“People think there are great mysteries connected with this game, but there are not. It is just teaching fundamentals, teaching players how to do the right things the right way.”
–Paul Brown NFL Coach, General Manager and Owner
“Don’t mistake activity for achievement-practice it the right way.”
–John Wooden College Basketball Coach
“Being ignorant is not so much a shame as being unwilling to learn to do things the right way.”
In conjunction with Short Attention Span Theatre, I bring you my fast food approach to instructional help that I have named Barefoot Band-Aides! I will continue to write full feature articles, but judging by the response, this just might become a regular feature!
#1 Chuck asks, “Hey Lane, Would it be easier to learn a toe up start on the paws? … and then transition to my feet?”
Lane Dawg: I have found that this works very well with some people as long as you are careful to keep your ankle on the water flexed so you do not catch the ski. It is also very important to use the right speed being careful to slow down slightly as the skier lowers onto the water.
#2 Rick writes, “Lane, Thanks for your quick replies and I would plug my video too if it was half that good. I have a copy of your video and it is great, I can watch it over and over again to get all the details. I would like to concentrate on Long Line/endurance. Basically be able to barefoot for longer than 60 seconds. I don’t how these people do it for hours at a time in my WaterSki mags.”
Lane Dawg: Endurance training is quite different from Posture and Glide in the same way that four-wheel drive is different from two-wheel drive. As you improve your conditioning and repetition, you should be able to ski in good Posture and Glide for one to two minutes and after that you will need to adjust your form in order to save your legs, arms, and back! Please read, https://thefootersedge.com/equipment/info/ne45.htm, https://thefootersedge.com/videos/index.html
#3 Mark writes, “Back deep toe up…. plant is good, stable during initial acceleration, then I bounce trying to get my foot underneath me and then the crash. I make 1 out of 20. Any transition and boat driving tips?”
#4 Mike writes, “when I am skiing backwards the ball of my left foot gets REALLY hot. When I have to stop it is because that foot is just burning up. D you think I might be curling my toes up, which is causing the ball of my foot to go down or something else?”
#5 Tom and Carol write, “Dear Lane, how critical is the barefoot rope type. Regular ski rope versus low stretch type. Also length for back deep long line behind inboard boat.”
Lane Dawg: Rope type is critical if you are comparing a poly-propylene (we call this a “Wally” rope as it is used for slalom skiing, combo skiing, and tubing) with a poly-e rope that is a good barefoot rope. I would urge you never to ski with a poly-p rope when you barefoot as it could cause injury to the driver or skier. Most top barefooters now enjoy the much more expensive “spectra rope” which is also my personal favorite, although it is not essential for beginning to intermediate.
Lane Dawg: If you do not have a boat that is designed for barefoot water skiing, I would use a 95-foot rope so the wake is nice for you in the middle. Otherwise, a 75-foot rope is the standard in barefooting. A Skylon is critically helpful when learning your back deep!
I hope this helped you. If you have a question that I did not cover, please hit the reply button and let me know your one to two sentence question and I will definitely answer it!
I really work hard on these articles to help you to become the best barefoot water skier you can be. Please do me a favor and forward this to some of your footin’ friends and encourage them to sign-up. I have made it easy for you. All you have to do is “cut and paste” the segment below. Email your friends and c.c me at lane@lanedawg.com.
“When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun and when you have fun, you can do amazing things.” Barefoot Ski Tips -Joe Namath, NFL Quarterback and Sports Broadcaster Well there my barefootin’ buddy, this is going to be short but could be one of the biggest helps for you in attaining that super [...]
If you have ever wanted to learn how to go barefooting back to front, then, welcome to the big league. This is the first surface turn that should be learned and it is the doorway to the world’s most advanced barefoot skiing tricks. In this article, I will teach you the step-by-step method for learning …
April 4, 2004 Winter Haven, Florida Learning the Butt Glide “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is to always try just one more time.” -Thomas Edison This article is for those of you who would like to learn to be a successful barefooter on the 5-foot rope or [...]
Barefoot Band-Aids #2
“People think there are great mysteries connected with this game, but there are not. It is just teaching fundamentals, teaching players how to do the right things the right way.”
–Paul Brown NFL Coach, General Manager and Owner
“Don’t mistake activity for achievement-practice it the right way.”
–John Wooden College Basketball Coach
“Being ignorant is not so much a shame as being unwilling to learn to do things the right way.”
