you should look down (just kidding).   It is a great question that hopefully will get you some good answers.  Looking at the wake is probably not a good idea.  The problem with looking across the wakes is that...where the eyes look, the head and shoulders will follow, making it difficult to keep your shoulders more square  to the boat.  At a clinic this year, advice was given that your eyes should always be looking over the "high" edge of your ski. 
Looking "down course" as opposed to "across the course" when turning will help with countering upper body.  A friend of mine looks at the pylon the entire time he skis.  It doesn't work for me, but I would suggest you try it while crossing the wakes, or try looking down the side of the boat.  To avoid the popping, you need to keep the ski on edge through the wake.  A mental approach is to think that your turn/cut is a steady progression that does not end until you are behind the boat or reach the second wake.   This is why you will hear people refer to the between the wakes as being the "work zone".
Some great advice is to read Chris Rossi's article about the "Power Triangle" (accessible through the home page on this site "instructional articles").  Every sentence holds value.   Getting your body in the proper position behind the boat (with that handle down to the hip) is the foundation to some great skiing.  I'm not at the level that many on here are, but I do think recreational skiers tend to focus too much on the turn.  Recently, my focus has shifted to what goes on behind the boat (and being in the proper leveraged position).   I'm thrilled w/ how much this has set up to improve all aspects of my skiing. Good Luck.

Last edited by davemac (Sat, Sep 4, 2010 1:14 PM)

Youngman, thanks for asking this one, have been searching for direction on this one for a while.  Dave and h20, good info, would you guys mind breaking it down a bit more please. 

Inconsistently, I turn at the buoy, I look down course, I let my eyes follow my body's path and when my eyes meet the pylon I stay focused on it until second wake, which I then inevitably look at the ball, and sometimes my eyes get stuck on the ball, sometimes they don't, leading to a complete pass or not.

My question is, from ski's path from second wake to buoy where should my eyes be focused to properly have my body setup for the turn?  Also, when should focus down course begin, at apex?, when I drop trailing arm? 

Please help.

Thank you.

h20dawg79 wrote:

For me, when everything is going well and I'm skiing well, I'm looking at the pylon on the boat. This keeps my head Up and helps to sq. my shoulders to the back of the boat.

Staring down the next Buoy will make most people run straight at the Buoy, Giving up precious time and space...

I would suggest practicing while freeskiing, until you have enuf confidence to Trust your wake crossings w/o looking at them or even thinking about them.

h20 gave me basically the same advice earlier this summer and it worked wonders for me. My wake crossings are 10x better and I feel like I am skiing much stronger and more fluid.

Terry Winter also has quite a few instructional videos on his Ski West Coast website, http://skiwestcoast.com/instructionals.html. I think it is either the second or third video down on that page he talks about vision in the course. All of his videos on there are very helpful though and very thorough.

Remember what works for everyone else may not work exactly the same for you. Although we all strive to have the picture perfect form, very few of us do. So find what works for you. Also new things always feel awkward at first so give it some time in open water first and try to groove it.

I've been closely studying Jon Travers and Will Asher's style. Getting video of Will from the boat is hard to find. But I captured his passes at the 3 sisters and did some split screening (which I might upload to youtube it's a pretty sick vid) Anyway both JT and Willy get these wicked turns both sides. 

Both skiers are executing the new book on styles IMO - obviously keep their head level and look or face down course. So turning 1 you are looking down the line at 3 and 5. In the pull you are looking at the boat. I've talked to Will about this years ago too, and tried  this in past years never making it stick. But now I realize I must as part of getting that sick turn that seamlessly transfers into the pull.

Yesterday' set was day one, every turn looking down course, every pull looking at the boat. I ran 8 passes.  Really strange sort of out-of-body skiing. Got slack at the end of the turn but overall it went well. Popped the handle once getting more than I could handle.  Here's a shot of one of the better turns. Lots of the ski the in water but the tip was squirting up.

http://twitpic.com/2op7p8

Terry Winter advocates looking at the next set of boat gates until you're across the wake.  He says to begin looking at that target as soon as you know your ski will go around the buoy - note that this is not the same as waiting until your ski does around the buoy.

