2 Years!

[jbotti]

I probably should be embarassed to report that it has taken me me a solid two years of drill and other work to get my CA to where it needs to be in my off piste skiing. In reality I am actually pretty thrilled (not with how long it has taken me) but with the fact that after much work the results are showing up in my skiing. Some of this was starting to show up a month or so ago and much was a direct result of working the angry mother drill consistently. About a month ago something clicked and I was able to feel and duplicate the right position of my hips from the AM drill to my off piste skiing. I skied with Max last week in Montana and the result is still in place and improving. I definitely skied some funky conditions with ice, crud and bumps underneath that would have messed me up pretty good last year and for the most part it seemed easy to ski.

Harald and Diana have said this before. Off piste in steep difficult conditions CA is the secret weapon. It is also what enables us to ski at terminal velocity. The only reaosn I was able to ski the cud over ice without issue was because I was skiing it fast with momentum and at terminal velocity. To ski at terminal velocity you have to know that you can cut the next turn at any moment. What enables us to do that is CA.

Enough preaching on CA. I will now preach on another topic. 2 years seems like an eternity to me but that is how long it took to get this result. I actually had some time where I was working it at the end of 3 seasons ago, so it probably has taken me close to 100 ski days to produce this result. And I don't think that every result takes 100 ski days but I am not sure anyone can make great permanent changes in less than 25-30 ski days. I write this to encourage those that are working hard and diligently on certain drills but haven't seen the big breakthrough yet. Hell if you asked me in February I would have probably said I'm not sure it will ever happen because I have worked for 2 yeras and I still don't have the result. Clearly, if we keep working diligently, correctly (doing the drills and movements correctly: checking them with video or with a PMTS coach) the results will come. That's why Harald said ANYONE can be an expert skier. It just takes a boatload of work.

[Skizoo]

100% agree with everything above.

I just wrapped up my season yesterday after spending several weeks at Keystone skiing many days with the Summit gang. CB and especially CA was a large part of what we worked on, and where I, and I'm guessing the vast majority of skiers working on PMTS struggle the most. It is also something you tend to 'think' you are doing well, and doing it 'enough' only to find out you're often not even close to where you need to be.

There were days when I made some really nice progress thanks to the tips and drills presented to me, and the biggest feedback for knowing I was doing it better other than verbal feedback, was feeling it in muscles that just hadn't been used that much.

I ski about 120-130 days per year, many of them solo, but the feedback I got in the past few weeks is worth it's weight in gold. Skiing with like minded really GOOD PMTS skiers is amazing because when you don't, you have no real point of reference. Things you often think are right about you're skiing, will often turn out a bit differently than you expect. But that's a good thing, because as Jbotti said, if you work at it, it will come. All of us arrive there at different speeds, and seriously, most skiers who really work at PMTS are better than 99% of the skiers on any mountain, but it's a sliding scale as I'm not really measuring myself against the best of the worst but the best of the best. What we try and achieve is a much higher standard of skiing.

The key for me is consistency, it's what I strive for. It's also not easy. Yesterday we moved to Abasin, very different conditions early which was all I was able to ski, firm, hard chunky..etc.. I felt like I skied horribly and that was confirmed by Geoffda. I still might have been the 5th best skier on the mountain (at least of those I saw) it's not a mystery who the top 4 were.

Keep working at it, I've been doing this 5 years now, and it's still, and always will be a work in progress, but there's been more progress in those 5 years than in the first 35-40.

[geoffda]

I felt like I skied horribly and that was confirmed by Geoffda.

Not true, I just confirmed that your tipping was stopping fairly early in the turn. Even so, and despite conditions that were garbage, you were skiing with grace, control and consistency. Just because you can still get a lot better doesn't mean you aren't very good now. Don't forget to stop and admire your accomplishments along the way.

And nice work on the CA John. That's a focus of mine these days as well. Did Max_501 get any good video of you ripping that you would care to share?

[Skizoo]

Thx Geoff, one of the traps that I think I fall into when we get a change of conditions like we had Monday morning, is I tend to get 'defensive' with my skiing. I think I needed to do more of most things and I was doing less. Locking tipping, less CA, and CB, where the opposite is what was needed.

I was being a little dramatic saying I was skiing 'horribly', but honestly, with that being my last run of the season, your comments will stick with me all off season, and I mean that in a good way, that kind of feedback will be with me on the first turn of the first run next fall, the focus will be there at the beginning. It's really valuable feedback, though I have to admit I wish I had time for another run

[A.L.E]

Angry mother drill......thanks High Angles. Looks good!

No question I need to drill this one plenty more too.
The benefits would have come in handy on Headwaters at Moonlight Basin last week.

[Bonz]

100 days...
For someone that is lucky to get double digit days in a year, the Anyone Can be an Expert Skier, doesn't ring so true. Anyone with the time, money, and lives in the right place, maybe.

[Max_501]

It takes thousands of hours of perfect practice to become an expert at any sport. The cool thing is that those with the motivation have a path to becoming an expert with PMTS.

[Bonz]

...and as I was saying.

I,and I suspect most people, don't have the luxury of thousands of hours of perfect practice.
I'll be happy progressing as much as possible and having fun, knowing I'll never be an expert.

