by h.harb » Thu Aug 24, 2023 12:58 pm
Skiing correctly with the right movements and components is difficult enough. However, after reading this thread I'm perplexed as to why some skiers want to make it even more difficult. Some of the reasons I sense from having worked with thousands of skiers are, that people rely on their sensations or feeling when skiing. Another reason is that they interpret the observation of skiing movements incorrectly. Often, even if they are feeling something is working it can fool you into believing it's heading you in the right direction. Using your own feelings as a learning method without expert feedback is just not an effective learning process. The comments here about using hip flexing as an approach to releasing is a perfect example. This focus will only serve to add compensatory movements that will head you down a rabbit hole that will be even more difficult later to pull you out. Why? Because it undoes counter-acting at release. Holding counteracting is a crucial part of becoming an expert skier. The best skiers bring the legs up with and by bending at the knee joint, that's called retraction. The hips should stay counteracted from the previously used movements that achieved CA from the arc of the turn. The tipping and bending of the inside leg prepare the leg and establish hip angles for that side of the body, with these movements (and CA) the hips are set for the perfect release. Do not bend, flex or lower you hips, focus on staying centered and balanced.
I point that out because hip flexing is detrimental and that focus isn't necessary if the turn is built properly. The idea is not well conceived, and those who are advocating it have not thought it out and definitely don't understand the pitfalls. I've worked very hard with a number of skiers in our camps to undo this tendency. If I didn't comment on this I would be delinquent in my goal of keeping skiing accurate with biomechanics understanding. Plus I'd be letting people go down the wrong path. If you are offended rather than looking at this as a learning opportunity, please reconsider and study, learn, and then use how PMTS literature instructs you to achieve traditions by outside leg bending and retraction.
I've worked with, skied with, and coached some of the best skiers in the world. On our Harb Ski Systems staff, we have a Ph.D. in biomechanics and numerous Engineers with multiple backgrounds and high-level skiing skills. We have contributors with Ph. D.s in education as well as coaches with degrees in computer science. We meet numerous times through the season, we compare notes, observe skiing for further refinements, and practice these refinements so we can always produce the simplest most efficient way of learning, teaching, and skiing. We also participate in a three-day coach's training every season to flush out everything we see through the season that needs refinement. This is an elite group of professionals with complete understanding and teaching capabilities. This is the reason why PMTS keeps evolving and will never stand still. Traditional ski instruction remains the same. The only minor changes they have made have been to clip little snippets from PMTS that I've written about in my books and produced in my videos. Try not to rely on and traditional teaching methods or justifications, as they are convoluted and getting more so as skiing evolves.