Slalom Fanatics,
Think every one of us can relate to one of these STYLE NICKNAMES, great article by Rhoni Barton. Gettin' dark too early, Sunrise at 6:38 AM and Sunset at 6:33 PM is painful on getting course time, plus temps in 40s at night doesn't help with the water temp.
Found this definition on Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online
Entry Word: fanatic
Function: noun
Text: 1 a person with a strong and habitual liking for something
Look Better Than You Really Are
By Rhoni Barton Bischoff, Waterski Magazine
Quick, before the season's over, find the style that will make you the envy of your lake. Here are the five fast ways to do it.
1. Smooth out your reach.
Your reach should be smooth, natural and generally directed toward the ball. When you let go with your outside hand, let it drop naturally to a comfortable position below shoulder level. Countering occurs when a skier brings the inside hip (the left hip if you're turning left and vice versa) up and over the top of the ski so that the body, or center of mass, catches up to the ski. By standing tall and reaching forward, you'll bring your inside shoulder level with and slightly in front of your outside shoulder. The result: perfect balance and a guaranteed tight-line turn.
2. Make your vison 20/20.
When turning to the left, keep your eyes to the right side of the rope, and when turning to the right, keep your eyes to the left side of the rope. The idea is to keep your upper body facing down the course, and remember, your upper body follows your eyes. As you begin to finish your arc and you're moving in the desired direction of acceleration, keep your eyes facing the boat. Once you reach the middle of the wakes, then you can look across and spot your next turn.
3. Make you turn more efficient.
In the turn, you should stand tall with your weight neutral and balanced. Any movement forward, back or to the inside will hinder the turn and ultimately cost you angle. You should hit the apex, or widest point, of the turn just before the buoy, so you can ride the ski out as far as it can go and then immediately be able to drop your hips forward and inside the turning arc. This keeps your ski tip carving in the water and allows you to establish angle. You should never have to "wait" for the buoy before dropping your center of mass to the inside.
4. Lower your leverage position.
The desired leverage position is low and relatively squatted, yet balanced and strong. Relax your knees and let your hips drop in the direction of your cut. When you lower your body mass, the ski sits slightly in front of you coming into the wake. Establishing a good leveraging position with your body out of the turn and then simply holding that position is ideal. Increasing the load or trying to pull harder is only self-defeating.
5. Wait for your release.
As you leave the second wake, your upper body should remain still and your knees should be coming up toward your body. The ski will start to move out in front of you and will transfer to the other side of you. Think about riding the ski out to the widest possible point before letting go to reach. As you feel the ski swinging out wide, be conscious of the connection between your elbows and your hips. Remember, you don't want to give up that connection, nor do you want to fight or pull against it. The better your ski releases and the farther you ride it outbound, the quicker your stable upper body can move back toward the center of the course without any leaning, load or pressure.
DON'T BE THAT SKIER
In the spirit of learning from your mistakes, we've identified some ski styles you should never emulate. Do you recognize yourself in any of these shots?
The Robot: This skier is trying too hard to mimic the pros in the magazine. Looking stiff and unnatural, he poses in one static reaching position coming into the turn. In this stagnant position, the skier can't carry his speed and direction outward long enough to create sufficient line tension.
The Crowd Waver: Waving to the crowd might be cool in show skiing, but in slalom it's a good way to end up in the drink. The crowd may love the attention, but when the skier waves in the turn, his arm will dip lower than his outside shoulder. To avoid falling over in the turn, he'll lean back to find support from the rope and end up on the tail of the ski out of the turn.
The Snoozer: This skier likes to catch a quick nap in the turn by resting his inside ear on his inside shoulder. If the skier's head, and therefore vision, is not level, everything will feel faster than it really is, and finding a balanced stance will be difficult.
The Stick Man: For years, this type of slalom skier has tried to cross the wakes with a locked body position. For him, getting ready to cross the wakes means getting rigid and ready to push against them. This locked body position makes it very difficult to hold angle after the second wake.
The Snapper: Going for old-school rotation, this skier whips his head and eyes across the course as quickly as possible to get turned. The upper body always follows the eyes, so his upper body is now ahead of his lower body out of the turn, which causes a lean lock and an unbalanced position into the wakes.
The Wheelie Rider: This skier hits his apex way too early, so by the time he does get to the buoy he is being pulled into the turn by the boat. He reacts by pushing against the legs and leaning back, trying to force the ski to turn while simultaneously having to fight the pull of the boat.
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