subject: Barefoot Flip: You Do Not Want a Piece of this...
Winter Haven, Florida
...or do you?
"There are many things of which a wise man might wish to be
ignorant."-----Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
See this online with video at
http://www.thefootersedge.com/traumacenter/info/ne83.html
I think that learning to do the flip has 10 unique stages:
#1 brave talk under the influence of beverage among friends
#2 actually announcing that you will be doing it today while
still in the boat...having no intentions of flipping
#3 actually gripping the handle properly while barefooting
and practicing the up and down motion, but not trying it.
#4 actually trying it and pulling out at the last moment
because "it is not the trick for you"
#5 going for the flip and realizing that you will never try
it again
#6 going for the flip and realizing that you will be trying
it again because you did not get hurt
#7 performing the flip with no intention whatsoever of
holding on
#8 performing the flip while holding on for some serious
abuse
#9 deciding it might be useful if you got some good advice
on this
#10 making the flip and having a hard time sleeping because
you realize that you might actually BE a Super Hero :~>))
My goal is to talk most of you out of this, entertain and
inspire others, and talk the rest of you into going directly
to step# 9!
The best way I have found for learning the flip safely, is
to set-up a 50 to 75 foot rope with a pulley and some weight
to practice this properly on dry land.
Jumping on a trampoline might be a good step so you can
learn the motion without abuse. After that, practice on the
grass because the water is not softer than grass at barefoot
speeds.
Make sure you practice on Puppy Paws first.
I have not found it helpful to practice on the boom (5 or 7ft)
because it makes you flip too sideways. The exception is
using a longer rope off of a very high boom. Make sure you
are flipping away from the boat and never towards the boat.
Driving is critical and so is the right equipment. I will
cover these last so we can weed out the wanna-bees early on.
I also have a free video for you to watch some attempts I
will tell you about on
DawgTv.
Think of the flip as a somersault on land rather than a flip
in gymnastics.
By the way, I am going to concentrate on the "surface flip,"
but I cover all three flips on my two hour instructional DVD
at http://thefootersedge.com/videos/index.htm
I am going to give you the talking points here but leave
some info for those of you who on my Virtual Ski School
http://thefootersedge.com/newskischool/index.htm
#1 First, think of flipping "through a hoola-hoop" instead
of jumping over the "hoola-hoop."
#2 The lower the flip the easier to land.
#3 the handle must come directly into the hip as you come up
from the up and down motion. Keep the handle at or below
your hip during the flip. Try not to let it come up by your
shoulders or you will have to jump higher to get over it.
#4 stay tucked during the flip...do not extend your body
#5 chin to your chest as your handle comes to your hip
#6 try to land just past your shoulders, handle into your
hips, and as close to a 3-point position as possible.
#7 keep your eyes open to anticipate the landing
#8 have the driver "back-off" the throttle from a one-foot
speed all the way to butt glide speed until you can exercise
handle control....
DANGER...DANGER...DANGER...
Never back off the throttle until the skier is inches before
hitting the water. If you back off too soon, the skier can
get tangled in the rope.
On a side note, when I wanted to learn the flip, a top skier
(I will not mention him, but it was not Mike Seiple), told
me I was not strong enough to learn the flip.
That was discouraging, but I pressed through and learned it
on Puppy Paws.
Then Brett Sands (Aussie...Aussie...Aussie), told me that
I COULD DEFINITELY DO IT and he proceeded to
help me to make it by wearing two wetsuits and shorts to
protect me from the abuse.
Note: Everyone should have Aussies and Kiwis as friends!!!
I love you Aussies and Kiwis!!!!
Now for some huge tips that took me $2750 in chiropractic
and therapy to figure out.
#1 There is only one barefoot suit and shorts in the world
that are 19mm instead of 10mm. Two sets of glue instead of
none or one set of glue. Check out the TRUTH at
http://BareFootSuit.com/
#2 For your first attempts, cut away from the wake so the
rope goes away from you and will help to keep you from
tangling
#3 Master on the Puppy Paws first.
#4 The first big breakthrough on learning this since I
learned was to do them on Puppy Paws. The next biggest break
is the use of the Super Fly High. Having the Pull come from
14 ft in the air makes your take off and landing about 35%
softer.
http://GoFlyHigh.com/
I hope you appreciate the fact that I give you information
for free that others do not even want to give away with paid
lessons. Do me a favor and send a friend to my site so I can
help them with their barefooting.
Here is a short video of my buddy learning the flip
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4GlpDFwCPEc
Lane "Dawg" Bowers
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