How to run a course?

[KurtL]

So last weekend visited a buddy who has two courses on the river near his place. He is not a skier and never ran the course. I made maybe 5 attempts thru the course at 15 off, about 31-32 mph. Holy smokes is it hard for me to make the first buoy if I actually make a legal start through the starting gate. My weak side cut is just that still pretty weak (left foot forward). Any tips as I will visit his place again in two weeks and I'm determined to get the first three balls after a proper start through the start gate!

Also hit one of the start buoys twice. How the heck do you figure the timing?

I SEE THAT SKIYAKER HAS ALREADY POSTED THREAD LIKE THIS...... SORRY DISREGARD

[zegm]

Holy Cow never run a course and are going 32 Mph with lenght off? Try Full length rope and slow down. You can even do the baby course do get the rythm. Go between the Outside of the Starboard boat bouys and the 3 bouys on the right side. Try to go in the middle and then use the boat bouys and the right side bouys as the course. This cuts the width down but still allows you to get the rythm going.

[skiyaker]

hey Kurt most of the more experienced course skiers I've been around have said don't worry too much about the entrance gate until you're running all 6 buoys on a regular basis- It's OK to be early and miss the gate. in fact the grass roots tournaments I'm hoping to ski don't even count the entrance/exit gates. Once you start your first cut just go with it. If you're just starting to run the course like me the main point is having fun anyways.

[BensonWdby]

My recent experience with training in the course - Find a speed that you can make 6 and work that for a while. You would be surprised how slow you can ski when in the course. Much slower than you would consider in open water. It is as much a mental thing as anythign for me. Making your opening pass is important to getting your head ready for the more challenging passes.

Personally I ski 28 off @ 34 in open water, sometimes down to 38 off. But in the course my openng pass is 15 off @ 28. Open water skiing will mess with your performance in the course.

Food for thought... When you make your 28mph pass you get 48 points. That means 8 passes worth of bouys. So if you figure it back , that means the minimum speed (for all mens classes) is 14 mph. At that speed you are on 2 skis - but it can be done. I have seen one person do it at 15 on a huge ski at 15 off. If you make your opener - you get all the bouys up to that pass - so you make you 28 mph you get 48. You go out at 32 mph and make 3 - you get 3 -same as if you just ran 3 @ 14 mph. And your brain is messed up for the next round.

As far as going long line - I think there are mixed feelings on that. When I get a new rope rope the first thing I do is take of the first 15. My kids have never skied a 75 foot rope, even on 2 skis. I don't know any serious local skiers that use it any more - bt I know there are some who still advise it. I do believe that the long-line @ 36 mph is much harder than 15 off @ 36 based on everything I have heard - this is one reason why they changed a long time ago to allow you to start at 15 off at slower speeds and then your top speed pass at 15 off counts as two passes.

Regarding gates - don't sweat it yet...

But having fun is important. I recommend finding a ski school - somewhere you can spend 3-5 days of hard skiing. Not cheap but will catapult your style .. I wish I had done it 30 years ago...

[maxpower220]

Think EARLY. Make your cut to the side with enough time to pull, but not too much to get slow. When the boat passes through the gates, start your pull. Don't worry about the gates. After you get all 6 bouys, then worry. Pull through both wakes and always have the ski on an edge.

Slow down and start at 26 or 28 mph. I agree with starting at 15' off.

[zegm]

I must agree with the guys who posted above we really never ski anywhere, course or open water with the full rope. Seems like there is always 15ft sitting on the floor next to me (for those without a DD the ski pole is right next to the drivers seat in case you were wondering why the rope would be so close by).

[KurtL]

Thanks for the thoughts. My friends (husband and wife) seem to think speed is better. She always wants to pull me at 35-36 mph. I will try both slowing the speed down to like 27-28 and not worry about the start gate. Man the course seems hard!

[BensonWdby]

If you have never run the course and you can jump in at 35 mph and make it - that is incredible in my book. The course is as much about timing amd strategy as it is about skiing. Just being a really good skier is not enough. And as it turns out most of us 'good open water skiers' are not as good as we think, but we might be able to put up a really nice wall of water...

The course is the unforgiving b**ch. It is the same for all of us - and it just sits there looking so easy and so long for only 6 turns... And you watch the pros make 41 off look like 22 off and think - no prob...

You may find that 28 mph feels like you are crawling, and if you were to do it in open water, you might not even be able to do it without a ton of slack, but the first time you make all 6 - hard to describe...

Good luck and have fun...
Dave

[skiyaker]

The course is the unforgiving b**ch. Dave

man ain't that da truth. I tried to describe to a non-skier what it is that I'm doing this summer; and their response was "why do you spend so much time doing that" I just had to answer "the same reason you keep trying to hit a tiny A$$ ball 300 yards into a cup"

can't wait to get back out there

[BensonWdby]

me too - but might be sidelined for a while - sitting in docs office right now - skin cancer removal... wear your sunscreen...