From one skier to another since 2007.
We had our pre-regionals at the regional site this weekend. Mini and I headed up on Thursday afternoon to get the tent set up. On Friday they were running jump and trick for a piece of the field as well as a clinic with Karen Stevens on the upper lake.
We opened with trick first and Mini wasn't thrilled with his trick performance he fell on a reverse WB in the first round and didn't get credit for his TSS. In rd 2 he fell on RSS. His scores were 960 in Rd 1 and 1020 in Rd 2. I tricked well in rd 1 I haven't seen my final scores but should be 1200 or higher depending on whether I got credit for my TSS. Rd 2 wasn't quite as good as I didn't land the WBB.
In jump in the afternoon Mini landed 2/3 jumps getting 41, 44 fall and 46 feet. The 46 was right around his average from last year so he is starting to come back. We decided to save his second jump round for Sunday due to the fact that he had a slalom lesson before his second jump round was up. On Sunday he jumped almost the exact same but landed all 3 of them.
Slalom was on Saturday. Mini had a solid day but was disappointed because he didn't run 34 mph. He ran 4@34 in rd 1, had a bad rd 2 with 4@32mph then ran 5.5@34 mph with a fall around 6 ball in rd 3. This is the second tournament in a row that he scored 5.5@34mph. This was especially disappointing to Mini because getting through the exit gates would have qualified him for Nationals in slalom. Right now his average is .25 of a buoy behind the cutoff average.
I had a great slalom day. I ran 3.5@35 in the opening round. Had a disappointing second round running 2.5@32 off when I overturned at 3 ball when I was way early then ran 1.5@35 in rd 3. It is the first time I have run 32 twice in the same tournament. The 35 off I was very into the pass and felt in good shape but I came off the handle a little early. Here is a picture of the exact move that did me in:
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g101/Cheffie1/Pangaea%2033%207-12/DSC_...
Here is a cool picture of Mini:
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g101/Cheffie1/Pangaea%2033%207-12/DSC_...
Sorry I couldn't figure out how to embed them.
All told we had a great weekend. No tournament this weekend but we have Regionals the following weekend. I told Mini if he qualifies for Nationals in more than trick I will take him. He is really close in slalom and overall if he can put everything together he can finish top 5 in overall and he has a good chance to run 34 mph and beat the COA which would get him in for slalom.
Printer-friendly versionIt has been a busy few weeks. My son put together a short video from Coble's with videos of a bunch of us and here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADOoQFKhXT0&feature=g-user-u
(sorry I can't figure out how to embed it)
This weekend was the second three event tournament of the season. We had a great time and Mini PBd in tricks (1170), slalom (5.5@34mph missed exit gates) and overall. I had a trick PB tying mini with 1170. Slalom wasn't great for me with 2.5@32 and 1.5 @32 in the dark and rain in the second round. We had over 60 skiers show for slalom which was awesome for the growth of the sport not so great if you were at the end of the running order. I swapped spots with someone who had to drive back to NY and wound up last off the dock. It wasn't a big deal to me though as I had an awesome time at the tournament all weekend and I beat RayN by 1/2 a buoy.
Like Anthony's post the people make the tournaments and I had a blast. We have another one this weekend and I am going to head out with Mini on Thursday and I can't wait already.
Printer-friendly versionI just got back from another trip to Coble's with Mini-Chef and Rayn and his son. As always it was an awesome trip and the Coble's are some of the nicest people on the planet.
The skiing conditions were great the whole week. It was hot but the water wasn't quite as hot as I was expecting it to be. My hands held up great I taped them for every set and wore clinchers like I always do and for the first time I didn't get a blister. I attribute that to being lighter, skiing more before I went and the pullups, hanging knee raises and deadlifts have toughened up my hands.
On to the skiing. I skied really solid. For the most part I slalomed two sets a day and tricked the rest of the sets. I ran 4@35 off right off the dock my first set and it was my best set of the week. I did see 3 ball a bunch and ran 32 off the dock at least half of my sets. I really feel like I learned something about the gates and 1 ball at 35 off. I had more really good gates at 35 than I can remember and had problems being too early and overturning it. I feel like now that I am home and can get some rest 35 is doable.
