How Active should the Stance Foot Be? "Slightly"

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How Active should the Stance Foot Be? "Slightly"

Postby Bluey » Mon Dec 08, 2003 1:54 am

I always had the impression that the Free Foot ( FF ) was where all the action was and that the Stance Foot ( SF ) remained passive other than for and flexing/muscle relaxing that was required during a turn.......then whilst I was reading Book 2 I discovered a passage on page 62 that advised "slight ankle movements to adjust edging can be effective......"

Can someone please elaborate on this.

The book is sketchy is this aspect....... eg at what part of the turn is this most effective and in what snow conditions is this most effective?

Can someone please tell me if the SF is also involved in any other "slight" activity to improve performance?


Last one down the slope is a dirty snowball!!
Bluey
 
Posts: 134
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2003 11:30 am
Location: Sydney

From the source

Postby h.harb » Mon Dec 08, 2003 6:02 pm

How much emphasis should you put on the stance foot, ski and leg? The answer is, use the correct side of the body, at the right time and you will be excellent. For sake of clarity let?s call it the stance side. In PMTS Direct Parallel we have deemphasized the stance side during the transition or changing edge phase, between turns . The purpose is to reverse the damage done by (dead-end) movements engrained in skiers by traditional teaching progressions.

This de-emphasis helps reduce movements that put the new stance ski onto the big toe edge. With this de-emphasis the releasing side (old stance side) has time to change and allow the mid and upper body to be in position for the angles required for the next turn. Most skiers learned to ski with the Wedge Turn and Christie movements that lead them into movements that hold the stance ski on edge while activating the new stance ski with a tail push to the new big toe edge.

Although traditional systems don?t intend to have skiers stuck in big toe to big toe push off movements, the general skiing population demonstrates what actually happens as a result of traditional systems. The slopes are filled with skiers pushing the back of the skis from side to side trying to access the big toe edge. It maybe that instructors don't see these movements or do they think they happen by accident.

We know that the movement that should activate new turns should be started at the old stance side which becomes the new free foot and leg side.

Once the edges are engaged and the skis tilted after the transition, in the ?High C? part of the turn, the stance side of the body becomes active. If you have kept the free foot light, during the transition, stance foot activity will occur through balancing movements on the stance foot and leg. This happens automatically through co-contraction and the reaction of the kinetic chain or you would fall over.

In my books, I recommend that skiers evert (tipping) the foot on the stance side to access the ski and boot angle for increased ski performance. In addition, once the turn has begun, (without skidding) the free foot side of the body can relax and collapse to the inside of the turn to create higher angles. The stance side becomes active with foot and ankle tipping or as we call it ?laying over?. Laying over the stance foot, ankle and therefore the boot after the transition is encouraged to help increase body angle and edge grip. Don?t confuse this with knee angulation, which is created by internal rotator and adductor muscle activity and rotation of the femur. Correct boot alignment will provide ample and correct passive and complimentary rotation of the femur, rather than a poor result from active femur twisting.

This is the crux of the movements in transition. Too much activity of the new stance side at or during transition blocks the releasing side and causes a skidded flat ski tail. You can increase stance side activity after you are sure your skis are tilted and engaged.
h.harb
 

Postby Bluey » Mon Dec 08, 2003 7:51 pm

Thanks Harald....your comments all make sense.
Good advice. Thanks again.
Bluey
 
Posts: 134
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2003 11:30 am
Location: Sydney

Ozz

Postby h.harb » Mon Dec 08, 2003 8:07 pm

hi again,

Are you in Oz, do you know our friend and Ozzie PMTS man Peter Stone?
h.harb
 

How Active should the Stance Foot Be? "Slightly"

Postby Guest » Wed Dec 10, 2003 8:45 pm

Harald,
Sorry I haven't replied earlier but my cable coonection has been intermittently down.

In response to your question.....Yep, I come from the land DownUnder. In fact, I live in Sydney.

I've been skiing for about 4-5 years but I didn't start skiing till later in life...I've just turned 50.

For my 50 birthday I treated myself to a one week Blue Camp at Perisher Blue. It was there that I met Peter stone and Scott Burns. Peter was my instructor for the week... it was the best week's instruction that I ever had.
I started the week as a terminal intermediate and finished looking like an expert....(thank you again Peter). Skiing was always exciting to me but after PMTS it became pure fun....( thank you Harald for sharing it with the world).

Peter and Scott are great ambassadors for PMTS in Australia.

I hope to do another camp next year at Perisher Blue ( to sharpen my skills in steeps and bumps ) ......providing Peter can get the Perisher folk to co-operate.........otherwise I'll have to come over to Fernie at the end of 2004 and try to hook up with Peter there......its a long way to go to get proper instruction but I couldn't go back to traditional instruction.

Regards
Bluey

Last one downs a dirty snowball!!
Guest
 


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