Tommy is right: one-ski skiing is the best drill of all

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Tommy is right: one-ski skiing is the best drill of all

Postby Mr. T » Tue Jan 06, 2004 12:06 pm

I agree with Tommy who just came to this forum from Sweden. And by the way, welcome Tommy.

...A regular exercise for these kids was to ride on one ski; they all left one ski at the start of the T-bar, rode up the lift on a single ski, and came blasting down doing linked turns on a single ski!


I insists that there is no better exercise in my opinion to achieve expert
level skiing. And it must not be a case that Harald's Instructor Manual puts a lot of emphasis on this drill in their Blue-to-Black, and Black level teaching.
To me one-ski skiing has become sort of an obsession. If you can ski one a single ski you can operate wonders on two!
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one ski skiing...

Postby tommy » Tue Jan 06, 2004 2:02 pm

Mr T,

thanks for the welcome!

And I agree with your agreement on the value of skiing on one ski:

until I got the foot bed done by Harald, there was no way I could ski on the uphill (little toe) edge on a single ski. But after the alignment, I really started to improve, and I spent the entire summer practicing one foot slaloms on my inlines, until I could do it forwards and backwards on either foot. When I got to the slopes this season, I no longer had any major difficulties to do linked turns on one ski on most blue and red slopes, even some black ones are ok.

But the really interesting observation was that my overall skiing has improved a lot thanks to this; it seems that there are many more options available to you, in turning, when you have the ability to ride on all 4 edges.

Cheers,
Tommy
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Tommy is right: one-ski skiing is the best drill of all

Postby Bluey » Thu Jan 08, 2004 6:51 am

I sensed a feeling of oneness with the type of experience Tommy had when he came across PMTS and his camp experience.

I've never enjoyed skiing so much since I came across PMTS.
My fun factor on skis has been dialed right up.
I even enjoy the PMTS drills because they are easy to understand and easy to perform.

Let me take a step backwards and say that the Traditional ski lessons always left me confused.
I got to be a blue level skiier via traditional lessons and like Tommy I could see I was still lacking......I thought I was doomed to be a terminal intermediate....I felt it was getting to be like a lottery for me...some times I'd ski OK and then whoops I'd be down in the snow or else my leg muscles would be so tired I'd be taking breaks part the ways down a slope.......

So what changed it for me?
Firstly, I read HH's books.
Eureka!! I thought......here were the answers to what I was doing wrong and more importantly the practical actions and drills to fix it.
At first it was almost too much detail but everything was there. Everything.
I was hooked.
I got on the phone and ordered the videos.
They were even better and they weren't just a rehash of the Books .....they added value by reinterpreting the books in such a way so that what I didn't pick up from the Books now became clear.........I couldn't wait to get down to the snow and put all this good stuff into practice.

How'd I go on the slopes on my first run?
Not as good as I was expecting!! I felt disappointed and frustrated
I was better but I was was missing the first basic element......Alignment.......
Right,.... so I went off and I got a footbed for my right foot from a local ski shop. The Books had spoken about Alignment. I'd never appreciate alignment until I'd read the Books.
Bingo !! The footbed worked....but now it was obvious my balancing skills were deficient......back to the Books. The dryland exercises helped......I even made myself a balancing board by following the instructions in Book 2.
OK ....now I could balance on one foot and this was the first and best exercise I could do......very quickly my stance narrowed tremendously.
I was now hitting the slopes harder then ever and loving it but my leg muscles still ached and I was still taking breaks half ways down the slopes......it looked like i was always going to be the dirty snowball.

What was I doing wrong??
I had no idea how to fast track this......yes I did !!......
I got on the phone and booked myself into a Harb camp.
Best decision I ever made. In hindsight, I should have done this earlier.
The Books are great but there's nothing like a Harb camp to quickly come to understand/absorb what Primary Movements are all about.

At the camp I even got the instructors to make me one of their PMTS footbeds. I wanted to see if the "PMTS" footbed would be any different. It was certainly more comfortable and if felt like there was more support in the right places.... so that's about all I can say about their footbeds.

Anyway to make a, now, long story even longer......I had a great instructor, ( thank you Peter Stone) ...by the end of the first morning the instructor had watched me ski; told me exactly what my main problem was...but more importantly told me exactly what to do about it.
I went off to practice it in the break.
That was it.....I'd got it !!

The rest of the week was the same......more simple drills, more insights into what I was doing wrong, more practical tips on how to fix it ; more practice and more success.
It was a great week for me.
It was similarily a great week for the other campers in my group......
It was amazing to see people who had skiied for decades, and we're still struggling before they came to the camp, suddenly over the course of a week start really enjoying themselves and increase their skill levels.
Really powerful stuff.

I'm a very happy skiier now.
I'm feel confident on the slopes but more importantly I don't have those sore leg muscles and I'm not stopping half way down the slopes for a rest. PMTS movements are energy efficient......and probably there is a lesser chance of me injuring myself.

