Problems in right turns...

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Problems in right turns...

Postby tommy » Sat Jan 10, 2004 4:28 am

jclayton wrote:

[I also had a problem with one side turning better than the other . My left leg is stronger than my right but turns on my right leg were better and cleaner than those on my left . Typically while turning to the right ( on left leg ) I had a bit of an A frame and had trouble doing the phantom move with my right . When I went for an alignment session with HH he found my left leg was bowed out 2.5 degrees , after canting I had no more trouble . It also explains why in turns to the left the phantom move was quite easy, my left leg was already in position . I always thought my legs were perfectly straight . Maybe your problem is similar in cause .]

Hola "J",

what you describe matches my situation exactly! I've always had a much stronger left leg. Left turns are clean, easy, while in right turns I feel that I really have to work to get the right foot enough to little toe edge to get the body into position. Actually, during spring camp, Harald pointed out that in my right turns, I tend to get a bit into an A-frame. But, overall, I'm knock-kneed, so in theory I should have a problem to tilt the free ski in both directions, but maybe there's a difference in angles...

I'll try to check out my legs myself to look for any alignment diffs. Question: the canting you got,was it done by adjusting the canting screws on your boots, or did you place a shim under your boot ?

Cheers,
Tommy
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Postby Guest » Sat Jan 10, 2004 5:34 am

Hi Tommy,

I tried canting the cuffs but I think it made no difference , I think what happens is it puts the leg in a forced unnatural position ( the foot remains in the same position in the lower boot ) . Canting with shims underneath the sole retains the natural foot/leg relationship, just changing the angle of the boot base . I'm no expert but the shims in my case made an immediate improvement .
Also the cuff canting I made in my old Technica TNT boots which were not laterally stiff anyway .
When HH measured me he took lots of other measurements such as ankle flexibility which also affect performance ( mine were not that flexible which affects ramp angle considerations ) .
Have a good look at your boots , maybe Harald mentioned something to you about this .

By the way did you go to the spring camp in Hintertux , I am thinking of going this year if work permits . How is it there .

Ciao
Jeremy
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Postby tommy » Sun Jan 11, 2004 4:56 am

Jeremy,

thanks for the advice on boots! Actually, I got custom footbeds made by Harald in Hintertux last spring, so I think my alignment is reasonably sound, but now, when I've spent some 15 days on the slopes this season, I've noticed this occational difficulty in my right turns. Probably there is a need for some fine tuning of the alignment. I'll see what happens with canting, but based on your experience, I might have to try shims.

WRT. camps: yes, me & missus were at Hintertux last spring, and it was great, in terms of learning, as well as a resort. Almost summerlike in the valley (where the hotel is), but lots of show, with varied conditions during each day, from frozen granular in the morning to slushy bumps in the afternoon. Those campers that mainly ski in US west, where the snow conditions are different, found the snow conditions somewhat challenging.
I would probably not go to Hitertux for "normal" skiing holidays, there are better (more varied) resorts available, during normal season, but obvisously, being able to ski in May, and to ski with Harald, I think it's definitely worth it. We are planning to attend this year too. If money were no concern, I think I'd chose a camp in US, because I'd really like to try out the snow conditions there, but again, it's quite a bit cheaper to go fro m Sweden to AUstria (we might even go by car!) than flying to the states.

Cheers,
Tommy
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Postby -- SCSA » Mon Jan 12, 2004 8:04 am

Hi all,

Turnz problems.

I have a problem with my right side too. I hurt my lower back years ago on the right side and it's never been the same since. It's been throwing off my right turns.

First what I did is physical therapy. The more I stretch and work on the right side, the better it feels. I'll also add that my right knee used to be more achy than it is now. Once I started loosening up the muscles in my hip, the better my knee felt. Now, since being better with stretching than I ever have, my right knee feels just about normal. Here I was thinking there's something wrong in my knee when it my my right hip, that needed work!

