importatnt part was my daughter wanted to ski, ...in the tournament....on a cold weekend....after not skiing in the last 2 or 3 months. I guess she's a cool weather skier as opposed to those days when it's in the 90s. I was able to get her up from shore, she skied around the lake more than she ever has and then the driver was able to drive right along the shelf of the lake where I was able to hope off the platform right into 2 foot deep water and pull her to a standing stop. Then we did the same thing again the next day.

Is anybody still skiing?

Last Thursday, bright sun and wind was not the inspiration I needed heading into tournament weekend, I did not ski well and the tournament performance anxiety was jacked up. Checking the weather report meant it was going to be more wind, all weekend, with the possibility of rain.

Tournament morning, the wind is already blowing 10-25, mostly down the lake. I have to figure out what to do today that I couldn't do on Thursday. The plan is to go with the same tournament thing, easy, quiet, still and move slow with 2 hands, in other words, ride the arc that the handle wants to take...you know that pendulum thingy. The wind is up and down. You might get a lot of wind or you might get a little wind. The first 2 passes were pretty good, then the wind starts blowing hard for a tailwind 32, I run it pretty decently. As we set down on the  end, the wind swept waves are all around. 35 head, in my head, I'm going to have to work hard and stay connected, move slow.....I think this sounds like a good plan...only problem is now it's a light wind and I'm over shooting buoys, I panic like a doofus and start moving to fast..game over 2.5 at 35. Little did I know at that point, that I just had the best conditions I was going to have all weekend.

Next round is around 4:00, unfortunately prime sun for making visibility tough. The several skiers in front of me are dropping like flies. Complaining that you can't see 2, 4, 6 at all. My opener, the wind isn't to terrible and I'm able to find the buoys and run a decent opener. I start thinking "it wasn't so hard to see them". The wind picks back up for my next pass and it's pretty choppy, but it's a decent pass for the conditions. 32 tail the wind is staying up and nearly whitecapping. I get a good start get over to 2 and think "where's the buoy!!!!?" and it wasn't lost in the sun. The windswept waves were washing over it and it'd pop out, then disappear. I caught a glimpse and did a splash pivot turn. Get to 3 okay enough to be calm, expect the disappearing buoy at 4 and get through that one. It's kind of funny because at the starting dock the wind seems strong but not to bad, when you get in the course, it's fierce. I'm sitting at the end, the rough end, and waves are pounding me. I'm looking at the flags down the lake and they are whipping around. I keep staring down the lake, hopeing the flags will drop a little but it's not happening...okay lets go, I pull out as hard as I can and get up on the boat, as I turn in, vision disappears in the spray. I go as hard as I can and turn 1 and stop, go as hard as i can to 2 stop, swimming, 1.5 at 35.

Sunday morning, winds blowing, but today it's more steady, there's strong wind and then there's really, really strong wind. My guess is 20, 25 and 30, mostly down the lake. I get off to myself and try to gather my thoughts. My plan had been working relative to how I've skied the last 2 weeks, until 35. So I kept the same plan. Trying to be quiet, still and move slow. Once again, it's decent at the starting dock and starts getting tough around 1. This is the most wind I've skied in, in awhile, I do a little something different by trying to slow down my 2 hand movement, trying to be a little extra cautious around the buoys. 22, 28 and 32, I'm very pleased with my skiing at this point, given the conditions and my past 2 weeks of skiing. Coming back for 35, I didn't want a repeat of the last 2 rounds. I decided to be lighter with the load, because I think I was way to heavy on the load and my ski wouldn't advance out the last time. We're sitting down in whitecaps now, as I look down the lake and the boat crew is laughing at the situation. I'm waiting for a break in the wind that's just not happening. I turn back to the boat and say "let's go kick it's _ss!". The wind is the hardest headwind I've skied into in a long time, but being lighter allowed me to get up on the boat more and I made a gentle turnin, stayed connected, moved slowly with 2 hands, loaded progressively, but hard behind the boat and just kept swinging and riding all the way to 5 where I moved to fast, sat on the tail and made the 5 to 6 more difficult than it should have been but I was pleased with that one in some really tough conditions. What would have made it better, would have been to get 38 started better that I did. I turned in quick, got overloaded and only got 1/2 at 38.