On the trick ski I re-introduced myself to toes for the first time in over 20 years and came home with a solid TB, TF and TSS. I think I can get close to 1500 points with the tricks I have now if I can figure out how to get them all in to 40 seconds.
Mini had an awesome week as well. He upped his PB to 3.5@ 22 off, ran 34 every day and saw 3 ball at 22 off numerours times. I will be very surprised if he doesn't see 28 off this year.
Tricking Mini was working on toe wake front and back and looked good on them. I can see him getting credit for TWF in his next tournament. I need to keep scrambling if I am going to catch him in tricke.
Mini has been in a jumping slump lately and April and Chis spent a lot of time with him trying to get him out of it and his last two sets were very solid. I think Mini was over kicking trying to go farther and it had him all messed up. We will try to get a practice set in next week sometime before the tournament next weekend and see if we can lock in what he learned.
It was a great trip and I recommend a trip to Coble's for all levels of skiers.
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Printer-friendly versionI was tired this morning after a set yesterday morning and a tough gym session last night that included military presses, pull ups and lots of lunges so both my legs and shoulders were toasty.
It was beautiful morning though so how could I not ski. There was a little wind in our course, the sun was out and both the water and air were around 67*.
I ran a solid opener 22/34 and a bit of a shaky 28 off but never at risk of missing. My first 32 I got a wind gust in my chest right after I came off the handle for the pull out and wound up a little narrow. This carried into my being narrow for 3 ball and when I stretched out I fell over. This is due to not having my head up enough which is a problem on my on-side turn and something I need to keep working on.
My next pass I got a ton of weeds on my legs and when pulling them off they wound up on my hands so I was very late for my gates and never settled and only got around 3 ball. Final pass I ran a solid full pass. I was pretty gassed at this point so I didn't take a crack at 35.
A few more sets and another workout then we head to Coble's for a week. Hopefully 35 will fall down there.
Printer-friendly versionIt was cold overcast and rainy this morning but RayN dragged me out there anyway to ski. The conditions have been crappy the last two days so I haven't skied since the tournament on Sunday. It turned out I was glad I skied. I ran 4@35 off right out of the water. If I didn't get so excited at 4 ball and think I could run the pass I would have gotten deeper. I rushed back to the handle at 4 and the ski stopped turning and I couldn't get to 5. I think if I had stayed patient at 4 ball and let the ski finish I think I could have run the pass.
One of the cool things about this morning's set is that I had a crappy 1 ball at 32 off and I just stayed patient and by 3 ball I was in good shape and it wasn't a scramble at all for the pass. I am not going to declare that I own 32 off yet but I am getting close. I think I have run it out of the water in 4 of my last 5 sets at home.
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Dadgum! You are on a roll! Enjoy it....maybe it will keep going until you run out of rope.
At times I feel like I am running out of rope already :) I do feel like running 35 off is in view now. Next week I am at Coble's in NC and hope to see 38 off.
Hey Chef, that's some good skiing. You have made quick progress since you began posting on here about 3 years ago. I think I remember when you were a 22 and 28 off skier. It seems like not so long ago. Good job!
Awesome! I like how you turned a negative (injury/surgery) into a positive. You've come back stronger, lighter and more focused than you were were before. A lot of guts if you ask me!
T,
At the end of the season before I got hurt I was running 32 in practice maybe 30% of the time. I am a returning skier though not a newby. Back in the early to mid 80s I was capable of running 32 on occasion at 36 mph. I pretty much took off from 1990 to 2007 or so then got back into the sport.
Getting in better shape (I wouldn't say I am all the way there yet) is definitely making a big difference. I am going to try and drop another 15-20 over the next year and see where that can take me from here.
I hate it when I go into 4 ball thinking, "oh yeah I got it" then somehow not run the pass!
We had the second tournament of the year today for me and Mini and it was a good day. Mini ran 4@34mph 15 off right off the dock and looked really strong doing it. In round 2 he ran 3 then ran 4 again in round 4. I can see a full pull at 34 mph is right around the corner. 4 is a tournament and practice PB for him and he looked really comfortable. I think we might start him at 30 mph in practice to try and get him more comfortable with the speed.
I had a crappy round one where something weird happened at 2 ball on my second pass at 28 off and the ski bucked on me and I missed 28 for only the second time of the year.
