What does graduating from Carving mean?

[Harald]

This week I had a great experience with one of my skiers. This skier is a woman about thirty- five years old, who skis about twelve days a year. I skied with her three years ago for a few days; she has skied in one Blue Camp and for three days with me this year. She had a strong stem on blue slopes when I first skied with her.

In three years with twelve days of skiing a year, is Jane (let?s call her Jane) an expert skier yet? Yes, Jane is on Blue terrain, but not yet on Black. The only reason she isn?t Expert on Black yet, is because she just graduated from Carving on Blue.

She can make very short turns now on Blue slopes with speed control. She can now ski whole black runs with short turns and speed control. She has yet to master bumps and all mountain. Jane is learning skiing in the right order, so this will come to her quickly.

Let me explain, in PMTS we teach skiers to access the ski?s side cut so they can experience how to use skis effectively. We teach skiers to use ski design, avoiding gross motor movements that take the body out of balance. On page 53 and 71 in Expert Skier 2, are demonstrations of the movements and edge changes we developed with Jane. We also worked on pole plant for whole morning.

This is very steep progress, but Jane is a perfectionist, she does everything the way it is written or described. She skis Blue terrain like a PMTS Black level instructor. Does this make her an expert; on blue terrain you would be hard pressed to guess otherwise?

The question is what made the difference? Why does Jane learn so quickly with virtually no skiing time?

[John Mason]

little to unlearn is why she can progress so quickly

the problem is when you come to skiing with bad muscle memory habits that are not compatible with top end expert skiing

(like my first lesson where I was taught to steer the foot as the primary way to turn)

[Harald]

John yes, much of her rapid progress is based in the fact that Jane has not engrained and become dependant on Dead-end movements. Partly she didn?t engrain them because she didn?t attempt to ski terrain that was well beyond her ability level.

Skiers are rarely counseled about the ill effects on their skiing progress when they continue to ski with beginner movements from TTS. Most skiers take one or two lessons and try to ski with friends or on more difficult slopes. It is logical that when they do this they are dependant on the wedge and possibly a wedge turn. You can see how they would try to dig in the big toe edge to control speed and to turn. It doesn?t take long for a beginner to become totally dependant on these types of movements.

Reversing this situation for a skier is difficult.

The other big advantage that Jane has is her flexibility. Jane can move into a hip countering movement during her edge change (transition), which controls gross rotation of the mid body and upper body. She also stabilizes her core while the forces of the turn build.

So what can skiers do off the snow so they can improve their skiing with less effort, on the snow. Since it is the beginning of the off season for amny skiers, this is a great topic.

(We are still skiing and off to Europe and Mt Hood between now and June)



We notice that skiers with limited range of hip motion and those lacking muscle balance, have the most difficulty learning. So the first thing skiers can do is to be active during the off season. Specifically, active in sports like tennis, biking (standing on the peddles is better then sitting on the seat), running is not a good skiing activity, especially for middle aged to older skiers, as it stiffens the hip area and muscles around the hip and pelvis. Running also produces muscle imbalance. Of course any health club and or gym type activates like Pilotys (sp) that involve overall body movement and muscle toning are beneficial.

[jbotti]

As a life long runner, I can be testament to what Harald is saying. I actually didn't start making big progress in my skiing until I stopped running. This was at the same time that I started a significant flexibility program. My hips were locked from years of running and it took me 6 months to loosen them up. I had no shot at skiing at a high level because I didn't have the flexibility to counter and counter balance in a carve and no shot to drop the hip into a turn.

[violao]

Specifically, active in sports like tennis, biking (standing on the peddles is better then sitting on the seat)...

Rowing in a single and practicing ballance with the upper body calm. Plus extra strength excercise for lower back muscles.

[Harald]

Violao has a good point, rowing could be one of the best summer activates for skiers. Singles rowing or paddling kayak requires the twisting of the upper body over the lower body, as well as side to side movements of the mid body, which require strength, yet also develop flexibility. High levels of balance are required and developed with these activities.

[midwif]

YOGA!
Flow type yoga practices, where the practitioner flows smoothly from pose to pose is a great adjunct to most sports, skiing especially. Helps loosen tight areas in addition to tremendous balancing exercises.

[sunrise]

Belly dancing, okay you guys are probably not about to sign up for classes , I've been doing it on and off for years and though I still consider myself a terminal beginner in that area, but I definitely have flexible hips compared to some. Yes, Pilates would be good, and related Gyrotonics, and all the other stuff mentioned. How about that nordic walking I've recently heard about? Maybe not so much for hips but it looks like a really cool way to exercise. Also check out Yamuna Bodyrolling, the Franklin method (both which use small balls) and Feldenkrais method exercises. The Franklin people have small balls that you sit your sit bones on, it releases the back muscles. I was doing that upon waking before going skiing and then rolling out on the balls. The Yamuna balls are a bit bigger, and are useful as well. Feels like you're ironing out the fascia, not unlike something like rolfing (which is another good thing to do incidentally).

Julianne

[midwif]

Sunrise
You are into some Very, very interesting things.
The balls sound intriguing. I may check that out.
Thanks, Lynn

[tburtonwire]

Water skiing is a great way to stay in shape for snow skiing. It also gives you a great upper body workout! Very anarobic!

[john heath]

I'd be careful with nordic walking if you do sports that involve running, as there is a pretty persuasive school of thought that power walking or nordic walking can screw up your wiring for proper running. If anyone is very interested I'll dig out the link.

[comprex]

john heath, I'd like to take a look at that.

[sunrise]

I'm not a runner, but I'm surprised to hear that - if it's not healthy for running does that mean it's not healthy in other respects perhaps....?

Midwif, I see you're in NY - Yamuna runs bodyrolling classes there. Franklin comes there and runs workshops at times too.

Some brands of pilates also use the swiss ball - the combo is also good for balance.

[john heath]

managed to dig it out, here's the link, scroll down to 3 for power walking. glad to hear any thoughts or disagreement.


http://www.fitness-programs-for-life.co ... 00603.html

[John Mason]

running (now that I run (did 10 miles 2 times this week)) is very interesting bio-mechanically. I can't think of anything farther from skiing than running is.

Ponder how different running is from walking. In walking you are tallest and fall over your leg at the plant point. You pull yourself forward directly with your muscles.

In running you are shortest at the plant point as your achiles tendon loads up like a spring and you plyometrically bound back up and add to it a bit in your flight phase where you are tallest.

Running is like managing a pogo stick.

I think this is why biking is a pretty good metaphor for how the legs are used in skiing. You extend one leg while the other one releases in a smooth fashion.

Interesting discussion. I like running for the aerobic and weight management benefits. But I run every other day and bike the other days. I don't think running has much crossover for skiing.