I rode in the boat for MM and Open men. Some of them handled it well and some of them didn't. Jeff Rodgers was one of the MM guys. I've been fortunate to be able to watch Jeff a bunch of times from the boat, but this was the first time at 34.2. Jeff had always been impressive to watch, but this was in and out of whitecaps. This was the most impressive skiing I have seen at 34 in a long time, maybe ever.  Jeff is here to become the first person to run 41 at 34mph ever, after being the first person to run 41 at 36mph. If I were going to bet, my money would be on Jeff. He ran a very impressive down wind (25-35 mph guessing) whitecapping 39 off after debating opting up to 41 downwind. He ended up with 2 at 41 this round. Ran 3 in an earlier round.

Overall, it was a fun experience in challenging conditions. Some people skipped rounds due to the conditions and some people ran some impressive rough water buoy counts, with a handful of scores in the mid 39 range.

Anybody reading my stuff lately probably figured things weren't going the way I wanted them to. I was heading the wrong direction before heading out of town for a tournament and then colder water didn't help things. When I got back to our site it got much worse. I've been without my regular skiing partner since last Tuesday, which meant I was either going to accept how some people drove or try to change it for the better. One of the guys I ski with is an excellent coach and skier, but not the greatest driver. Over the weekend I decided to help him be a better driver (whether he wanted to or not....fortunately, he was open to it).

Saturday was not good. I've been having a similar situation to what Joel has been describing, thinking about handle control and riding the arc of the handle but unable to make it feel anything close to right. Kept trying stuff, kept asking the driver what he feels (this is something I do a lot of and one of the reasons I like a good driver who can give me feedback). I had gone from running over a hundred 32s in a row to someone who might run it 50% of the time. Left this set feeling pretty depressed about my skiing. Not sure what to do, thinking I'm doing certain things and not getting the same results. We talked some more about driving. I shared some things I've learned from other great drivers that he said he never heard of before. Drove home and did yard work with skiing never to far from my mind. I replay thoughts of things that I've been doing and really don't think my thoughts are that far off.....I'm confused.

Sunday comes and the wind is blowing down the lake which normally doesn't bug me but with my current state of skiing, it could easily make a bad day worse. We go through the 22, 28, 32 and while I run them all things still don't feel right. I'm noticing problems from the 1st buoy. I'm not easy wide, my path feels to direct, the lines not tight. We continue to talk about the gate, he's telling me what he feels on the pullout and the turn in and I'm processing how to make it feel different. Based on what he's telling me, I start my pullout sooner and softer, so that I can progressively unload while maintaing line pressure, then turn in slow and try to build load slowly. Then like magic, I'm rediculously wide at 1 (too wide, to easily to be honest), the pass wasn't great but more due to off rhythm then goofy technique. Next one I'm trying to do very similar but with less load (more like trying to get where I want to be than anything else). I've had this gate technique being described by others as "sneaking up on the gate". It's a good way for ME to think about it. After a handful of 32s, I decide to try a tailwind 35 (I haven't tried a 35 since the tournament). I manage to rodeo that and decide to try to back it up with a better one into what has become a fairly stiff headwind. I'm not concerened with whether I run it or not, I'm just trying to get it started decently, my start is fantastic. I start applying to much force in the middle because that's what I do in a stiff headwind. Get to five in decent shape but sit on the tail badly out of 5  and have probably my biggest crash of the year.

The bottom line is I thought I was taking gentle progressive gates but apparently had migrated to more forceful gates. Once I put some gentleness back into them, I started getting my rhythm and tight line starts back. My best gates really feel to easy to be right....I guess that's why it's so easy to start putting in to much work.

Skied at the home site for the first time since the journey.....what in the world is going on? I've got some sorting out to do....it doesn't even feel like skiing....it probably feels more like bumper cars in a washing machine. Maybe I had the wrong foot in front or my ski on backwards or something. I'll try again later in the week. Stupid Sport!

