MA for DB

MA for DB

Postby dan.boisvert » Tue Jan 26, 2010 8:41 pm

Encouraged by Harald's invitation for newbies/lurkers to be more active, I've worked up the guts to post video of my skiing for MA. I've been skiing for a couple years and haven't taken any lessons, so all my bad habits are my own fault. I've been on the learn-by-crashing plan so far, but after skiing with Mac and Skizoo and reading the forum here, it's clear that there's a better way.

These clips are from last Monday, when Skizoo was generous enough to put up with me for the morning and take some video. We got 6 inches overnight, and I wasn't at all happy with how I skied it. I'd like to fix this (and everything else about my skiing), but haven't the foggiest idea of where to start.

Clip 1, 2nd run of the morning:



Clip 2, later in the morning, after it got knocked down a bit:



Where do I go from here? Suggestions on where to focus my efforts would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to be blunt; your opinion of my skiing can't possibly be any worse than mine was when I first watched these. ;)
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Re: MA for DB

Postby trtaylor » Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:09 pm

I see from the other thread you will be seeing Glenn S. That's a good first step. Tell him Tim T. from Pa. said hello.

Do you have Harald's ACBAES 1 book? If you do, start at the beginning (with the boot drills) and master each chapter before progressing. If you don't have it, order it immediately.

Second, get to a groomed green slope to practice on. I'm not being critical. It's just the best advice for learning new movements.

Post some new video of you performing the drills on green slope.

Good luck. We all have stuff to work on.
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Re: MA for DB

Postby Max_501 » Tue Jan 26, 2010 10:31 pm

First, let me say that you deserve a big round of applause for taking the first step to serious improvement by posting your video.

Step one you are already working on (boot work).

Step two is dialing it back and working on the PMTS drills from Book 1 on green terrain. If you want more detail consider ordering the Instructors Manual.
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Re: MA for DB

Postby geoffda » Wed Jan 27, 2010 12:23 pm

Hi Dan,

Understand that you are going to start over with your skiing, so going back to easy terrain is going to be most helpful. Right now, the bumps are just going to reinforce bad movements, so by and large you should avoid them. You may *occassionally* venture back in to test your new movements or just for fun (cause skiing is fun, right?), but just be aware that you don't want to spend too much time on any terrain that causes you to revert to old patterns.

The key to quality skiing is how you get from one set of edges to the other and the key to that is tipping. PMTS is first and foremost about tipping. Everything else (whether primary or secondary movements) is about making your tipping better. So tipping is the place to start. Tipping has to start with the feet. Specifically, it needs to start with the old stance foot. As you flex to release the turn, you need to be tipping the old stance foot onto it's little-toe-edge. When you do this, the old free foot will follow and, as long as you don't apply any twist, you will get clean edge engagement. Continuing to tip through the turn leads to tighter radii and dynamic, flowing skiing.

At the moment, you aren't showing any tipping skills. You are getting on your new edges by inclining your upper body (and you've probably got a heel push in there as well). For great skiing, you need to develop the ability to change edges with your feet (while they are under your hips). Pick whatever PMTS book you want to start with, go back to green terrain and work through all the tipping drills. Be sure to practice dry land tipping as well. You need to really understand what proper tipping feels like at all levels of the "kinetic chain". That is feet, ankles, knees, and hips. If you know what it is supposed to feel like from dry land, you'll be much better able to judge what is going on when you ski. Continue to post video as you work through the drills so you stay on the right track. It is easy to think you have it right when you don't. Or better yet, get a PMTS lesson! Also, understand that as you start to develop tipping, you will need to develop the ability to flex and counterbalance more or less concurrently.

So hopefully that gives you a mission. Go back out there and get us some video with some tipping!
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Re: MA for DB

Postby dan.boisvert » Wed Jan 27, 2010 10:45 pm

Thank you for the help, gents! I put in an order last night that included Expert Skier 1 and the Instructor Manual, so I'll read up on the sections you mentioned and start working my way through the drills when they arrive. Starting at the beginning seems easy enough. I have an appointment Sunday morning with Glenn to get the boots squared away, and now that I know he exists and is within a 3-4 hour drive, it looks like I have a much better chance of getting in-person PMTS lessons this year.

I didn't intentionally choose to ski ungroomed stuff for the video; the whole mountain looked like that. It just so happened that we had scheduled a day to record stuff and Mother Nature decided to contribute by giving us the conditions I feel least comfortable with. I figured it'd be useful to bring out all the problems, so I might as well put it up. I've got a few green groomers that I've been using to practice one-footed skiing and a couple drills Mac and Skizoo suggested (which got a lot harder with my new boots, but will hopefully get easier again after Glenn sets them up), and will plan to spend a bunch of time on them.

I've gotten a lot of encouragement from the threads people have posted of their progressions with PMTS, and will try to get video semi-regularly to contribute here. There's nothing like watching a progression of video to demonstrate "holy crap, this stuff really works..".

