Efficient Slalom Style

New School, Old School, West Coast or N-E Style. Efficient slalom skiing is the epitome of the sport. Flawless, arcing turns with no slack and no hit from the boat -- no break in the spray, no significant loss of speed. One moves flows to the next, to the next to the next, in a dynamic movement dance that doesn't stop from the first move of your gate edge out to when you exit on the other end. If you can slow down video of yourself skiing and find several frames where your body position does not change, you are too static and you've lost out on the most efficient way to ski.

Don't worry though, that 'strong leveraged position' that you've been practicing for hours in your basement with a handle tied off to a pillar haven't been lost in vain. While you practice your best body position, it's important to realize that at no two instants during a cut are you in the same position relative to the boat. The angle of the ski rope where it attaches to the pylon is always changing. If the direction of the boat's pull is constantly changing in this way, why would you try to hold the same static position across the wakes? The answer is you shouldn't. That strong position you're practicing all winter is really just one frame in the action, and that frame comes when you're directly behind the boat.

Truly, what we're trying to achieve is a new school / old school hybrid style that is the most efficient way to ski. The days of cranking a turn, taking a hit, and holding your position all the way across the wakes are over. Technology has advanced, we don't ski on wood anymore, and this is no longer necessary to navigate the slalom course. The days of compressed angulation behind the boat are over -- That just makes your back hurt. The future is here.