Andre is a Rockstar February 25, 2008
Posted by wedge in : stunts , 1 comment so farNo, not Andre 3000 from what ever group he’s in, but Andre De Villiers. He puts up some sick footing in this video from BFC. The guy likes to jump off the back of the boat and does a new kind of tumble up.
They’ve got lots more videos over at Barefoot Central. Be sure to go check them out.
3 Big Back Circles February 22, 2008
Posted by wedge in : stunts , add a commentProps to Liz Flaherty from the Chain Skimmers and the UW Ski Team. At state last year (2007) she did a nice little barefoot act. She starts with a back flier and then ends up doing two more back deeps as she does her 3 BIG back circles… not the tiny little circles another team does… she goes all the way around the show course.
Props to the guys that messed up the first hot pick of the rope… it made the act even better!
BFC put up a video of it…
Download Liz Flaherty’s 3 Big Back Circls
The Duck Story February 11, 2008
Posted by wedge in : stories , add a commentBack in the fall of 2006 I was out skiing in Monoan Bay. In the fall there just seems to a few more birds on the water. Don’t know why. So much like with the pigeons from Seinfeld, boats seem to have a deal with the waterfowl. As the boat comes through, they get out of the way of the boats and we just mumble under our breaths at all the crap they leave on our dock.
So I’m footing behind my boat, moving along at 41 MPH or so. There is a flock of ducks on the water that we’re coming up on that I’m keeping my eyes on. They scatter for the boat, but one moves just clear of the boat and directly into my line. Now, much like in NASCAR (at least according to Days of Thunder), this is kinda like a car wreck so I’m thinking “just go straight through.” There are still several ducks scattered about and trying to slalom my way through just isn’t a realistic option. I’m moving at 41 MPH and there is only about 90 feet between me and the boat. Not sure on the exact math, but that doesn’t give me much time to react.
Now I’m moving along directly towards the duck that is just kind of floating there. As I approach closer, it sees me coming directly towards it and starts swimming which is good. Except it starts swimming the same direction I’m going. It isn’t going 41 MPH. So I’m thinking a typical barefoot stance is about shoulder width apart roughly. The duck isn’t going to fit between my feet. At least not easily. I obviously don’t want to hit the duck. A) This is bad for the duck and B) hitting the duck would be bad for me. I could potentially break a foot, ankle, knee, leg, etc and I’m just not ready to call it a season yet.
So I get to thinking, the duck is swimming, it isn’t that big. I’m about 20 feet from it now and I decide to widen my stance so it is about 4 feet wide. I wanted to get wide, but not too low because the duck might remember that it can fly too. The duck starts to swerve just a bit, but not much, just enough where I need to move a little bit to keep it centered and I straddle the duck. To the best of my knowledge, I didn’t touch it. I didn’t feel any feathers on my ankles or legs.
The spotter, 7, who’s watching this, went from a look of “oh shit he’s gonna hit a duck” to laughing his ass off. John, who’s driving also sees this in the mirror and I could tell he’s laughing too. They could both see clear as day that I straddled it.
I resumed my normal stance and just kept on going.
Maybe this duck thought it was a squirrel?
- Stroy from Eric (aka Wedge)
WaterSki Magazine - March 2008 Recap February 9, 2008
Posted by wedge in : press , add a commentThis month’s WaterSki Magazine has a couple good articles about barefooting. I’ve noticed a little more in there about barefooting and that’s a nice change. They still focus a lot on the 3-event skiing, but they are doing better with footing coverage.
The first article is about the Barefoot Central boys… seems they found a nice little lake, rounded up a pilot and did some footing with no boat wakes to worry about. Just a little plane, a rope and glassy calm water. They’ve got some good pictures and stories from the footers that took part in it. I’ll be waiting for the video to make an appearance over on BarefootCentral.com
The second article is about the Dam to Dam barefoot race hosted by the Austin Barefoot Ski Club of Austin, TX. They celebrated the 20th aniversary at this past year’s race and the race continues to grow each year.
Both stories had some good pictures and was nice to see WaterSki Magazine give some press to those of us who don’t need the skis.
Rain Got You Down? February 5, 2008
Posted by wedge in : stunts , add a commentIgnore the fact that is the heart of winter here in Wisco and there is currently a winter storm warning that is expected to dump 6 to 8 inches of snow tonight. Pretend it’s summer and there’s been lots of rain… and now back to the story…
Find a culvert that is flooded with water, a car that is fast off the line and some friends willing to watch you potentially injure yourself severely and you have the making of a good barefoot video.
