Current Tips
Slackline backflip 360, etc.
Although these aren’t our videos, I thought you guys needed to see this. Since we spend a fair amount of time on the slack line at the H2Oz Training Center, I thought you might want to see how the pros do it. Here are a couple of videos. WOW!!!! The first one is an amazing slack line stunt, as are the 2nd and 3rd, but the last one shows some amazing ways to TRAIN on the slack line. Check it out!
And another…
And one more…
Here’s the training version…
See you at Oz…maybe you can try it too!
Blog is Alive and Well
So, it’s been a while since I have updated the water ski tips blog. I apologize for that. I credit this partly to being crazy busy (thankfully) and part of it to being a little disorganized with my internet-based efforts. Problem solved now! Stay tuned for updates here on this site that include, but will not be limited to:
- waterski tips
- H2Oz News
- anecdotal water ski thoughts
- driving tips
- tips on coaching others
- and anything you let us know you’re interested in.
So to get us rolling, here is a video of Brooks Wilson who I have been training with in preparation for the Global Invitational. He is a solid skier and much younger than me (meaning that his potential is yet to be fully realized even though he already rips). Enjoy! Hope your season is going well!!!!
Sometimes you just gotta keep going!
One of the things I have always focused on with slalom skiing is technique. There are two major reason for that in my opinion: 1-Proper technique makes for less work (so more efficient), and 2-Proper technique can prevent injury (so longevity of career whether hobby or job).
Over the years with my won skiing I have had seasons/years where I focused heavily on this, but I have also had seasons where I really just tried to “give it hell”. I have had success with both and failures with both. These trends in my training have invariably followed trends in my overall attitude toward life.
I say all of this in order to step out of my typical coaching character for a moment. Being a coach that spends a lot of time preaching the value of proper mechanics married with great rhythm, I think it is important to admit that sometimes you just gotta go for it. When you have been skiing for years and know your way around a slalom course no matter what level you ski, you need to occasionally recognize that you are good enough to run a PB on any given day while skiing on what you might call and “brutal” form of autopilot. I see my competitors do it quite often and even find myself getting pats on the back for “looking great” and having “beautiful technique” only to go home with something like a 15th place finish. These experiences along with my more honest training partners have insured over the years that from time to time, I just ski the pass and keep skiing no matter what happens. We have watched Andy Mapple (the legend) ski through several mistakes for years and literally crush his competitors. In fact 98% of the pro skiers who run 39 and go deep at 41 aren’t making it pretty when they get to their max pass.
I was sent the video below by my good friend and occasional training partner Srdjan Dragic. He sent it to me to pound home the idea that I was good enough to run 39 even on my worst day (a fact I am not altogether aware, but if he says so…). Anyway, watch the super-sloppy 39 I run below (well, I lost the handle at the exit gates) and tell me you don’t agree that it doesn’t always have to be pretty (pay no attention to the fact that someone tried to do me a favor at six ball with the boat…but perhaps a little late). Enjoy, and when you’re done…just go ski for a set or two!
Making Changes
Jim McLaughlin from Houston, Texas sent me this quick tip/thought and I felt like it epitomized some of what we all feel when it comes to truly training. I know that I have caught myself in this rutas often as not. Thanks for the thought Jim.
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MAKING CHANGES
So, why can’t most people make the desired changes in their games to improve? According to Vic Braden, it’s because the pain of making a specific change is greater than the pain of losing to the same people over and over again that they perceive as better players than they are. And, the deepest psychological reason for not making the change seems to be that students are afraid of being even “lousier” than their current playing level and that they would lose any self esteem they previously possessed.
The obvious realistic solution would be to tell the players who are going through changes to think of their 8 weeks of change as their time to be a member of a “mistake center.” Research indicates that when people have fun making changes in their games, that they’ll be more easily able to develop the right motor program in less time.
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Tips on Ski Fitness from Sarah Stewart Training
Bridging the Gap—The Hip Complex and the Waterskier
If the frequency of your skiing is more than twice a week during season, you probably understand the implications of having a weak core and hip complex. As a matter of fact, your hamstrings probably know all about that weakness, since research shows water-skiers having a high rate of hamstring injuries. So what does the hip complex have to do with the core and hamstrings, well, to tell you the truth, everything.
Our bodies are not just segregated into units, our bodies manifest power and force through, what is called, the kinetic chain. By force being driven from the feet, in the water and on the ski, our bodies will utilize it to the best of its capability. If there is a weak link, our bodies are only as strong as that tissue or “link”. Typically, the hip complex and core musculature are what need most attention for the human body, period. However, if you can maintain a strong deep core musculature, including the hip complex, your hamstring issues, performance issues, and low back issues are sure to take a back seat, with the proper care of course.
