ts w2w and hs fs 180

I was hoping someone could give me a couple of tips on being more consistent with ts w2w and with hs fs 180s.

I'm trying to concentrate on switch riding as of late (to feel comfortable on the 180s), and ts wake jumps.

Here's the issue: although I can clear a small-medium sized wake on the toeside without too much issue, it seems like when I really try to cut in moderately hard and float one out on the massive wake of a friend's Nautique, I ALWAYS slip out the back. I was getting so frustrated recently that I started working on ts fs 180s just so I could land switch heelside instead of landing ts.

I'm trying to work on keep my weight more centered and keeping the rope down around my left hip area. I think my problem may be that I can't stop looking toward the boat. So instead of landing and looking toward shore or down at the board or whatever, I try to look at the boat and that prevents me from continuing to edge out toeside.

Does anyone have any tips that can help get me consistent? I've set a deadline for the end of March for getting consistent on these basics and I'm hoping to accomplish this riding a solid twice a week (more if I'm lucky) up until that time.

Thanks in advance.

(Message edited by tparider on February 04, 2004)

slipping out on the landing of ts tricks (from simple jumps to batwings), is a very common problem.

this paragraph from mike mclin's ts backroll instructional gives good advice about the ts edge:

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quote:

Edge into the wake progressively on your toeside. Start your carve towards the wake nice and slowly and build speed as you approach the wake.

Upon landing, you want to make sure to land on your toeside edge or on the middle of your board. You do NOT want to land on your heels. If you land on your heels, your board will slip out from under you and you'll either butt-check or fall back badly enough to where you can't land the trick. So when you land, you want to be edging out on your toes.

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i find that one the most common problems people have with the ts edge (including myself), is not standing up straight. many people bend at the waist. you want to lean away from the boat against the rope, not bend over to get your weight going in that direction. if you're not standing up correctly it's difficult to edge properly and thus landings are off.

this is usually exacerbated when people are trying to cut harder - whatever we do wrong (even if we do it right at slow speeds), gets more pronounced at higher intensity. that's why the progressive edge is so important - it's easier to maintain proper form if you not thinking about going all out - but more concentrating on gradually building up your edge by maintaining a strong body positon.

the other main problem is not staying on edge up thru the top of the wake. this is critical and has everything to do with how you'll end up landing. if you don't maintain that edge, your body position is subtly (sometimes not so!) different and you come down with your weight wrongly distributed over your board - you fall or slide around.

concentrate on keeping your edge all the way thru the top of the wake and keeping your weight over your board - exaggerate it even, see if you can fall out the front instead.

checking out this article in the instructions section may also help ya:

http://www.wakeworld.com/Tricklist/TrickTip015.asp

hope that helps. let us know how you progress!

(Message edited by deepstructure on February 04, 2004)

Thanks for the tips Chris. I'm supposed to ride again tomorrow late morning so I'll be working on it then.

I especially like your thought of "exaggerate it even, see if you can fall out the front instead." That seems like a good way to correct my issue, and should get me landing on my toes. I'll report back..

Just wanted to post that I went out today and landed a half dozen or so really nice ts jumps. Didn't try the hs fs 180, but did do a few 1 wake half cab 180s without issue. I really feel like I made it over a plateau today. Continuing to work on it with some riding tomorrow too.

Thanks for your help Chris.

congrats!! way to go. trust me, if you develop a good ts edge you'll be way ahead of the game compared to most folks. most don't take the time to get this edge right. getting it solid at this point will make a lot of stuff much easier for you. i'm still working on my ts edge. i've done ts 3s and backrolls, but i found it was worth it to take a few steps back just to work on getting the edge right so i can progress again. if you can do it now even better.

once again - nice job!

Well, I went out riding again this morning and was pretty pleased with my ts wake jumps. I was more comfortable, and didn't have too much issue landing solidly and continuing to edge out further into the flats. I went back and forth across both wakes a few times in a row - definitely a good feeling to not have that stigma hanging over me on the toeside.

One thing though - we videotaped today, and in briefly watching my toeside cuts, I noticed that although my edge was progessive and I was getting decent pop (landing on the transition or a couple of feet into the flats), I was edging VERY lightly into the wake - not a lot of spray at all. Should I get comfortable with going w2w and then gradually cut in a little harder each time to get the hang of going bigger? Toward the end of my second set I tried to really charge it one time and I got booted, then seemed to forget all my form, and ended up slipping out the back.

I'm sure I answered my own question above, but I'm just curious if anyone has any tips. Thanks.