A.L.E wrote:I can watch that over and over and have been!!!!
The arc starts high but the hook up after the fall line is very cool. Skis are finishing virtually perpendicular to the fall line but done so tightly & smoothly!!
Something to aspire to during my upcoming 10 days in Big Sky. Just have to get the 26hr journey done first next Friday.
Tell me Jay, what areas are you focusing on in particular during a run of those short turns?
The hook under at the end of the turn comes from holding the tipping longer. This brings the skis more across the falline. The quickness with which that happens comes from increasing the tipping/angles through the turn -- also being able to relax the inside leg/legs more as you go through the turn. However, if you get this, you will finish more across the fall line which makes releasing more difficult. Therefore your release game has to be better if the connection from turn to turn is going to be smooth. Most of these things, I don't have to consciously focus on.
However, in order for this type of finish to work, you have to the counteraction to support the tipping. Therefore, in these turns I was specifically thinking about my counter action.
In a short turn with hook, the skis generate a lot of torque that is transmitted up your body and that torque tries to make the upper body rotate with the skis. If the body goes with the torque, the skis then lose grip and everything breaks down. You have to actively rotate against that torque right from the hip and into the upper body.
So, I was focusing on making my counteraction as strong as possible, and as early as possible after I start getting grip. I was also trying to hold the old turn counteracting through the release until I get grip. Everything, including how the poles are held/used and the pole plant is done has to support counteracting. I didn't always get it, but . . . that was my focus.
It's funny that you asked the question because just last night I had picked up an old copy of Stein Erikson's 1966 Come Ski with Me. In response to a question about how to make a carved turn, he said: "You will carve your turn instead of slipping, if you keep your downhill shoulder [for us, then outside shoulder] back and keep your body angulated. If in the turn, your downhill shoulder comes around too far and too fast, you will pull the hip with you, you will over rotate and side slip instead of carve."
Hmmmmm, sounds like something to pay attention to. Additionally, for us now days, when tipped on edge, our skis generate a lot of torque pulling the body to start rotating. Once it starts going the game is over. So, anytime the skis are engaged, there has to be definite counteracting without hesitation.