A few steps need to be drawn to attention, though, for your body to see dramatic results in injury reduction and performance. First of all, a daily routine needs to be implemented. Your core routine should always come first because the core is what stabilizes every other movement. So if you “ignite” these muscles close to the spine and hip, you will most likely see superior results in your global strength gains. Second of all, full “neural” attention needs to be placed on the deepest muscles in the body, the Inner Core! The “neural” pathway is just like you putting a sponge in water and watching it soak up the water. Your muscles, essentially, do the same thing with the brain power, or what is called neural drive. The more you bring stimulus to the muscle intended to be worked, the more it develops intrinsically, deeply. So in other words, think about what you are working when you are working it! Lastly, and third, make sure to bring in a wide base of multi-planar movements for core. What does that mean? Well, you not only can lay on your stomach, stand, lay on a ball, rotate, etc for all the muscles in the core, you can also use bands, medicine balls, dumbbells, and other equipment in various planes IN these positions.
By utilizing a multi-planar progression for core, in a daily routine, with full integration of the brain, you will see results with your skiing. Next time you do core, make sure to bring in the brain, watch muscle work, integrate more load or a different pattern of movement. The more you implement stabilization into an exercise, the more the demanded muscle get’s to work!
TO SEE H2O’s selection of NUTRITIONAL PRODUCTS and CROSS TRAINING GEAR, CLICK HERE!
Finally got videos here!
Just wanted to make sure the videos with the training drills were on the Waterski Tips Blog…so here they are:
Slalom drills videos
Once a year or so I like to update the videos for some of our favorite slalom ski drills, etc. Click the link below to take a look at the updated videos with some notes as well on drill perfection. Hope you enjoy.
Humility…
Over the years I have done things to try to get the perspective of the skiers I coach. One of the biggest things I have done is to ski opposite foot forward which takes you back to the original days of slalom skiing where your body automatically retreats back to a “safety” position instinctively. Well, when Scott Reardon was skiing with us, we decided it would be a good experiment for me to try skiing on one leg like him. I thought you might enjoy the video links below. The first is a video of me, and the second is a video of Scott…please bear in mind that Scott skis up to 36 mph/58kph at 28 off/14 meters. I had to slow the boat down originally to 23 mph and eventually a little faster to be able to even run the course…humbling, but good fun!
Seth Stisher on one leg in the course.
Scott Reardon Skis into 28 off
You can see that Scott is an unbelievably accomplished skier. Scott, thanks for the dose of humility!
Momentum
Whether you are just learning to ski back and forth acros the wakes or you are running shortline slalom, momentum can be a powerful tool. The idea of carrying your speed and potential energy with you through the course helps to make you ski more effectively and more efficiently. In other words, once you start skiing back and forth or pull out for the gates if you are a course skier, you should never find yourself pausing in a static position.
Here are a few tips to keep things moving:
1-Initiate a transition out to the turning edge as you pass through the ”bottom of the swing” or in our case, the wakes. This means you need to carry your energy from the prevous turn all the way OUT to the turning edge of the ski.
2-Reach slowly. If you punch the handle out toward the pylon too quickly, you will often end up “paused” riding a flat trajectory down course waiting for the point where you need to turn.
3-Maintain your composure in the turns. There is no need to crank the turn so hard that you stop the ski…this causes you to give away energy to the boat in the very next phase.
Short and sweet, but super important. Email me if you have questions and I will clarify. Better yet, come ski with us at the H2Oz Training Center or host a clinic at your site.
Hope you’re having a great September.
Stop whining! Why Scott Reardon will inspire you…
Surely you’ve caught yourself moaning about your age, a minor injury, rough ski conditions, Zero Off versus Perfect Pass, your ski breaking down, your boot coming apart, a bad day at work, etc. Well, I am no exception, I’m a bit of a whiner from time to time myself…that is until I had the great opportunity to spend a summer with Scott Reardon, one of Australia’s premiere athletes both on the water and off.
Scott is a three event waterskier, and an elite runner (competing for his home country of Australia in the 100 meter). He can run into 28 off in slalom, trick almost 2000 points including a flip, and jump around 75 feet. Sounds like a pretty solid 19 year old skier who many college ski teams would love to have. Well, the real catch here is that Scott does all of these things on one leg. Scott lost his leg when he was 12 years old in a farming accident and now pushes the limits despite this setback. HE has become quite an inspiration to all of us at H2Oz. I have never heard him bitch or complain a single time about having to ski on one leg or run with a prosthetic leg. Amazing huh?
Scott has trained with us all summer and just left on a flight headed to France for the Disabled World Championships where we hope he can sweep his events. After that, he will be back home in Australia training for the next Olympics to run the 100 and represent Australia against the world.
We wish Scott all the best and appreciate having had him around all season. We all feel like we have grown for experiencing his attitude, determination, and general upstandng character, in addition to gaining a new friend! We’ll be rooting for him August 31-September 6 as he competes in Vichy, France.
To follow Scott’s Results, checkout his blog at http://reardoski.blogspot.com/ or checkout the Diabled Worlds website at http://waterski.online.fr/competition.php?cc=D-09FRAD001.