This is Chad from the Must-Skis, a little show ski team from the metropolis of Beaver Dam, WI. I can attest that he appears completely sane in normal situations, but still opted to try this little stunt out.
If you check out Barefoot Central, you may have seen this show up there, but I posted this first way back in October last year over on my personal blog, but the video is worthy of sharing here.
Chad, if you read this and care to offer some insight in to this stunt, please share and send it my way. I’m sure there is a good story to share.
Think Tank 2008 February 5, 2008
Posted by wedge in : instruction , add a commentDon’t know what Think Tank is? I’m about to tell you if you don’t. Think Tank is the world’s largest water skiing convention and expo and it is put on by the Wisconsin Water Skiing Federation and this year it is February 29 thru March 2 at the Chula Vista Resort in Wisconsin Dells.
Why am I telling you about this? Well, it is a great opportunity to meet some of the best barefooters in the world and get some instruction from them. Here’s where you are probably confused if you’ve heard about Think Tank. You may be thinking “isn’t that just for show skiers?” And the answer to that is no with an asterik. Yes there are a lot of things there geared towards show skiers, but hey, it is in Wisconsin and that sport is pretty popular here (yes, I live in Wisco). But there is more to it than show skiing stuff. There are wakeboarding, 3-event and yes, barefooting clinics put on in addition the show skiing clinics. You just might make some new friends to go skiing with too once the weather warms up.
So if you’re in the area or just want to head to the great white north (because it’s snow covered) for a weekend get away, come by Think Tank. In addition to the instructional clinics and deals you might find on some new equipment, you’ll be able to spend a weekend at a great resort. If you’re tired of the freezing weather, you can pretend it’s summer in their indoor water park kept at a toasty 80 degrees. If you register for Think Tank, you’ll even get a good deal on the room.
They don’t have their schedule posted online yet, but keep an eye on their website for more details.
Links:
WWSF
Think Tank
Chula Vista Resort
How to do a Tumble Turn February 4, 2008
Posted by wedge in : instruction , 3commentsSo here goes my first instructional post. First, the disclaimer. I’m still working on this trick. I understand how to do it, just having some issues with the execution.
The tumble turn can be broken down into 3 basic parts. Sitting down, spinning and standing back up. There is more to it than those 3 simple steps though. I would say one thing to “master” before you start doing tumble turns is the deep water start. The last portion of the start (planting your feet and standing up) is pretty much the last step of the tumble turn. So be good and comfortable doing deep water starts before you start on this. So now on to the more details on how to do this trick.
First, you need to “sit down”. That isn’t the best technical description, but it flows of the tounge easily. Obviously you start out in a typical barefooting position. I’ll squat down to “softly” drop my but onto the water. Then I’ll rock back so I’m sliding along on the small of my back, all the while keeping the handle of the rope in by my abs.
Next step, as I call it, is the spin. This is the meaty part of the trick. Done right, this part is very easy according to everyone that has worked with me on my tumble turns. You can spin either direction, which ever direction makes you comfortable. I’ll describe spinning my feet around to the right (towards the driver’s side of the boat when your feet are pointing the direction you are moving.) To initiate the spin, all you need to do is move the handle from the middle of your abs to the left side of your abs. This motion is only moving the handle a few inches and you want to keep the handle at the same level on your abs, right along where your belly button is. Using a typical wide barefooting handle, the inside edge of the handle may be just past your centerline.
Now your spinning. A small thing to keep in mind is to keep you leading edge up. This doesn’t take much to do, basically you just don’t want dig in your shoulder or something.
As you continue to spin and your head makes it way to leading your body on the water you’ll need to move the handle from the left side of your body to your right side, concentrating on keeping the handle near your belly button. This simple motion keeps your body spining.
Finally, as your head moves throught the leading position and your feet begin to make their way to the “front” you’ll move the handle from the right side of your abs to the center of abs. This motion stops your spin.
Now were on to the last step, “standing up.” You’re in a pretty typical barefooting positon, just plant your feet and stand back up.
AS you can tell from this description, the main portion of the trick involves moving the handle from the center of your abs, to the left, then to your right of your abs and then back to the center. It really is that simple.
The issue I have problems with is keeping the handle down near my abs. Here’s a picture of my typical issue…
As you can see, the handle got a way from waist and is above my head. Needless to say, my spin stopped and I just dragged along in this position, exhausting myself.
Not really sure how this happened, but it makes for a good picture. Almost looks like I’m trying to break dance or something. This initiated as me trying to a tumble turn, but some how I rolled over on to my side…
Finally, to see a tumble turn in action, you can catch this short video of 7. He definately has the spinning portion down.
He needs to work on stopping the spinning.