I also noticed I wasn't tipping my inside foot progressively through the turn. I'd tip my inside foot enough to get a turn going, then I'd stop. What got me thinking about this reading something from HH. "Tip a little to start the turn, more as you go through the turn, then really tip it over as you're finishing the turn." I was tipping to start the turn, then getting lazy -- maybe even doing some heal pushing ("Oh no, not that!").

I always fix my problems with an exercise, this one was no different. How I fixed this -- got to tipping more -- was doing the javelin exercise. When you do this exercise, you don't set the inside ski back on the snow until you've got enough angle going to set the inside ski down on its little toe side.

The rule of the javelin exercise is don't set the inside ski down until you can set it on its little toe edge!

So, if you do the exercise right, to set the inside ski back down on its inside (little toe side), you have to really be cranking that foot over to its little toe side. The javelin really gives you the sensation of balance and your edges; you stand on one foot throughout the turn, until you have enough edge angle to set the inside ski back down on its little toe side!

Boom!
-- SCSA
 

a wedge (!) made all the difference....!

Postby tommy » Tue Jan 13, 2004 1:28 pm

For a while ago, Jeremy hinted at an alignment problem possibly being the root cause of my right turn problems. I just had the opportunity to ski two days, in (being Swedish slopes) quite nice conditions: first day 2 dm powder (well, not the dry type you guys in US west are spoilt with... ;-) but anyway, and the second day 0 degrees C and firm groomed slopes.

Anyway, after a few initial carving runs, where I from time to time again noticed the right turn problem, I popped into the ski shop and asked if they had wedges (shims). They just looked like I were from Mars, or something... So, really determined to try out if things would improve with a wedge under my boot, I "manufactured" one on spot myself , by cutting (an old!) credit card in half, parallel to it's long side, and and taped it under my right boot's inner side heel. That lifted the inner side of the heel about 1mm, which should give about 1 degree tilt (the boot heel width is 70mm). Back to the slopes, and I was really amazed to notice that immediately, my right turns were quite improved! I still needed to "focus" on the right turns, but it was much easier to tilt the free ski, and to keep both skis at the same edge angle. And when keeping the skis at the same angle, the tendency for the left ski to "shoot straight" vanished.

Today, I started with practicing "Von Grunigen moves", and moved onto using weighted releases in carved turns. I could immediately notice that my ability to link carve turns was much improved with the wedge under my boot, and after a couple of hours practicing weighted releases, I suddenly got into a "flow", which I can't describe in any other way than a "breakthrough"! I was able to carve "short turns" even at a steep section of the hill, where I never before could get away with "non-skidded" short turns! I don't know if I can describe the sensation in any reasonable way, but all of a sudden, the legs and skis acted as a "pendlum", flowing almost effortlessly from side to side under the body, and I could really experience the "rebounce" ! No problems what so ever to get enough edge angles ! My hips almost touched the ground! When the turn had solidly started, I strongly extended my stance leg, which really shortened the radius. Then, to turn, I tried to be as quick as possible flexing the stance leg, while still standing on it during release. Those actions combined almost "threw" me into the new turn, body downhill, and the "new stance ski" was at the downhill edge at the "high C" part of the turn!

For me, this experience really proves the importance of alignment! I find it amazing that such a small change in alignment can make such a difference: once I got my right turns in order, all of sudden the entire game of carving improved a lot for me. I guess the reason is that the alignment change, combined with the weighted release, enabled me to really "use the force" for my turns.

"A really happy camper"

Cheers,
Tommy
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Postby jclayton » Tue Jan 13, 2004 2:03 pm

Hi Tommy,
nice breakthrough , these are what makes skiing so much fun . The feeling of these moments are unforgettable .

Jeremy
skinut ,among other things
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stretching the hip ?

Postby tommy » Tue Jan 13, 2004 2:10 pm

SCSA,

thanks for the Javelin recommendation, I'll try it out next time. Meanwhile, I suspect my hip joints would benefit from stretching as well; is there anything you can recommend to strech the hips ?

Cheers,
Tommy
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