Bob Knight

College Basketball Coach and US Olympic Basketball Coach

"I very conscientiously try to look at what's right whenever I do anything. I don't care what you think or what somebody else thinks or how it is interpreted. I just do it. What I am so very intent on is not winning. I'm intent on getting every player at Indiana to play up to his potential. I don't see anything wrong with trying to get kids to play not only as well as they can, but as hard as they can--to make that second effort."

Well there gang, we are not Indiana University, but we are perhaps the FIRST University of barefooters and we are a team here to help each other be the best that we can be. If you are one of those people who are willing to give me your extra effort, then I am willing to show you how to apply it to this week's tip: 

Let's open up a can of Front Toe-up Technology: From the boom to the Skylon!

Who is ready for the front toe-up? The front toe-up is not the way to learn a toe-hold. Some of you are laughing, but I have seen it all and I need to clarify this. If you can not ride your toe-holds for at least five seconds each, this is not the next step. If you are really solid in your toe-holds to where you can swing your arms around...side to side above your head, etc... then that is where your time should be allocated. It will make this easier later on!

If you all are not familiar with my teachings of POSTURE and GLIDE, well then you owe it to yourself to mastering these skills as pointed out in my instructional video (The Footer's Edge Instructional Video). I will assume you are. The additional and quintessentially important skill is ANGLE ( see previous issue, Ankles and Angles)!  In short, having the proper angle, maintaining it throughout the toe-up process(sitting down and standing up), and then having an explosive burst of controlled exertion will be the biggest break through for you here whether it is learning it on the boom or behind the boat.

Well, let's back it up a bit. The first skill is learning the toe-negative or simply "the negative" first. This will be a critical part of the learning process and will involve a decision that may make this trick 50% easier for you than for someone else! Do I have your attention now?

 To do the negative I recommend practicing ad nauseum on land to perfect this next step. The critical decision will be where to put your hand on your leg during the negative. If you have the flexibility to grab your ankle, well then you are the ones that will find this tremendously easier both on the boom and behind the boat. If you do not feel comfortable with this or are unable to do this, then you will need to grab under your knee(I learned it this way in the "olde school"). By the way, I am referring to grabbing the ankle or the knee that is attached to the toe strap(I have seen this done incorrectly too many times to remember).

Now, the next VERY VERY critically important tip...I can visualize the high fives coming now...is where do you put your OTHER hand? The answer, that costs many people not fortunate to be reading this no less than $125 US at the ski school, is that it should be turned so that your fingers are pointed backwards and lower than your knee!!!!!!!

 Pause...absorb the info...feel the energy...visualize how 300 points and the increased self confidence will effect you in your every day lives...hooahh!

Now that you have made your decision of where your hands should go it is time to practice the negative. The negative should be an ultra slow sit down without losing the integrity of your angle. If you can not sit down super slowly, then you are not maintaining the angle throughout the negative. What creates so much success for my students is the realization that keeping their free hand always lower than their knee on the water is what keeps the angle, which is how the weight remains over the ski foot and not the strap foot! Perfect this process.

The toe-up or "positive" is done in the exact same form with the added chore of getting your weight forward over the foot WITHOUT LOSING THE ANGLE! If you were one of the lucky ones who was able to grab their ankle, then this process will be easier...much easier. When you are ready to stand back up, your foot that was on the water should be just out of the water and very close to your butt. Now you must

#1 contract your abdominals (to get your weight forward),

#2 Slam your foot into the water (while maintaining your glide),

#3 AND....Keep your free hand IN THE WATER NEXT TO YOUR SKI FOOT ALL THE WAY UP! 

bonus round tip: do not let this hand go forward or higher than your ski knee.

boom tip: higher than head while in skiing position and use a two foot extension(24 inches...sorry overseas buddies, I am not up on the metrics)

driving tip: as the skier is sitting down, slow the boat speed 5-8mph. Keep it here until you see that the skier is definitely going to make it past the sticking point in the half way point!

VIDEO TIP: The Footer's Edge Instructional Video(2 hours!) covers this beautifully and you can get it at http://www.thefootersedge.com/videos/index.htm

A TIP for The Lane Dawg: If this article helped you, please refer your friends. I would love to help them achieve THEIR goals.

Well, I could go on forever, but I see a glass calm N.E. shoreline...SEE YA!!!

Also, please do me a huge favor and refer someone to my newsletter. I work really hard on these articles and I need your help to help the sport we love so much grow! Just cut and paste the following into an email to your friends!

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Hi (Insert their name here)

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Subscriptions are FREE and you get a copy of Lane's 159-page

"Be the Best Barefooter on Your Lake" Ebook with 48 articles covering everything from The Easiest Way to Learn to Barefoot Water Ski to Learning to Backwards Barefoot to Jumping Inverted...

Just go to http://www.thefootersedge.com and you can get all the details.

Talk to you soon!

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Thanks for helping out! I appreciate it...

I am available to personally help you achieve your skiing goals by calling 1-877-685-6270 or visit our website @ www.thefootersedge.com.

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