by HeluvaSkier » Tue Dec 13, 2011 11:30 am
I think your alignment is too aggressive on the left foot. I’m not sure what your setup is, but it looks like you’re out too far. This may actually be true for both legs, but definitely the left. The Aggressor boot is edgier because of the toe-out. It also creates a lot of potential setup issues because it rotates your foot – adding one more variable to the alignment equation. You tend to naturally toe out anyway, so the boot may work for you if you spend time on dialing in your lateral alignment. I’d take a half of a degree off the left leg and then verify with video. Use duct tape canting. Move in 2-layer increments until it looks right on video – you may have to go beyond 1 degree. Out of curiosity (hunch) – how rigid are those foot beds you have?
Your focus on flexing is a good start. The next step [and I'd argue your most important] is to work on foot pullback to keep your hips forward while doing it. Remember, there is a difference between squatting down toward your skis to release, and pulling your feet up toward your hips to release. There are a bunch of drills that you are aware of that can help you develop this, but the biggest help for me has been to change the way I think about flexing – it isn’t squatting. Free foot pullback and the ability to hold the feet back in transition can go a long way for you here. Flexing and fore/aft go hand-in-hand. Check the total ramp of your boot, and how close your BoF is to CRS on your skis - you may need to adjust your setup to feel comfortable on the skis when you are truly skiing with your hips forward. There is also the likelihood that the squatty-ness of your turns due to the flexing without pulling your feet [especially the free foot in several instances] back is causing you to fall back and to the inside. This would negate most CB and make any ‘fake’ CA that is present a rotation around the stance leg instead of a rotation around the spine. Notice you're showing more CB on your right footers - the same side you're also more forward on? Not a coincidence. More CB might treat the symptom, but not cause.
You have some CB on your right footers; none on the left. If CB on the left doesn’t appear as you tinker with the boot setup, then it is definitely a movement deficiency as Max pointed out. Also, you have very little, to no CA going on. CA will not just help the CB and tipping/edge engagement, but will also immensely improve your ability to release without a push off. You are fairly flexible from all the climbing you do, so you are probably not being blocked due to RoM, so it is probably a combination of boot setup and not owning the movements.
You can’t really have a PMTS MA without talking about tipping. Once you become more comfortable with the movements discussed above, it’s time to re-focus on tipping. Specifically, getting the long-leg / short-leg back into your skiing. I really like the power release for training this. It teaches the use of a large RoM combined with an effective flex-to-release. I think Harald has this on YouTube. Tip earlier in the turn, keep tipping for longer, and tip more. If you aren’t tipping, you need to be releasing. Just something to keep in mind as you improve.
Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability.
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