Staying Ahead of the Game
How many times have you been told to “be patient, let your ski finish the turn”? Well, in my opinion there is no such thing as turning too hard. There’s only a body position that’s not strong enough to manage your bigger turns. If you can finish the turn in good enough body position to hold on to it then you’re going to get your acceleration when you want it, which is right out of the buoy. The sooner you can accelerate, the sooner you can begin your edge change and the longer, more controlled pre-turn you will have. With my skiing I am trying to get going out of the buoy as quickly as possible. My goal is to get my speed right out of the buoy so I can actually begin my edge change process before I get to the first wake. Before the first wake the body’s lean should start to lessen, and the ski will begin to swing on to the new, inside edge. From the second wake out to the buoy the ski should be on the inside edge the whole time. By making the edge change happen sooner, you will be approaching the next buoy much slower and with a tighter line. With this earlier rhythm you will be much more likely to stay up-course and finish the last buoy ahead of the game.
