At what speed to you slalom? (and other ramblings about my technique...)

[ian ashton]

I decided late in the season (like in the last 2 weeks) last year to give it a try after wakeboarding all summer, so I hopped on my dad's 65" EP from like 1980 and quite enjoyed it. So once the water warmed up this spring I decided that I want to actually hone the slalom skills. I've been out a hand full of times, and this is where I'm at - just looking for a little advice or direction I guess.

The ski feels perfect for me, as I said its an older EP, single boot, although I think I'm going to go shopping for a double boot setup this weekend. I get up with my back foot stuffed into the strap as tight as possible, and I hate the loose feeling of no binding on the back foot.

I have no trouble at getting up out of the water.

I am starting to get pretty decent control over the ski; I can "steer" (if thats what its called?) in any direction I want to go, and cross over the wakes on both sides, but not really at any sort of speed.

I am just starting to figure out how to cut when I go outside of the wakes - Is there anything I should be focusing on doing when I'm doing this? I feel like its mostly mind over matter?

My biggest fear is coming back across the wakes quickly, I can't seem to really fly across without loosing all control.


I must also say that as of right now my "comfort" speed is about 27, which I am hearing is the slowest slalom speed on the face of the earth. I'm 5'7" and weigh 125 pounds. I can stay up at 30+, but I just don't feel stable; is there something in my technique, or do I just need to get comfortable at the lower speeds and work myself up?

The root of this question stems from (what I feel is) a setback I gave myself in wakeboarding, and that is that I am absolutely terrible at toeside w2w jumps, because when I was learning I only really drilled myself on heelside, so to this day I still struggle with them. I don't want to give myself a bad habbit on the ski that will always bother me.

[maxpower220]

I found that reading a slalom instructional book (2 of them) really helped me understand what I should be doing. Try the local library; I found mine at a garage sale for $.25. My brain works based on applied principals instead of innate feeling. You should also have your boat driver/observer read the book so that they can point out what you are or are not doing according to the book. I am sure that there are DVDs that will help if you learn that way better.
Before reading, I was much like you with no way of knowing what to do. I read the book and understood what I should be doing and attempted to do it (that was last year that I read the books). This year I took a class at a ski school. They gave me several small pointers that have really helped me "advance" this year so far. Definately only ski at a speed that you are comfortable with.
Before knee surgery, I was an advid wakeboarder. I feel that none of my bad habits really transitioned over to skiing. I feel lost without 2 bindings, but many prefer RTP.

[ian ashton]

I'm pretty fortunate in that my ski partner is my dad, who has skiied for a long time. Another friend that frequent goes out with us (although not yet this year) is a really good slalom skier as well, so I've got 2 good 'coaches' in the boat. Just looking for more I'm defiantely going to look for some books; one thing I know about myself - when I do something I dive in head first and full on.

[kaneboats]

If you have your observer shoot some video so you can watch yourself and then go over it immediately after your runs you will remember the feeling during the runs and be able to pinpoint the issues a lot earlier. If you are skiing at real low speeds, ignore the temptation to slow up at the wake-- keep pulling and keep your weight back and try to slice through the first one. That's advice I got a long time ago that helped me. Of course with two bad knees I'm a horrible skier these days.

[ian ashton]

What kind of stamina do you guys have? I can usually do a couple sets of 3 to 5 minutes before I'm ready to drop, completely different from wakeboarding/skating, where I feel like I can ride all day long.

[Waynes345]

What kind of stamina do you guys have? I can usually do a couple sets of 3 to 5 minutes before I'm ready to drop, completely different from wakeboarding/skating, where I feel like I can ride all day long.

Back in the '70's and 80's, I could make many passes before taking a break. It's all about conditioning. Skiing is very anerobic for me. These days I start sucking wind after about 12-15 turns and I'm only good for a couple sets of those. Working to get into shape to extend that, but that endurance is a very individual thing. My high school son who is in conditioning camps for football and playing lacrosse and stuff, can ski for a long time with many turns and he is starting to ski hard at 34 mph. It really takes some getting used to. It is good to hear you are working on it and have fun.

[skigirl1212]

There are some local events in my area which I went to last year and were so so fun. I bet you could learn alot from a varity of people there. Go to http://www.silverspraysports.com/ and check out the events. The Big Dawg is so cool.

[Sled491]

Wow, very cool, where did all these skiers come from. I dig it

[ian ashton]

There are some local events in my area which I went to last year and were so so fun. I bet you could learn alot from a varity of people there. Go to http://www.silverspraysports.com/ and check out the events. The Big Dawg is so cool.

I've been to Silver Spray a bunch of times, but never to any of their events. It looks like they've got a wakeboard even this Sunday; I'll have to shoot out there and check it out!

Thanks for heads up!

[ian ashton]

Regarding the skiing. I think I'm pregressing fairly quickly. I rode a few times this week and I'm starting to feel alot more in control, and I'm really starting to feel the cuts.

I'm definately going to demo some new skis this summer to find one thats perfect for me.