Lindsey Vonn's Alignment

Lindsey Vonn's Alignment

Postby HighAngles » Sun Jan 20, 2019 9:47 am

For those who have watched Lindsey's runs in Cortina, is her alignment looking worse than ever? I'm amazed, with the number of knee injuries she has suffered, that no one in her camp is helping her get her knees over her stance correctly. I grimace in pain while watching her race and just wait for the next knee injury to occur.
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Re: Lindsey Vonn's Alignment

Postby jbotti » Sun Jan 20, 2019 1:32 pm

While I agree that her alignment has never looked dialed in, I am afraid what we are watching this year is a skier whose body has been beaten severely over many years and whose knees are held together by thin rubber bands.

I get the push towards 87 wins but in the grand scheme I don't think anyone will think of Vonn as any less of a ski racer whether she retires with 87 or 82 wins. At this point I hope she can walk when she's 50.
Balance: Essential in skiing and in life!
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Re: Lindsey Vonn's Alignment

Postby h.harb » Tue Jan 22, 2019 6:02 pm

For those who know my post history from my "Blog, know I've been commenting on her horrid alignment for over a decade. I brought this up well before her most severe injuries. If and it's highly possible that with the right boot setup (and it is her "right boot to be aligned "correctly") she might still be almost whole. She now skis with the same tendencies she showed 10 years ago, only now her knees are shot. I don't take this lightly, for those who know me, I skied with a bone on bone knee for 35 years.
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Re: Lindsey Vonn's Alignment

Postby jbotti » Fri Jan 25, 2019 3:40 pm

Seeing the two contradicting announcements out of Lindsey and or the Vonn camp yesterday, I can only hope that she starts listening to the part of her that is saying "its time".

On the broadcast from the first downhill last weekend from Cortina Steve Porino mentioned that Vonn is skiing a flat ski with no base bevel (HH says its probably not completely flat at 90* but close). The reason why is because she can't load the skis because her knees can't handle the load so the only way to get angles is by leaning in huge. For those that have skied a ski with little or no base bevel you know how incredibly grabby they are and how easy it is to catch an edge. This is something most people wouldn't ski at recreational speeds but to take a ski this grabby into a downhill course hitting speeds of 70mph+ you just have to be nuts.

She has pushed her body her whole career and she has willed herself to win when she was not 100%. So I guess I can understand why she thinks she can do it again. But she is much older and her body is in way worse shape than at past points in her career. The cumulative damage and effect has been immense.

Again, I hope she sees the light, retires with 82 wins and as the greatest speed skier in the history of the sport and the winningest female of all time (at least until Shiffrin claims that).
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Re: Lindsey Vonn's Alignment

Postby ErikCO » Fri Jan 25, 2019 6:29 pm

I totally agree with that sentiment. So many athletes don't think about what their sport is going to do to their body in the long run. She is still young and has many years of life ahead of her. It would be tragic if she pushed herself for another 4-6 wins, end up with yet another severe injury, and then lives with major chronic pain and disability for the rest of her life. Or, worse yet, actually ends up crashing and dying. I know it's a low likelihood, but people do die in super G and downhill, and skiing a flat base ski at 70+mph seems like a crash waiting to happen. The difference between 1, 0.7, and 0.5 degrees of base bevel is incredibly noticeable even to me, a recreational skier, at speeds of 30mph or less. I can only imagine what a flat base would be like!
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