MA for Michigan Skier

Re: MA for Michigan Skier

Postby milesb » Sun Sep 25, 2011 5:13 pm

AlpineAnnie wrote:Thanks for the great feedback Miles! I didn't think you were being harsh at all, just constructive! I'm going to concentrate on the tipping first and foremost. I have a balance board and that should help me to work on this. I can't get to the little toe edge at all unless I'm in my canted ski boots, but I think that I can work on what you've described to a pretty good degree. Thanks for the great feedback!!! :D

Regards!

~Annie~

Thank YOU for having a good attitude! Maybe a misunderstanding, but you are supposed to have your ski boots on when you use the inclined tipping board. There are pictures of Harald doing this in Essentials, and here is a picture of a forum member using one- build yours about halfway between the two pitches.
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Re: MA for Michigan Skier

Postby milesb » Sun Sep 25, 2011 5:21 pm

Art, how about this- think about the start and finish of movements. That is you start flexing the leg, tipping the free ski, counterbalancing and counteracting one way- until it is time to flex the other leg, tip the other ski, etc.
Just don't get so focused on it that you run into me!
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Re: MA for Michigan Skier

Postby AlpineAnnie » Mon Sep 26, 2011 5:07 am

Thanks for the pictures Miles. I apologize on my misunderstanding. It's been a while since I've looked at the book. The balance board that I was referring to is an Indo Board. It's quite a bit larger than what you have pictured and you use a cylinder under it that you balance the board on. I agree that I'd get a much more accurate feel for the movements in my ski boots though. I'm going to get fitted for some new boots next week. :D. I know that I'll be anxious to try them out to make sure the canting is right and working out on the board will be a good start. Thanks again.

p.s. I like your tip about focusing on the start and finish of movements rather than the beginning and end of turns.
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Re: MA for Michigan Skier

Postby polecat » Mon Sep 26, 2011 10:50 am

Hi Annie, welcome to the party!

I’m sure your head is swimming from all the great advice you’ve already gotten. I won’t try to pile on any more for now. I’ll just add we’re happy to have you on board.

Well, maybe I’ll add just one thing. While I’ve often heard people say that if they could have only one PMTS book it would be Essentials, there’s no reason you have to have only one. The more the merrier!

I always recommend that anybody who really wants to learn this stuff start at the beginning. PMTS is foundational. It starts with solid fundamentals that everything else builds on. The more you advance, the more you develop your basics.

Anyone Can Be an Expert Skier 1 and Anyone Can Be an Expert Skier 2 are as relevant today as ever, if not more so. And as an instructor, you’d probably love The Instructor Manual too.



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Re: MA for Michigan Skier

Postby polecat » Mon Sep 26, 2011 10:53 am

arothafel wrote:.... I have a tendency to "push-off" my BTE and then force extension... I'm impatient. I've been working on becoming much more patient with allowing things to just happen.. ...

It’s OK to hurry into the next turn, Art. Just do it by pulling up on the old stance foot. :P
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Re: MA for Michigan Skier

Postby AlpineAnnie » Tue Sep 27, 2011 2:40 pm

Thanks PC!!!! I'm happy to have gotten the responses that I have so far. I was hoping that there wasn't going to be a problem with me being P.S.I.A., and so far, it's been a pretty nice welcome. I'm an instructor who wants to improve her own skiing, and to have a toolbox that can help her students with anything that it takes to help them to achieve their goals. I think that this requires you to look outside of the box! I don't want to have a closed mind to the other techniques that are out there that may help to be successful in this quest.

Thanks PMTS.org for the awesome feedback that I have received so far!!! :D
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Re: MA for Michigan Skier

Postby HeluvaSkier » Wed Sep 28, 2011 9:15 am

Annie,
Others have alluded to it, but I'm going to come out and say it; PMTS is not meant to be part of a bag of tricks or a tool box that you pick and choose what you use and when. PMTS breaks down the movements that are present in all expert skiing. If you're using a movement if your skiing that is not part of this very straightforward package, then you're handicapping your skiing. The instructor or coach that says "I keep and open mind and incorporate anything that works into my teaching" is full of crap. The reason they are taking that approach to their "teaching" is they have no clue how to develop expert skiing in their own skiing or the skiing of others. They don't have an all-encompassing movement-based system of how to get to the level of skiing that you see from guys like jbotti or Max_501; and certainly no idea of how to train movements like skiers employ in the highest levels of racing. They see the streamlined focus of PMTS as limiting because they do not understand the core movements of expert skiing. Basically, they have never actually learned to ski like the best in the world, and do not understand how the best in the world ski. Coaches who do teach this way and recognize those movements, are few and far between [very select FIS, NCAA, and Academy programs - coaching that is not available to 99.9% of the skiing world - which is why people don't understand it and continue to wade through the elementary nonsense of organizations like PSIA], and instruction systems that teach this way are even more rare... there is only one - PMTS. If you throw away all of the BS and start using what really works to define and develop expert skiing you will find that you will arrive at a higher level of understanding of skiing. As Miles indicated in an earlier post - if you're serious about PMTS you need to change your sking entirely, starting with the most basic movements you're using - not just incorporate bits and pieces of PMTS into your skiing.
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Re: MA for Michigan Skier

Postby milesb » Wed Sep 28, 2011 6:14 pm

lol, I knew the "toolbox" comment would get a response, we used to get ALOT of that from PSIA folks. What Greg just posted is entirely true, and is something to keep in mind as you learn more about PMTS.
However, not everyone can just "drink the koolaid" right away, so don't feel like you won't be welcome here if you don't.
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Re: MA for Michigan Skier

Postby AlpineAnnie » Thu Sep 29, 2011 5:19 am

Wow Miles! You just read my mind! I was sitting at my computer getting ready to respond to HeluvaSkier and those exact words came to mind! :lol: "Drink the Koolaid". I probably deserved his rant, although, I don't believe that I'm really "Full of Crap". :shock: I think I need to get HH's books out and get myself more educated on the PMTS's system. I've got a lot of time invested in P.S.I.A.'s way and even though I don't agree with everything they say, I'm not quite ready to totally ditch them.

