Debbie Armstrong

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Debbie Armstrong

Postby skijim13 » Thu Sep 24, 2020 5:45 am

How could someone who wins a gold metal have a poor technical knowledge on skiing? I showed my friend the video last week on tighten the radius of the turn at my home. He did not have much of a comment, latter he sent me a video of Debbie Armstrong teaching rotary short turns, I watched the video and was shocked at the skidding and wedge turn entries and commented on the you tube site that a flexing transition and tipping would improve the turns. She responded to me and asked for an example of high level short turns. I sent her the link to Dianna doing short turns on you tube. One of Debbie's comments were "In the short radius clip I watched of her skiing she has a tendency to lose ski snow contact which is a pressure management issue. Pressure management is my number one priority. and there are different ways to go about this. Retraction is one way but not my default approach for teaching". She also believed that rotary is the only way to shorten the radius of a turn. Sad that someone with her Gold metal status is giving such misinformation to the skiing community.
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Re: Debbie Armstrong

Postby HeluvaSkier » Thu Sep 24, 2020 11:16 am

I think Deb is a good example of a skier and now coach who has a lot of star power in the US industry but has not kept current with her technique or skiing knowledge / analysis ability. She is a very nice person and I suspect her demeanor and enthusiasm for skiing attract a lot of people. Also, the things she says are quite 'in-line' with what is advocated by the TTS industry (not surprising given how much time she spent entrenched in PSIA), so her followers will love what they hear. All the PSIA-types will say "see an Olympic gold medalist skier says I'm right" so her ideas have been and will continue to be embraced. None of this should come as a surprise. Watch just a few turns of her skiing and you pretty much can see what you're getting. The only thing that surprises me is that she responded to your YouTube comment.

A wise coach once encouraged me to spend my energy on what I'm doing in my skiing vs. what others are doing in theirs. I think that is something we can all agree is good advice.
Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability.

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Re: Debbie Armstrong

Postby ChrisV » Thu Sep 24, 2020 6:45 pm

Yes, Heluva, I expect that's about right. A couple of years ago I first encountered some of Debbie's video on mogul skiing, and was quite surprised how ungainly she looked for an elite skier, even without picking it apart technically. Sorry, tough love. It turns out she's had some real challenges--see https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/oly ... n-history/ . In 2015, "She was diagnosed as suffering from the cumulative effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI), which is similar to CTE that affects many football players." Also, "In 2004, a severe reaction to a tick bite left her with what she has said was a 25 percent chance to survive." She acquired some form of infection from the bite--ticks can carry many pathogens. "I also had toxic trauma to my brain (from the reaction to the tick bite)." It strikes me as possible that she has neurological limitations stemming from all of this.
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Re: Debbie Armstrong

Postby ToddW » Thu Sep 24, 2020 6:52 pm

Jim,

There’s a difference between having strong technique that “anyone” can develop and having the physical and mental biological gifts of a world class athlete. In the 2nd run of her gold medal race, she damned near lost her left ski, but saved the turn, her acl, and her speed. And the on-air commentators remarked about how loudly she was grunting with every turn. That was a different era with different gear. Could she have put in an even more impressive performance using modern World Cup technique / PMTS? It’s quite likely, but that doesn’t detract from her performance that day.

Lawyers often say that exceptional cases — the hard ones that we all hear about — make bad law. There are extraordinarily successful skiers who have their own quirky style often due to their personal physical limitations or gifts (tight hips/limited counter, limited eversion rom, or god-given superhuman flexibility). You’ve probably heard it before, but in special circumstances Harald has taught gifted athletes to turn with rotation and to do other “taboo” things. It would be a mistake to think that Armstrong knows what made her win or how to get other (closer to average) people’s bodies to do it.

I do respect the fact that Armstrong took the time to interact with you.
.
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Re: Debbie Armstrong

Postby skijim13 » Fri Sep 25, 2020 3:45 am

Todd,

I respect her for her passion in the sport and had hopes that she was a true student of skiing and had an open mind to explore other ideas. Sad that with her credentials many will follow her using TSS methods.
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Re: Debbie Armstrong

Postby B.Mulligan » Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:28 am

skijim13 wrote:Todd,

I respect her for her passion in the sport and had hopes that she was a true student of skiing and had an open mind to explore other ideas. Sad that with her credentials many will follow her using TSS methods.


Sounded like she did have an open mind: she took the time to watch and respond to a video sent to her by some guy on the internet. She just doesn't agree with you. Short swings, flat skis and rotary, Oh well, moving on--I think Helluva's advice at the end of his post is best.
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