In round 2 I finally ran 32 in a tournament running a very easyt 32 off and getting 2@35. I had a good one ball at 35 but I really wanted to make sure I got around 2 ball and I pulled way too long. I felt really good about the set and one of the good skiers we ski with said he likes my 1 ball at 35 much better now since I have been working on getting more width at the gate.
In round 3 I was settled into my 32 off pass but I tried to slam 4 ball for some reason I still haven't figured out and couldn't hold on to the angle and went down. I was disappointed because I felt like I should have run it but I am feeling way more comfortable at 32 off. I can feel a 35 off breakthrough coming.
No tournaments for 3 more weeks but we have a trip to Coble's Ski School coming up the week after next. Hopefully Mini and I willl both have further breakthroughs down there.
Printer-friendly versionI was totally wasted today as I have had hard strength workouts the last three days but it was 90* and sunny without any wind so I had to ski. I ran 1.5@35 out of the water. The turn in to one ball on my opener 34/22 hurt as everything creaked into position but I settled down and ran a good 28 and a very solid 32. I had the best start at 35 yet and was early and plenty wide for two ball (I have been hitting two ball a lot) but did something goofy in my excitement and fell. I made one more crack at it and decided to be smart and call it a day.
I am getting close to the point where I feel like I own 32 off although I won't fully feel that way until I run it in a tournament.
Mini skied tired today as well and ran a 32 mph pass then we shut him down as he has a power skating lesson and then he is going to jump later.
Printer-friendly versionAlways best to end one pass too early, than one too late.
We had our first tournament of the year this past weekend it was a two day three event tournament with jump and trick on Saturday and two rounds of slalom on Sunday.
The weather was beautiful and sunny though a little cool with temps in the upper 60s. The wind laid down pretty well for the whole weekend though.
Mini was up first in jump and he is in a jump funk right now. Unfortunately he didn't ride any jumps away in the first round but managed to ride one away in the second round for 39 feet. That is below his average from last year. I think he is popping back at the top of the jump and it has his head really messed up. This time last year he was going upper 40s and riding them all away. Last labor day he missed all three in the first round then the second round got washed out. We are going to Coble's soon so hopefully we can get him squared away.
Trick went much better. Mini got credit for 1,020. I think he should have gotten credit for his TSS which would have put him at 1,150 but we will have to work on having him hold it for a second.
I tricked 970 which ties a tournament PB for me. I actually have a couple of tricks I couldn't figure out how to work in so I will need to re-order my pass to try and fit them in. I should be able to get close to 1200 then I need to learn some new tricks.
Slalom was on Sunday and once again Mini was up first. Mini ran 2@34mph which is 1 bouy off his PB and backed it up with the same score in the second round. I think he is close to a breakthrough and is going to run34 mph real soon.
I ran 3@32 off in the first round and 2.5 in the second round. I was a little disappointed as I have been running 32 off in practice. In the first round I got a crappy one ball and rushed 2. In the second round I just wasn't patient at 3 ball and overturned it. To top it off I came home on Monday and ran 2@35 right out of the water with the sweetest 32 I may have ever run.
The good news is we have a three event slalom tournament on Sunday so I get another chance.
Printer-friendly versionHow many 28s and 32s do you run in a set typically?
You can do it!
-Bobby Bouche
blackdog how many 28s and 32s kind of depends. I usually don't run more than 6 or 7 passes in a set. I will usually just run one 28 unless I am not happy with the way I ran it then I will run another. I will usually run one 32 assuming I make it then take a crack or two at 35 then if I have the energy come back and run another 28 or 32 depending on the conditions. Recently I dropped 32/22 from my practice sessions and I think I am going to start running 2 32s. Last week I ran 32 out of the water 3 days though so I am getting better there.
Printer-friendly versionNice skiing! I don't mind skiing in a drysuit (of course not here now since the water has been between 85 and 90), I just hate putting it on and taking it off.
I got back on the water today for the first time in a week. I admit I wussed out yesterday when it was 58* rainy and windy. Plus my knee was sore after running 3 mile non-stop for the first time in close to 10 years. Mini-chef and rayn skied yesterday. Mini ran deep 32 mph in crappy conditions.
