Ben Groen is back at the World Barefoot Center after spending a few weeks back home in New Zealand. Before he left, he took one last spin on the water. What a spin it was!
Check out the cool camera footage taken with the GoPro camera:
USA Suits
February 11th, 2012*New for 2012*
KSO Wetsuits has just come out with the design for this year’s upcoming USA barefoot suits. The design will be available to the public and worn by members of the World Championship Team. These suits feature the latest designs and cuts for optimum skiing comfort and performance. This model features a patriotic blend of red, white and blue color panels with star and stripe graphics stretching across the suit. There are traditional style cinches on each leg. The padding is wrap-around style for the torso to ensure there are no vulnerable spots and, unlike past models, the back upper and lower body pads are formed from one piece to reduce seams. Call (863)877-0039 or E-Mail wbcbarefoot@gmail.com to pre-order yours today! Sizes available include: XS, S, M, XL, XXL.
How to Barefoot Backwards (Back Deep Water Start)
February 4th, 2012
Glen Plake, Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame
Hook Ankle Under Rope
So you’re ready to start learning how to barefoot backwards? Before you start, here a quick few pointers that will make things go a little smoother and keep the “nasal water logging” to a minimum. (And there’s always nose tape for that!)
To get up backwards we are going to stick to three simple steps:
-Planing on your belly and riding the plant.
-Transitioning from the plant to backwards barefooting position.
-Position while skiing backwards.
1. PLANING ON YOUR BELLY AND RIDING THE PLANT
Roll Over Onto Belly
Float on your back, place the handle between legs and reach behind and grab it with both hands, hook one of your ankles under the rope
Time to take a deep breath and roll over, making sure you keep your body, arms, and legs straight. You will only be unable to breathe for maybe a second. The driver should now pull you out of the water at a nice SLOW speed (too fast and you begin to porpoise and bounce). The water line should be breaking right around your knees. 10-12 mph will be your speed.
Now in this position you should easily be able to plane on your belly – making sure you are pushing your chest towards the water (this will create an air pocket and you will be able to breathe), and staying stiff like a board. This will not only allow you to breathe but it will also keep you from
Stay Stiff As A Board
bouncing and you will be in much more control. Once you are comfortable with this position, very slowly take your feet off the rope, and before being able to plant you will need to make sure you flex your feet.
This means pulling your toes back towards your ankles (it is very important not to point your toes otherwise they will go straight through). Turn outwards to a 45 degree angle and slowly place them onto the water, a little wider then hips width (an exercise to do to practice gliding on your feet would be to do one foot at a time with one foot staying hooked on the line and getting the feeling of the water coming off your feet – once you have them in the right position the water should flex the feet automatically for you, you shouldn’t push against the water or curl your toes down Once you are comfortable with one foot, put it back on the rope and repeat with the other.)
Take Feet Off Of The Rope
While doing this, the rest of your body should be fairly relaxed. Once you are comfortable enough to plant with both feet you should be able to ride this position comfortably for 30 seconds. If you can’t do this because you are out of control, it can mean you’re not allowing the water to flex your feet, which means you will be gas pedaling (pointing toes or gripping). Remember-at no POINT should you ever pull in on your arms. You should still be remained with your chest pushed into the water.
Once you can glide with your feet on the water you are ready for the next step.
2. TRANSITIONING INTO A STANDING POSITION
Now that you can ride, on your chest, with your feet planted in the water,
Planting Feet
you will need to, what we call BREAK, which means pushing your chest and chin down while allowing your hips (butt) to push up towards the sky. This is very important factor. Imagine sticking your head between your legs so that you’re folding in half. While you break and you feel your upper body starting to lift you will need to make sure that you start to pull your legs closer so it makes it easier to stand (about shoulder width). Keep rotating your feet and knees inwards.
A key factor in the breaking point is to WAIT as long as you can and to allow the boat to do the work. AT NO POINT DURING THIS STAGE should you try to lift your upper body and/or head to try and stand. You MUST wait, wait, wait and then when you think you have waited long enough, wait some more. This is the part most people have trouble with.
Pushing Chin Down And Hips Up
Keep pushing your hips upwards as you rotate your feet inward (feet should be parallel to one another) until you feel the water on your chin. You will need to maintain bent knees and make sure you don’t come up too tall.