I caught up with some mates in the weekend immediately following the Harb Camp and they were amazed at how I skiied and my new-found gracefully- looking style......I found myself leading-off and beating them down the slopes with a real sense of how easy skiing could be.

So whats the point of all of this blabber above??
Well, as I said above, I sensed a feeling of oneness with the type of experience Tommy had when he came across PMTS and his camp experience.
I also wanted to to reiterate that PMTS works and works quickly......not just in giving people skills but also allowing them to develop a style whereby it becomes easy for them to enjoy themselves and really dial up that fun factor.
Fun, Fun, Fun.......in the end that's what its all about for me when I'm on the slopes. Skiing is a fun sport.
I'll stay out of the politics of which is the best teaching method 'cause I'm not knowledgable enough to comment other than to say PMTS worked very quickly for me and for my fellow campers and it's carried out in a very professional manner.

So what skills/drills am I working on now??........
Dryland balancing skills; One footed balance with my eyes closed, and in additon I'm also practicing just using the balancing -board I made.

What skills will I first focus on when winter comes back down here to Oz??
On those first runs dow the slopes it'll be...releasing, pole skills, the float, fore/aft balance, continuum of tipping, having fun.....

Enough, enough !!! Time for bed.

Hooroo

Bluey


Last one down's a dirty snowball !!
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Postby -- SCSA » Thu Jan 08, 2004 1:35 pm

Hello Bluey, Tommy and Mr. T,

One thing about being a member of such a small group is that it's easy to remember names! :P

Ha ha ha. :)

It's really great reading your posts. I have to say, you guys have done a much better job then I ever have talking about PMTS, dating back to my now famous "97%" post on epic.

Hopefully, we'll see more of us. I know I've turned a lot of people on to PMTS on the chair lift. My buddy is now into it as well. Here's a clip from his last emai:

"Thanks for the info. I can certainly purchase the book, but I would still like to borrow the video. With just the little you already explained to me, I feel so much more in control. I also understand about the right equipment being key. Unfortunately, it's not in the economic forcast right now. Just had to drop 900 bucks getting the maintenance done on my car."

My buddy is a guy whose been skiing the wrong way for years. I'm not even an instructor and I was able to help his skiing in just one day. He's more excited about skiing than ever.

So if those in the ski business are lurking, here's the message. Your biggest asset and your biggest weakness is your ski school. Teach PMTS, and make the first few lessons free, you'll see an increase in your bottom line, I guarantee you.

Be cool,
-- SCSA
 

Re: Tommy is right: one-ski skiing is the best drill of all

Postby gravity » Sat Feb 07, 2004 5:58 pm

Mr. T wrote:I insists that there is no better exercise in my opinion to achieve expert
level skiing.


Granted, Mr. T, one ski skiing is a formidable exercise. But saying it is the best exercise is short sighted. Many students will struggle with different skill mastery. For some it might be the pivot slip. For others it might be conquering fear.

Being a good instructor requires you to see beyond your nose. Knowing yourself is a wonderful thing for self teaching. Looking beyond yourself is the skill of a great teacher.

I suspect you find one ski skiing a challenge or you wouldn't laud it as "the best" exercise.
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Postby jclayton » Mon Feb 09, 2004 4:15 am

Hi all,
just spent a couple of days practising some of the tips in these posts . I agree that one ski skiing is a great excercise , for me it helps fore/aft balance and smoothness of transition , plus it just feels good in itself , the lovely feeling of the ski rolling over onto edge . Also pole plants make a big difference .

One small point though , I tend to drop my behind back at transition and hunch shoulders forward to keep balance on one ski . If I stand more upright I lose the ability to unweight using flexion and the ability to angulate while on the uphill edge . Any ideas ??

J.C.
skinut ,among other things
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Postby Mr. T » Mon Feb 09, 2004 3:28 pm

Reply to Gravity.

Yes, I found it challenging and still do, but now I can do it. I am not able to ski black runs on a single ski, I can do some blue, but the improvement it brought in my skiing and my level of confidence is un-matched by any other skill I learned. Pivot slips are good too, but I found I benefited less from them. Maybe bump skiing? But you are right, I may give it more importance than I should. It did the most for my skiing. I wish I had not
neglected it many years ago.
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Pivot Slips - sounds bad, but I didn't know what it was

Postby John Mason » Wed Mar 03, 2004 5:13 pm

"Method 5 -- Pivot Slips
pivotslip
from sideslip, add forward pressure until skis move forward and across hill
remain flexed as skis cross hill
pole plant and extend to release edges, and pivot both skis
re-engage edges progressively to track back across hill
repeat sequence several times
earlier tipping with same amount of pivoting (15 to 20 turns)
slow rate of pivoting slightly to lengthen shape of turn "

So basically, while skis are not edging, you pivot them as in turn them.

