The blue pill or the red pill...

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The blue pill or the red pill...

Postby AussiePete » Thu Oct 04, 2018 5:53 pm

I just returned from a great ski trip a couple of months ago. (We had an excellent season here in Australia this year). And the skiing was a lot of fun.

While I was skiing, I asked my friend to take a few photos. He took a few rapid fire pics, and when I looked at them, I was horrified to see this slight convergence of my ski tips at the start of a turn. Hmmm..."but I'm always in parallel" I thought. Yeah, right! Not so. I now had proof staring me right in the face.

Okay, so I thought I'd do a little Googling for a tip or two to help me iron out this little kink.

And down the rabbit hole I went...

I found Josh, and then Warren, and many other clips with all sorts of tips. But one thing led to another, which led to another. And before I knew it, I had watched every single video Harald has on his YouTube channel, started reading his blog and more.

And pretty quickly realised I was onto something significant!

This is just a quick intro post to say hi, and to hopefully connect with anyone else in Australia (or elsewhere) who might be at a similar stage.

I've been skiing since I was in my early 20s and am now in my early 50s. Instead of just being satisfied with a tip or two (which is what I was originally looking for), I'm now looking at a complete overhaul! But that's okay with me. It didn't take long to convince me once I started looking.

I'm taking a "Book One, Chapter One, page-by-page" approach. I'm currently halfway through book one, have hunted down a pair of Head Supershape i.Speed skis. I couldn't get any in Australia (they were sold out), but managed to get the last pair of a 2017/18 model sent out from a store in England, and for a great price.

I've checked my boot alignment; am loving the first book (with the others soon to follow), and am putting together a slant board this weekend.

Oh yeah, and I've just booked a trip to Japan for early Feb. I'm itching to put it all into practice on some snow there. Does anyone know if there are any PMTS instructors in Hakuba by any chance? I won't be able to get to a camp in the US for the coming northern winter, but I'll be in Europe in early 2020, and have put my email on the notification list for the camp there.

I guess you could say I've taken the "red pill" - Haha!

Anyway...just saying 'Hi' with my first post. Great to connect :D

AussiePete
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Re: The blue pill or the red pill...

Postby jbotti » Fri Oct 05, 2018 6:29 am

Welcome to PMTS and to the Forum!
Reilly McGlashan spends his winters in Japan skiing competing and teaching. He has worked with Harald and has down the alignment tech course (so he can dial in your alignment). He would be a great guy to track down in Japan.
Balance: Essential in skiing and in life!
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Re: The blue pill or the red pill...

Postby AussiePete » Sat Oct 06, 2018 4:24 pm

Thanks jbotti

It looks like Reilly is based in Niseko in Hokkaido. I'll be in Hakuba, but am now seeing if I can extend my trip so I can get up there too! Not sure I'll be able to swing it, but it's worth a try :)
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Re: The blue pill or the red pill...

Postby ErikCO » Sun Oct 07, 2018 7:07 pm

Welcome to the Red Pill! Plan on spending this season (or two or three or more) on green runs workings on the basics. And be ready to go from feeling like you are a good skier to feeling totally incompetent! Take it slowly, practice drills, use lots of video (if you can).
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Re: The blue pill or the red pill...

Postby AussiePete » Sun Oct 07, 2018 9:58 pm

Thanks Erik. I'm bracing myself for the shock to the system - haha! But that's okay, based on all the video I've been watching, I know it'll be worth it in the long run. I'll just have to keep my ego in check! Oh well...I've had to do that in other endeavours, so hopefully I can do it here too :)
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Re: The blue pill or the red pill...

Postby noobSkier » Mon Oct 08, 2018 4:07 pm

Welcome to PMTS AussiePete. I would just add that if you are self-learning, video is just as important as doing the drills. The drills are only effective if they are performed correctly, and without video or feedback from a coach you have no way of knowing. Take it from me, in 2016 I spend half the season doing what I thought was the two-footed release. Of course the reality was that I had bastardized the exercise beyond recognition...half a season completely wasted. Even last season, I took some videos that I was somewhat pleased with so I didn't film for almost a month. In that time my skiing had degraded significantly because I was reinforcing incorrect movements. Now I film at least once a week, and usually more often if I'm working on something specific.
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Re: The blue pill or the red pill...

Postby AussiePete » Mon Oct 08, 2018 6:33 pm

Thanks noobSkier

Yep, that makes a lot of sense. If my friend hadn't taken those pics of me I would have been blissfully unaware of the issue that started this whole thing for me in the first place - haha! So I think I'll be needing as much video of my skiing as I can get :)

My Japan ski trip is a solo trip, which is why I was hoping to find a PMTS qualified coach in Hakuba. I'm sure I'll meet some people while I'm there, and hopefully talk them into doing some videoing. And I guess I could post something in the 'posse' section of this forum too. You never know, there could be someone here who is heading over there at the same time.

It's incredible how much my view of skiing has changed already. And it's all HH's fault! Haha.

I've gone back to YouTube clips of non-PMTS skiing that I had saved, and looked at them again. And already what I used to think of as good skiing, now looks...well...ahem, not so much. Of course, there's a huge difference between knowledge and skill. And that's where I need to see lots of video of my efforts to improve! But it's all good. Can't wait!
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Re: The blue pill or the red pill...

Postby tigernbr » Tue Oct 09, 2018 3:33 am

If you get video of yourself, post it in the Movement Analysis and Video section of the forum. There are many members here who can critique your video and give you suggestions of things to work on. I believe there is a post there about the best way to take video for analysis. It's worth a look before you record anything.
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Re: The blue pill or the red pill...

Postby AussiePete » Tue Oct 09, 2018 3:48 pm

Thanks tigernbr

I've just had a look at that section. That'd be great. Now I just need to find someone to hold the camera for me while I'm there :)
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