|
1.
How Do I Do a Back to Front?
2. What is the Clock Theory of Turns?
3. What equipment do I need?
4. Is there any way to practice before
getting on the water
5 . Should I wear Puppy Paws?
6 . How Do I Do a Front to Back?
1.
How
Do I Do a Back to Front?
Click
here to read the entire article!
The first thing to do here
is your homework! It starts with making sure your
Posture and Glide and Power Band are awesome. Next,
you will need to review the concepts of “The
Quite Upper Body.” You can see these by going
to http://www.thefootersedge.com/traumacenter.htm
and looking at NFTE #15, #6.
I am quite sure this will
need much work, but for the purpose of answering
your question, I will assume that you have mastered
the above concepts (this is a big assumption!)
If you are experiencing the
same problem as Mark has described, I will offer
three solutions.
#1 Much dry-land
practice followed by at least 200 Puppy
Paws (shoe-skis) turns done with exacting form.
#2 Correct Handle Position
#3 Learn my Clock
Theory of Surface Turns!
The first idea is as easy
as it sounds and I do not care if you are on trick
skis or shoe skis but I want hundreds of perfectly
performed turns so that your muscle memory is solid.
A big mistake is to try this turn on your feet so
many times incorrectly that you get in a rut. I
like to follow the simple guideline of NEVER REPEAT
THE SAME MISTAKE # TIMES IN A ROW!!!
This means you must change
it up in whatever way you can to keep from practicing
the incorrect form until you perfect the incorrect
form. This is a HUGE lesson for barefooters of all
levels. Do not allow yourself to get in a rut…why?
Because I believe that “if you are going to
be stupid, then you better be tough.” The
problem is that being tough can lead to permanent
problems with lots of incorrect muscle memory.
The second tip is to adjust
from a normal back skiing handle position to the
surface turn handle position. Whenever doing any
surface turn, keep the handle closer to your body.
Most people try to do this with arm strength only,
but to do this properly you must keep your shoulders
rolled back into perfect POSTURE!
The surface turn handle position
for this turn is to have the handle touching the
bottom of where your belt would be if you were wearing
one. This will make you look a little chicken winged,
but it is the only way I know to keep good upper
body form during the turn.
Realize this, that the worse
your starting position is, the more difficult it
is to maintain this position throughout the turn.
If your current position requires a lot of strength
or excursion, then your chances of success are not
good. Further more, you could get an ouwy or a boo-boo!
This leads me to my favorite
example for surface turns… The Clock Approach.
You deserve to have this unfair advantage in your
skiing!
I actually found that I have
covered this in NFTE #21, but I will repeat it here
again so that you do not have to go get it.
Lane “Dawg”
Bowers’ Clock Theory of Turns:
Pretend that while in the
backwards position, you are standing on the face
of a clock with your feet at the center and your
chin directly over the 12! While performing the
back to front, the most common mistake is to let
your head circle around the clock from 12 to 1 to
2 to 3 or in the other direction in the same manner.
Contrarily, turn so that your head never leaves
the 12 position throughout the entire turn so that
as you get to the front, the back of your head is
over the twelve position. If you can accomplish
this you will have turned with your hips and kept
your upper body quiet! Does that make sense?
I want to ad just one more
piece of advice. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SIT LOWER AS
YOU COME TO THE FRONT! I find that many people try
to protect themselves from “going out the
front” bay sitting down. This is a FEAR mechanism.
You brain is unbelievably smart and it is telling
you to do this because it knows something I feels
wrong. Most brains do this because of poor training
habits as I explained in the first part of the article.
If you allow yourself to take
enough falls, your mind will try to talk you out
of this repeated beating by going on defense. You
can get your brain to reset its thinking by treating
your body to some SMART SKIING where you experience
the fun of not falling!
Falling is bad! But if you
do fall, use it as a learning tool. I love what
Henry Ford had to say about this, “Failure
is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.”
I would like to ad my own
quote!
“You can control the
quality of your skiing by controlling the quality
of the thoughts that occupy your mind while skiing.”
-Lane Dawgumus Maximus
Let
me know how you do!! Email
me your success stories!
top ^
2. What
is the Clock Theory of Turns?
Click
here to read the entire article!
Lane “Dawg”
Bowers’ Clock Theory of Turns:
Pretend
that while in the backwards position, you are standing
on the face of a clock with your feet at the center
and your chin directly over the 12! While performing
the back to front, the most common mistake is to
let your head circle around the clock from 12 to
1 to 2 to 3 or in the other direction in the same
manner. Contrarily, turn so that your head never
leaves the 12 position throughout the entire turn
so that as you get to the front, the back of your
head is over the twelve position. If you can accomplish
this you will have turned with your hips and kept
your upper body quiet! Does that make sense?
top
^
3.
What equipment do I need?
I
believe that the very basics for barefooting are
as follows;
I
would use a front
trick handle (Front-Toe
Handle - B219) for all surface turns;
#1
The best
barefoot wetsuit you can afford. I believe
the best wetsuit on the market is Barefoot International's
Iron Man wetsuit. I personally wear this suit and
guarantee it to be at least 30% more protection
than any other suit. It is an enormous advantage.
You can see these suits and receive the best pricing
anywhere along with free shipping by clicking here!
#2
I also believe that you MUST use padded shorts and
that the best shorts out there are the Iron
Man shorts. I unconditionally guarantee
these shorts to be the best shorts of any kind in
bare foot water skiing.