I'm not sure where Gravity is coming from but as a person who came to PMTS frustrated with Traditional Methods and for others browsing the forum thinking about PMTS let me give a laymans experience.

In the Traditional Method (apparently clear up to "level 7") steering the ski's is all about rotary movement. In PMTS it's all about tipping and riding the ski's while the ski's are doing the turning. The Phantom Move helps a novice tip to turn at the earliest stages.

What is great about one ski excersizes of any type is if all your weight is on one ski, it's very dificult to twist or steer your ski. If your ski is not released and is engaged in a good carve you really can't twist it if you tried.

This is what is so good about the one ski drill that started this post. The practitioner of this drill is turning by tipping. They are learning balance and are learning active tipping in both directions with the same foot. This awakens the mind how to do a weighted release which is perhaps the fastest way to launch your self into the next turn while using the ski's stored up energy.

I started out the traditional method which really emphsizes leg steering which totally negates the use of shaped ski's and ultimatly is unlearned at the end of the traditional method. So why go there in the first place.

So I suppose one could say Pivot Slips may be the breakthru so why should one love one ski drills unless they were having problems with the drill. But I would also suppose that a person saying this is somehow bound to traditional ideas about ski instruction. But I would tend to think from what I have experienced myself that any drill at any level that involves leg steering or pivoting is counterproductive and should be avoided.
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Re: Pivot Slips - sounds bad, but I didn't know what it was

Postby BigE » Thu Mar 04, 2004 9:58 am

John Mason wrote:"Method 5 -- Pivot Slips
pivotslip
from sideslip, add forward pressure until skis move forward and across hill
remain flexed as skis cross hill
pole plant and extend to release edges, and pivot both skis
re-engage edges progressively to track back across hill
repeat sequence several times
"


Interesting that this sequence is also taught in Canada, and not by PMTS instructors. It starts with a traverse, pole plant, extend and pivot, progressivley engage edges, flex...

I am a bit confused as to the wording, "from sideslip, add forward pressure to move forward and across the hill". When sideslipping, then adding pure forward pressure will cause the tails to have less pressure than the shovels, so you'll end up with shovels above tails, slipping backwards down the hill. From a pure side-slip I cannot see how one can move *across* the hill without edge engagement. I can see the side-slip, pivot, extend, engage sequence working. Can someone please clarify this?

Thanks.
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I'm just quoting the Pivot Slip drill

Postby John Mason » Fri Mar 05, 2004 8:53 pm

Doesn't make sense to me either but since Gravity said maybe pivot slips is the breakthru momemt for some one I got curious and found that reference.

When I'm practicing or sking the last thing I'm trying to do is anything having to do with a pivot move, or stem entry to a turn, or any wedgie thing.
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Postby rbrooks » Sat Mar 06, 2004 9:39 am

In Gravity's defense, I think he was simply throwing pivot slips out there as an example of a drill that skiers are familiar. I don't think he meant it as a drill for anyone to try.

Of course, provocateur that he is, he may have meant it as the drill least likely to be recommended by a PMTS-oriented skier--in essence, the antithesis of one-ski skiing.

And now, flatlander that I am, back to my Harbcarvers. As they say on the diver message boards, "Ski Safe, Ski Often (SSSO)".

Randy Brooks
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Postby -- SCSA » Sat Mar 06, 2004 9:12 pm

Anything you're doing that promotes riding the edges better, is all good (I'm starting to get burned out on that phrase but it fits so I'm going with it)! :D
-- SCSA
 

Re: I'm just quoting the Pivot Slip drill

Postby BigE » Fri Mar 12, 2004 2:41 pm

John Mason wrote:Doesn't make sense to me either but since Gravity said maybe pivot slips is the breakthru momemt for some one I got curious and found that reference.

When I'm practicing or sking the last thing I'm trying to do is anything having to do with a pivot move, or stem entry to a turn, or any wedgie thing.


Hmmm. That happens to me when I am practicing carving. I think that the pivot slips drill is the name given to this sequence:

1) maintain traverse
2) release both edges, hold. (Erases your tracks, you slip somewhat downhill while maintaining some motion in the direction of the traverse)
3) pole plant, pivot and extend ( There is no "up", extend is "reach with your legs".)
4) initiate edge
5) Progressively increase edge angle through the turn, and flex.
6) Repeat

Slow rate of pivoting slightly to lengthen shape of turn.

I'm not going to guess behind the motivation with which it was posted.

This is taught in Canada. The CSIA does believe that pivoting is fine. One-ski skiing is also taught here. There is no "either-or" mentality.

Note that when pivoting is reduced to zero, the turn is it's longest. The edges simply get rolled to the other side, after being released. The reach still happens. The result is a series of carved turns.

Illuminate me: Why is pivoting so "bad"? Are carved turns really the only "good" turns? :shock:
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