The 35 streak is done and it wasn't even close. I knew this was going to end and I needed to get it out of the way so I can think about what I'm trying to do instead of thinking "I'm not gonna miss this no matter how bad it is". The mind set continues to be move slow, be quiet and still. That's the dry land mind set anyway, I,m still working on it on the water. Still going to hard more than I want to. I missed my first 35 and my second one. Then ran one with about a 10 mph tailwind although I was taking to much energy into the apex (it was a bit of a rodeo ride). The next 35 into the wind was also to much energy but the wind made it seem better than it really was, I was on time and fairly wide, left 4 in good shape and then had the thought of "This ones pretty good as long as I don't do something stupid here"...well you can guess what happened there. Took another tailwind when I got the start I was looking for, hit the gate easy, rode out to the perfect spot at 1, turned gently, same thing at 2 moved to fast at 3 and messed up a great start. That was the feeling I want there and at 38, nearly perfect start. This is the precision I'm striving for at 35 and 38. Now the difference here is that there's not as much margin for error, but it's easier on the body if I can ski this way. It would be easier to replicate if I were able to ski about 5 or 6 days a week. Here's the problem it's a narrower line, but as long as I'm controlling the rope, getting there is not a problem, it's when I move to quick, then things can go bad quickly.  I'm still looking for just the right amount to start with at 35 and 38, I can rodeo through 35 quite a bit, it's probably getting close to where 32 was in the middle of the summer, but I'm going to have get a little more precise to get through 38s. If I didn't have these tournaments coming up, I would be trying to run a handful of 35s in a row....I probably should be doing that anyway. If I can own 35, I can run 38.

Our weather this week has been spectaculer...although that ended last night. Currently it's rainey and windy and cooler. I was feeling a little off yesterday, thinking I might be getting sick, stomach felt queasy but whatever....it was ski day. In my head the plan was the same as the last handful of sets. Start gently, get wide, turn in gently, connect lightly, control the line. It was the turn in gently I was having the problem with today. When I do what I referenced above, skiing has been feeling pretty good. But it was off some yesterday, I was recognizing it (fortunately) but not doing a good job correcting it. Skiing to hard and skiing to wide. When I got to 35, I was still trying to soften things up but got a hot, wide 1 and 2, knowing I was in trouble on this one I said told myself "don't you miss this" and rodeoed on through it...it was not the best 35 of the week (actually it was the worst). The 38 start was the same way and I end up with only one. Since the tournament "set" was done, I took some tries at 38 since my short stuff gates need a lot of work. By now I'm trying to convince myself to trust less energy into the gates and trust being "narrow" at 1. The gates and one started tightening up some and by the third one i was getting some pretty decent starts (better than I've had in years). Then I get a "magical" start and get in and out of 2 in really good shape....coming into 3 on the right path, with the right feel and start getting a few buoys ahead of myself and forget to be calm and control the line....spastic release and the pass is done. That one should have been no less than 5....I'm excited and aggrivated all at the same time.

For the first time in years that pass feels really doable. 35s are starting to feel like my 32s and I feel like I'm making some 38 progress and I wasn't even trying them a week ago. Luckily someone in the boat convinced me to start trying them last Saturday. I think I would have to say that if I had not been skiing tournaments I would not be on this upswing. I went into our last tournament thinking "I'm not happy with my skiing right now...maybe I shouldn't ski this one". I realized that if I didn't ski our tournament I wouldn't be skiing that weekend and I really needed the practice! I was not expecting much which allowed me to go "outside" of my normal effort/intensity rate, which affords me a better chance to be "quiet & still" and control the rope into the apex. When I'm able to maintain line tension throughout the pass (no matter what the line length)....well, that's what I ski for...that magical feeling.

It has not been the year I was trying to make it so far, but I've got a few tournaments left to do some damage. Heading up to Terry's neck of the woods for one next weekend. That will be the first time I've skied a tournament away from the home site since 2004 and the water will be colder. Highs in the low 70s with wind this weekend and I'll be missing my regular driver on Sunday.

One thing I thought I'd mention on my gates. I had been turning in slowly when the left hand gate ball and 1 ball line up. Since I was missing to many gates, I decided to go past that a little before I turn in and it's working better...not perfect yet, but better.

Yesterday was a pretty good day on the water. I've made a few changes in the last couple of weeks that seem to be paying off. I'm not sure which one change has made the biggest difference, it's probably all of them. One change has been to move my front boot to the left about 3/16" (I'm right foot forward). As you may recall (or maybe not) I tend to have a "wetter" turn on my onside than my offside. The boot change seemed to make me inconsistent (as far as movement vs still...ie I moved around more on the ski) but my scores were better. Change 2 was fixing my rope (it was out of tolerance short), this added about 4" to my rope. Now in the days when I was a 15off and 22off skier, I thought worrying about 4" was goofy...but at 38off and 39off, 4" could be the difference in the whole pass. Change 3 was doing my best to get the best available driver every chance I get. Getting the best driver is similar to getting your rope length correct, only more important. If you ever have the opportunity to ski behind some of the best slalom drivers in the world, it is a very noticeable difference. I now try to ski with the same guy as many sets as I can.