3. BACKWARDS BAREFOOTING POSITION
Congratulations, if you’ve made it this far, you’re now barefooting backwards!!! Now that you’re up and skiing however, you need to keep focused and make sure you are in a solid position. You want to be broken away at the hips, but still arching your back, and keeping your head up, your knees should be bent into athlete position, with your arms straight, and glued to your butt. (If the handle is away from your butt, you will be pulled out over the back much easier). If you are sliding around a lot, get off those toes and ski flat on your feet!! Using the whole surface of you
Breaking
foot (Water line should be up around your instep) will allow you to glide easily on the water, instead of sliding around or pushing water. The driver should not exceed speeds over 28-32 mph depending on the size of the skier. If the skier is having difficulty at this speed they do not have the correct position. Any faster can result in a hard fall.
Driver Notes:
-Boom height.
Higher booms will make it harder for the skier to slowly put their feet in the water and they might end up dumping them into the water, whereas if the boom isn’t high enough it will make it harder for the skier to get up. The boom should really sit around the skiers shoulder height when in
Backwards Position
the back barefoot position. (About 4-5 feet off the water)
-Boat speeds.
- Planing stage: A nice SLOW (10-12 mph) speed-if bouncing occurs, you’re going too fast.
- Planting: Once you can see that the skier has got a firm even plant then it is time to bring the boat up to speed (this is a smooth, consistent, and gradual movement on the throttle.)
- Standing speed: This depends on the weight of the skier, but most people up to 200lbs will be able to backwards barefoot happily at no more than 32 mph. More speed will only be applied after several miles have been occurred on their feet. This means several sets and 20 days or more of skiing backwards. Do not be in a hurry to do back one foots as this should be done on shoe skis first!
-Ending the pass: Unlike when your skier is going forwards, he/she can’t see when the end of the run is coming up!!! While this seems pretty straight forward, you’ll save a lot of last minute head smashers if you just ease off very gradually, letting the skier know the end is coming and giving them time to let go and lean away, instead of suddenly losing speed and going head over heels!!
- Ashleigh Stebbeings, Australia
Featured Footer: Chris McWatters
February 3rd, 2012
When Chris McWatters is not at his job as a nurse in a local Florida hospital, you can find him on the water over at the World Barefoot Center, learning something new. And when the day is done, he heads back home, to the home of a legend. The McWatters are staying at Banana George’s house, renting it for a few months. Chris is the quintessential snowbird– the other half of the year he works as a nurse in a hospital near Detroit, Michigan.
Chris’ first dip into the life of water sports began with a slalom ski and a slalom course. Then he was introduced to barefooting from a friend of a friend. “I got up on my first try, off the boom,” said Chris. “It was like a poison in my body, I was hooked!” Chris spent the summer learning to barefoot off a kneeboard and at the end of the season, he completed a deep water start.
In the summer of 2004, a bad fall left him with a twisted ankle, but he continued to learn new tricks on his own, especially tumble turns. “I watched videos of Keith St. Onge and Mike Seipel barefooting and taught myself from the videos,” said Chris. “I wanted to barefoot like Keith!” A friend introduced him to backward barefooting and Chris beat himself up on the water trying the start over and over. He studied continued to study Keith’s videos and tried to put that into practice on the water. ”I never had shoes– thought it was for sissies,” Chris laughed. “I kept trying. I could do a backward start on the boom in 2005 or 2006 can’t remember. But backward long line, I couldn’t do it.” Chris got in touch with Seipel, who advised him to get a tower and shoes, but Chris stubbornly wanted to learn the start on his feet. So he grabbed a driver one day and for two and half hours, he worked on it until he finally stood up backwards behind the boat. He ended up bruised, but triumphant at his accomplishment.
The front and back flyers were also on Chris’ “self-taught” list. He ended up taking a trip to the hospital after doing a front flyer from a houseboat. His left ankle tangled in a loop on the landing and the next day, he could barely walk. Fortunately, there was only some muscle damage and it healed. To this day, Chris still has the rope indention around his ankle as a reminder of that trick. But that didn’t deter Chris from continuing to teach himself on his own. After watching Keith spin around on the water, Chris hurled himself around as well. “Front to back, back to front– I thought it was the coolest thing since sliced bread,” said Chris. “I taught myself on my feet, 42 mph, and I would fall and fall.”
