h.harb wrote:We have 4 new downloadable videos coming up on our web site. One of the new videos I just got finished filming, will be up in May. It's a new approach to retraction. I call it, "edge retraction" exercise. I'm finding that skiers don't use the edge rebound energy, to retract, at the end of their tipping. Using this new exercise made a huge difference with TODD. (Note my latest Blog description of Todd's skiing changes.) it's mostly about developing CA, but the retracting movement was a big part of that stronger edge angle Todd achieved.
Although I didn't talk much about the exercise in the post, Todd responded really well to the exercise, his turns became quicker in transition and this ski tails didn't drop down, as far across the fall before he was able to release and retract. Of course, if you have the movements and still aren't executing to your desires use "target tipping"; (edge change without direction change). <snip snip>
For the last 3 years, my lessons have focused on making short turns (brushed and carved) using rebound energy. Last season Harald filled in some of the missing pieces in my short turns by creating a new exercise for me, which is basically about efficiently loading and then releasing a ski at the moment of maximum energy. The gotcha is that a lot of details of movement and timing must be right; if one of those is off, you’ll feel the loss of energy … and that’s frustrating.
The exercise is a variant on the garland. It is best done on slopes with some pitch, about the same pitch as you’d want for the power release exercises. If you’ve been to an A-Basin camp, High Noon or the first steeper pitch on Sundance would be a good place to try this for a first time. Unlike the power release drill, you’ll make several half turns across the width of the slope – this is for developing short turns after all.
Begin standing across the slope in a highly countered position on skier’s far left edge of slope. Your poles should assume the no-swing pole plant position (no cheating, downhill pole back behind the ski binding and uphill pole fully forward). Do a two-footed release into the fall line. In the fall line, you should be uncountered (square). Stay in the fall line a ski length or three to build up some momentum for the upcoming garland.
Turn right until you’re across the fall line. You’re simulating a short turn with energy, so movements will be aggressive. Tip aggressively to bend the ski. Simultaneously do massive CA with a no-swing pole plant. Begin early CA immediately. Once you’ve counteracted enough to lock the hips out of rotation, the CA and tipping become basically one unified movement and it becomes easy to tip to large angles. (Individuals vary, but I’m the opposite of a hip dumper and I’m fairly natural at tipping, so I have to think about the early CA first before thinking about the tipping since my body instinctively begins tipping.) If it doesn’t feel awkward and extreme, you’re not doing enough. You should feel pent-up energy in the ski, enough that you wonder just what will happen when you release it.
At the precise moment of maximum energy, retract deeply to get airborne and hold counter until you’re through neutral. Boots are kept close together – couple of fingerwidths air gap at most. The skis will then unwind to face downhill as you come into the fall line [but see Harald’s target tipping comment in the quote above.] Ensure that you’re uncountered (square) while still in the fall line and then repeat the garland until out of slope.
During your first couple of garlands, you may choose to hop up first and then immediately suck your legs up. If you do this, then try to drop the hop and just retract after doing a couple of garlands. The more rebound energy you develop, the easier it will be to just retract and get airborne.
When you come to a stop after the last garland, check your stopping pole position, torsos, hips, etc. Are you fully counteracted? Are your feet tight together both fore-aft and side-to-side? Are your poles in a sold no-swing pole plant position?
Now repeat to the other side.
The exercise teaches you to flex deeply while holding CA and timing it to occur before you run out of CA range of motion or start to lose energy in the ski.
Getting the timing right was very hard for me; I hold onto the turn too long. Holding onto the turn even a split second too long meant that I delayed some movements or spread them out over too long a time. That killed the turn’s energy. But speeding them up showed defects in my skiing. Either I’d lose the counter too soon, or my feet would spread apart, or the inside foot would drift forward, or I’d try to release early and still hold on too long trying to get all the pieces in order. But that's why Harald invented the exercise. One of the outcomes was that I developed a feel for what would happen if I loaded a ski and didn’t release perfectly. This makes me more willing to release at will even if things aren’t lined up perfectly.