Little Toe Edge Difficulty

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Little Toe Edge Difficulty

Postby nwskier » Mon Sep 04, 2006 9:26 pm

Late last season, I started trying one legged exercises involving the uphill ski (wanting to learn weighted releases). I found these drills VERY difficult. I suspect my boots are OK and I can easily traverse or ski on the inside edge of my downhill ski.

Do these exercises require strong ankle muscles (I never could ice skate well due to collapsing ankles)? If so, anyone know of good exercises that might help?
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Postby onyxjl » Tue Sep 05, 2006 3:24 pm

nwskier, I find these drills to be difficult too, even with a decent boot set-up. As I practiced them more and more with traverses, one-footed skiing, and weighted releases they began to get easier. When I first started I could barely complete a turn on the inside edge of the inside ski but now I can link carved turns on one foot. They aren't perfect, but they get better with each attempt. I hope to make them more dynamic in the coming season.

I expect with practice you will find the same results. Having good boot fitting is essential, but even with that it still takes work. One thing I am trying for this year is split squats in the gym to work on core strength and one footed balance.
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Postby milesb » Tue Sep 05, 2006 4:19 pm

3 things:
1. flex deeply when you start these turns.
2. make sure your fore/aft balance is spot on.
3. use narrow skis.
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Postby Max_501 » Tue Sep 05, 2006 7:04 pm

Are you able to traverse across the hill on your uphill ski?
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Postby nwskier » Tue Sep 05, 2006 9:13 pm

Max_501 wrote:Are you able to traverse across the hill on your uphill ski?


Yes but not very well - the skies sometimes go flat when I don't want them to.
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Postby Max_501 » Wed Sep 06, 2006 6:19 am

Here are things to consider:

1) Are the boots the correct size (length and width) and shape?
2) Do you have a properly fitting foot bed?
3) Is your alignment correct?

Generally, if you can't traverse across the hill on your uphill ski you'll find that one or more of the above will be answered "NO".
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Postby nwskier » Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:05 pm

Thank you all for the advice.

Next season ....

I'll apply more patience and practice. Can hardly wait to try again with the new boots I just bought!
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Postby Hobbit » Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:23 pm

Most of the time the issues mentioned in the post by Max _501 would hold you back when trying to balance on the inside LTE edge. You also mentioned the concern regarding the ankle strength.

I think that the teeter board is an excellent device and it will help you to strengthen the ankles and improve the balance. When I started using it my ankles wobbled and I could not balance for a single second. Now I also use it as a feet support in my office and it?s always handy so I can balance for couple of minutes during the office break.

The board I've made uses the piece of 2'' hand rail instead of 1'' dowel. This makes it easier to use on the carpeted floor in the office.
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Postby Harald » Sat Sep 09, 2006 12:19 pm

In the previous posts there is some great advice from skiers who obviously know and have experienced the steps and practice it takes to build successful skiing. As without the ability to completely balance on the uphill, little toe edge, through a whole traverse your skiing is compromised. In PMTS there are standards that can be easily measured and tested. This is one of them. You need not continue to work on exercises, transitions, Phantom moves etc. unless your balance is developed on that little toe edge. So much of skiing depends on transition and stability on that ski. Without it you are a big toe edge skier, as most skiers are, this is what is, in many cases holding them back.

The answer lies in proper footbeds, boot alignment and then kinetic chain stability. Kinetic chain stability develops from co contraction of all the muscles along all the joints up the chain for a particular movement or balance. The alignment part is essential, as if there is a body or joint bias (collapse of joint integrity to one side or the other) your balance will never be stable on or over that joint. It?s like building a wall with the base not level.

If you look at the function of all the joints, start with the ankle, what does it have to do? The ankle has to hold your body stable on it while keeping the ski on a thin silver edge. The boot has to fit properly, as small ankle movements need to adjust the whole body and keep it stable. The area around the hip socket must be strong, especially muscles not used in normal daily activities like hip extenders and external rotators. Development of balance and muscle strength can improve your balance in traverses, just by repetition. Remember you may need more muscle strength, how long does it take to develop noticeable difference in muscle strength? Usually a few weeks in the gym. We do recommend a good preseason program of conditioning, this might reduce the frustration later on the slopes.

Don?t be discouraged if it doesn?t happen right away. Over a five day training week I?ve seen skiers who could not even stand on the little toe edge, stationary, go to traversing with balance the whole width of the slope. So don?t give up, you?ll see your whole game improve when you have it.
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Postby patprof » Sat Sep 09, 2006 6:39 pm

Harald-would you spend some more time explaining the concept of co-contraction? I remember John Mason talking about this last year-but I confess I still don't understand it. (I know-what do you expect from an ex college professor! )


Thanks :oops:
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Postby Harald » Sun Sep 10, 2006 10:41 am

From a purely technical stand point, Cocontraction is simultaneous activation of antagonist muscles around a joint. The cocontractive action provides the nervous system with a way to adapt the mechanical properties at a joint for changing tasks such as balance and weight shifts. This applies both in stationary activities and during movement. Studies do show that when fatigued co contraction is reduced just as is muscle and quality function.
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