Free skiing is fun, but let's be honest - every so often, you have to measure yourself against the six turns of a regulation slalom course. Whether you're running the course with a full-length line at 30 miles per hour or going 25-off at 36 mph, you gotta do the course. And running the course means, hopefully, seeing a little improvement from last time. It doesn't have to be a dramatic gain, but you want to get another half-buoy put away, or maybe shorten the line a hoop. All it takes is desire, dedication, and according to Drew Ross - owner and operator of Orlando's Drew Ross Ski Academy ( www.drew-ross.ws), a Malibu team professional, and the #4 slalom skier in the world in 2005 - a more scientific attack.

Slalom skiing is, in Ross' eyes, a game of efficiency more than anything else, and you improve by first understanding the geometry involved, then acting upon that understanding. It's all angles and curves and putting them together seamlessly; it's not about size and brute strength. "People with slight builds can do great," Ross says, "because they're technically sound." If you find yourself straining mightily at the end of the rope, you're not having a technically sound run. A technically solid run can seem almost effortless.

"It's all about geometry," Ross explains. "Think of the boat's direction of travel as the Y-axis, and your direction of travel as the X-axis. Your goal as a skier is to maximize the ratio of X-axis to
Y-axis travel." In other words, if the boat travels 10 feet along its axis, and you travel 15 feet along your axis instead of the 10 feet you traveled last time, you've improved your efficiency.

But Ross quickly points out that simply increasing your speed isn't enough. You have to increase your acceleration at the right time - from the completion of the buoy turn to the point where you reach the wake. "The earlier you build speed," Ross says, "the earlier you'll be able to release and initiate the next turn." As an added bonus, initiating the turn early makes the turn easier ("avoiding an abrupt point of inflection," is how Ross describes it), as well as allowing you to complete the turn earlier, thus setting yourself up for - you guessed it - earlier acceleration out of the turn and into the wake. It's a beneficial cycle.

Of course, slalom skis don't have handy-dandy throttles you can use to get that acceleration when you want it. You have to do it all yourself. We all know that we need to keep the tow handle low, more or less against our hips, and to keep our knees slightly flexed and our backs as straight as possible, and that we build speed by leaning away from the boat. But we also need to know the theory behind the practice of making a good transition from acceleration to turn initiation, as well as making the turn itself.

The perfect turn, Ross says, is shaped like a C, not a J - symmetrical, smooth and graceful. To make that turn, "lead with your inside hip," he advises. If it's a right turn, your right hip leads you into the turn. As you make the turn, you actually want to "plant" that inside hip and make that the point around which your body pivots. As you pass through the apex of the right-hand turn, your body pivots around your right hip so that your left hip passes around and becomes the lead hip as you exit the turn and prepare to accelerate toward the wake.

As you leave the turn, Ross says, "keep an open chest posture on the way to the wake. This keeps your hips forward and lets you accelerate under control. It's motion by movement of center of mass. This minimizes inefficient loading and unloading."

Inefficient loading and unloading translates directly into a loss of speed, and a loss of speed equals a loss of direction. The boat will begin to travel a greater distance in relation to your travel across the course, so instead of making a beeline from buoy to buoy, you're now weaving a bit and having to work to overcome that weave. Every time you deviate from a straight line, you have to correct, and that's inefficient and leads to more loss of speed and direction. Now you're trapped in a vicious circle and your run's pretty much shot.

Rhythm and timing are also crucial aspects of attacking the slalom course. Maintain a smooth tempo and everything becomes easier, more fluid and more efficient. "Think of the tow rope as a swing," Ross says. "You're at the end of the rope, swinging back and forth behind the boat like a pendulum. You have a rhythm and a tempo just like you do if you're on a swing at a playground."

It's a relatively straightforward theory. As you approach the course, you relax and focus. Enter the course strong, with the handle low against your hip and your chest open. Let your inside hip (let's say it's your left) lead you to the first buoy, and as you make the turn, that leading hip becomes your body's pivot point. Exiting the turn, your right hip is now leading and your chest is open. Your back is straight, your knees slightly flexed, and you're accelerating as powerfully as possible - and in as straight and efficient a line as possible - from buoy to wake. As you exit the wake, you prepare for the next turn, arcing smoothly and gracefully, decelerating (naturally and slightly) as you initiate the turn early, setting yourself up for an early turn completion and early acceleration out of the turn. Throughout, you run smoothly and efficiently, just like a human version of Foucault's pendulum.

According to Ross, you don't have to have a regulation slalom course to work on your slalom technique. "Think tempo and swing while you're free skiing," he recommends. "You're swinging out to the apex of the arc and back to the wake with each turn. You replace speed every time you exit a turn and approach the wake. Use your free ski time to get used to going fast, because speed is everything when you're actually on the course."

You have to be comfortable with building speed and comfortable with going fast, and free skiing is a great time to increase that comfort zone. And the next time you decide to measure yourself against the course, you'll be standing tall.