It's time to take a fresh look at one thing many people tend to overlook in their skiing; the gate. It's a new season and the best way to start it off is by dialing that gate right from the start. We're going to break it into three parts; the out, the up and the in. When executed properly, these flow together in seamless fashion.
The Out
To start your outward move you should stand just to the left of the trough in a balanced "in line" position. From this place you can begin to generate outbound direction. The key on the gate is to get width without creating load on the line. To do this, think of making the same move you would off the second wake. Feel the pull coming through the right hand and think about following the natural path of the handle as the acceleration is made. A problem I see time and time again is people using their shoulders to initiate this move which results in an overloading and drift back to the inside. When done properly, your core moving out should be what generates your speed. To do this you must have a connection between your hands and hips. Once you have established the proper body position you can begin your pullout. You want to make an aggressive yet progressive move out. While you need to be strong on that first move you want to continually build the speed. After you have made a good strong move out, you will feel yourself move over the ski leading to the next part, "the up".
To start your outward move you should stand just to the left of the trough in a balanced "in line" position. From this place you can begin to generate outbound direction. The key on the gate is to get width without creating load on the line. To do this, think of making the same move you would off the second wake. Feel the pull coming through the right hand and think about following the natural path of the handle as the acceleration is made. A problem I see time and time again is people using their shoulders to initiate this move which results in an overloading and drift back to the inside. When done properly, your core moving out should be what generates your speed. To do this you must have a connection between your hands and hips. Once you have established the proper body position you can begin your pullout. You want to make an aggressive yet progressive move out. While you need to be strong on that first move you want to continually build the speed. After you have made a good strong move out, you will feel yourself move over the ski leading to the next part, "the up".
The Up
The speed you created on "the out" is what allows your ski to continue carrying outbound direction. At this point, whether you are using a one or two handed gate, you should be focusing on letting the ski naturally move out from under you. By letting the ski do this, you are creating the space needed to fall back in for the gate. The key here is to stay balanced over your ski as it carries out. A lot of people mistakenly push the ski in front which forces them onto the back foot in the turn in. Staying balanced over your ski allows you to continually carry speed, making it possible to be fluid into, "the in".
The In
Once you have properly completed "the out" and "the up", "the in" is quite simple. By doing all the work in the first two steps you allow yourself to fall back in naturally. You will feel your ski start to pull back in and you should not fight this move as it is what generates your angle into the gate. Whether one or two handed you should focus on making the connection back between your hands and core. By keeping this connection, you allow your speed and angle to be maintained into the bouy. Failure to make this connection results in your hips behind you and a narrow line into one ball. Once you've made the connection your focus should be on progressively building speed to the right hand gate ball. If you instantaneously build all your speed you will have loaded the line and peel back to the inside. Continually building speed allows a clean release to happen off the second wake and the ability to carry speed through the turn at one ball.
These keys when executed properly will flow together seamlessly in one move as opposed to three. For learning purposes it is easier to think about them separately but execute them together. By following these steps, you will repeatedly find yourself on an earlier more manageable and consistent line into one ball.