Chris’ introduction to barefoot competition came from a chance encounter on the water. He was out with some friends on a boat rigged with a boom on each side of the boat and five of them footin away. During a pause, another boat drove by and guy joined them. They continued to barefoot together, enjoying the day. “Why don’t you compete,” the guy asked Chris. “I’m just a backyard barefooter,” he said.
The “guy” turned out to be Marc Donahue, legendary for Figure 8 tournaments. Chris agreed to give competition a try so he headed up to Wisconsin for the 2009 Frostbite Figure 8. It was 35 degrees out, the water was 41 degrees and there was a 25 mph wind kicking up. To top it off, Chris had never stepped off a ski before. He put his foot on the water twice, faceplanted twice, and just like that, his first tournament was over.
But did he give up? Nope.
At the Mad City tournament, Chris ended up with the same result: double faceplants and out. But he walked away with St. Onge’s blue hat as a raffle prize. At the St. Louis tournament, Chris advanced a round only because the other guy fell faster than him at the step off. “I spent so much money going to tournaments only to faceplant and double out each time,” Chris laughed.
But he still didn’t give up.
Chris went up to Crandon, Wisconsin, home of the famed Footstock tournament. While waiting in line to get a drink at Duck’s bar, his idol turned around to greet him. “Hi, I’m Keith St. Onge.”
Chris couldn’t hear him in the din and despite the countless KSO videos he had reviewed, he didn’t recognize the guy. “I’m Keith St. Onge,” he said again. He pointed to Chris’ head.”And you’re wearing my hat!” Chris was thunderstruck, but he soon discovered that the two-time champ was laid back and down to earth. “He’s just one of us,” said Chris.
Dave Mueller, the Footstock announcer, quickly made mincemeat out of Chris the moment he doubled-out of the tournament. Chris soon earned a nickname: “Two Step.” “They made fun of me, ‘two steps’ and I’m out of the tournament– but one guy from St. Louis gave me some encouragement afterwards and introduced me to barefoot races,” said Chris.
Chris continued to teach himself tricks on the water but still hadn’t had a formal barefoot lesson at that point. He persisted with Figure 8 tournaments and ended up contributing his time to organizing tournaments. “I set up rules to involve more people,” said Chris. The idea was a “no barefooter on the beach” motto. If you can’t step off, you can deep start. If you need a wheelchair, we’ll start with that.
“You can ski against KSO and Smallz in these tournaments– that’s the coolest thing,” he continued. “You can duct tape your feet. We are friendly, and we include the backyard barefooter.”
Things began to turn for Chris. He actually learned how to become a Figure 8 barefooter and stay up on the water. At the WBC Figure 8 final, Chris was helping to wrap things up when Keith asked him if he was interested in learning more and becoming a sponsored skier. Chris jumped at the chance to ski and learn from his idol. “What I liked about Chris was not just his passion for barefoot waterskiing which is obvious, but I liked his enthusiasm to help build the sport and put tournaments together,” said Keith. “He put in a lot of time that not many people see. I commend him for all the work he has put into the sport and respect him for that.”
In November, 2011, Chris received his first formal lesson on the water with A.J. Porreca and Ben Groen. “Honestly, I was nervous and scared,” said Chris. “I’m a shag barefooter– everything I had learned was from watching videos.” The WBC staff ended up getting a little surprise: toe holds, tumbles, tumble to ones, backward one foots– the bumbling Figure 8 guy actually had some good skills on the water despite never having a lesson.
He had some jump experience before arriving at the WBC, but only off the boom. Before long, Small’z had him jumping inverted.
Despite his lack of three-event tournament experience, Chris’ goals are big and bold: to qualify for the Nationals and the Worlds. “I need to score 2,400 points, but I tricked only 400 or 700 when they timed me. I did bad and I looked awful,” said Chris. He was really discouraged when he climbed in the boat. Ben shared a story about his own early experience at the Worlds; he scored just 200 points and came in dead last out of 38 skiers. Encouraged, Chris continued to hammer away at the tricks.