Probably the one I like the most is a little complicated to explain because it involves a few steps connected together. I guess I would call it "pace, intensity, line control". It has been developed in my skiing from tournament nerves and tournament anxiety. Sometimes I bounce back and forth between some technique ideas and when I get to a tournament, I always wish I had a handful more sets to work on whatever I've been working on or I'm just totally out to lunch on what to do for a tournament round. I also have been zeroed on my gate in tournaments about 5 or 6 times this year. Both of these performance anxieties have led me in a different direction in tournaments this year which I am starting to take into practice. Because I needed to take a thought out on the water in the tournaments and I wasn't always confident in what I was working on in practice, I decided I wanted to be quiet and still...which to me means I want to move slowly and I always want the rope to be pulling on me (meaning I want some light line tension all the way to the apex and line tension to finish my turn). Now the problem with that is that I'm an aggressive skier by nature or habit. As a habit, I load to hard and to soon, which stretches the rope to much and to soon....one result becomes an edge change that tends to happen before the centerline sending me at the ball instead of out wide, the other result is my hands/handle get separated from my body to soon which pulls the upper body in to soon (no longer balanced, no longer have the ability to stay quiet and still).

In order to stay quiet and still I need to move gently, slowly and lightly and it has to start at the very first move. My pullout needs to be gentle slow and light and I have to ski my core into the handle. When I transition to a coast I want to keep gentle pressure away so that I can keep rope tension. When I want to turn in, I want to do it slowly and lightly (to keep light rope tension). When I'm behind the boat, I want to be light and connected (in other words, I don't want to lean with all I have...I'm thinking stay away but not WAY away) so that I can keep  manageable rope tension after the second wake. When I exit the wakes, I'm trying to ease the handle away from my core by SLOWLY reaching 2 handed along the ski direction. I'm trying to pace my reach (while maintaining line tension) so that my outside hand leaves the handle at the same time the ski tip reaches the buoy line.I'm trying to return the outside hand at the same rate it left the handle (trying to avoid any sudden speed changes at any point). Quick speed changes mean the body is going to be moving around and unbalanced. When I can execute like this I feel like I'm moving 20 mph.

Yesterdays set was 22, good start - good pass, 28 great start-great pass, 32 this was closer to the 28s I've been running the last few weeks, which felt really good. 35 good start - decent pass (we're finally starting to get quieter here, but still have a lot of available improvement), 38, I'm now trying to figure out how to be light and connected at the start and controlling the line. The prior 2 sets I've gotten around 3, (2.5) straight out, but was only able to do it once each set. Yesterdays set I was able to get 3 twice with a few other 1/2s and 1s and 2s. The biggest thing I liked about this set was the control through 35 off (there was a little looseness at the apex). Hopefully I'm heading in the right direction now.

I'm making progress at getting back to a good spot. Checking some things, fixing some things, realizing some things, accepting some things. Checked my rope I've been using all year and found out it was short (not majorly short, but out of tolerance short). So I fixed that and picked up about 5 inches. When I was skiing my best I could run 35 behind almost any driver, I'm not good enough right now to do that, so I try to ski with my regular partner as much as I can lately, because I can run it behind him. I also moved my front boot towards the left side of my ski  at the suggestion of another guy I ski with some ....I've actually moved it a small amount twice (probably a total of 1/8") in an effort to tame my onside turn some more. I'm still working on my gate control and flow and where I'm loading, The biggest benefit I've found this year is quiet control in my movements and trying to reach slowly with 2 hands before moving to 1 hand. In order to make this happen, I've had to take a bunch of aggression out of my gate movement and lighten it up to about 1/2 of my intensity.

The first thing I had to overcome was getting connected without the intensity and lean (that's been harder than I thought). Once I could do a reasonable job at that, I was able to start working on moving slowly into a 2 hand reach, which kept me connected longer and allows me to have a better chance of skiing to the end of the rope. The last 2 days I've done some tournament sets and got to 3 in pretty good shape at 38 and then got stupid and ruined it. I've taken about 7 or 8 starts at 38, trying to figure out the gate/one thing. I've run 5 of my last 7 35s, even though the passes leading up to 35 were not as good as I would like. But it feels like a little progress.

