"When your workouts and your game plan do not lead to victory, remember that you can be
disgusted, but you should never be discouraged with yourself. After years of competing and
coaching, I know that every defeat is a lesson for eventual victory."

Doctor Sammy Lee

Diver-Two Time Olympic Gold Medallist

"Dear Lane,

I am getting my back one foots on the long line nearly every time with good
posture and glide, but when do I make the change from back two feet crosses
to back one foot crosses?

Regards,

Toes Up'

Bart'"

This is one of the points in your barefoot career that will test your patience and end up yielding some
incredible fun. I believe back one-foot slalom to be one of the best feelings in the world! The good
news is that what was once something only done by the best and strongest barefooters in the world,
is now something that can be learned by anyone who follows my instruction down to the letter! If you
are one of those hard core personalities that is willing to overlook short term set-backs in return for
long term gain, then I will lead you to the promise land where your own personal miracles are
waiting for you. If you are reading this thinking it is easy, then you will be disappointed. We have a
tee-shirt that says simply, "We never said it was easy. We just said it was kool."

There are two ways that I know to go about this. The way I did it, and the way that I now teach my
students of excellence to do it! The way that I did it was about a three year process of continual
abuse and horrific crashes that kept my chiropractor in business. The way that I would like to help
you is proven, methodical, and has worked for a tremendous amount of butt-kicking back one foot
shredders!

There are several skills that should be mastered in order to make the transition to back one foot
slalom:

1. learn to do GREAT back toe-holds on both sides of the wake
2. learn to do back-cut aways on both feet (as described in depth on my instructional video)
3. 3 learn to do back one-foot slalom on the Puppy Paws

The most important of these as far as priorities go is to learn your back toe-holds perfectly on the
boom and then transfer them to the long-line. It is CRITICAL that you learn to do them on both sides
of the wake without flying all over the place. Once you learn the back toe-hold correctly, it is
quintessential that you learn to ski in the correct position with a very soft knee (on the water) to keep
"tracking" straight while in the trick curl. If you are having trouble, learn to use the Puppy Paws while
doing this exercise!

While working on this, you will want to learn to cross the wake on Puppy Paws on one foot. This will
teach you balance and will point out any weak spots. The key to learning the back-one foot slalom
on the Puppy Paws is to keep a good Power-Band, soft knee, good resistance, and then setting your
foot on edge. A good way to describe this is to get in a great backwards position, and then picture
your head being at the 12 o'clock position with your feet at six o'clock. If  you want to cut to your left,
move your head and shoulders around the clock to the two o'clock position and your feet at the eight
o'clock position. You will need to do this while "loading up with resistance without deteriorating your
Posture and Glide. The key is to create an edge so the your feet are actually on the inside edge of
your foot (the 'pinky-toe' side of your foot is pushed towards the boat and is out of the water). This is
the same edging necessary for a slalom ski.

Once you are getting these other two skills up and running, try cutting away from the wake (while on
your feet...or the Puppy Paws, at first) in the same manner as described above. Remember, set your
position (Posture and Glide, Power-Band), add your resistance, and then set your edge. One of
the biggest mistakes I see at this stage is people try so hard to edge that they allow their feet to go
wide. This is counter productive and you must slow down your cross until you are at a pace that
does not deteriorate your good position or cause your feet to go wide!

I guarantee that once you have mastered these skills, crossing the wake on one foot will come
quickly to you. You will now have mastered all the skills separately that are needed for a good back
one foot cross. The biggest mistake that you will make, yes...that means you!, is that you will not take
the time to learn the back toes correctly.

What is amazing to me is that this is the same information that I get paid to teach people all over the
world and I know that the biggest temptation out there is for skiers to modify what I have already
proven to work.

Ask any of my students and they will tell you that I require EXCELLENCE in ALL of the toe-holds both
forwards and backwards in order to achieve greatness in their skiing. I look forward to hearing of
your individual triumphs in back slalom. Please do not accept mediocrity in your skiing!

TIPS:

1. Use video analysis!
2. Use the BEST instructional video on the planet
3. MASTER BACK TOE HOLDS on BOTH sides of the wake!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4. POSITION, RESISTANCE, EDGING

Let me know how your skiing goes and do your homework!

Please help me out and forward this to as many footers or even potential footers  as you can. This
will help to make this newsletter a BIG success! We want everyone to have a GREAT chance to
achieve their own miracles!

If you have any questions, click here to check out our common questions and answers
about training personally with Lane Dawg Bowers.

I am available to personally help you achieve your skiing goals by calling  877-685-6270 or visit our
website @ http://www.thefootersedge.com. Feel free to email me personally with any requests that
you have and I will try to make time to help you achieve your true potential!