MA if you'd like to.

MA if you'd like to.

Postby A.L.E » Sat Jan 25, 2014 2:41 am

I'm reasonably happy with what I see on my turns to the left but there is a persistent lack of upper body CA/CB on my RH turns. It's a frustrating usual story for me. I was pretty sure I had sorted out the hip dumping. Seven days of one's own thought's of skiing ability and movements belied reality. Video put an end to those illusions of perfection. :lol: The short turns at the beginning of the clip, when thinking time is compressed reveals most. Not such a problem on the last run where terrain is flat, thinking time is generous and CA/CB becomes much easier.

I have another week planned for Montana in April to work on fixes and then hope come next northern winter they will have stuck. It's such fun trying and at least having some idea via PMTS knowledge of what's most obvious and what drills to use. But my insights are only mine, so if anyone, even Monsterman, has anything they would like to offer in MA please feel free. I'd appreciate it.

Last edited by A.L.E on Sat Jan 25, 2014 10:19 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: MA if you'd like to.

Postby HighAngles » Sat Jan 25, 2014 4:17 am

Major thing I see after one quick view is insufficient free foot pull back. You are "scissoring" in your turns (especially the last set in the video).
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Re: MA if you'd like to.

Postby A.L.E » Sat Jan 25, 2014 10:18 am

Yes agree it does creep forward. That one is not such a difficult fix.
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Re: MA if you'd like to.

Postby Ken » Sat Jan 25, 2014 11:30 am

Are you counteracting as far as your range of motion allows? Don't assume that both sides are the same. If that's as far as you can go in that direction, maybe some stretching exercises will help, or maybe that's just you. Counteracting facilitates counterbalancing, so more is better. When the hill is that empty and very few are watching, try the hip-o-meter again with your poles strapped across your hip bones. Get that max range of motion. For this drill, don't think about anything else except the CA, then the CA + CB, then add the other essential movements to your thoughts, but don't lose the max CA. I push that inside hip forward at the same time I pull the inside foot back. That double motion works for me. For a counterbalance drill, try one foot skiing with the tail of the inside ski lifted off the snow a cm or two. With no inside ski to carry weight you'll find your counterbalance.
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Re: MA if you'd like to.

Postby A.L.E » Sat Jan 25, 2014 3:14 pm

Your right Ken both sides are not the same. My LH turns are better but stop framing the short brushed carve turns shows they too are often lacking both CA/CB. Thanks for the drill advice.
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Re: MA if you'd like to.

Postby Max_501 » Sat Jan 25, 2014 8:35 pm

Ken wrote:Counteracting facilitates counterbalancing, so more is better.


That statement could cause some confusion. You only need what you need. More than you need is not so good.
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Re: MA if you'd like to.

Postby MonsterMan » Sun Jan 26, 2014 1:06 am

the turns at the end were nice, those at the start seemed to be on an off-camber slope. I comment on the second half of the video.

Symmetrical side to side;

Sufficient Counter acting;

The "scissoring" mentioned earlier is not an issue, you were getting pretty big angles, and this can give the illusion of "scissoring" . I see sufficient pullback, fore/aft balance is fine.

Nice work for those p!!@ta boots you use.
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Re: MA if you'd like to.

Postby A.L.E » Sun Jan 26, 2014 4:18 am

Thanks Monster. Boots are doing great, you should get a pair...with Hotronics to keep toasty. You know getting yours off and on as you get older won't get any easier and carrying a battery operated hair dryer in your boot bag always looks a bit sus, particularly at a place like Loveland. Probably fine for Hintertux though.

Agree the turns at the end are symmetrical and the CA/CB is fine. A bit more of pullback is an easy addition. PMTS skiers need plenty of focus on this for sure, otherwise the back seat dunny sitting is the result.

The first run is where the problems lie. Apart from making a reasonable slope look like I need a GPS to navigate, the RH turns and some of the left need CA & CB. Actually what I am attempting to do in the first run is to quicken up my feet. I need quicker feet to be more effective in the bumps and all round. I would have liked to post some bump video but my son wouldn't co operate beyond the three runs he shot. It was late on last day and he wanted some last runs.

So my focus when at Big Sky in a couple of months will be drills for CA/CB, most particularly on my RH turns and keep adding quicker feet......like the Koreans/Sato/Berger etc.....:lol:

Plus of course Big Sky has fantastic steeps so we'll get amongst a bit of that if the conditions are good.....and block out any thoughts of Michael Schumacher and rocks. :(
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Re: MA if you'd like to.

Postby Spark » Sun Jan 26, 2014 1:06 pm

My first attempt at MA. Be that as it may, I will have a go at this.