Today it was still cold only about 60* but the sun was peeking in and out and there was less wind. Mini skied first so I could get him home to study for exams. He skied okay running 4@32mph but he wasn't able to make 32. He has made it several times already this year but then was off the water for close to 3 weeks.
When I dropped Mini back at the dock I ran up and grabbed my drysuit. I figured why be cold when the drysuit was sitting in my closet. I started at my usual 32/22 and ran right down to 2@35 off which ties my PB. I ran 2 twice. I have now run 32 4 or 5 times this year which is way earlier than I have ever run it. I never even ran 28 last year due to injury.
The 32 off had a fair amount of backwash and a less than perfect 2 ball so I felt good about running it solid in less than perfect conditions.
For 35 I need to spend more time at it but I need to trust the swing of the ski. I tend to pull too long at the shorter line lengths and it makes me late, fast and narrow at the ball at 35 off. When I watch good skiers run 35 they seem to start the edge change at the latest right after the second wake. I don't trust that I am going to get there right now. I know I need to clean up my 32s but I need to see 35 more often also.
I may drop the 32/22 in practice to make me a little fresher. Until I am running into 35 off more consistently I still like having 3 passes before I get to 32 off in a tournament.
In 3 weeks we are going to Coble's so hopefully a little coaching will help me out.
Printer-friendly versionWe have been skiing a bunch here in New England until this past weekend. It was wet cold and windy and I decided not to ski. Memorial Day weekend was awesome and I skied 4 days in a row.
The gym work seems to be paying off as I am skiing better than I ever have at this time of year. I haven't missed a 22 off at 32 or 34 mph this year and I have only missed 1 or 2 28s when the conditions were crappy. On top of that I have made 3 or 4 32 offs and this is the earliest in the year I have run them.
I am working on getting higher on the boat at the gates for 32 off and riding the handle out to the buoy line. The only other thoughts I have right now are to keep my head up on my onside turns and to be patient and let the ski finish. When I do these things it seems easy.
I have even tricked a set this year and tricked well. I landed several WBB and made a line back for the first time in about 20 years. I need to keep working at the tricks if I am going to keep up with mini-chef he is really tricking well. I think I can trick over 1200 points with a little practice.
We are two weeks out from the first tournament of the year. Unfortunately the weather is going to suck most of the week. Hopefully the weekend will be good and we can get some more water time in. Mini's lacrosse season is almost over so we will have more free time after work.
Printer-friendly versionWe are having a beautiful weekend. It was 70* or so and sunny at 10:30 this morning with almost no wind. Water is around 63* and I skied today for the first time in just a heater top.
I worked out early this morning and this was the third day in a row so I was a little tired. My two openers 32/22 and 34/22 were no problem. I took two passes at 28 off and ran them both pretty easily in fact they were probably better than my 34/22. I was going to just run 28s but I get bored so I shortened the rope. The first pass was into a bit of a head wind and I was in good shape but I got some backwash at two ball which made me a little late at 3. I am not patient enough at 32 off yet and went down around 3. Next pass was downwind and I was carrying way too much speed at 1 ball. I got around 2 but couldn't do much.
Mini looked as good as I have ever seen him this morning. He started at 26.8 and ran right down to 2.5@34 mph all at 15 off. His 32 mph pass was the best pass I have ever seen him run. The 34 mph pass he was wide and early and got anxious at 3 ball and looked down then fell. I really thought he was going to run it for the first time. This morning he was really turning the ski well particularly on his offside and getting great angle. If Mini keeps this up he is going to run into 28 off this year.
Later after lacrosse practice Mini went for a wakeskate and a trick set. This was only his second time on the wakeskate and he had a blast on it. He was jumping the wakes a little doing some wake turns and ollies. On the trick ski he looked really good also. It was only his second trick set but he did everything he can do including some toes. His reverse back wrap and BBs were looking strong.
I couldn't get Cheffette out to ski. It may be next weekend for her as she has a busy day tomorrow.
I love summer.
Printer-friendly versionI hear that.
Speaking of lacrosse, it seems to be sweeping through the Midwest. New HS are adding it every year and now I can watch the Buckeyes play it on the BigTen network. Will never replace my first love (football), but I like the continuous action.