With any luck, I'll have video with at least some amount of tipping to post in the next few weeks. Thank you again for the advice!
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Re: MA for DB

Postby MonsterMan » Thu Jan 28, 2010 3:06 am

I hope you're getting the DVD's with the books. The exercises are all demo'd.
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Re: MA for DB

Postby dan.boisvert » Thu Jan 28, 2010 7:18 pm

MonsterMan wrote:I hope you're getting the DVD's with the books. The exercises are all demo'd.


Yup, I am. All the DVD's were in stock, so I ordered one of everything.
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Re: MA for DB

Postby Mac » Fri Jan 29, 2010 6:46 am

Dan, I just got my copy of the Expert Skier 1 video back from someone that I had lent it to. I sat down and watched it again the other night, as I hadn't seen it in a while. It just reinforced to me how brilliant that first video really is. Before you go diving into the rest of the DVD's, focus on the basics contained in the Expert Skier 1. Start out with a strong foundation, and build on that. And don'y worry too much about the video you posted, that was some pretty darn good skiing for some one of your experience. The toughest thing to do is try to ski well when you know someone is videoing you. I am always horrified when I see a video of myself, it always looks staged. I never see the good things I'm doing, I always tend to focus on all the things I could be doing better. Harald has often said that he is the biggest critic of his own skiing. It just goes to show that no matter how good you get, the truly great ones are always looking for ways to improve.
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Re: MA for DB

Postby Max_501 » Fri Jan 29, 2010 2:58 pm

Mac wrote:Start out with a strong foundation, and build on that.


Words of wisdom! :D
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Re: MA for DB

Postby dan.boisvert » Fri Jan 29, 2010 7:07 pm

Thanks, Mac. I'm pretty good with cameras and audiences; it's the skiing part that gives me trouble. :D

I see much drilling in my future. More video to follow..
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Re: MA for DB

Postby Ken » Mon Feb 01, 2010 9:58 pm

Dan

Concentrate on one task at a time. Master tipping. Don't worry about the rest of the stuff. Get tipping solid. Then, and only then, learn flexing. When flexing is automatic to go along with tipping, learn counterbalancing and counteracting. It is very tempting to try to get the whole thing, and that does not work. Build on the foundation essential movements, and then add to them one by one. As you add one more essential skill to your repertoire, go back and reinforce each of the skills you've already learned. Separate tipping and re-master that. Separate tipping and flexing and re-master those two working together. Patience really is a virtue.
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Re: MA for DB

Postby Mac » Tue Feb 02, 2010 7:40 am

Might I say that before you try and add any of that stuff, that you really have to master one footed balance. In order to incorporate any of those drills, you have to to comfortable with skiing on either foot. If you have watched the first Expert Skier 1 DVD yet, it's obvious that HH is always balanced on one foot or the other. This defines the actions of the free foot and stance foot. In order to be active with the free foot, you must be able to balance on the stance foot. Once you release the old stance foot, and transfer balance to the new stance foot, your body will automactically want to move from above the skis to over the skis, and then from over the skis to actually leading the skis into the new turn. Hence the term being "upside down." This is the point of the turn where your feet are actually farther up the hill than the rest of your body. One thing I can't stress enough, is to make sure that the transfer of balance from the old stance ski to the new stance ski is made long before the turn actually starts. In other words, you are transfering balance from the big toe edge of your downhill ski the little toe edge of your uphill ski before the turn actually starts. I can't over-emphasize the importance of that. If you don't get that right, it will haunt you down the road, particualary in tougher conditions. Once you get this down, then you can start practicing things like tipping and flexing. But untill you get that right, you'll just be spinning your wheels.
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Re: MA for DB

Postby dan.boisvert » Wed Feb 03, 2010 6:28 pm

It's amazing the difference some bootwork will make. After Glen fixed my boots last weekend, I actually could ski on one foot without contorting my body to stay upright, and I no longer felt like I had to swing my inside knee way into the turn to get my inside ski tipped as much as my outside ski. Last night I read the section of Expert Skier 1 where Harald spells this symptom out in detail with regard to alignment issues. It was like a checklist "yup, had that problem, too..".

I'll keep this stuff in mind as I plug my way through the book (looks like I have a bit of a start already, as Glen had me doing a few of these drills Sunday to test my new boot setup). One question: When I get to chapter 3 ("Eliminate the Wedge"), can I skip the drills, or should I find somebody to teach me a wedge so I can learn how to eliminate it?
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Re: MA for DB

Postby Mac » Wed Feb 03, 2010 6:49 pm

That's the definition of the wedge, or stem christie. Once they teach you the wedge, then they have you come back so they can to teach you how to undo it. By the way, I'll be skiing with the wife at Okemo on Saturday, and Stratton on Sunday. If you want to hook up, let me know. And don't worry about three being a crowd, the wife will be done before lunch. I'll probably be heading up to Stowe the following week, probably on the 9th and/or 10th to ski with a couple of instructors for part of the day. If any of that interests you, give me a shout.
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Re: MA for DB

Postby ginaliam » Fri Feb 19, 2010 6:13 am

Who is Glen S. and where is he located (PMTS boot guy in the greater New England Region??? )

Dan, where was your video shot?? Do you regularly ski anywhere is Mass?? I'm at Berkshire East a few times a week-If any PMTS forum types wanted to get together, that is.

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