To be exact, as soon as you know you will clear the one-ball (well before actually clearing it), you fix your gaze on the boat guides for the two-ball.  You're gaze remains locked on those guides until you've crossed the wake on the way to the two-ball.

The purpose of this technique (according to Winter) is to get a better, more countered finish on your turn.

TW

I agree with the Buoy only being in your vision, but not starring it down. Everyone is working towards Rhythmic automation as much as possible. Trust is essential. But, this only comes with a level of success.

We all must crawl B4 we walk and walk B4 we run. Everyone is at different places in their developement, age, experience, etc... I really doubt if there is any Hard and fast rules that will work for everyone across the board all the time.

But, one absolute is: the Body Always follows the Head. i.e. Left, right, up, down... A level head is a must as much as possible. A still Head is just icing on the cake!

Aft. the 2nd wake, one can see #1 buoy w/o looking directly at it. One can stare or Focus about 5-10 ft. to the right of the Buoy. I've seen many greats (Cris Parrish) actually look at the shore line (beyond #1) as they begin their reach and focus on the shore line until they initiate the turn. This helps you to stay outbound and countered while also maintaining good rope management. -very Cool!

I've experimented with looking down the Rope Line to the Pylon just as soon as I'm past the apex... It works wonders for me. As a matter of fact, I've gotten even better results by focusing on the tower pylon or Bimini top. This helps my head stay "UP" better.

I believe these kinds of things will have to start out as intentional, mechanical movements. That in time "can become" unconscience Good habits. And that is what Ed is refering to. -"Not thinking about anything"  AUTO PILOT. Rhythmic automation.
But, we must 1st crawl B4 we walk, etc...

Ed, I totally agree too. Looking at nothing and just skiing within a rhythmic pattern is the best. But having some sort of focal point to look when you are trying to grove this pattern is a good starting point. At least it was for me. But I totally agree that your head has to be level and pretty much like a pivot point.

This is all true in all sports. When I downhill I don't look at my tips of my skis I look ahead, I think.. lol I don't actually know where I look which is a good thing though. Same with mountain biking. If you look right in front of your tire, you will clip a tree or something.

I emphasize all of this so much whenever I'm teaching someone to do something knew. And most of the time it clicks and they do much better.

davemac wrote:

while only slightly relevant to this discussion, thought I'd throw this thought into the mix.  If you were to take an advanced (auto) driving course, they do a drill where they mount a cup on the hood at the front of the car and put a ball in it.  The object is to then drive the car through a slalom course without letting the ball fly out of the cup.
If you stare at the cup, it is almost impossible to accomplish (primarily due to overcompensation).  To succeed, you must focus your eyes downcourse which smooths out the driving.

Great point Dave! Kinda like towing a trailor and trying to keep it in 1 lane, or how the waiter/waitress walks around with a fully Loaded tray of Drinks. Heck, even walking around with a full coffee cup!

not sure if anyone can breakdown from these, a little different perspective than from behind the boat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOe9D2wd … ata_player

Also, look at page 6 of this months 'the water skier', Jamie looking down course.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plrfIpsF … ata_player

In this Pangea vid, you have to fast forward a bit, but you can definitely get a feel for where heads are facing.

Paul,
Here is one of my favorite videos to watch (still optimistically hoping for some osmosis to occur)....

http://waterskimag.com/videos/2009/09/3 … eauchesne/

Sticking to the topic at hand you can see JB's point of focus from this vantage point.
I thought it provides another illustration of great skiing while maintaining  a level head.

Last edited by davemac (Fri, Sep 17, 2010 11:35 PM)

Thanks for all the great feedback. Very frustrated that i have'nt been able to get out on the water due to work. Hopefully i will get a ski in the next few days. Have read all the replys and will try and focus on what h20dawg79 does and see if that works for me. Thanks guys will let you know it goes. (water still very cold over here in oz, my new rip curl ebomb wetsuit is awsome, takes a few days to get the feeling back in my feet though)