We were back at it today in better conditions. It was about 70* with water temps in the low 60s. I skied in the drysuit but it was probably the last day with it.
I opened with 32/22 like always and 34/22 and 28 off went down easily. Lately I have been running two or three 28s but today I decided to cut to 32 and get a couple of cracks at it. First pass I got some backwash at 1 ball and wasn't settled enough to ski through it. Next pass I got a strong 1 ball and settled into the pass. I got a little slack a couple of times but I stayed patient and ran the pass. I think it was only my fourth try at 32 this year and is by far the earliest I have ever run 32 off.
I took one crack at 35 off and got around 2 ball. At 35 I don't trust the swing yet to get me the width I need. I did it at one ball but I pulled two long to two ball instead of changing edges and trusting I have the width.
I am excited to get more cracks at 35 off this year I believe I can run it.
Printer-friendly versionNice job with the 32s, Run a bunch of them. Believing you can run 35 is the first step, you'll do it. Don't try to muscle it though, learn to run it right and you'll run a bunch of them......I guess that goes without saying
All that off-season hard work is paying off! Sweet. Let's see some video.
I went out with RayN at lunch time today and the conditions weren't great. There was a pretty healthy head tail wind but we suited up and skied anyway.
The opener at 32/22 was easy. I was trying different things about where I look in the turn and it got me messed up a little at 4 ball but I easily got back in the pass. I tend to get bored with that pass pretty easily. 34/22 was with the tail wind but I ran it no problem then I ran 34/28 head wind easy as well. When I dropped I discussed with Ray whether I should shorten or not and he suggested if I ran the 38 tail cut it then. I ran the 28 easily then shortened to 32.
The good news is that 32 didn't feel fast or short. The bad news is I didn't get past two ball. In each pass I had a good one ball. Into the head wind I came off the handle early at two ball and clipped the back side of two and stood it up. With the tail wind I came out of 1 really good and rode the handle out to two ball but then I got anxious and stomped on the tail and couldn't get to 3 ball.
On the whole I felt really good given that I worked out this morning as well not to mention killing myself with a leg workout yesterday.
When Mini-Chef got home from school I asked him if he wanted to go for a quick ski before hitting the home work (the benefit of working from home) and he jumped at the chance. He skied the best of the year running his opener of 26.8 mph which we will stop skiing fairly soon, 28 mph. He missed his first crack at 30 when a big gust caught him coming into two ball then ran it easily downwind. We went to 32 and he didn't get enough width on his gate and school bused one ball. Coming back he ran a sweet full pass at 32 mph. This is by far the earliest he has ever run 32 mph. Last year he didn't run it until July. Mini took two cracks at 34 mph and the best he did was 2 in each pass. He needs to get higher up on the boat at the gate and not pull so long at 34 mph.
All told it was a great Thursday on the water.
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Printer-friendly versionWe had the nicest day of the year so far yesterday. The air was 70*, the water almost 60* and there was little wind when I skied. It was a beautiful day.
I opened at 32/22 and focused on riding the handle out to the buoy line and keeping my head up on my onside. I ran an easy opener then ran two 34/22s with no problem. I thought about shortening the line to 28 but it was my third day in a row and I had a hard workout in the morning so I left it at 22. This time I got bobbled at 2 ball with some backwash (always a problem with the water high) and didn't push it. I ran a solid 22 off coming the other way then got backwashed again at 4 ball on my final pass.
All in all I feel good and strong for this time of the year. I have a problem with focus when I run the same pass repeatedly. I maintain whatever I am working on for about 3 turns then I lose my concentration.
It is rainy here now and I am out of town the next three days so hopefully the weather will be better over the weekend.
It is great being out on the water again.
Printer-friendly versionGlad you're back healthy and skiing, don't rush things.
I feel really good so far. I ran 3 28 offs in FL back in April and my back felt great. It is awesome to be back on the water. Starting June 1 I will back off the workout schedule to more of a maintenance mode for the summer.
Okay it was in the high 50s or low 60s with water temps in the low 50s but my boat is finally in and our slalom course is in as well.
I free skied on Saturday and got some nice long exercise in. I put in the equivalent of about 8 passes at 34/22 and felt strong at the end.
