PMTS and a new understanding of "Dead End Skills"

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PMTS and a new understanding of "Dead End Skills"

Postby jbotti » Mon Dec 15, 2003 4:33 pm

I am 43 years old, my wife is 45 and we both started skiing last year. My wife and I had the pleasure of spending the weekend with Harold and Diana in Colorado. They fit us both in new boots, fixed some major alignment issues in my stance, and then worked on our skiing. Prior to this weekend I had skied a total of 24 days and most of them with PSIA instructors. I had progressed to what instructors call level 6.5. What became apparent almost immediately skiing with Harold was that in my 24 days of skiing I had developed some terrible habits. I had convinced my self that since I was mostly skiing with instructors that there was no way that I would develop bad habits. I was sadly wrong.
To elaborate a little, every time I commenced a hockey stop, I pressed off my non stance leg which enabled me to extend my stance foot and twist to initiate the turn. Harold pointed out that this is essentially a stem christie. More importantly, this is how I learned to turn and I formed a partial wedge almost every time. Every time I came to a stop I reinforced this habit rather than reinforcing a parallel turn. This is the definition of a "dead end skill".
Unfortunately by continually practicing this "dead end skill", whenever I got in more difficult terrain I resorted to my sure fire turn (the way I start all my hockey stops), and of course I got a wedge every time. It became quickly apparent to me that this is a sure fire way not to progress.
For me to improve, I need to start every turn by releasing the non stance foot, tipping the little toe edge and balancing on the stance leg. This is quite uncomfortable at times, and at times it appears to me that I may not actually be able to turn. What a great place to be! Instead of a false sense of security with a skill that is hurting my skiing, I now can truly experience my weakness and work on it until this new approach becomes second nature.
This was just one of several "dead end skills" that I had accumulated in my brief 24 days of skiing (and again mostly with PSIA instructors).
The happy ending is that at the end of a long and somewhat frustrating day on Saturday, I asked Harold if carving was obtainable for me. His answer was absolutely but with no timetable mentioned. The next morning I carved and I experienced a level of skiing that was not available to me on the path I was on.
I have posted this because looking at all the skiers on the mountain, I noticed that very few actually carve, engage both skis and even attempt to ski correctly. I was headed in the same direction. I can thank Peter for this site and introducing me to Harold and his books and videos, and of cousre thank you to Harold and Diana for making their knowledge available. Jbotti.
Balance: Essential in skiing and in life!
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jbotti
 
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Postby -- SCSA » Thu Dec 18, 2003 7:57 am

Another satisfied customer! Yippee!
Hey jbotti.

The next time you're out in CO, look me up. I'll be happy to make some turns with you and offer any advise. Of course, gratis.

Be cool,
-- SCSA
 


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