Some of it even feels like a pendulum.

Went into the tournament having no idea what to do. Thursday's short rope set didn't do anything for my confidence. So I get to the tournament, talk to lots of people I only see at tournnments, watched some skiing.

Really good field in a lot of divisions. MM had Jeff Rodgers and Seth in it as well as Mike and Don (typical podium finishers at Sothern Regionals & Nationals in Mens 4). I was the lowest seeded skier in my division (mens 4). Conditions were as good as you could hope for, light winds (if at all), slightly overcast, nice temps (mid to upper 80s). Jeff Rodgers set a pending MM record with 4 at 41 off.

I was in a place in my mind that I'm not usually in, not knowing how to play things, not knowing what my focus was going to be, worried I would miss my gate on my opening pass (or some other pass). I knew I needed to have something to think about if I was going to have any chance of success. There were 2 things I was worried about, gate and line control. So my plan was go a little later and slower on my gates (aiming for the middle at every line) and try to keep the load low enough to be able to move slow, feeding with 2 hands all the way to the apex and finish the turn slowly (i tend to try to over power at the finish). In other words "move slow, be quiet and still".

First round was going according to plan, getting my best gates and starts and then I decided to move to quick at 4 and ended up with a 3.5 at 32 off.

Second round, the 22 and 28 were nice, but I turned in to hard at the gate on 32, and then didn't control the line as well at 4 and got a bit of a hard turn, but finished it. Then 35 was a good gate but rushed things a little to much and kicked the tail out at 3 (2.5 at 35 off).

Third round, I was feeling a little nervous this round for some reason. 22 and 28 were pretty nice again. I started thinking about my start at 32 and didn't want to amp it up so I tried to err on the easy side. Got a very gentle gate and gentle start, but I was narrower than I really wanted to be. Now in the past I would start trying to create more space so I could be where I wanted to be. Often times this is where I will mess up a good rhythm, by trying to crush a turn and load. This time I just chilled and kept the pace and line control and got to the end without any drama. At 35 I wanted a similar start (maybe 1 more click on the intensity meter, 6 on the 10 scale). Got a gate close enough to what I wanted and I was off to the races, move a little to quick and hard at 4 and felt the rope slip a little in my fingers when I got behind the boat going to 5 but I had done well enough to that point I could take my time a little at 5, get set and  go on for a crack at 38. Now I haven't tried 38 since the last tournament and know the window of opportunity for success is narrower. My gates had been good enough this set that I figured I should just try to do the same thing, which is what I tried to do. I like everythiong about it except the intensity behind the boat went up about 2 more clicks. It was a good gate but I went to wide at 1. I was looking to get about a foot wide of 1 and ended up about 3 feet wide of 1 and then to much slack on the back side of the buoy. Ended up with 1 at 38.

Going into this tournament, I would have been happy with a shot at 35 all 3 rounds. I really didn't expect to run it, much less run it pretty decently. I was very pleased with every 28 off and I liked the 32 and 35 of the last round. I changed my gates during the tournament and probably only really dorked up 1 or 2 out of 12 trys. I need to keep my thoughts from the tournament and practice with them.

I often have anxiety going into a tournament because I feel like I need 2 or 3 more sets practicing whatever bizare thing I've got bouncing around in my head. But when it comes to tournaments, often times I will exceed what I'm doing in practice. The first time I ran 35 and 38 was in a tournament. When I am in the water about to head for the course in a tournament, I believe I am going to run it most of the time.

Maybe I've found a coach. Saturday he wasn't around, but spin-off from Hurricane Irene was, 20+ mph winds that was changing direction at the drop of a hat. I was trying to figure out what I did right on Thursday that made it feel so easy. I couldn't  find much of it and struggled mightily. This was a set that I couldn't find much good in. I've done this enough to know that when you change things in your skiing, sometimes it can feel really, really bad when you miss the mark. You don't have a good grasp of the new and you don't want to execute the other way.

I had a different driver that made me uncomfortable, he was not my first choice but he was my only choice. Now don't get me wrong, I appreciate someone willing to drive for me, but that doesn't mean I won't attempt to constructively criticize the driving (I hate to be that guy, but unfortunately that is me in this case).  I don't want to imply that the driving was the reason for the crappy skiing, that was due to me being in a confused state about what I'm trying to do and what I'm really doing.