This afternoon we went our again and the course was in and ready to go. It was about 60* with a decent head/tail wind. I went out at 32/22 ran it easily then shortened to 34/22 and ran that easily also. Since I skied the course about 3 weeks ago I decided to shorten it to 28 and had a good 1 and 2 ball but then came off the handle early at 3 ball into a head wind and clipped the back of 3. I got around 4 but that was it. Next pass was with the tail wind and I was all goofy at 2 ball. In the interest of running some balls I went back to 22 off and ran some good solid passes focusing on handle control trying to carry the handle as far out as possible.
Mini had his first set in MA in the course and was only wearing a heater top as a result he only took 4 passes. He skied pretty well though running 26, 28, 30 and 1 at 32 mph. Mini took some video both with the GoPro on his head and I took some from the boat. As soon as we get it edited I'll get it posted to YouTube.
We are going to try to get a set in tomorrow but I have a tough workout in the morning so not sure how much energy I will have.
I feel pretty strong having lost 26 pounds so far. I am looking forward to the season.
Printer-friendly versionI got out on Saturday with my neighbor who was kind enought to pull me given that my boat still isn't in the water. It was open water skiing because our course isn't in until next weekend. I took a good long set of some open water skiing and even with the wind and the colder water it was awesome.
I wore a drysuit for the first time an O'neill Assault I picked up for short money. I wore my vest over it and it was very comfortable to ski in. I did get a tiny bit wet near the back of my left shoulder. I felt a little leak when I first got in the water then nothing on subsequent drops.
I am headed to FL for a few days for work (no time for skiing) and hopefully next weekend I will be able to get my boat in.
Printer-friendly versionI think the Assault Drysuit is great! I don't like the all-baggy ones.
I have an Assault drysuit as well and that thing is worth it's weight in gold in the cold water. I've never tried a baggy suit though.
I got some feedback from our friend we were skiing with today who is an excellent skier and coach that I need to work on keeping my head level on my on-side turn. I spent today working on that. I ran 32/22 opener then 5 34/22s. When I kept the head level I could really feel the hip drop in and the ski come around nice. I missed a couple of passes when I was thinking about the head too much and stayed on the pull way too long and was going mach 5 at the ball.
The feedback was I would be fine running through 32 off the way I was but to run 35 and 38 I needed to fix my head position. Since that is my goal I figure to run a bunch of 22s and 28s early this year to work on it. One thought that seemed to work was to think about thrusting my chin forward in the pre turn. That got my head in the right spot without a ton of thought.
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Nice. I'm terrible with this on the off-side turn. My off-side turns are like some 1970's champ running 38' off to break the record at the time- all leveled out with the water, head and all, but yet I do it running 15!
A thought the guy I was skiing with had was to thrust your chin forward in the pre-turn. That seemed to help level out my head and is something I can easily think of. I see a lot of 22s in my future as I try to get that to be second nature. I can think at 22 and a little at 28 but I can't think at 32 and beyond.
Is there a particular line length that the head issue shows up at or is it an issue the whole time? The reason I ask is that I've had this issue before and don't have it right now.
blackdog the issue is there all the time but it doesn't negatively impact my skiing until the line gets shorter and I need to stretch out. I ski 22 - 35 off and at 22 and 28 off it doesn't impact my skiing. As the line gets shorter it becomes more of an issue.
Printer-friendly versionAlways nice taking down a pass like that in April! Nice work.
Printer-friendly versionSounds like a great start!
Oh those early season passes when you just can't hang on to the handle any longer!
Glad to hear your back is holding up well.
Printer-friendly versionexcellent, I hope it's a good year for you and the kids.
How did you lose all your weight while recovering from back surgery? What's your secret?
I skied in Ft. Myers with friends that have a ski lake and in West Palm at Palm Beach water sports. I head home tomorrow and my friend has his boat in so I will be on the water soon. I am probably two weeks from having my boat in due to travel schedules.
I am a little more than two months post back surgery and a month or so into PT. My leg pain is mostly gone and the area around the incision has healed nicely and I don't have any pain there at all. There are some days that I still have some leg pain but it is the exception rather than the rule.
