Paul Stokes' Corner

I am 100% sold on off-season training.  Last winter was the first time that I had a consistent work out schedule and my skiing benefited from this.  I had a very successful season and peaked at the World Championships.  I have just begun my training for this off-season.  I am married to a physical therapist so I take her advice on training methodologies.   The most important thing in the off season is to keep the weight off.  The best way to do that is with aerobic exercise.  I recommend doing several different exercises to break up the monotony.  I run outside, run on a treadmill, mountain bike, stationary bike, and I also use a machine called "The Gauntlet".  The gauntlet is a stair climber with real stairs.  All of these aerobic exercises should be done a minimum of 30 minutes 3 times a week.  You will get the best results if you complete 45 minute session 4-5 times a week.  This type of training also aids in keeping your legs in shape and enhancing your endurance.

If you are motivated to do more, weight lifting will benefit your spring skiing.  Below is a simple workout that focuses on muscles used in barefoot skiing.  Three days a week:  Upper body one day, lower body one day, and total body one day.  Rest at least one day between lifting sessions.  Complete three sets of 10-12 repetitions to maintain muscular endurance.

• Squats
• Leg Press
• Leg Curls
• Calf Raises
• Lunges
• One legged squats   (stand on one leg, grab beneath the knee of the raised leg and lower as much as you can before raising back up)  Even if you don’t do toe ups this is a great exercise for strength and balance.
• Bench
• Seated Row
• Lat Pulls in front
• Bicep Curls
• Triceps push downs
• Don’t forget the ol’ abs.

I guarantee these workouts will benefit your skiing and make you feel great.  You will be sore the first couple of weeks and then your body gets used to it.  Take it easy at first to keep from pulling a muscle.  Good luck.

I think it is sad that Waterski magazine would drop us.  I could not believe the coverage on the Worlds or, should I say, lack of coverage.  It seems to me that it is a vicious cycle.  The magazines and TV do not give us good coverage so the sponsors do not give us money.  Then, there is no sponsor money to support the TV coverage.   

A few reasons I feel it is difficult for this sport to grow: 

1. The limited "ideal" locations to foot 
2. It’s a hard sport to become proficient and
3. It takes a special person to enjoy our sport, especially after a brutal bell ringing crash.   

This sport will be around as long as 45 m.p.h. motorboats are legal.  I feel that the sport is presently growing.  We hit an all time low in the early to mid 90’s, but I believe foot’n is on the rise.  Premier events like the X-Games, Gravity Games, and the new Adrenaline Games have helped to advertise our sport in the past and will help hopefully in the future.  These events give barefooting a chance to be seen by all sorts of sports enthusiasts.  Barefoot Central is also a great asset to our sport.  The more people become educated about this sport and see the fun things that are done, the more it will grow. 

Our sport needs to have visible pros who continue to support the sport and educate others.  It is up to our top skiers to be role models and work hard to give kids and adults someone to look up to.  The top skiers need to continue to be positive assets to the sport.  Our top skiers need to get individual sponsors, have good performances for the cameras when they have the chance, and work hard to help organize and support cash prize tournaments.

Big events are the key to our sport’s growth.  A three stop professional tour should be our next endeavor.  We already have one event at the Nationals.  The South Central region can easily put an event together.  Anyone else up for it?  West?  Midwest?  The only people that will be able to set this up is the skiers themselves.  The key will be to get the top footers behind these organized events.  Two years ago I tried to set up a cash prize tournament in New Orleans, The Ultimate Barefoot Championships.  It did not have a huge cash prize, but the money was there.  If you placed, your expenses were covered and you had cash in your pocket.  I called all the top guys.  They said they would come.  I worked hard with the help of Heather and Richard Grant.  We had sponsors and cash prizes.  The event was great except the "big boys" didn’t show.  They would rather do traveling clinics, where they can make some cash - that is their bread and butter.  We have to get those guys to show up to these events.  We have to start somewhere.  If we document our events and work hard this thing will fly.  

I believe in grass roots programs, but I really feel that a trickle down effect will work in this situation.  Let’s work hard to get a little spotlight on the top skiers to give everyone something to look towards. 

Paul Stokes

Check out more cool stories from Paul in our Stories From the Road Section.  If you would like to email Paul, his email is paulstokes@fluid-distribution.com