learning to barefoot

nice read up so far..
I been out out the water this last 2 weeks, not that I wanted, but forced by my little baby girl: I had her on the hospital last week due to a Bronchiolitis, she is now doing fine, but still needs some care.
Hope to be on the water this WE as I´m then leaving on vacation to France, and it will be long time without skiing..I will rust out..
and of course I want to use that SFH before I go!

BTW BFC round vids are out!
BP took a nice beating and didn´t post any vid...
ADV mmmm to much of that gorilla crap and not so much skiing...
Nolan Lough is riding nicely...
I think the non pro is much more interesting, Rick Moyes is skiing nicely!

Glad your girl is better.

I watched the vids and I'm going to have to watch them again before I say much.

(I liked when the gorilla fell and lost his head).

(Nolan had some good stuff, I really like the shots with other boats involved)

Alright,

Finally back at it, no pics, but made some progress this morning, first tumble ups off the handle, first one foots on the boom, then my coach thought it would be a hoot to hop out on the boom with me, and see just how much water he could make me eat! I would not let go!

a few in my crew have decided to try to learn the sideslide...

I am seeing the show foot not being turned enough...sound familiar?
-and the hips not turning enough. they want to ski on the show foot, just have trouble getting it to turn all the way 90.

I've been telling them it's not skiing...it's SLIDING...like sliding in to second base...or sliding down the hallway in your socks on the lino/hardwood floors....think Tom Cruise Risky Business.

they are slowly getting it.

Willie says he thinks it's impossible for him to turn his show foot 90 degrees...LOL(while I was learning it I got hammered about not being 90 degrees...85 was not good enough...I finally got it there.)

we are turning our attention to the cameras again...

Nice little canal you got there

High Boom v. Low Boom?

Ok, after a substantial hiatus from any barefooting on a high boom (I mean real friggin high, ADV style) I returned to it yesterday having been shamed into it by Andy. Once beyond my own contempt, and having dismissed certain ideas about it, I come to you to say: I HAD A BLAST!

Not sure why I moved away from high boom barefooting. I suspect I had more purist tendancies and felt the low boom conformed to those. I had forgotten how forgiving the high boom is, and how the upward pull makes everything a lot easier. As you guys have known, the back one-foot has been a thorn in my side for years. I really wish I had gone to the high boom while learning them, or at least when I was at an impasse. I rode the back one-foot from one end to the other both basic and reverse.

Also the high boom brought back a little fun that had been missing lately. I always have fun, but maybe levity is a better word.

Anyway, try it, especially if you are trying to learn one-foots, front or back!

Nice water Gary. Is that on Waynoka?

Epic Ski last night: 100 degree air temp, zero wind, water like glass and 80 degrees. Ah, life's good.

This is good stuff! I like her suit!

Steve that's awesome! Give her a high five from OH!

Very cool

Thanks fellas. With regard to boom height. Shes doing a modified tumble up where she goes thru the motion and i assist by turning the boat to give her lift. We are tring to slowly lower the boom to make her work a little harder at it. The water hasnt been geat for footing but if/when it does calm down, we're going to take off the shoes and get a feel for the real thing. She's in shape and motivated but i still think we have a ways to go before we even get to the short rope. Having fun nonetheless

Steve,
she looks good , if she has not had barefeet on the water yet you might do that with her in the swing so that when she catches she wont fall. have her do one foots and hops on barefeet in the swing til she has it wired then go back to the boom handle on barefeet and do all the same things before ever thinking of adding a rope/handle.

Don't make anything harder!

Make it easier!

Sorry to hear you had trouble with the swing.

she's not going 19-20 on the shoe skis I hope.

yes the boom height and handle height/length play a huge role in success or failure. one size does not fit all. if it's not right, as soon as you realize its not right change it, its a hassle to change it but it makes all the difference. It takes practice to get it set right. I have many times said STOP, wait a minute we gotta fix something.

make sure you have the right equipment.

I had a BI EZ footer which was just too small so Chuck at LakeElmoSports made me a swing using a 15' handle with a 24" V and 36" total length which works pretty well for all sizes if I wrap it a little. I set it so the butt is off the water while at rest. then I like the boom to be just above their heads so their arms go up some to the boom(this keeps the boom away from their face)

she does not need 20 in the swing...so you can go slower.

when/if anyone has a problem in the swing cut the throttle and turn towards them/the boom and you stop almost instantly.(because you are never going more than 25)

#1 rule is: NEVER LET GO OF BOOM NO MATTER WHAT.

"If the skier panics and wants to bail out of the swing".

There is no bailing out of the swing. It is where the safety is...the swing is safe. bailing out is not safe. you teach them to stay in the swing, sitting in it, if they panic tell them to pick up their feet and fly in the swing...NO BAILING OUT and NEVER LET GO OF THE BOOM.


she needs to ski 100% on her barefeet in the swing, it will fall loose from their butts when they are on their feet/arms 100%.

the swing will get the results faster without her taking any faceplants(THIS IS THE BEAUTY OF THE SWING!) NO FACEPLANTS.

so despite your misgivings the swing is the way to go. I would try to get her back in it with it set up just right.

...of course this is just my opinion and now I have to go back to the lake.

I have a question about the boom. I have a 89 SN and want to buy a boom. I was going to buy a regular straight BF International boom. I think that's what i want but i see others with a offset. Those are for boats that have windshields that come further back closer to the pylon right? My 89 looks fine for the regular boom. Just wanted to check. Thanks,Tony.