PT is going well. I have reached the point where they have ramped up the weights to make me sweat in PT instead of just working on form. It is mostly back, hip and core work for PT with a bunch of stretching thrown in. I am about the least flexible guy in the world even the PT guy was laughing at me. I have been stretching for 30+ minutes a day for the last 6 weeks and have added some measureable flexibility. I think I have stretched more recently than in the previous 45 years.
I am about to start adding other weight work in and I have been doing 30 min a day of cardio work (mostly elliptical) as well. I still have a diet problem (I eat too much of the wrong foods) that I need to fix but one thing at a time.
My goal for the offseason is to maintain the stretching/work out regimen and try to lose at least 20 pounds (I am 235 right now). I have stated those goals before but this year I think I am going to join the same gym as Rayn and see if having someone to meet at the gym gets me to work out more.
Printer-friendly versionGlad to hear things are looking positive, Chef. This may actually be an opportunity to get in your best shape ever. Keep it up!
Definitely an opportunity to be in great shape for 2012! Glad to hear things are going well.
I hope you come back better than ever. Whatever you did to injure it, don't do that again.
but just not better than me :)
Can't wait to get your ass in the gym :)
I pulled the boat yesterday. With back surgery looming on 10/5 I needed to make sure I got it out of the water before I went under the knife. Mini-chef was pissed and tried to hide my keys but it needed to be done.
I probably skied less than 15 sets and had a season best of 5@28 off (the only time I shortened the line) in the only tournament I skied. My trick score was 820 as I missed the WBB the only time I tried it.
Mini's (second year B2) season was much better. While his PB only improved by 2.5 buoys his average went up by over a pass. Last year he only ran 30 mph in 2 tournaments and 32 mph once. At the end of the season he ran 32 mph in 2/3 rounds in the last tournament and ran it in almost every tournament after 7/1. We got him on a new ski after regionals and I think he is set up well to start running into 22/28 off next year. His trick score went up from a shaky 660 points to a solid 1150. Jump was a little disappointing as he didn't progress at all but he didn't get to jump that much.
Cheffette made progress also running the full course for the first time and starting to take an interest in skiing.
Hopefully the back surgery helps (micro-discectomy to remove a disc fragment) and I am in good shapet to ski next year.
Printer-friendly versionChef, put this season behind you. You can look forward to a great one next year after your "repairs." Use it as motivation and stick with your PT. Best!
I got in the course for only the third time this year and the first time since the first week of June. I ran 4 passes at 22 off 32 mph and so far I seem to be in one piece. I will have to see how I am feeling tomorrow morning and take it from there. If I am okay I will ease up to 6 passes then thinking about going 34 mph. There is a tournament labor day weekend I am taking Mini to so I would love to ski if I am in one piece.
Printer-friendly versionTake your time, ease into things, ski safe and smart.
I ran 6 passes yesterday morning before the hurricane rolled in and ran 4@28 off out of the water. My back is sore right now. I probably could have run the 28 off but I was a little late and didn't want to hurt myself. I am trying to make a decision on surgery so I am pushing it a little more than I regularly would.
Next set I am going to run just 22s and see how it goes.
Printer-friendly versionThe link didn't work when I tried it. I did see where Mike Morgan was riding the HO at the nationals (I think he's been on a Goode for 20 some odd years).
As a former jumper, if I had to do it all over again, and I wanted to become a really good (and of course safe) jumper, I would spend some time with Jack Travers. He's trained more exceptional jumpers that anyone.
Hope you get healed up quick, we miss your involvement on here.
I am not sure what happened with the link I posted from my iPad and I am still figuring that out. Here is one that should work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2gRZxpxIXI
Matt skied well again today he ran 3@34mph off the dock. Next time I think after he gets to 34mph I am going to roll him back to 32 mph to work on that. We had been working on cleaning up 30 mph and that has made his 32 mph passes much better.
On the jump front we might try Travers next year we have been talking about that.
I skied again today and tried some pretty aggressive wake crossings and feel okay right now. I can ski again on Thursday morning and if I am still feeling okay will give the course a shot.
Chef, the kid's skiing is looking awesome. Even right at the pullout, you know he means buisiness. Lots of REALLY good stuff happening there.
I want to ski like Matt...awesome! Very solid and direct. No wasted motion.
