Trick Run

isaacd3skis

Hey guys,
I am aiming to get my national rating for Under 17 boys (Boys 3) for the Australian national titles next year, I need a trick run I can start to learn. The rating is 2000 points and I am tricking around the 1200 mark.
Thanks

eleeski

I'm guessing you are learning quickly and are fairly athletic - 1200 points is a good basis. Congratulations. Tricks are tough in winter - don't get discouraged. What you do learn in the cold will be solid.

You will need a WO. Wrapped was easier for me. Practice on dry land. Put your arm behind your back nice and tight so your hand holding the handle makes a straight line to the boat (the show ski wrap with the hand in the middle of the back is more difficult). Go outside the wake about 1 meter. Cut progressively at the wake. Wait until the front foot has crossed the wake before you think about turning. I think about turning over the propwash. Stay tight with your core and let the rope unwrap you. Lead with the hips not the eyes.

WBB is another requirement. Start outside the wake the same 1 meter in easy backwrap. Progressively cut up the wake. Wait until the back foot is across the crest of the wake before you swap ends of the ski. Lead with the ski. The shoulders can either keep looking at the boat if your reverse backwrap is solid or follow the ski to full back. Either way, don't stick the position, pull yourself to front smoothly (in the beginning - eventually you'll want to stick it for RWBB).

You'll also need TO. Wrap with your toe foot pressed tight against the back of your ski knee. Drop the rope but don't turn - stand square. Eventually you will get pulled around. Resist the rotation and turn slowly and in control.

OK, here's the run.
WO
B
F
R
R
O
R
WB
WF
R
R
WB
WBB
F
S
R

TO
TB
TF
TWB
TWF
TS
R
WB
WBB
F
S
R

Note the repeats for possible time issues.

Next learn a solid reverse backwrap and all the BBs, WBs, and WBBs that go with it. Then learn RTB - so many tricks follow that.

Keep trying the flips - but for fun.

Don't lean on the rope, tits up, lead with the hips and a tight core will get you a long way. Dry land practice too.

Good luck
Eric

isaacd3skis

Thanks heaps @eleeski , I am actually trying most of the tricks you mentioned, I am nailing my WO (just need more air) I usually get my RWBB and WBB and i am working on a TO (but i need significant work on that) Here is my current trick run.
B
WF
WB
RWB
BB
RBB
SS
RSS
RWBB
WBB
WO

In Toes:
TB
TF
TSS
TWB

As you can see i probably need to work most on in toes but my hand pass is probably alright for now. Thanks again.
Isaac
Thanks.

eleeski

Start with the wrapped WO. Make it that solid. It solves lots of time issues.

Hands are fun but you win with toes. Get a good release person and release. (I should be sponsored by Masterline Robbins releases). Spend hours playing around in the toe harness.

TWF is not that hard. Cut aggressively back up the wake. If you wait until your ski foot has crossed the crest of the wake and pull smoothly to front, it's easier than TF. Big ifs. Pure practice will fix any issues.

TO as a TB TF is a good learning tool. Spend time working on this.

TWO might be another trick to try. I learned that first. TWF is the prep trick for that. Make sure your ski is across the crest before you start. And you have a really good release person.

Start the RTB once your RTS is solid. Turn your foot over to get all the way around.

Have fun,
Eric

jhughes

How is the reverse back wrap learned? Seems hard to do even on dry land and my attempts yield spectacular and abrupt falls. I can do a full reverse back and I can do a standard wrap just fine.

dchristman

@jhughes try it outside the wake, if RFF on the drivers side, LFF the passenger side. You can lean against the rope on edge and then gradually start to flatten the ski out as you find the position that works for you.

eleeski

@jhughes‌ The reverse backwrap has gotten a lot harder for me as I age and lose flexibility. It is a weird position. But worthy.

Start by doing a full back but holding on with both hands. Obviously you won't be able to hold the position - stay balanced and come to front. For surface tricks, you don't need to stay in the back position, you just need to control the rotation. Your surface BBs will speed up substantially.

Once you get comfortable with the balance and rotation, start to look at the boat. Again, don't worry about holding the position. Just get solid. Now try to linger in back. Move the handle below your butt and wrap it around your legs. This should make it easier to linger back.

When you finally try to stick it, roll your ankles a bit to make a decisive cut to the wake. It's extremely difficult to ride straight - and riding straight is useless. Use the position to make the wake tricks easier. Little tip, ride the cut like a surfboard not a slalom ski. Don't lean on the rope!

A fun exercise is to cut way wide (RFF with go out on the driver's side). Turn into backwrap and cut as wide as possible. If you get all the way out, you will have the boat pulling from the side and you will hardly be wrapped at all. It's harder than it sounds but really fun and after a few goes the backwrap will be solid. (It's fun for regular backwrap as well from the other side).