I want to focus on the first two segments because those are the turns that did not work and it was not because the terrain was wrong.

I am seeing a weight transfer to the LTE before the completion of the turn. The old stance foot thus becomes light and tends to wash out a little which occasionally shows as an abstem. This motion robs the old stance ski of its energy and motion and you are completing your turn on your inside LTE and then moving into the transition. This essentially makes the turn into a two footed release without the second foot. This might be ok, but your new stance foot which is still on LTE does not flex which results in an unweighting of your new stance foot as your body moves up and over your stiff leg. As a result of the unweighting, your new stance ski is light on the snow in high C and your body is moving into the inside of the new turn before the ski has good contact with the snow which causes it to skid. Your new free foot does tip nicely, however it has started late because your old stance foot was not actively lifting and tipping. The result of all this is an abrupt edge hit when your stance ski finally has enough weight and angle to lock in. At this point your free ski is often light, but the force of the abrupt hit forces your free foot to take weight and the cycle begins again.

I see two things to work on here. 1) Phantom move and 2) Flexion.

My spidey senses tell me you probably have a hard time balancing on your stance foot all the way through your turn. I can see this reflected in your need to go straight and gain a little speed as you begin the second video segment, and also by noticing that your free foot ski only comes off the snow occasionally just before the fall line.

1) I would recommend practicing a slow motion exercise: Start from a stand still with skis perpendicular to the fall line and lift, tip and pull back the downhill ski while releasing from the uphill LTE into a brushed turn. You can start with garlands and then move to a full fall line turn if you want. Essentially this is the exercises from Expert Skier 1, 4.4 Full Release on Blue Terrain through 6.6 Two Footed Immediate Release. Javelin turns with the LTE ski off the snow all the time except in transition would be the goal when moving from this slow motion exercise to higher speeds.

You are using your inclination to the inside of the low C part of your turn to get your weight on your new LTE because that is the only way to get your weight there without flexing your stance leg to release into the transition. The end result of this is that your skis have lost their energy and your hips are slow to move to the inside of your new turn. You then have to wait until your new stance ski has reengaged after your weight has come back to it in late high C to begin to get higher edge angles.

2) Standing still, lift your uphill foot to mimic the free foot lifting and tipping through the turn. From this position flex your downhill stance foot leg to bring your free foot LTE in contact with the snow. Do this a few times and then tack it on to the slow motion exercise in 1). Do this in slow motion linked brushed turns on a green slope. After 1000 of them add some speed and see what happens.

This brings us back to point 1). When you flex to release your stance leg, and continue to lift and tip it, your hips begin to can move across your skis to the inside of the new turn during the transition instead of having to wait until your stance foot ski is reengaged at middle high C, and your new stance foot ski BTE can begin engagement with the snow immediately. One really important point here is that it is really hard to flex your stance foot leg if it does not already have some extension. Sometimes you get caught with a lot of flexion at the middle and end of the turn. At this point it is hard to flex more to release.

Here is a clip (00:00:13) showing your ski tracks in the previous turn. See how there is a skid at high C and the ski has not engaged until the fall line.
Image

Here is the abstem/washout resulting from an early transfer to LTE without a flex to release on the stance foot. (00:00:56)
Image

Here is a comparison of stance leg flexion at apex 00:01:31
Image

and transition 00:01:32
Image
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Re: MA if you'd like to.

Postby HighAngles » Sun Jan 26, 2014 4:26 pm

MonsterMan wrote:The "scissoring" mentioned earlier is not an issue, you were getting pretty big angles, and this can give the illusion of "scissoring" . I see sufficient pullback, fore/aft balance is fine.

I disagree completely (obviously since I'm the one that called this out). There is not an "illusion" happening here. Insufficient pull back of the inside leg leads to all kinds of problems; not only with fore/aft, but also with correct counteracting. Watch the shin angle of that inside ski on the last set of turns. What it looks like is an attempt to get the CA going without using the correct pull back.

BTW - These were not "big" angles. Not by a long shot.
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Re: MA if you'd like to.

Postby MonsterMan » Sun Jan 26, 2014 5:47 pm

BTW - These were not "big" angles. Not by a long shot.


what a smart arse.
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Re: MA if you'd like to.

Postby Max_501 » Sun Jan 26, 2014 6:07 pm

I see some nice angles in the carving clip.

High C:

Image

Entering the lower C:

Image

Ale, because you are a tough Aussie we've got a double SMIM for you.

Flexing + CB (include the pelvis).

After you get that straightened out you can work on Inside Foot Management.

Finally, for your tight BPST you'll need more CA.

You already know the drills. Exaggerate the crap out of everything, especially flexing and CB (and lift that lazy inside hip).
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Re: MA if you'd like to.

