by piggyslayer » Fri Oct 08, 2004 5:03 pm
I spoke with Harald about 1 legged skiing/skating in the context of Harb Carvers. I find Harb Carver to be much harder to do 1 legged skating than skis or skates.
I did some thinking about what Harald told me and hope I am not misinterpreting too much what is the truth of this matter. Here is what I remember from the conversation + some of my thoughts:
ALIGNMENT: I can simply echo everybody, if you not aligned in your boots one legged skiing will be very hard. Good footbeds are essential for almost everybody. The footbed cannot be to rigid but I should not be to soft either as it will not provide for adequate support needed in balancing.
GOOD FORM: Many try to do one legged skiing at all cost. Apply all kind of inefficient movements do finally get it. One such example may be rotation. Proper counter and upper body, arm position, etc. is important when performing this drill.
BALANCE IS MORE THAN ALIGNMENT:
This is the most interesting part to me.
I was always curious why one legged skiing is considered advanced skill, why is it so hard. If you properly aligned you can balance on one leg standing so why it is so much harder to do that when in motion?
I have skated on slalom Carvers, Pro Carvers and now on Comps. Why it is easier to do 1 legged skating on slaloms, harder on Pros and even harder on Comps (which are highest and heaviest of them all)? Why doing it on skis is so much easier than on Harb Carvers?
There are many reasons, here is one which is leads into interesting biomechanics:
There is bunch of muscles around our hip joint responsible for internal leg rotation and adduction. The antagonist bunch is responsible for external leg and abduction movements.
When in motion on one leg we have to tense our muscles a bit. What happens if one group is stronger than the other? It will be hard to balance, right?
For example, for many women the muscles performing internal rotation and adduction are stronger than the antagonists responsible for external rotation and abduction.
If you read some of my old post, you know that I like to go to gym and squat. I do all kinds of squats, in particular wide stance squat. This type of squat is building internal part of quads which help in adduction. I believe my muscle development is not balanced.
The higher the platform, the heavier the equipment, the more my internal hip rotators/adductors take over and the harder it is for me to balance on one leg.
This may explains the progression: one legged skiing is relatively easy, one legged skating on slaloms is harder, one legged skating on Comps is very hard.
Hope this was not too long and somewhat interesting
Piggy Slayer
let the piggy breathe