Not an article,
but Chris Rossi's advice.

Not an article, but Rossi's advice

Holding your load too high in your body can cause problems. Jumping or Popping the wakes comes from your ski being too flat. In order to keep that ski rolled over longer through the wakes, I suggest "pushing the handle down" from finish of the turn through the 2nd wake. Most skiers at your level are putting too much fight into running the course. What I mean by this, is that you are trying to pull harder to get early to the next buoy. This is an impossible action as the cruise control will apply more gas as you apply more pressure, thus just sending you faster and narrower into that next buoy. Get rid of that upper body fight and you will be on your way to your next breakthrough!!

When you place your outside hand back on the handle after a turn, think "load is bad, get rid of it" To do this, as soon as you feel load or pull from the boat, push the handle down. I think the big word here is "push" the handle down. Almost everyone I watch ski instantly "pulls" on the handle after the turn. Any pulling of the handle results in you holding your body upright, thus minimizing ski angle. By pushing the handle down your leg, you are letting your body fall more off the edge of your ski, thus increasing edge angle. The great thing about this is it takes considerably less energy to do, and you gain a lot of space into the next buoy. This lesson applies to every skier at every level.

If you are having a hard time visualizing what I am teaching, try this. Hook a handle up to a post or the pylon of the boat. Now put yourself in your wake crossing position. From here I want you to pull harder on the handle. The visual for this would be to try to bend the pylon or post you are connected to. When you do this, what you'll find is that your body actually comes higher than where it started. Since the post doesn't move, any pulling force, will inevitably raise your body, thus reducing ski angle. Now get back in that wake crossing position and "push" the handle down your leg. Your body naturally falls away as far as it can, thus gaining maximum ski edge.

I'd like everyone to give this some thought and on your next ski set, see what you feel.

Chris Rossi