Sato and Canadian style

[jepoupatout]

What do you think of Sato technique and PMTS, what is missing to be PMTS? He looks square to his ski when he did medium to large turn, am i right . His pole arm has a tendency to move forward. I think his best turn are the short one, they are amazing.
His turn are really fast compared to the Canadian guys that does a lot of extension

[Gepardi]

OK, as I am temporarily reduced to an armchair skiing critic , I’m going to give this a shot! Along with the fact that since this is not a requested MA for self improvement, it means that if my observations are inaccurate they shouldn’t cause the skier any harm because he is not likely to read them!
It strikes me that Sato has some elements associated with PMTS movements, such as foot pull back and cross-under, but to my eyes he doesn't actually deploy fully formed PMTS movements and is definitely not a PMTS type skier. For instance, although he is using cross-under at transition this is not accompanied by him patiently building the high C by fully committing to the stance ski and resisting steering. In the longer turns, I think he uses cross-under to laterally launch his body mass from a wide stance so he ends up banking (not counterbalancing) with considerable weight remaining on the inside ski resulting in shins that are not parallel and thereby, too often disparity of edge angles. It strikes me that on some of his long turns he is actually using the straightened stance leg as some sort of stability outrigger with the inside leg taking a lot of weight and with its sometime higher edge angle being used as a turning rail to “sling slice” him and rotate him through the turn evidenced by his outside hand moving forward as the turn progresses. His only nodding acknowledgement to counteracting in a turn seemed to be the turning of his head. His inside foot pull back was accompanied (and graphically illustrated) with a stance foot forward push, so add this to his initially squared up upper body, the net result is early steering and progressive rotation. I admire his dedication and obvious skills and overall skiing prowess on a variety of terrains but I won’t be selecting him as a motivational reflector of PMTS movements.
(By the way, my promised carving MA sequels never materialized as my Morton’s neuroma suddenly worsened in early summer (literally overnight) and became a permanent feature in my waking and walking life and drastically curtailed all my activities. I am now in the early stages of recovery from cryo surgery for the neuroma and am optimistic that I will be back on skis towards the end of February albeit for a truncated skiing season. It will of course take several further months to regain a reasonable level of fitness.) As you might guess, I'd much prefer to be submitting video for MA than commenting from an armchair!

[Max_501]

Cross-over and cross-under are not part of the PMTS lexicon.

Sato is a ripping skier. Check out this footage.

[jepoupatout]

Max, i understand that Sato is an accomplised skier in his own style and very talentuous.

I think he is Japanese and when he ski it looks like Korean technique. He is very symetric on both side, very well balance all the time. Some aspect of his technique are very good like flexing and his fore-aft control, tipping. . I wonder if his technique will be efficient in all condition , like a icy pitch or in a race. What is the limiting factor of his technique? Is Long leg short leg an issue? is CA an issue?

PMTS technique is easy to understand and it is just a question of time to master it. PMTS could be compare with the best skier from worl cup and will be efficient in all condition. Sato is applying different technical concept that for my non-trained eyes are hard to understand.

Canadian guys are doing extension , pivot and rotate. What Sato is doing exactely?

[Max_501]

Sata was also a WC racer. I'm sure he can rip steep icy slopes without any problem.

When watching the videos make sure to distinguish between Sato's freeskiing and the demo skiing.

[Skiasaurus Rex]

Max, i understand that Sato is an accomplised skier in his own style and very talentuous.

I think he is Japanese and when he ski it looks like Korean technique. He is very symetric on both side, very well balance all the time. Some aspect of his technique are very good like flexing and his fore-aft control, tipping. . I wonder if his technique will be efficient in all condition , like a icy pitch or in a race. What is the limiting factor of his technique? Is Long leg short leg an issue? is CA an issue?

PMTS technique is easy to understand and it is just a question of time to master it. PMTS could be compare with the best skier from worl cup and will be efficient in all condition. Sato is applying different technical concept that for my non-trained eyes are hard to understand.

Canadian guys are doing extension , pivot and rotate. What Sato is doing exactely?

The Canadian guys in the posted video above (and Rocca) are doing pivot and rotation??? Take another look,though often that would be a fair analysis of many Canadian skiers, these guys may not be your average Canadians.

Also, I realize that HH has given some credibility to critiquing the Asian skiers in a recent blog post---but I am not sure that the tenor of this thread will yield a worthy song. Is Sato PMTS??? I don't know if that sort of inquiry is going to yield the aspiring expert skier much fruit.

Look, Sato is, as has been said, a truly ripping skier. If you'd like to ski like that, you'd do well to practice PMTS tipping and flexing drills and the now much touted 'no-swing' pole plant.

[ChuckT]

we can always count on Max for some inspiring footage.

Does anyone know if Harald is working on another video?

[jepoupatout]

The point is not to critique but to understand the difference in biomechanical application of the technique. I put the video of the Canadian because they are the best Canadian that i watcheD so far, and they apply different biomechanical concept compare to Sato and PMTS.
This is a learning experience , that's it
Aren't we here to learn and understand , it does't mean that those guys aren't amazing skier
They are