In response to HeluvaSkier's post, I have had a lot of success teaching students all the way to the expert level and I believe that I'm a very good instructor. I have run into some road blocks with my own skiing due to an injury and I'm always searching for some new trick that just might work for me. I had hoped to find that here. HH has a lot of great stuff in his books and he's an awesome skier! I totally respect your commitment to HH and PMTS and apologize if I offended you with my "bag of tricks" comment.

Regards,

~Annie~
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Re: MA for Michigan Skier

Postby oggy » Thu Sep 29, 2011 7:47 am

Hi Annie, welcome to the forum. From what I see you're lacking CB ("counter-balance") on turns to your right (i.e. you lean your upper body), left turns are better. Fixing that could bring immediate results, and is probably as close to a "new trick" as you'd get. Reversing your flexing pattern as Max suggested would probably be the biggest issue though (i.e. addressing it would bring the most reward), but that will require significant time and practice.
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Re: MA for Michigan Skier

Postby jbotti » Thu Sep 29, 2011 9:00 am

Annie, I think a great opportunity has been pointed out to you. You can take a few things from PMTS and if you work to perfect these your skiing will improve. The greater opportunity lies in finding the drive and perhaps more importantly the willingness to re-work your skiing and movement patterns from the ground up. Typically this is a very hard thing for accomplished skiers to do and it is even harder to get used to the idea (which you may not agree with) that what you have been taught and learned has created movements that limit your skiing. Very few from your background make the leap. I encourage yo to read the books, watch the videos and study the way Harald skis and what he teaches and perhaps more importantly why he tecahes and uses particular movements. If you do that diligently, you never know, there may be some Kool aid in your future!!
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Re: MA for Michigan Skier

Postby HeluvaSkier » Thu Sep 29, 2011 9:09 am

Annie,
The last thing I am is offended. I do however prefer to set people on a very realistic approach to improving their skiing and their teaching. No BS. You say you've coached many skiers to expert level skiing, but your own skiing does not demonstrate hardly any expert level movement patterns. You may disagree, but I'm not here to debate that with you. My point is however, that if you want to help your skiing and teaching beyond just a 'tip' or a 'trick' you should look for a deeper understanding of what is discussed here. If you really want a higher level of understanding - I recommend spending a lot of time with the instructor's manual. Once you start understanding the material, you will soon realize [that even though you have a lot invested in how you currently ski, teach, and learn] that you will need to look at your PSIA investment as a sunk cost and move on. What you currently 'think', is irrelevant.

FWIW, I'm not a koolaid drinker or dedicated only to PMTS. What I am dedicated to is great skiing at it's highest levels - understanding it, teaching it, and demonstrating it on all terrain, in any conditions, at the level of the absolute best in the world.
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Re: MA for Michigan Skier

Postby polecat » Fri Sep 30, 2011 2:11 pm

Annie,

You’re certainly not full of crap. Based on what you’ve experience and what you’ve been taught, your expectations are entirely rational.

But when what you’ve been taught is flawed and your experiences have been in an environment that’s dominated by traditional practices and beliefs, your expectations may be rational but not representative of your real potential.

I applaud you for being willing to think out of the box. And in addition to thinking about what new things may be found outside the box, I would also encourage you consider letting go of the things that hold you inside the box.

As for the Koolaid, I’ll let you in on a something. I hate Koolaid. I never drink the stuff.

What do I like? I like to think. I like to analyze. I like to study. I like to calculate. I like to experiment. I like to overthink everything.

That’s what drew me to PMTS in the first place and what keeps driving me further. The more you study PMTS, the more it makes sense. The more you experiment with it, the more you find it works. The more I think about it, the more I see it’s my best path forward.

I hope you’ll hang in with us and give it a try. I think you’ll have fun.



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Re: MA for Michigan Skier

Postby AlpineAnnie » Sat Oct 01, 2011 8:56 am

Thanks Polecat! I've got pretty thick skin so I'm not offended by the comments! I do realize that I need to make some changes in my skiing and I mentioned some of those flaws in my very first post. I'm going to go back to the books and familiarize myself with the techniques that PMTS uses and will try out the methods from the ground up to see what it does for me. I'm completely open to finding new ways to do things, even if it means ditching years worth of practicing doing something another way. I do plan on hanging out here because I think that we all ultimately share the same passion. Becoming great skiers and teachers of the sport.

Cheers!

~Annie~
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Re: MA for Michigan Skier

Postby Carve2turn » Sat Oct 01, 2011 7:28 pm

I've been to 2 clinics, and I can say 'relaxing' is critical. Amazing what you can do while relaxing! I found being flexible make a huge difference and something I have to work at.
Ski Hard - Play hard
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