Postby A.L.E » Sun Jan 26, 2014 6:35 pm

Spark wrote:My first attempt at MA. Be that as it may, I will have a go at this.

I want to focus on the first two segments because those are the turns that did not work and it was not because the terrain was wrong.

I am seeing a weight transfer to the LTE before the completion of the turn. The old stance foot thus becomes light and tends to wash out a little which occasionally shows as an abstem. This motion robs the old stance ski of its energy and motion and you are completing your turn on your inside LTE and then moving into the transition. This essentially makes the turn into a two footed release without the second foot. This might be ok, but your new stance foot which is still on LTE does not flex which results in an unweighting of your new stance foot as your body moves up and over your stiff leg. As a result of the unweighting, your new stance ski is light on the snow in high C and your body is moving into the inside of the new turn before the ski has good contact with the snow which causes it to skid. Your new free foot does tip nicely, however it has started late because your old stance foot was not actively lifting and tipping. The result of all this is an abrupt edge hit when your stance ski finally has enough weight and angle to lock in. At this point your free ski is often light, but the force of the abrupt hit forces your free foot to take weight and the cycle begins again.

I see two things to work on here. 1) Phantom move and 2) Flexion.

My spidey senses tell me you probably have a hard time balancing on your stance foot all the way through your turn. I can see this reflected in your need to go straight and gain a little speed as you begin the second video segment, and also by noticing that your free foot ski only comes off the snow occasionally just before the fall line.

1) I would recommend practicing a slow motion exercise: Start from a stand still with skis perpendicular to the fall line and lift, tip and pull back the downhill ski while releasing from the uphill LTE into a brushed turn. You can start with garlands and then move to a full fall line turn if you want. Essentially this is the exercises from Expert Skier 1, 4.4 Full Release on Blue Terrain through 6.6 Two Footed Immediate Release. Javelin turns with the LTE ski off the snow all the time except in transition would be the goal when moving from this slow motion exercise to higher speeds.

You are using your inclination to the inside of the low C part of your turn to get your weight on your new LTE because that is the only way to get your weight there without flexing your stance leg to release into the transition. The end result of this is that your skis have lost their energy and your hips are slow to move to the inside of your new turn. You then have to wait until your new stance ski has reengaged after your weight has come back to it in late high C to begin to get higher edge angles.

2) Standing still, lift your uphill foot to mimic the free foot lifting and tipping through the turn. From this position flex your downhill stance foot leg to bring your free foot LTE in contact with the snow. Do this a few times and then tack it on to the slow motion exercise in 1). Do this in slow motion linked brushed turns on a green slope. After 1000 of them add some speed and see what happens.

This brings us back to point 1). When you flex to release your stance leg, and continue to lift and tip it, your hips begin to can move across your skis to the inside of the new turn during the transition instead of having to wait until your stance foot ski is reengaged at middle high C, and your new stance foot ski BTE can begin engagement with the snow immediately. One really important point here is that it is really hard to flex your stance foot leg if it does not already have some extension. Sometimes you get caught with a lot of flexion at the middle and end of the turn. At this point it is hard to flex more to release.

Here is a clip (00:00:13) showing your ski tracks in the previous turn. See how there is a skid at high C and the ski has not engaged until the fall line.
Image

Here is the abstem/washout resulting from an early transfer to LTE without a flex to release on the stance foot. (00:00:56)
Image

Here is a comparison of stance leg flexion at apex 00:01:31
Image

and transition 00:01:32
Image


Great stuff Spark. I like this a lot!

You are very right I do transfer weight early to the LTE of the uphill ski, it's usual a conscious thought but for the reasons and consequences you outline I can see why I've developed the short turns shown. And yes often it is an involuntary weighting of the inside ski.

There are some early basic flaws with the feet to be fixed as well as adding the CA/CB.

I'm very glad I posted the video. :)
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Re: MA if you'd like to.

Postby Max_501 » Sun Jan 26, 2014 6:40 pm

A.L.E wrote:Great stuff Spark. I like this a lot!

You are very right I do transfer weight early to the LTE of the uphill ski, it's usual a conscious thought but for the reasons and consequences you outline I can see why I've developed the short turns shown. And yes often it is an involuntary weighting of the inside ski.

There are some early basic flaws with the feet to be fixed as well as adding the CA/CB.

I'm very glad I posted the video. :)


Ale, just focus on the MA I put up which is from Harald and I.
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Re: MA if you'd like to.

Postby A.L.E » Sun Jan 26, 2014 6:59 pm

Max_501 wrote: (and lift that lazy inside hip)


:lol: I think you are getting sick of repeating that one for me!

I should be :oops: Lucky I'm a tough Aussie!
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