Personally, I don?t understand this distaste for thinking or concentrating on your movements while you are skiing. Thinking while skiing is not exclusive to having fun when skiing. I have for decades done drills and exercises for the purpose of developing proper sensations to create effective movements. I have also coached this approach to generations of ski racers.
I have used drills and exercises extensively with ski racers who have won gold medals, and world championships, both in racing and extreme skiing. Ask Chris Davenport where he developed the discipline in his skiing to ski the extreme conditions safely. He will tell you it came from the drills and gate training he received when he was a young racer. The same will be true for Erich Schlopy etc. but possibly not Bode. He might be the exception. It is still apparent in his skiing today.
After I have done these exercises, I keep the successful movements that I created while doing the exercises in my memory banks. When I ski, I call up the stored sensations from my memory banks and keep focused on them to produce the movements and skiing I want. I push the envelope and test the movements on the most difficult conditions and at high speed. I always challenge my turns and the quality of my turns when I ski. Having coached some of the best skiers that came out of the USA I know how these athletes conduct themselves. They work on drills and perfect movements at very slow speeds. The Austrians do the same. You can see them working on drills before training or racing. These are often very specific drills that are tedious for some, but invigorating for others.
The discussion that ensued after John M. went skiing and expected to ski with Rusty and BB was an example of unfilled expectations. John was getting on his skis after an intense three days of carver camp and wanted to feel the relationship of Harb Carvers to his skiing movements. He was also trying to feel a new pair of skis. After a few runs with drills, he probably just went out to make some turns.
I saw posts that said basically, ?John forget about all the technique and just go out and ski.? This is bad advice and doing or following that advice will never make you the skier you want to be. The bottom line is stick with what motivates you. John is highly motivated to become an expert skier. He will not achieve that level quickly unless he is very focused. He was doing the right thing beginning the way he did on that day, especially given the circumstances of the weekend and the new skis,
Rusty wanted to just ski. His motivation was mileage and runs, great, nothing wrong with that, but don?t put a guy down for wanting to get better. The world cup skiers do exactly what John was doing, but I don?t see any one attacking their approach to getting on their skis. Just because John has the knowledge to converse with the experienced PSIA instructor doesn?t mean he is over focused on technique or skiing movements. You will find that many PMTS regular recreational skiers know more about how to use successful movements in skiing than ski instructors. I reference the numerous posts almost all by PMTS recreational skiers on this forum. They have a clear understanding of skiing and what makes skiing work. The reactions to posts and in-depth knowledge demonstrated by the PMTS skiers often frustrate the TTS band of instructors. As the knowledge of skiing of the PMTS skiers, which is developed in such a short time, is in every respect equal to or more accurate than many of the professionals posting. I find it extremely interesting that recreational skiers can discuss the nuances ski technique based on two different systems (PSIA and PMTS) at the high level and make points that are accurate and based in facts and science. Many of the PSIA instructor posts are opinions, conjecture and fallacies. Since they argue from their point of view based in their PSIA training they always demonstrate a bias. PMTS mostly (except Jeff) have compared, evolved out and away from PSIA instruction. It is for this reason they have more credibility than the PSIA instructor who posts. I have training in many systems, Austrian, Canadian, USSA Coaches, PSIA and a movement based system called PMTS. I choose to use the movement based system because I have compared the systems, used the systems and taught the systems. I have asked for client feedback and I have compared results. If PSIA or the Austrian system were more effective wouldn?t I use them? I am after all an Austrian born American.
I know I get the responses that say I developed PMTS out of those systems. Before this happens I?ll save some posts and say no! You are wrong. I did not evolve PMTS from any other system. If anyone believes this they don?t know PMTS. In fact, most of the posters commenting on PMTS have no training in PMTS and have only partially read PMTS materials. I can make this comment because I see the lack of complete knowledge in the points put forward by PSIA instructors about PMTS techniques and results on this forum.
I don?t ever want to have my skiing deteriorate in my later years. I see my father skiing, he is 83. He skis like a fifty year old man. He is able to ski all terrain with excellent technique. He races in European Masters events and is competitive with the sixty year old age group. With the nutrition and training understanding we have today, a good skier who is fifty years old now should be able and still be excellent at ninety and that?s what I?m shooting for.
You can?t do that unless you stay sharp every winter and keep pushing your limits. Skiing on blue terrain cruising around with a Jagermeister in your back pocket is fine and fun for some, but that is not my cup of tea. I?d rather have a Red Bull and tear up the A-Bowl and do it until I?m 90.