Footing and Pain

Thanks for those observations. I know what you mean about the weight transfer. It is hairy sticking most of my weight on that foot, especially my reverse. I also learned over the weekend if I bend my knees a bit more, get more arch in the back, that my foot glides better and it is easier to pick up the one-foot. I took a few headpackers over the weekend. Always glad I wear the neckbrace.

"Some days are diamonds, some days are stones"
                            -John Denver

Think I'll be sore tonight too. Footed today with bad form and posture, paid the price.

LakeBoy wrote: Barefooting = pain Simple formula. I do not embrace the pain, but there are a few ways to avoid a headpacker. Plan for it: be smart, ski in best conditions, stretch, ski within your means, and most of all, wear a neckbrace! For kicks, I put together a wipeout video of me and my guys. This is about 8 months of skiing represented here: Barefoot Wipeouts! Enjoy!

OUCH!!! that gotta hurt!!

5 points to Andy for hangin' on to that jump-off-the-back-of-the-boat start....that was a pretty good hop.

That makes me want to foot BAD!!

Excellent compilation Roy. Lots of fun!! For some masochistic reason, it makes me very anxious to get out and hit the water...so to speak. Finally due to happen in the next few weeks...I would hope.

It's funny, a lot of those falls you can see why they happened. Others, there is absolutely no apparent reason...other than the barefoot gods coming up and biting you in the arse, just for the fun of it.

Barefooting like any watersports can have nasty crashes. Its true that you don't have a board to "launch" you, but you can fall very awkwardly with arms out, injuring shoulders and knees, but the biggest issue would be concussions. I have taken thousands of falls, several with concussions, but that didn't stop me from continuing my set. Anyone who says they got dinged, or see stars and stuff like that is on the verge of conscussion. Scorpion falls hurt as well, thats where your legs touch your back or very close. That one will send you to chiropractor. I would say for me however, is when I was learning to backwards barefoot. That was like getting into 35 car accidents everyday for a month. Needless to say my neck lost its natural curvature. I know there are more talented skiers out there than me, but stuff happens. It doesn't stop me or slow me down yet, I assume there will be some reprocussions in the future, but it is what it is. I rarely fall now, a few times a summer, but I don't push the envelope anymore, maninly working on a few new tricks, but mostly just in maintenance mode. You can successfully learn how to barefoot, with very few falls at the professional schools in Florida. Its when you go out with some buddies (who know how to foot) so that makes them an expert that you really get yourself into trouble. Learn properly and you won't have too much trouble. Again, you can avoid obvious crash situations like, letting go before a set of rollers instead of trying to foot through etc, that will make it much more enjoyable as well. Also not doing endurance will help as well, losing the fatty tissue in your heels, is not my idea of fun, I have seen it happen, pretty gross.

I would take a lesson from an acredited coach, then once you get proficient, you can perform many tricks and rarely fall. Even so when you do fall those crashes will usually be anticipated and not be very violent. However, you can still take the crash, that comes out of no where. Do 1 foot wakes, or backwards hit a set of rollers that you couldn't see. Show skiing and endurance footing is a recipe for disaster with rough water being the norm. However, in controlled settings, on a boom and shortline, you can do a lot of footing without incident.

I hope you take up the sport of barefooting, when done properly its a ton of fun, and great for the whole family. However, if you learn from joe blow, it can be rough.
Take Care and Happy Footing

kapla wrote: little better today..still some pain though... lol

That's good news. As long as you're all better by the weekend so you can go out and do it all over again.

jbear wrote: You must be pretty busy at work these days Larry...10:56am! john

Priorities, John. Besides, spreadsheets and graphs almost look like real work.

kapla wrote: talking about pain..had a bad scorpion yesterday, my neck and waist are still in pain, Waist is still stiff and I can´t arch back!!!

Well overall, I'd say that sounds like a pretty good day of footin' The aches and pains the next day are pretty much a direct correlation to the fun and satisfaction of the day as you can see in the data from the following scientific study.







But it does help to find relatively smooth water. I've seen some of your videos and you do try to tackle some pretty rough water.

All that being said...do be careful out there...you don't want to bust yourself to the point of losing out on time on the water

I will agree with everyone else. Wakeboard falls suck! I've never gotten injured so much in my 35 years of skiing like I have with wakeboarding! Barefoot falls are nothing! If you remember to tuck and roll when you fall. Seems hard to even think you have time to do that, but after time, you will learn to fall without taking one to the face! I do have video of my dad after his first successful attempt of a deep water start, stand up too straight, spit, then face plant! He actually bruised his eye lids! (he was 42 when he learned).

Lane bowers has a video on youtube of a 76 year old man that is backfooting! He learned at age 70. It helps to go out with someone with experience so you learn the right way the first time!

quinner wrote: All good advice above, keep in mind that one painful aspect you cannot do anything about is the burn of your feet, this does get better the more you foot but is mostly unavoidable.

I have nasty first hand knowledge of this aspect of footin'. A couple of years ago, we were practicing for endurance footing when I developed a blister (not the first) on my heel from a long run. I didn't do anything with it until I noticed a strange smell. I checked out my heel, and the blister was black and gnarly looking. The next day I saw my doc. He sent me right to the hospital for a bone scan. He was worried that the deep blister, now infected, had reached the bone. If that would have happened, transfusions, or worse, they start lopping off parts. It all checked out good, but I had to off-weight the heel for 3 months. The Doc wanted me to use crutches early on. I told him there's no way I'm telling my buddies the crutches are because of a freakin' blister. So I limped around.
A teammate of mine had his second or third round of heel burn surgeries this past season. The last one being a 3" round black heel. His Doc told him he has to quit doing what he's doing to cause it. His response was "I don't think so"

Wow John, the Mrs and I am impressed. Gracious host too. Good to see you back on here,thought you'd be getting withdrawals.

jbear wrote: I'd show-off with a bacerds pic but I crahed my computer a couple weeks ago trying to "fix" it. So it might be awhile before I find my pictures. john

Think I might be able to help you out there John...I keep these around for motivation.



and for the action shots...