“My proudest moment on the water was when I got my first back one foot toe hold in front of David and Swampy,” said Chris. “And by the way, I love Swampy to death– he’s like a grandfather. I make sure Swampy is happy!” To build up consistency, Smallz ran him up and down the lake, to the tune of 31 back toe holds.
Even with both feet raw and bruised after the tough runs, Chris loves every minute of it. “What I like most about barefooting is that you feel free–there’s nothing on your feet,” said Chris. “It’s awesome to stand on your feet at 40+ mph– it’s a moment that is pure as you can get– standing there, looking around thinking, ‘Wow, you’re standing on water on two feet!!!’”
Written by: Karen Putz
Featured Footer: Ted Baber
January 7th, 2012
In the winter of 2010, 16-year-old Ted Baber flew in from Bristol, England to take barefoot lessons from David Small at the World Barefoot Center during a family trip to Florida. The teen had competed in slalom events for water skiing back home, but he had never barefooted. It was a cold day in February, but Ted quickly warmed up with excitement the moment he placed his feet on the water.
“Dave is British and the top skier in the United Kingdom,” said Ted. “I met him before at a few tournaments, so I was excited to learn to barefoot with him.”
Ted spent five and half days at the WBC and picked up a variety of skills. “I learned to barefoot backwards on shoe skis,” said Ted. ”I was so excited! I didn’t get it right away at first, it took me three days.” Ted enjoyed the whole experience of learning this new sport and all the terminology that came with it. He asked his parents for another opportunity to head to the World Barefoot Center to learn more.
In April, 2010 Ted returned to the WBC for ten days of instruction. The ten days stretched into twenty, as travel back home was restricted by the ash cloud that drifted from Iceland. The extra days on the water paid off. ”I learned the back toe hold, line step position, tumbles to one, two foot slalom and long line backwards on feet,” said Ted. ”I even went over the jump on shoes and landed my first jump!” Before he left, he signed on as a sponsored skier. ”I like the challenge of barefooting– I’m passionate about it.”
As soon as he arrived home, Ted continued to practice what he learned. Ted competed in the British Nationals as his first tournament. “I was nervous, but I tricked like 617 and I slalomed a 3.4.” He went on to compete in the Europeans and improved his scores. He was selected for the UK Junior team and spent hours on the water with his father driving the boat, practicing his slalom runs over a huge wake. Ted flew to Germany and competed in the 2010 Worlds. This was an amazing accomplishment for a kid who learned to barefoot in less than a year.
“Tricks are my favorite event,” said Ted. ”My favorite trick is the front-to-back. It was hard to learn and I took a lot of hard falls. But I don’t get frustrated– I keep trying. I was relived and happy when I finally did it.”
Ted threw his shoulder out in the spring of 2011, tearing a ligament and pinching a nerve, but he didn’t let it stop him on the water. He’s working on honing his surface turns and one foot turns.
“Ted is a great kid with huge talent and the right attitude to succeed in the sport of barefooting,” said David Small. “He has come a very long way in the last few years, on and off the water, and it’s a pleasure to watch him grow. I look forward to seeing how far the WBC team can take him!”
No matter how bad it gets it’s fun to be out on the water,” said Ted. “A bad day on the water is better than a good day in school.” Lucky for Ted, the teen has graduated and is done with school. More time for him to play on the water!
Here’s a video with a few clips of Ted on the water:
CHRISTMAS FOOTING from WorldBarefootCenter on Vimeo.
Dave Ramsey helping out the World Barefoot Center
January 6th, 2012After reading Dave Ramsey’s book EntreLeadership, many things he shared in his book sunk deep into my slowly maturing mind. I figured since he listened to me during a few clinics I hosted with him, why not listen to him? All kidding aside, Dave did everything I told him during the barefoot waterskiing clinic even when I knew he did not want to. He accomplished great things on the water as a result. I also do the things Dave preaches on his website, live events and his books, even though saving money can be difficult. He trusts me and I trust him.
After reading about “Mission Statements” in EntreLeadership, I introduced the idea to my team at the World Barefoot Center. Our business has grown immensely in under three years and now that we had a solid foundation, it was time to create a mission statement.