[Max_501]

I,and I suspect most people, don't have the luxury of thousands of hours of perfect practice.

And yet the average American spends 1768 hours per year watching TV.

[Bonz]

Come on Max...how is that even relevant?

Be realistic/fair here. Comparing TV habits to alpine skiing is a 'bit' of a stretch wouldn't you say?
I certainly have the motivation to become the best skier I can. But I don't have the time, or resources.
I do have a TV at my finger tips, but I'm no longer an expert at that since Time Warner went and screwed with the lineup.

I think its awesome some people like jbotti reach these milestones, and I suppose my first response was a bit of veiled jealousy, but it seems like some times those that are able to reach these levels, look down on those who don't as if it's their lack of dedication that keeps them from getting to the expert level, when in reality there are a lot of other barriers.

[ToddW]

Some of those thousands of hours could be spent practicing one footed balance while watching TV. If that gets boring, toss in a wobble board or bosu ball. Or try stretching to increase range of motion (a big part of jbotti's effort to develop CA). Or do exercises from Ski Flex during your TV hours. Or build a slant board and use it during programming breaks. Or watch while standing inside a door frame and practice transitions to get cleanly from contact with one side to the other.

Or, if you're willing to ditch the TV, spend some of those hours skiing black snow on Harb Carvers. And get some mileage on a bicycle to prep your legs and cardio if you only get a few days skiing at altitude and can't "ski yourself into shape."

And since you spend lots of time brushing your teeth and most likely in front of a mirror, do the geoffda drill then -- practice recruiting your pelvis as a participant in CB. Ten minutes a day will add up. And you can easily add CA into the mix. Pay attention to this! Geoffda lives ten minutes from Keystone and skis more days probably than anyone except Max_501 and Jay. But he still finds this tooth brushing drill valuable.

And whenever you're waiting in the grocery store or work cafeteria checkout line, there's no better time to play with one footed balance, tipping, CA, and CB. Even moderate flexing doesn't draw bad attention.

[Max_501]

Todd nailed it. Dyland is a serious part of my ski training.

1 - Wobble board
2 - Balance board (Pivit)
3 - Infinity 8 board
4 - Slant board
5 - The floor (ski specific stretches and CA range of motion movements)
6 - Indoor Slackline
7 - Carvers for June - November practice
8 - Skiers Edge
9 - Mountain Bike (one of the best form of cross training for skiing I have found)

[jbotti]

Come on Max...how is that even relevant?

Be realistic/fair here. Comparing TV habits to alpine skiing is a 'bit' of a stretch wouldn't you say?
I certainly have the motivation to become the best skier I can. But I don't have the time, or resources.
I do have a TV at my finger tips, but I'm no longer an expert at that since Time Warner went and screwed with the lineup.

I think its awesome some people like jbotti reach these milestones, and I suppose my first response was a bit of veiled jealousy, but it seems like some times those that are able to reach these levels, look down on those who don't as if it's their lack of dedication that keeps them from getting to the expert level, when in reality there are a lot of other barriers.

There is continuum in life with results on one end and excuses on the other. Not everyone has to put in thousands of hours of work on their skiing. If you want results in skiing, using PMTS or just in life you have to have dedication and put in high quality work. Hope and opposing thumbs is what separates us from animals. Looking at possibility is what motivates us. Anyone and everyone will improve if they put in some high quality work. How much we improve depends on how much of that work we put in.

We are not putting anyone down. We are presenting everyone with possibility and also telling everyone how much hard work it takes.

[dan.boisvert]

I find people here to be remarkably generous. There are people here who are really dedicated to improving their skiing, and it would be unreasonable for me to expect the same results they've achieved, given my comparably lackadaisical approach. Instead, I take responsibility for having other priorities, and focus on using PMTS to achieve maximal results given the time I've chosen to allocate to improving my skiing.

I don't see the point in pretending to be 100% dedicated to improving my skiing when I'm only devoting 20-30 days/season to it, you know? Realistically, I'm more like 5-10% dedicated to improving my skiing, once you figure in days I go to work to maintain a comfortable lifestyle instead of skiing, days I ski with friends and just goof off, days I miss by aborting my season early to start kayaking while snowmelt has the creeks at runnable levels, etc.

I'm not sure why people get offended when others suggest they're not supremely dedicated to a given pursuit. Most of us have other priorities, don't we? Jobs, families, etc? Saying I'm maybe 5-10% dedicated to improving my skiing isn't an insult; it's reality. It helps me set reasonable goals, given the amount of time I've allocated. Other folks have different lives and are able to devote more time. Why begrudge them that?

[Bonz]

Todd nailed it. Dyland is a serious part of my ski training.

1 - Wobble board
2 - Balance board (Pivit)
3 - Infinity 8 board
4 - Slant board
5 - The floor (ski specific stretches and CA range of motion movements)
6 - Indoor Slackline
7 - Carvers for June - November practice
8 - Skiers Edge
9 - Mountain Bike (one of the best form of cross training for skiing I have found)

Thanks, this is all true. I was referring more to time on the snow...a lot of the dry training is certainly do able. I was actually looking at balance boards yesterday.