How to get more in front of the ski without breaking the "box" / Pro Ski Coach Water Ski Forum

jerrysnow · #1 Thu, Aug 9, 2007 6:27 PM

Hi Chris,

since I will be hitting the water tomorrow night I watch my video from my runs this summer and notice that I have a smooth reach and good first half of the turn but my weight is a bit on the back. I attack the turn with my upper body in the right position (counter rotation and leaning in the direction of the turn) but my front leg look extended and my front knee only slightly bent. I tried to bend more my front knee but felt my tip grabs to much and then I feel i'm going out the front and break at he waist from the ski finishing to quick. I think my hips are staying to much over my ski in the last 1/2 of the turn. Maybe it is fear or just that I'm in the confort zone right now but going out the front is not something I look foward to. How do you move your hip without loading the tip while attacking forward. I do it on snow but seems I do it only 50% on water. My 4 broken ribs from 2 years tell me to be sure before I commit more !

By the way has you red in my other post I made tremedous progress this year with your tips so far. I can help you on snow if you are interested I am good at giving advice with video post me a vid of you carving snow and I ( and fellow level 4 instructor here will give you free advice).

That first win is comming Chris I feel it, stay relax on the last run like in practice and concentrate on the moment and not the result. That was a good advice from my ski coach a couple years ago and I went from 4 DNF in a row in slalom to 6 straight top 5. If you can do it in practice you can do it in the comp there is no diffrence other than the mental factor.

Thanks for the tips and time.

JP · #2 Thu, Aug 9, 2007 10:27 PM

sounds like your bindings are too far forward. try moving them back 1/4 or a inch and see what that does. If they are too far back the ski will start to feel unstable going into the turns

ChrisRossi · #3 Fri, Aug 10, 2007 12:22 PM

I have to say that I am very impressed with the level of knowledge everyone on this forum is showing. As I read Jerry's post I was thinking that his bindings are too far forward and then I look at JP's advice and bam, he recommends what I was thinking! This seems to be happening more and more and it couldn't make me happier. Thank you to everyone who is contributing.
Jerry, it sounds like you are in the right place and the ski is not set up properly to do what you want. There isn't much to think or do at the finish of the turn if it is set up properly. Try your bindings back one hole and you will find a significant improvement.

Chris

jerrysnow · #4 Fri, Aug 10, 2007 12:59 PM

I like this post site a lot since people are nice and really want to help. I will try moving my binding one hole to the back first( it is at the recommended distance from this site), if it doesn't help I will move the fin forward a bit. How much movement is necessary to fell a difference without upsetting the ski negativelly. The ski fells good overall I don't want to mess around to much since I am probably more the problem than the ski. Sixam 1.1 is really a good ski that everybody that tried my ski this summer skied well on it. How does the MPD compare to it since it is a Andy maple design also.

JP · #5 Fri, Aug 10, 2007 4:52 PM

without a doubt i would move the bindings back first.

I dont know a lot about fin adjustments but if i were to move the fin for this problem i would probably add more tip because that will make your turn longer. Like i say i dont know much about fins but i am starting to learn a little more about them.

BuoyChaser · #6 Fri, Aug 10, 2007 6:32 PM

Chris - Isn't there a lot to be said about "ankle to ankle" measurements based on your shoe size? I've heard for example someone with a size 9-10 should have a 12.25" ankle-to-ankle measurement. So the "ankle-to-ankle" distance is really what determines where the rear binding is located. Of course use the Stock front binding placement, when measuring from the tail. Then use the "ankle-to-ankle" to figure out the rear binding?

I wear a size 10-1/2 and have size 11 Fogmans with rear front toe cut-off. On my 9736 67" i had the front binding at stock, but had the ankle-to-ankle was 11.85". So I added 5/16" (.3125") to the front to reduce the overall length of the ski and put be at 12.16". - Scott