Dave Ramsey and World Champion Keith St.Onge Barefoot Water Skiing
Should we have had a “Mission Statement” from the beginning? Yes. As a small business in its early stages, it would have been great to have from the beginning to keep everyone focused. If we would have had a statement, I’m positive it would have changed us, as we were being pulled in many different directions during the beginning years. A Mission Statement would have given us direction and motivation. When everyone is looking in the same direction with the same task and goals at hand, you have a powerful ship moving full steam ahead. That’s what a Mission Statement does.
We decided to all write a mission statement within a few days; meet again and share our ideas with one another. Our master writer, AJ Porreca, took our statements and wrote several models using various sentences we provided. We all gave our opinions on what we liked and did not like and finally came up with our “Mission Statement” for the World Barefoot Center. I can truly say I am proud to be a part of a TEAM that represents our “Mission!” We believe in our mission statement so much we are going to paint it on the wall of the ski school:
“To build champions on and off the water, show commitment to the improvement of our students beginner to advanced and utilize our business as a catalyst to ignite passion and growth within the sport.”
As I pass the book, EntreLeadership, to my team to read, I look forward to practicing what Dave preaches. Just as my students at the WBC ski school trust in me to practice what I preach.
Thank you for your guidance and friendship, Dave!
By: Keith St.Onge
Brody Meskers, WBC Sponsored Skier, Male Athlete of the Year
January 3rd, 2012
Brody Meskers, a sponsored skier with the World Barefoot Center, has been chosen as the American Barefoot Club Male Athlete of the Year for 2011. We’re proud of you, Brody!
Brody Meskers, ABC Male Athlete of the Year
Read more on Brody:
Featured Footer, Brody Meskers
Elaine Heller is the American Barefoot Club Female Athlete of the Year for 2011. Congrats to Elaine!
Elaine Heller, ABC Female Athlete of the Year
By: Karen Putz
World Barefoot Center Figure 8 Series
December 30th, 2011The 2011 year for figure eight barefooting was more exciting than ever. From Peter Flecks dominance of Footstock, to 4 different winners in the 4 individual events that make up the World Barefoot Center Figure Eight Series, which ultimately ended with a tie between Keith St Onge and Ron Blouw for the series championship. What follows is a recap of the WBC figure eight series events from 2011.
The WBC figure eight series started in June at Footapalooza in Rolling Prairie Indiana. 26 footers participated and Marc Donahue started 2011 where he left off in 2010, by winning the event over Keith St Onge. In the first run of the finals, Marc and Keith completed 3 and ½ 8’s, which ended up being the longest run of the day, when Keith beat Marc to give them each one loss. Marc turned back around and beat Keith on the run off after 2 and ½ 8’s. JJ Link took third with Ben Dieser a strong fourth, followed by Ron Blouw in fifth. The event takes place on a private lake and the view is spectacular from the shore. This is a great venue for a figure eight event.
JJ Link, Marc Donahue, Keith St.Onge
JJ Link , Marc D, Keith St Onge,
The next stop in the series was the Glen Meuller Figure Eight Challenge that takes place in St Louis, where 39 footers took to the water on a lake that only opens to ski boats on this one day for this tournament. This event offered prizes for the “best fall”, the “first 8”, and the “longest 8”, as well as the standard top finishers receiving awards. This event was won by Ron Blouw who needed to beat the undefeated Tim Knoezer twice as he was coming from the loser’s bracket. JJ Link again finished third, followed by Keith St Onge and Greg Fatla. The event takes place at a private country club, and is run by Tim Knoezer and Anthony Gramalino. If you get there early you can watch the ski show the night before.
Tim Knoezer, Ron Blouw, JJ Link
Tom Knoezer, Ron Blouw, JJ Link
The third event in the series is the Clean Lakes Festival Barefoot Challenge. This is just one of the many events in the Clean Lakes Festival, located in Madison Wisconsin. This event was won by Jon Debelak, who had to come from loser’s bracket to beat a previous Clean Lakes figure 8 champion Paul Stokes twice. Ron Blouw finished third, just ahead of his cousin Eric DeVries who was a strong fourth and Aaron Schoezel was fifth. One of the really cool things about this event is it’s proximity to downtown Madison. As is expected for any event in the figure eight series, this event was well run by Bob Manke and Paul Stokes.
