NorCal INT 7/7 - 7/8

[ragboy]

Another great INT weekend, although VERY hot. RJ took first place both days, so he is doing great, looks like he may get invited to Louisianna. They are talking about bumping him up a class, but I hope they don't do that til this season is over.

Ashley and Whitney are normally the only 2 in their class, now there are 6 girls in the womens entro class. Ashley took first the first day, and Whitney took first the second day. How cool is that?

6yr old thomas took third in mini outlaw. You should see this kid pull off an ollie. Its a crack up to see that little guy go. He gets the whole beach cheering. The wake is bigger than him. He trys so hard.

I got whitney a new 75-300mm lens for her canon, and we took a bunch of pictures. Our kids are very helpful and respectful, and it payed off for them. After the morning, when they do the kids and entro/novice classes, they do the slider and outlaw pro classes. RJ was asked to be in the boat and be rope boy for the whole afternoon. Whitney showed the event organizer some of her new pictures with the lens from the shore, and he invited her to take pictures from the boat in the afternoon with the outlaws and the pros! They were stoked. Normally on sunday we leave after the kids events, but I let them be rope boy and camera girl til the very end. What an opportunity for them. They get to see the pros close up.

The main driver has also grown fond of our kids, and invited them to come out during the week to get pulled by him on the private lake. That sounds cool. I think we are going to join the private lake next year. Its a january - january membership, so no reason to do this year.

I haven't sorted out the pictures yet, so I am just giving a link I made from aperture of all the pictures. Most are our family in the beginning, then a ton of pros, some great pics.

http://www.bighead.net/pics/2007-07-07_INT/

Thomas (6) about to throw an ollie:


Maddie (9) heading out heelside:


RJ (11) preparing for his w2w indy:


Whitney (15) faceplant:


Apparently, whitney is OK:


Ashley (16) Lip Sliding:


Just a cool pic taken by whitney:


And Jessica (2) Swimming with thomas while taking in the action:

[G-MONEY]

THAT'S RAD....

[wakeboarder247]

That's awesome! Your kids are tearing it up! Congrats!

[da.bell]

Have you thought about video taping them? You probably could create a video of what and what not to do. They definitely are tearing it up. Keep them going. We might have some future wakeboarding stars....

[ragboy]

Have you thought about video taping them? You probably could create a video of what and what not to do. They definitely are tearing it up. Keep them going. We might have some future wakeboarding stars....

Yeah, I have tons of video. I have this camera:

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...uctId=11035734

It tapes direct to hard disk, so you can tape for hours. The great thing, is I just hook up to my mac and download all the files and start watching them. We do use them when I tell them something, and they need to see it. I haven't used the HD on the vid cam yet, because the AVCHD file types are still too new, waiting for more support. But its a great camera. And when you tape in HD, the clarity is amazing. The video I posted a while ago of surfdad at INT was with this camera.

[chpthril]

Congrats to the whole Family

[spharis]

So where is the Louisiana toruney going to be held?

Bennett's?

[ragboy]

I believe so.

http://www.intleague.com/us_championships/index.html

[spharis]

Yep, thats them
http://www.skibennetts.com/

[dogbert]

Hey ragboy, what divisions did you enter your son into?

[ragboy]

My 6 yr old is in mini outlaw. RJ is in Junior Entro. He knows all the entro tricks now, because of all the practicing we do, but when we started, he only knew a handful. The organizer said last week he was dong so good, they may be bumping him all the way up to intermediate. I just hope they still let him go to Louisianna for Entro so he can experience it.

[dogbert]

Cool, thanks. My son wants to do an INT event in August, so I need to get him registered.

[ragboy]

Cool, thanks. My son wants to do an INT event in August, so I need to get him registered.

The biggest tip I can give you for your son is call or email your organizers, and ask how long the run is before they turn around. How many seconds at 22 mph. Ours is about 45, I don't know if they are all the same.

Pick 8-9 tricks he can do, and practice them. When the tricks are good, get a stop watch, and then get him up, and only wait like 5 seconds and say go, and hit start. Give him signals for every 10 seconds and tell him when it is done. This will REALLY help. The hardest part the kids have, is getting the tricks done fast. You also have to learn which tricks to put in a row for an efficient run.

Also, we didn't learn this till the second comp, and was a huge help for points. You get 2 passes on comp day. You have to throw 6 tricks between the buoys up, and 6 back, but on the way back, you get a wildcard trick. This trick can be anything on any trick list, doesn't have to be in your class, and makes it real fun. My son does a w2w indy for his wildcard. Now hear is the important thing, the wildcard is worth a lot of points, so you HAVE to at least attempt to be competitive. You don't have to land it, they give you points for a recognizable attempt.

So here is the trick, when you fill out your attack sheet in the morning you put your 6 tricks down, that you know cold, and have practiced for your run. But you can put down 8 tricks. Add 2 recovery tricks, like adjust board shorts, or wave to judge. These are important. If you son falls during his second pass, he probably won't have time to finish his 6 tricks. So throw in 1 or 2 of the recovery tricks to get all 6 done, so you can still hit the wildcard as your last trick of the 2nd run. Wildcard trick must be the last trick. This was all VERY confusing and intimidating when we first went out, but once we learned the above, it made all the difference. The wildcard is the key to getting on the podium.

[dogbert]

So, they always ride at 22 Mph?

[ragboy]

No, you can tell them the speed, before you go. What speed and how old is he?