My little guy skied a couple of sets coached by Wade Cox today. For reference he is a Boys 2 skier that is running into 32mph at 15 off and is LFF. Wade changed his gate up moving him to a 1 handed gate with a much later pull out. Wade felt like for a LFF skier the 1 handed gate would help him get better angle and speed cross course. He struggled a little bit with the timing on the one handed gate but a few times he got it okay and it looked good.
The other thing was on his on side turn (1,3,5) working on dropping his hip into the buoy. He has a tendency to push the ski with his front leg and the turn stalls.
All in all it was a good experience. Wade is a cool guy and does a good job conveying his thoughts so that a 12 year old can understand him. We are heading to Coble's next week so it will be good to see how it goes. I can see the gate helping him but he might need to take a step back a little to get it right. The dropping the hip on 1,3,5 is definitely going to help when he did that the ski really snapped around.
Printer-friendly versionI haven't been posting because I haven't been skiing. I have a disc problem in my back and have been off the water for almost three weeks. I have had an MRI, seen a neuro-surgeon and had a shot of steroids into my back. I am feeling a little better but I am far from 100% right now.
Mini has skied a couple of tournaments. A week ago he had a three event and skied pretty well. Mini ran 3@28mph in slalom, tricked 660 points and jumped 43 feet. Trick tied his PB and he did it easily in both rounds. Jumping was 5 feet of his PB but it was only the second time he was on a ramp this year. Slalom was a little disappointing but he hadn't skied much.
This weekend he skied three rounds of slalom and skied well in all of them. He ran 4.5@30 in the first round, 4@30 in the second and 2.5@30 in the third. Last year he ran full 28s only 3 times and never in the same tournament. It was a good day of slalom. I think Mini is a small step from running 32 mph regularly.
We head to Coble's ski school on Sunday. Unfortunately I won't be skiing I will be just hanging out watching Mini, RayN, his son and BB and his daughters ski.
Printer-friendly versionSorry to hear that, hope you can get that feeling better and get on the water soon....it's to quiet on here without your input.
I will have time to post from Coble's so I will send some updates on how people are doing.
Printer-friendly versionMy back has been bothering me but I was feeling better and the weather was beautiful so I went out to ski yesterday. I decided to take a few easy passes through the course at 32 mph/22 off. It turned out to be a disaster. I hit two ball in my first pass, fell around two ball in my second pass, then slammed into the wake coming out of two ball on my third pass. It was as hard a fall as I have taken in at least 5 years. I took one more pass and ran a full pass but my back was feeling it.
I was very sore the rest of the day and this morning so I went to the chiropractor to put myself back together. I feel a little better as I type this but not ready to ski which is a drag as the weather is great.
I am going to go for a long walk at lunch time and stretch out. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow. Maybe another tune up on Friday from the chiro and we will see how I am feeling.
Printer-friendly versionFirst course sets after a long layoff stink. You're unsure of how to move, movements are to quick and to hard. Timing and rhythm are nowhere to be found. Connection is key, progressive on and progressive off will go a long way. One of the things I've been trying to do lately is not to fight and scrap for passes (which is very difficult for me because I've fought and scrapped for many years) If I'm skiing dirctly at a few balls, I'll try to stop skiing the pass and start over. If you're not coming into buoys with width and space look to your connection and progression.
It seems like I am a month behind but I have my first two sets on the water. I skied on Friday and Saturday. On Friday it was a beautiful day it was about 65* with the sun out and no wind. The water was about 55*. I just free skied probably the equivalent of about 8 passes. My back has been bothering me after tweaking it while putting my dock in so I was trying to be very careful about my body positon.
I didn't feel too bad on Saturday se we went out in the afternoon. Not as nice temperature wise but the lake was pretty empty. I skied the equivalent of 7-8 passes again and felt a little better on the ski. On Sunday morning my back was pretty sore so combined with the rain it was an easy decision to take the day off.
I spent 45 minutes on the elliptical and gave it a good stretch so we will see how I feel tomorrow.
Mini has a set on his jumpers this year and one on his slalom. He wanted to jump right into the course but I didn't let him.
First tournament is about a month away so we do need to get some water time under our belts.
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Awesome Chef.
Awesome Chef.