Eric

jhughes

Excellent. I'll give this stuff a try this weekend.

eleeski

Be patient and have fun.

MattP

Spent ah hour on my Graviton last weekend it was a blast. @eleeski‌ having a patient driver is way more important!!

gsm_peter

Is there any desription of the tricks some where?
Sorry I do not get the abrivations....

klindy

@eleeski‌ and @jhughes‌ excellent advice on the reverse back wrap. The key for most to learn to hold it is getting that handle low - below your butt as Eric suggests. The physics are just easier there but that isn't your end goal. Once you realize you can ride backwards with a low rope literally slide the rope up your backside and stand up gradually. You'll feel the pull from the rope change. Pay attention to which muscles you feel fire up as the handle moves up. I'll bet in a session or two you'll get this figured out.

PJ

@gsm_peter - here you go http://www.usawaterski.com/pages/divisions/3event/TrickDescriptionandPointValues.pdf

Nautiqueskier123

i got tought my toe reverse back with a handle on my foot and another in my hands. You need to pull in on the boat with your knee up, and slowly turn staying on top of your ski. When you are backwards just stay still and it will unwrap itself, i like to slowly roll onto my toes when i get to the front so that i don't fall back. keep on putting slack in the rope what is in your hand untiil you don't need it at all. i am still struggling on this trick myself but every time i do it, it feels easier. Thx.

Nautiqueskier123

@gsm_peter, this is what i think. t=toes, r=reverse,b=back,f= front ,ff=flip, o= 360, bb=back to back, sl=ski line, 7= 740, 5= 540, l= line turn, w= wake trick

eleeski

@klindy‌ Right on on the hand position and progression.

@Nautiqueskier123‌ That's old school. I learned RTB that way. Merry learned it by turning to reverse backwrap, taking her foot off and putting the harness. That's really hard. All are fun to try. Eventually you must just turn back, sink in on edge and load your toe.

Two ropes helped me learn TWLB. But Kirk never got much from two ropes. Training techniques are very individual. Search for what works.

But everyone needs go late, tits up, turn from the hips and don't lean on the rope.

Eric

eleeski

@jhughes‌ I played with some of my coaching advice on a run this evening. Maybe I have not fully recovered (true - get the shingles vaccine) or it's been too many years, but reverse backwrap is a hard trick to execute. Don't get discouraged! Even though I struggled a bit with a trick I know well, I had fun relearning the basics. The outside the wake backwrap cut was really fun (but difficult).

@isaacd3skis‌ Lisa spent fun times playing with TB TF looking at the boat. TWB TWF took a few tries (she's normally solid on these) but it was an interesting exercise. Critical for TBB R, good for building water sense. Easy and fun.

We had nice fun sets that gave us some time on the water without destroying bodies. Volume set? Maybe. But I was pretty intense about the execution - I could be because that was within the limit my weakened body set. The advantage of trick skiing.

Eric

andjules

Another trick for learning the reverse half wrap: use a 15" (wakeboard-style) handle. Makes it about 20% easier.
At least that's what I found last weekend, on my 2nd set after a 15 year hiatus from tricks (during which time I became middle-aged, ie. less flexible and thicker-in-the-middle).

jhughes

Did a lot of tricking over the holiday weekend. Tried some of the reverse half wrap stuff and boy is that hard. It takes some major faith/cajones to try to spin while keeping both hands on the handle, I think I generally ended up with a lot of nice RSS. The movement is just begging to stuff you into the water hard if you get too shoulder-heavy or stiff in the knees. I'm going to really try to work on this though I know it's going to mean a lot of falls and swimming.

klindy

@jhughes I'd still recommend getting that handle lower. The contortions are a very foreign "feel" until you know what muscles you need to engage to hold it. Based on your comments of only getting about half way backwards, it would lead me to believe you had the handle too high (probably ok once you learn it but makes it more difficult in the beginning). If the handle is below your butt you can likely get all the way around and hold it. Besides your head is closer to the water then, so if you do power slam into the water it'll be more like rolling over into the wake.

Again, once you get the feel and can hold the back position, simply stand up slowly raising the handle to the small of your back. If you let it out, as in most tricks, it'll spin you forward.

jhughes

@klindy will definitely try the lower handle focus for sure.

bbirlew

Don't know if this is helpful to anyone, since I am self taught for the reverse back (and it was over 25 years ago!), but here are my tips:
As others have said, handle low.
But my other tips would be to turn it nice and slow. Don't try to rip it around in a hurry.... Count to 5 when you are turning.
Also, I found it really helpful to slow the boat way down to the point I was plowing through the water. I found that once I had the ski backwards I could really dig it in to let me hold that edge to stay in the back position and not get unwound. Stay nice and centered on the ski when turning but once you are backwards use the toes of your front foot to dig in and hold that position. Plus, the falls don't smack so much going that speed.

Again, I'm no pro, so yrmv!
Good luck.