learning to barefoot

This was the first time i actually tried using the swing method to teach so i very well may have had it wrong, Or it was right and i'm just overreacting. Mine was the BI easy footer and adjusting the length of it never occurred to me but i think that when I was at a stop the seat height did put the bar overhead. But once I would get going and they would support themselves on their feet the bar was at that height and if they lost their feet and would swing it just scared me.
When that would happen i would hook to Starboard and try and keep them higher off the water while backing off the throttle to let them get their feet back in front of them.

I never liked using the EZ footer method (I use a handle for it) until I saw Andy doing it with a lot of success. Hanging directly on the boom or using the cables to get up is iffy for a newby, especially somebody who has not spent much time on the water. To use the easy footer there is a relationship between skier height and weight and the height of the boom and how low the handle is to the water. If you don't get it right it is sketchy. Speed is a factor too.

Andy, you should post some video of Jen who does a beautiful job in the swing, and now is killing it tumbling up.

I had just started using it and have the boom about teeth height...

I'm working on uploading some pictures now if the internet stays up for me. but now that i look at some of the pictures i may have had the seat set a little higher than desirable. Maybe I will rig up an adjustable loop to the easy footer since i have it and see if it improves any.
As for a quick release. I was thinking something like a tumble hitch or sheet bend tied between the boom and the seat may work but because of the design of the easyfooter i never really thought about adding additional line to the loop. I thought it would bring it too far away from the bar. I will have to try that out in the future.

I understand your concern for putting him in a swing. As for his case i wouldn't consider it adaptive skiing. He kneeboards, wakeboards and skiis just fine. His handicap is not physical at all. It is a learning disability. So for example things like left and right is a 50/50 chance of him getting it correct. So specific instructions regarding feet position and posture can be tough for him to process. especially while speeding over the water in a swing.   I'm just trying to teach him the safest way possible with what I have to work with.

my buddy adam is thinking about getting this Barefoot warrior. Does anybody know much about them. He does not want to get a sanger now because he wants to get the right one with a new motor. Trying to save up for one now. This is a cheap way to get us through a couple years.

What would be things to check I know floor and stringer. Whats the best way to check stringers without having a motor attached to them. Does anybody have expericace footing with these boats? Hows the wake, Have heard its not as good as others.

Centurion

_hollywood I did not see that video. But being he is my brother and spending the last 22 years with him i have a pretty good idea of what he can and cannot grasp. Like i said simple instructions get through no problem, so "don't let go" falls under the simple.

So I also tried looking through general search here and on google on specific instructions when using the seat method before i went on my vacation and used it. I admit, I did not skim through all 144 pages of this thread though. I did find a few videos and articles written about using the seat on the web but none of them went into a lot of detail, so a few things were left uncertain to me. and i kind of tried out a few things. I did get in it myself first to try and it seemed ok when i did it.

Yes the Banana Man let go ...spun around and came right out of the swing...he was not hurt in any way so "ended badly" is pretty dramatic. I find people are more likely to slip down into the handle only to be dragged...again no injury. People seem to think it may be dangerous but I have yet to hear of any injury caused by learning in a swing. WBC sells the seahorseski for about $700..so they say its "dangerous" to use a swing.but when KSO is on a clinic and doesnt have a seahorseski he puts up a handle everytime

Any time I've had someone in the swing that used the Fred Flintstone car stopping straight leg technique...they will fly around and you simply turn into them and they stop almost instantly. And as you saw in the video above at the end of a successful run the get to FLY as you turn tight away from the boom lifting them way up and setting them back on the water just as you stop...they all love that part.

So don't let go of the boom in the swing but if you do it's no big deal? Obviously the concept was improved upon with the seahorse.
George's last swing run. Yeah, no thanks on the swing...

they...Lane...set up the swing a little too long for old George...also an old toe hold handle with the toe hold cut out is all you need for a swing...or cough up 700 for a seahorseski! I've got enough equipment already!

Thanks for the video's.
Looks like you are using a slalmon ski handle - you will enjoy the wider BF handles if you elect to go that route.

NCH20SKIER wrote: Thanks for the video's. Looks like you are using a slalmon ski handle - you will enjoy the wider BF handles if you elect to go that route.

Yeah, I suppose I could've used my wakeboard handle (which I use longline), but I would have had to take it off the rope. The slalom handle was just sitting there ready to go so that's what we used for our weekend wally barefoot session. I'll probably look into getting a barefoot handle at some point since I seem to be doing it more these days.

lcgordon wrote: Congrats on the longline deep water. Im the opposite of you I have never stepped off before.

You should give it a try, it's a lot less labor intensive and if you can do a dock/beach start you can stay dry if it's cold out!

GlassSeeker wrote: On the one foots: get feet closer together...push down all your weight on the ski foot til the other comes off the water easily...you have to shift the weight over the ski foot...it would help to practice directly on boom...lift the foot over the ski foot not out to the side It also helps alot to let the pull go to the right hand when skiing on left foot...and left hand when skiing on right foot...practice one hand one foots

Thanks, I'll give that a shot next time.

Hollywood wrote: So don't let go of the boom in the swing but if you do it's no big deal? Obviously the concept was improved upon with the seahorse. George's last swing run. Yeah, no thanks on the swing...

That looked more like George was trying to check out...

Lane needs to throw some duct tape in the boat!

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