After Saturday, I needed to feel something positive. Ran 22, missed 28...then the conversation begins. I know I associate connection and lean, I'm working on separating the 2. We discuss not leaning, especially right off the buoy, keeping the upper body vertical, moving into connection all that stuff. Next pass at 28 is one of those magical passes that feels pretty light , has perfect rhythm, line never breaks tension.....it's what I ski for. The next 32 starts out loaded and I struggle to do the things we're trying to do. Next 32 has a lot more good stuff to it and while I gave it a 6 on a 10 scale, he thought I was being to hard on myself. The rest of the set goes like this. While the set didn't progress like thursdays set and keep getting better, it did have some promising elements. Part of what I'm going to have to overcome is undoing some of the last years work and get my connection/lean thing worked out. I'll probably only get 1 ski day this week (which won't be enough time to figure this out) and then I have a tournament this weekend (which could be amusing).

For the last 5 or 6 sets I've been working at improving my gates. I'm trying to be progressive without excessive loading. In my mind excessive loading has been causing me to lose line control into the buoy and it's difficult to control the line if you don't start that way. I've been skiing around 10 passes (sometimes more) in a set. My sucess rate on how I'm trying to get my gate to feel has been as low as 0-10% and as high as 70-80%. During this set I couldn't get the feel I wanted (at least not until the very, very end). So I start with the 22 as usual. 22 has fallen into that area where I can't get it to feel all that easy and fluid lately. 28 and the 5 following 32s felt mostly decent in the course but without the gate I wanted. I'm trying to focus on flowing off the rope once I'm in the course, keeping rope tension while feeding the rope 2 handed and then moving to 1 hand....as long as I haven't really overloaded, this was feeling pretty good.

Lately, if I can't get the gate feel I want, I just stay at 32 until I do. This set felt decent in the course so I decided to keep trying to get the gate right at 35. The first gate wasn't very good, but I did manage to ride the rope pretty well after I dorked up 1 and ended up running a fairly decent 35 (especially considering the pitiful gate). The next 3 tries at 35 were pretty lame as the gate got worse. On the last one, I'm pondering ways to think about my gate when I remembered something I have wanted to try. I decided to think about my turn in as being a big long turn all the way to the wake. This was the best turn in of the day....even though I didn't get past 2 on the pass. I will try this thought some more on the next set to see if it is a keeper.

On a weather related note, it looks like Hurricane Irene will hopefully miss us this weekend, although we will probably get some wind and rain out of it. You people along the coast north of us, I wish you good luck. It looks like the Outer Banks and the Northeast might get some heavy Irene doses. Riding out a major Hurricane is an experience you will always remember!

Another day of 32s and I'm seeing some progress, although it's hard to get my reaction brain to agree with my "this is what works for me" brain. Right now it has to start at my first move. The gate has to have a gentle start with progressive "core press" but never load 100%. This allows me to slowly release myself from the handle but keep tension on the line. This gives me some carry and control and good line tension into the apex with a light turn finish and a fairly vertical body position at the apex. I've been running as many as 10-12 32s in a set. Out of that number of passes, I probably get 1 that I really, really like. I'll usually have another couple that will have about 1 or 2 buoys that I dork up some where, but the rest of the pass is pretty good. Then there's the rest of the set where I'll be earlier and wider but without the line control that I want. Those usually take 2 to 3 times the energy to run as the "gooder" ones. Usually the gate is what sets my pace.

I'm now noticing that if I do get to aggressive on the gate, the thought becomes ease up on the pace and pass energy, although this is very difficult to do once I'm in the pass. The one pass that I really liked was stuff that I haven't felt a lot of in the last few years. I could really feel the swing of the rope/handle and the rhythm was like riding on a pendulum. (don't tell the non-pendulum crowd). I felt really still and slow and was getting to the right  spot, at the right time, with the right speed.

Where I get myself in trouble is feeling like I have to run the pass, I have to trick myself into putting less energy into skiing than I think I need. I really do tell myself I don't want to run this pass. The other thing that will mess me up is getting well into the pass and thinking "this is what I want my skiing to feel like!". Hopefully after a few more sets and a higher percentage of "feel", I'll stop saying that....at least at that line length.