I
highly recommend getting the best boom on the market
since this also is a major safety issue. The Barefoot
International boom and Fligh High extended pylon
are the best out there. I also guarantee these to
be the best out there.
Although
I do not normally start barefooters out on shoe
skis, it is critical to learning the more advanced
tricks and are an absolute must for the serious
barefooter. The Dawg
Paws are the best shoe skis on the planet
and I also have a less expensive shoe ski which
you can see by visiting our Pro
Shop.
If
you have specific questions about any equipment,
please submit them on the form below and I will
post the answers here!
top
^
4.
Is there any way to practice before getting on the
water?
Click
here to read the entire article!
Master
the form on dry
land by studying the videos available to you
as a member of my Virtual Ski School. Also Study
my 2 hour instructional video.
Make
sure you master the form on dry
land, then master the form on Puppy
Paws, and you will own it on your feet!
See
my newest instructional video at my all new Virtual
Ski School!
You
can get a 7
Day FREE Trial Membership of My Virtual Ski School
only by clicking on the link below.
http://www.thefootersedge.com/newskischool/7daytrial.htm
top
^
5.
Should I Wear Puppy
Paws?
There
is no substitute when you are learning back to fronts
and front to backs. Join those who have already
gotten an unfair advantage! Get
your own pair of Puppy
Paws now!
top
^
6.
How
Do I Do a Front to Back?
If
you are serious about making this trick, go no further
until you have the the following critical gear;
#1
Puppy
Paws
#2
My Two-hour Instructional
Video
#3
A Membership into my Virtual
Ski School where I cover this trick extensively!
Click
here to read the entire article!
Here
we go. I have been flooded with requests for surface
turns articles. I have decided to answer the call
and purposely placed this one after my Ultra
Mega Glide article from #14. You are about to
enter the world that separates great barefooters
from good barefooters. It is by far the greatest
challenge in barefooting that you will have to conquer
and I am 100% certain that I can help you to achieve
your own personal greatness along with some miracles!
There are three principles that
are critical to your success in the surface turn
world.
They are
#1 Posture
and Glide , and the POWER
BAND-I have covered this extensively
#2 Rhythm
#3 QUIET UPPER BODY
Although I am quite
certain that you will gloss over #1, it is quintessential!
I will not say any more except that you should use
video analysis ad nauseam to see that you maintain
position throughout the entire set-up!!!!!!! (see
the front to back on our 2 hour instructional video)
Rhythm is the next critical element
to a great set-up. By the way, any great trick requires
a separate practice-fest of the correct set-up before
unleashing the hounds!! Keep the Big Dawgs on the
porch with some MAJOR dry land practice until you
have mastered this set-up.
Rhythm is critical to building the
momentum needed to create the right amount of energy
to have a great surface turn. [I will be focusing
this article on the front-to-back 180 turn as that
is where the most requests have been. The back to
front is identical except there is no Rhythm for
the set-up.]
The FIRST key to a great Rhythm
is to create a smooth and continuous movement that
is in no way "jerky"! It should never
hesitate at either the bottom or the top of the
down and up motion. It should be at a speed that
is energetic, but not spastic. If it is too slow,
it is useless for creating the right energy. It
should be explosive to the point that does not deteriorate
your Posture and Glide and POWER BAND.
The SECOND key to a great Rhythm
is to limit it's lower and upper limits. While dry
land practicing, have someone watch the bottom edge
of your butt while you set your limits! The key
to making this turn great is to get a great Rhythm
without deteriorating your position WITHIN your
correct limits. The limits are from the top of your
calf (UPPER LIMIT) to the bottom of your calf (BOTTOM
LIMIT). This will take tremendous practice and video
analysis to perfect. Once you have perfected this
on dry land you will be ready add the final element....
The THIRD and ultra critical element
is the beauty of a QUIET UPPER BODY! What does this
mean? It means simply that your upper body remains
free from any forward or backwards motion, and it
also means that once you have locked in your Posture
and Glide and POWER BAND, that your upper body is
removed from creating any initial motion towards
the back. The greatest help to you will be the understanding
that in ALL turns, "the upper body never turns
before your lower body!" This is simply the
biggest problem (after position) that I see in beginners
and 'experts' in their turns. It is just natural
to try to move your upper body first to the back
position. It is also easier to think that if you
could just get around backwards quickly that you
could correct the "other" problems later.
WRONG! Moving your upper body first equals massive
pain. You can believe me now or call me with your
own personal story of injury later.
I could go on forever here, but
I gotta get ready to get a set in before a catch
a plane to my next traveling clinic-traveling from
one small town to the next to solve the worlds problems
with some motivation and Posture, Glide, and THE
POWER BAND!
Start in the position that I have
worked so hard to get you to understand. The only
difference is that in the "SURFACE TURN MODE"
you need to keep your elbows closer to your body
AT ALL TIMES! Without going above or below the LIMITS
I prescribed, create a smooth and powerful RHYTHM,
and then when your release your hand from the handle
make sure your hips are the FIRST thing to move
and that they lead the turn.
Tips: #1 keep your eyes forward
and up while your hips begin turning.
#2 Use Dawg Paws
#3 Ski about 10% below your one-foot
speed.
#4 Use video analysis
#5 buy the best Instructional video
in the WORLD
Let me know how you do and do your
homework!
top
^
|
