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WaterSki - July 2004
Like a Fisher out of water
By Sean McFadden
Slalom sensation Jodi Fisher has added a new training technique to enhance his command of the turns: sphincter control. It was a little trick he learned while riding shotgun recently for a white-knuckle test drive in Lotus’ new Elise sports car.
No, this isn’t the latest in cross-training. Yokohama Tires, one of Fisher’s sponsors and the supplier of tread for the Lotus automobiles, hooked him up with Matthew Becker, a Lotus suspension-design engineer and test driver, who pushed the car to its limits with Fisher in the No.2 seat. Becker is an avid water skier who has been running slalom for the past two years. Some horse trading landed him ski lessons from the pro, and gave Fisher his chance to get out of the passenger seat, unclench his butt cheeks and take the curvaceous pulse-quickener around the track at his own pace.
The parallels between slalom skiing and snaking through a road course immediately became obvious to Fisher.
“Outside the turn, you brake until you are at a comfortable speed, then you start the turn and at the end of the turn you gun it,” he says. “Likewise, on a ski you never go flat, holding your edge out until you slow down enough to take the turn back in. All of the turn is done before the buoy, and then you start to accelerate again. If you are efficient then it’s easy and you start to feel a rhythm.
“In the car, if you try to turn too fast you’ll over-steer and start to slide, which gives you a slower turn. The same idea applies in slalom. If you crank the turn, you decelerate quickly, but you also lose angle, so you end up losing time.”
Becker says Fisher’s excellent hand-eye coordination made him a very quick study on the asphalt, and agrees that his slalom analogy is right on.
“Probably the most common theme in both sports is the turn,” Becker says. He describes the maneuver as having three distinct points: “You have the start of the turn, the apex at the midpoint, and then the exit of the turn. I’ts very much like sllom in that your positioning is the key.”
Becker’s own positioning has improved, thanks to his barter with Fisher. His former personal best at 4 at 15 off is now 4 at 22.
With precise handling being the measure of success for both Fisher and Becker, they logically share a common need to tinker incessantly, Fisher with his new O’Biren stick and Becker with whatever ground-hugging suspension system Lotus can conceive.
When you get up into such high-end performance in both sports, tweaking the equipment can have a huge impact, especially for Becker, who miscalculations might result in a more than just a missed ball.
“What kinds of mistakes do typical beginners make? Among such words as skidding, crashing and dying,” Becker says. “Beginners tend to go to fast too soon and they miss the technique.”
Fortunately, Fisher used what he already knew about rounding buoys to keep Becker’s baby out fo the body shop. “We’re all guilty of giving that next pass all we’ve got when we know we aren’t ready, and then eating it bad around 1 ball,” he says.” The worst thing beginners do in slalom is not to get instruction; habit is the hardest thing to break. I went from being an unsafe driver to being pretty good.”
So which high-speed turns give Fisher more of a rush? “Hmm, tough question,” he admits. “Running 39 off is unreal, especially the first time you do it. But it’s a different kind of buzz. You certainly feel the speed in a car more, although it’s really all about being in your comfort zone and knowing what you can handle. In either situation, when you are out of control it all feels faster.”
You can catch Jodi Fisher in control and back on the water at the MasterCraft Pro Water Ski Championships Aug. 11-13. If you're a person of means, enjoy Matthew Becker’s handiwork on the Lotus Elise (MSRP $40,000, nicely equipped), now available at a dealer near you.
Last edited by deryl; 06-19-2004 at 12:54 PM.
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