Softer Gate

Horton

If I had a dollar for every time someone has told me to go softer on my gates I could buy a case of good imported or micro brew beer.

I understand that I need to be lighter on the line. Lean less... For some reason this is a struggle for me. Anyone have a different way to think about this?

9400

move slooower, try not to try, turn the intensity dial down, don't be in a hurry, try not to get to 1, don't spike the load, be lighter, don't lean so much, go 5 on a 10 scale, sneak up on the gate, hide from the boat.........sorry I thought it was a contest.

Than_Bogan

The closest thing I have to a secret is that this whole "softer gate" thing really only applies when it is set up properly. If I don't make a concerted effort for a long slow pullout, get as high as I can on the boat, begin the turn with a strong knee bend movement, AND make sure to complete the turn-in before loading, then a softer gate doesn't work.

If I DO do those things, then all I have to do is transition into handle control mode sooner -- almost as early as the centerline.

I hate to call it ending my pull, because that makes me think about standing up and starting a turn, which I don't want to do. I want to stay down and maintain control of the handle near my body, but no longer focus on leveraging against the boat.

In the past, I've done this right about 0.1% of the time. Last year I really worked on it, and I think I might have increase it a hundred fold to about 10%...

Texas6

I also think a lot of this has to do with the speed you are carrying when you initiate your angle toward the gates. If my speed matches the boat speed when I initiate my angle towards the gate, I feel light on the line. Too little speed by default leads to a harder gate for me

MattP

I could be totally wrong here I am no skiing theorist but if you are free of the boat in your glide and are able to turn in with a more gradual turn loading the line gradually as well , setting into position and try not to fight the boat you should be early and ok to 1 ball. remember gates to 1 is longer than 1 to 2 so try to stay quiet and easy on the ski or relaxed..

People tell me to go easier on my gates and when I think about the above and just stay relaxed I usually run the pass with ease. I do do a 2 handed gate, @Horton If I remember correctly you are a 1 handed.

wow I hope that is coherent if not just disregard

Ryno

@Horton you do a one handed pre gate turn right?

I have always stuck to two handed as it's easier to control loading the line, and ultimately your speed through the gates.

Horton

One handed. Pull our when the green balls pass the back of the boat. Try to keep shoulders level and go soft out. Maybe I just brain freeze when I see those two orange balls.

Jungle Jim from WaterSkiCostaRica talked to me a lot about how I have too much water speed at one so I am thinking a lot about it.

skidawg

Turn in for gate wo using rope tension (takes lots of timing). Take your time getting into your max lean thru gate (let the load pic u up later rather than earlier). This should lead u into wide and early path w lots of space and speed! I know u are a bit challenged and like to over complicate things but K.I.S.S. counts for skiing also!

The_MS

A progressive pull out and a progressive pull to the edge change on the gate roll in. Dont bring any more speed then you need to run all 6.

tsixam

I´ve got a tip from a coach at Lacanau that helped me a lot. When you have all the basics set, high on the boat, the same speed as the boat and your cm in the right place. Just point the ski in the direction you want to go and let the boat do the work. Don´t try to take more angle or load on the way. It´s much like a bow and arrow. Once you have let the arrow go you can´t change the flight of it. Does it make any sense?
Tsixam

skidawg

Nice tsixam, he may get that

ral

You need to follow the best.

Take a look at Nate's gate. See it several times in slow motion. Repeat it until you realize there is no way on earth you can do that gate.

Then go to the lake and try something else...

MattP

@ral sounds like some Luck Lowe advice to me.. I think it went something like this
- You see how Andy skis?
-Yes
-Okay now forget all of that because you will never be able to do what he does

brooks

gates, always a fun topic!

I think the easiest way to think of it is you want to carry the same speed from your pullout through the turn in for 1. If you pullout hard you are going to have to slow down and then speed back up to get speed through the gate. If you are slow you are going to have to pull hard in for the gate. By continually carrying speed through your pull out/turn in you never have to spike the line with a pull from a wide point. By continually building your speed from a wide point you allow yourself to release and carry speed off the 2nd wake as opposed to dumping your speed and ending up inside.. some keys to remember. if you move out with your shoulders you will get pitched back to the boat so initiate with your core. if you move away until you move back in you never have a point where you are stagnant and imbalanced. by carrying the same speed through the pullout and back in you can gradually build your speed to a point that is containable. Width is your friend on the gate. A lot of people focus on one ball too early and are narrow from the start

MattP

I think @brooks hit it on the head. I said the same thing or I thought it.... he just said it better...

Horton

MattP <> brooks

Bruce_Butterfield

Horton, I think "softer" is a terrible description for how to approach the gates. It just sets the wrong mental image of a wimpy pull. "Strong, smooth and controlled" is how I would phrase it.

Brooks' description is excellent if you can get it through your thick head.

MattP

@Horton watch it. and I think what you were going for was MattP<(is less than)Brooks ... get with the times and lingo. Or were you trying to say MattP is less than brooks; and MattP is greater than brooks, could also be interpreted as MattP=Brooks. Wait did I just dis myself in my own comment?

Horton

I was just saying not equal but I like less than better.

The_MS

Brooks and Bruce hit it dead on.

brooks

@MS horton told me I needed to start making fun of you when I post, that will never happen if you keep agreeing with what I tell people!

brooks

@mattp > Brooks purely because he makes awesome apps like ballofscores

MattP

@Brooks thanks! There is some more cool stuff in the works as well.

The_MS

"Brooks Rocks"
@Horton your antics did not work on a smart young lad and fellow Strada rider.

Roger

I agree with Bruce. Sit in the boat and watch Nate, Andy, or any of the Big Dawg skiers and come back and tell me they are light on the line... You want the turn-in to be free of line tension (or light tension at most), but behind the boat you should be strong.

skidawg

Don't waste ur breath, Horton prolly isn't even reading this, he's a bonehead, that comment won't even get a resPonse

Drago

I agree, as usually, with Bruce. If yer doing a one- hander, it should feel similiar to the 2 ball. I call it thezero ball. Otherwise, your faking it. Get out there like a man, don't look at the orange ones cuz that means you rotate, set your hip and don't ever, ever say, "Soft gates", again. Shame on you.

ForrestGump

The discussion of being light on the line has never meant anything without detailing where to be light on the line. Not to mention, rope tension is a function of what happens before you turn in. That's why I always laughed to see people just barely skiing and saying they were perfecting being light on the line or hiding from ZO. As Roger said, the Elite skiers are anything but light on the line at the first wake. Even the women. You watch Regina from the boat and she is raging from the first wake to the centerline. Trent's article on the front page is a great tie in to this discussion.

brooks

I think there is a misconception of what light on the line actually means. It doesn't mean that you are "soft" or not pulling on the boat. The idea behind being light on the line is that you are not loading the rope in an immediate manner. Being "light" comes from building your speed progressively. You can pull as hard as you want but if you build all your speed in a gradual manner it is theoretically light on the line.

ForrestGump

Exactly. A lot of people think it means to pull like a 6 year girl everywhere. You can do that through 28 and 32. You can't do that as the rope gets shorter.

brooks

No 6 year old girl pulling people!! no offense to any 6 year old girls that frequent this forum