–Benjamin Franklin
————————Barefoot Band-Aids #2————————————————————————————————————–
In conjunction with Short Attention Span Theatre, I bring you my fast food approach to instructional help that I have named Barefoot Band-Aides! I will continue to write full feature articles, but judging by the response, this just might become a regular feature!
Here are the first 10 questions and answers. I will include links to additional info at www.thefootersedge.com/../trauma_center.html
#1 Chuck asks, “Hey Lane, Would it be easier to learn a toe up start on the paws? … and then transition to my feet?”
Lane Dawg: I have found that this works very well with some people as long as you are careful to keep your ankle on the water flexed so you do not catch the ski. It is also very important to use the right speed being careful to slow down slightly as the skier lowers onto the water.
https://thefootersedge.com/equipment/info/ne3.htm, https://thefootersedge.com/equipment/info/ne5.htmhttps://thefootersedge.com/videos/index.html
#2 Rick writes, “Lane, Thanks for your quick replies and I would plug my video too if it was half that good. I have a copy of your video and it is great, I can watch it over and over again to get all the details. I would like to concentrate on Long Line/endurance. Basically be able to barefoot for longer than 60 seconds. I don’t how these people do it for hours at a time in my WaterSki mags.”
Lane Dawg: Endurance training is quite different from Posture and Glide in the same way that four-wheel drive is different from two-wheel drive. As you improve your conditioning and repetition, you should be able to ski in good Posture and Glide for one to two minutes and after that you will need to adjust your form in order to save your legs, arms, and back! Please read, https://thefootersedge.com/equipment/info/ne45.htm, https://thefootersedge.com/videos/index.html
#3 Mark writes, “Back deep toe up…. plant is good, stable during initial acceleration, then I bounce trying to get my foot underneath me and then the crash. I make 1 out of 20. Any transition and boat driving tips?”
Lane Dawg: Try pushing your hips in the air the same way we do to create the Power Band in our back deeps and backwards skiing. Allow your skiing foot to come under you as you try to bring your knee to your chest. Try reading https://thefootersedge.com/equipment/info/ne6.htm, https://thefootersedge.com/equipment/info/ne12.htm, https://thefootersedge.com/videos/index.html
#4 Mike writes, “when I am skiing backwards the ball of my left foot gets REALLY hot. When I have to stop it is because that foot is just burning up. D you think I might be curling my toes up, which is causing the ball of my foot to go down or something else?”
Lane Dawg: I believe you analysis is probably correct. There are some skiers (even instructors.arrrgh!) that tell people to grab with their toes in order to get their feet to slow down and come underneath them. I definitely would dispute this as I have in my recommended reading and with this simple question; at what point of your back-to-front (when it is time to learn this trick, of course), do you curl your toes up? Please read https://thefootersedge.com/equipment/info/ne14.htm, https://thefootersedge.com/equipment/info/ne6.htm, https://thefootersedge.com/equipment/info/ne17.htm, https://thefootersedge.com/videos/index.html
#5 Tom and Carol write, “Dear Lane, how critical is the barefoot rope type. Regular ski rope versus low stretch type. Also length for back deep long line behind inboard boat.”
Lane Dawg: Rope type is critical if you are comparing a poly-propylene (we call this a “Wally” rope as it is used for slalom skiing, combo skiing, and tubing) with a poly-e rope that is a good barefoot rope. I would urge you never to ski with a poly-p rope when you barefoot as it could cause injury to the driver or skier. Most top barefooters now enjoy the much more expensive “spectra rope” which is also my personal favorite, although it is not essential for beginning to intermediate.
Lane Dawg: If you do not have a boat that is designed for barefoot water skiing, I would use a 95-foot rope so the wake is nice for you in the middle. Otherwise, a 75-foot rope is the standard in barefooting. A Skylon is critically helpful when learning your back deep!
https://thefootersedge.com/equipment/info/ne9.htm, https://thefootersedge.com/videos/index.html
I hope this helped you. If you have a question that I did not cover, please hit the reply button and let me know your one to two sentence question and I will definitely answer it!
I really work hard on these articles to help you to become the best barefoot water skier you can be. Please do me a favor and forward this to some of your footin’ friends and encourage them to sign-up. I have made it easy for you. All you have to do is “cut and paste” the segment below. Email your friends and c.c me at lane@lanedawg.com.
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If you have ever wanted to learn how to go barefooting back to front, then, welcome to the big league. This is the first surface turn that should be learned and it is the doorway to the world’s most advanced barefoot skiing tricks. In this article, I will teach you the step-by-step method for learning …
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