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WATERSKI MagazineWhether you're a weekend warrior, an avid course skier or a national-caliber competitor, one of the beauties of skiing is the opportunity to showcase your personal style. While your ultimate goal is to learn and execute basic fundamentals of “proper” skiing, you'd be lying if you said you didn't want to look good doing it. Over the years, a number of skiers have developed trademark styles. Who doesn't have a vivid mental picture of Mike Kjellander's “slam dunk” slalom style, Bob LaPoint's classic pre-turn or Andy Mapple's compressed lower body? Whatever style you're attracted to, you're bound to emulate it.
For many slalom skiers, their signature style is evident during the turn/reach phase, with the inside arm extended, the body horizontal and the head up. To be worthy of attracting the attention of onlookers, you must first conquer the basic fundamentals of proper technique during the reach. Here's how.
Step 1: Prior to the release of one hand from the handle, a “tight” position must be maintained. Keep your arms in by “pinning” your elbows to your hips; this will keep the handle in. Simultaneously, keep your chest up by squeezing your shoulder blades together. By maintaining these two key positions, you'll find yourself in a picture-perfect hips-up/shoulders-back stance (Photo 1).
Step 2: Feed the handle out only to the extent the boat is demanding – don't just stick your arm toward the boat as you are approaching the turn and initiating the reach. Instead, after initiating the edge change (maintaining the Step 1 keys) feed out the handle at the pace and amount the boat is taking it from you. By adhering to this principle, you'll eliminate all the aches and breaks caused by slack rope (Photo 2).
Step 3: Initiate the pull-in by bringing your rope-arm elbow directly back to your inside hip and beyond. By perfecting Steps 1 and 2, Step 3 can be perfected very easily. A tight line makes the pull-in much more effective, resulting in a more controlled, consistent and powerful turn (Photo 3).
By executing fundamentals during the reach, half the battle of developing your own classic reach style is complete. Work on the steps explained above and a personal, expressive and attractive style will surely develop.
Canadian team member Doug Ross is sponsored by Malibu boats, MasterLine and Bare wetsuits.
