What do you look at when Skiing

[kdub]

Just curious what other people look at before you cross the wake when free skiing.

[jmvotto]

Just curious what other people look at before you cross the wake when free skiing.

girls in the boat

usaully the other side of the wake where i will be cutting to.

[Laz]

You should be looking at the back of the boat. This is in accordance with the whole counter-rotation business. The idea being that you shoulders stay relative square to the boat while your lower body carves around the course.

[jmvotto]

yeah what laz said. As you can tell i have not skiied a course.... Yet...

My first answer was correct kind of..

[skiyaker]

yup laz is right- "should be" looking at the ski pylon or observer with shoulders square to the boat-the DVD that Dave has been touting "Andy Mapple in Ski Paradise" spends a lot of time discussing wake crossing position and I agree Dave it's a great video; this has been one of the hardest habits to break for me because coming from an open water background I'm used to spotting for rollers on the other side of the wake. Ironically it was this exact element of my skiing that I was working on when I hit the roller that took me out of commission for 5 weeks and counting.

[BensonWdby]

If I have it right - which is questionable - where you are looking in the pre-turn will help determine where you are looking coming into the wake. When skiing open water I always feel best when I keep my free hand close to my hip and look down range on the 'bouy' side of the boat. Then as I complete the turn - shift eyes to the back of the boat keepig the head up - but honestly I am not so sure I have the awareness to tell you if that is what I do or not.. What may help on your off-side turn is to hold the handle 'correctly'. For Right Foot Forward that would be a left handed baseball grip, i.e., left palm up. Reverse for Left Footed skiers. This will help prevent over-rotating.

[kdub]

well that’s what I thought you should do, I tell first time wakeboarders to look at the tower and not down, i have the biggest problem with this, I love to ski, but I keep looking at the wake every time I come to it, it freaks me out and I end up slowing way down and starting back up on the other side.... grrr I hate it, I know the wake isn’t that big, it’s actually nice and flat (87 magnum skier) but i just break the habit... I will try next time out to just look at the pylon instead..

[BensonWdby]

Where you look will help, but often the reason the wake is intimidating is because you are goinog flat before the wake, regardless of where you are looking. If you look at this video of me from a couple months ago (run in slow motion in Media Player) you will see lots of things you should avoid. This was at 15off at 28 mph. The good news is I have significantly improved since then (runninginto 34 mph last weekend). If you slow it down you will see at least half the turns are almost flat at the first wake, and at 28mph even this MC197 has a wake to get your attention. Notice the big gap between my hands and body (separation) at the first wake. Once you get that you are pretty much at the mercy of the boat, especially with Zero-off.

http://bensonwdby.home.comcast.net/~...Dave_pass3.wmv

Looking at the wake will most likely cause you to get crushed at the wake or face-plant, which in turn makes it even more likely that you will look at the wake the next time. Maybe spend some time making easier turns in open water thinking nothing but where you are looking. Have someone in the boat hitting the rope and getting your attention for the whole run. Kind of like breaking a horse... Muscle memory.

Having said that I should point out that the next mistake you will make is to start looking at the bouy right below you as you turn to make sure you go around it, and then looking for the next bouy as you come out of the turn...

Good luck, have fun
Dave

[jester]

girls in the boat

That causes issues. You watch the girls then go oo shoot what was i doing then it is followed by a big splash.

This is good advice. I will have to pass the word to some skiers i know since i can see them watching the wake and not the boat.

[Sled491]

I agree with the general concensous. don't look at the wake. It makes you run your ski flat and not on edge. If you get flat and off edge not only do you slap your way across both wakes, but you loose the speed needed for your pull out. It's a two edge sword. Look at the wake and you'll almost certainly stop your pull out and try to brace for the bump. Stop your pull out and you get off edge and end up flat across the wake. When you finally get this right you will know right away trust me