Free advice anyone?

[Chad M]

I've been following the various pic/coaching threads and thought I'd jump on the train and see what kind of free coaching I could get. Here are shots from last week - not all in sequence but still showing different parts of my turn. I'm entirely self taught and was just always trying to pull harder than my brother ever since we both started skiing - no history on the course either. Speed is 32 at 15 off.

Please keep the comments about my 20+ year old Connelly Team SP to yourself... I might get around to replacing the bindings this winter...

Note the neo on my back leg - without it I get a severe burn/bruise. If I shift my bindings forward would this go away? On my off-side I also tend to catch my rear knee - related issue or is this just what makes it my off-side?

BTW - location is Dale Hollow Lake in KY/TN.

Chad

[cutnh20]

Chad,

For starters - looks good. I'd say one thing to work on is bending your knees in the turn and especially the pre-turn. Your front leg is locked so it is pushing the front of the ski to outside. If you bend your front leg a little more you'll allow the ski to finish the turn tighter.

Also, it looks like you might be leaning a bit far back. Ideally when you are in the pull phase you want to be in a neutral stance with your weight pretty evenly over the ski. I don't see a photo of exactly the pull phase so I'm somewhat just "projecting" what I think will happen when you reach the wake.

[BensonWdby]

Regarding the first photo. What I have found to help me keep good body position (when I get it) is to reach the handle a little ahead of my body and lower as I ski away from the handle in the last part of the pre-turn. After watching the most recent Andy Mapple slalom video - which I highly recommend - I noticed that he does that as well. It is a very deliberate motion with the handle. I used to think that all you had to do was ski away from the handle like a bucket on a string but that lower handle placement actually facilitates getting more outside with the ski by allowing you to keep your body low (the whole hip in the water thing), which in turns puts you in a better position to ski up to the handle with your hips and keep your hands low on your torso. And by reaching forward just a hare it helps prevent the tendency to lean back.
I am not an instructor and I not even a regular course skier anymore, and definitely old-school for the most, but I am a student of the sport for over 35 years.
Experiment and enjoy.
Dave

[MrsZ]

We need a Moomba slalom jam so we can help each other in person!

[cutnh20]

Ed,

I'd love to hear his impressions on the outback V. I am a slalom junkie and always will be but I am a dying breed in my family - don't even have a tower (yet).

My wife finally got me a wakeboard last year and now my sister had to go and get my brother in-law one this year and the space in a V would be nice for all the kids and they're growing "stuff".

I realize I probably won't ski anymore tournaments but I still love the "butter" my Outback DD creates when I get the chance to use it.

[Sled491]

Cut don't desert us yet, were just gettin to know you. Us slalom junkies are hard to come buy. With over 3000 members to this board, we only hear from maybe 20 different people all season.

Chad, I agree with the points from my esteemed collegues. You need to reach a little over the front of your ski which will help you with the bend in the knees and make your stance more neutral. I would also call for a little more rotation so that your upper body would be just a bit more square to the back of your boat.

By the way is this behind your LSV?