Paul Stokes against Mike Netzer in Madison, WI
The last event in the series takes place at the World Barefoot Center. This event had 32 barefooters competing. David Small held off his business partner Keith St Onge to win his second consecutive title in this event. David and Keith did 8 after 8 in the two final runs, with Keith winning the first run to give David his first loss. David was just two solid to beat twice in a row and David won the run off over Keith. Ben Dieser finished third ahead of Marc Donahue and Ron Blouw. Like last year, there was an awards presentation located at the WBC ski school with food and drinks. The world Barefoot Center was a great host for the event.
Swampy, David_Small, Keith_St_Onge, Ben Dieser, Marc Donahue, Ron Blouw at the WBC Figure 8 Finals
Swampy, David Small, Keith St Onge, Ben Dieser, Marc Donahue, Ron Blouw
In the overall standings, Ron Blouw and Keith St Onge ended in a tie for the points lead, with Marc Donahue in third. Just how close was it? The two footers each finished with 125 points. Neither footer finished lower than 5th in any event, Ron had a 1st, a 3rd and a 5th, while Keith had two 2nds, and a 5th. Each footer had 2 wins in the finals, with Ron coming from the loser’s bracket to win twice in the final round in St Louis, and Keith came from the loser’s bracket in Indiana and in the WBC tournament to win on the first run each time, only to lose the next run in both instances. Each footer finished in the top three 2 times. They faced each other twice and each won once. It was indeed too close to call.
The entire series was very competitive with multiple winners in the individual events. Of the top three finishers in the individual events, there were 9 different footers to finish in the top 3, with Keith, Ron, and JJ the only three to place in the top three twice. The event was very competitive. The events attracted multiple footstock winners and other figure eight winners.
Keith St.Onge, Ron Blouw & Marc Donahue
Keith St Onge, Ron Blouw, Marc Donahue
This is a great series and the events went off very smoothly with great leadership. The WBC figure eight series motto is “no one left on the beach” and the tournament allowed duct tape to prevent blisters and either deep water starts or starts from a step off ski. It allowed for beginners as well as advanced footers to compete against each other. All ages were included with men and women competing head to head, there were even two sets of husbands and wives competing in the Florida event. This is a great way to get to know other barefooters who have a similar passion for the sport. It is also a way to go head to head with some of the best barefooters in the world, and who knows….anything might happen. If you have never tried a figure 8, join us at one of the events for next year, I bet you will get hooked. The event was sponsored by Reef Safe Sun Care, US Gear, and the World Barefoot Center.
By: Ron Blouw & Keith St.Onge
David Small and Ashleigh Stebbeings IWWF 2011 Barefoot Athletes of the Year
December 27th, 2011David Small and Ashleigh Stebbeings were selected for the 2011 International Waterski and Wakeboard Federation (IWWF) Male and Female Barefoot Skier Athletes of the Year.
From the World Barefoot Council:
David Small (GBR) – David continues to raise the bar in the barefoot trick event. During the 2011 season he posted three scores over his current World Record. On extremely close calls during record review, the last trick was found to be out of time in each case. His performance of 13,100 points at the 2011 Canadian Nationals serves notice of things to come in 2012. His dominence in the jump event once again went unchallenged as he won every event he competed in and holds the #1 world ranking in jump for the sixth time over the past eight years.
Ashleigh Steebeings (AUS) – Ashleigh’s 2011 season introduced women’s barefoot tricks to a completely new level of skill. Multiple turns prior to this season have been limited to a very few female barefoot trickers (in the distant past) scoring front to front 360 turns. Ashleigh executed every single muliple turn in the rule book this year over her comeptitive season. All four 720’s, all four 540’s all four 360’s. She tops the 2012 Rankings list in Tricks, Slalom and Overall. Still being only one of two women to jump inverted she holds the #2 spot in that event.
Both of these great atheltes will be going for gold at the 2012 World Championships on the waters of The Barefoot Ski Ranch in Waco Texas, August 27 – September 2, 2012.
