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My own thread on carving technique

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I was going to comment on the carving and teapots exercise thread, but its probably more appropriate to add my own comments and experience separately here.

I'm going from snowploughs to learning parallel turns.

Turning to the right is going easier than turning to the left. My instructor and my Swiss friends observe that I only seem to use one shoulder - I can get the left shoulder to swing forwards when I turn right, but the other side is harder work.

My instructor tried getting me to swing the ski sticks from back over shoulder on the outside edge of the turn fast across the front of me to the other side and downwards like a tennis racket - I couldn't do this quickly and it wasn't overly successful. We also tried planting the ski pole and turning around it - he made this look so simple, but I didn't have the control.

The best solution seemed to be what the kids were trying - aeroplane wings with my arms - the one on the ouside edge of the turn held higher the one on the inside lower (like an aeroplane making a banked turn) - that was the most successful exercise in getting the outside shoulder round, particularly on the awkward side.

However, what I can't understand is although I couldn't turn left as easily - that was actually the side I could make the best parallel stop on. Very weird!

I'll post the video when DH sorts it for me and maybe you will be able to help me more, but on watching it myself I don't think the top half of my body is working separately from my hips downwards. I presume it will all come in the finish.....?
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Megamum, there's a whole lot in that post! There's lots I'd like to comment on, but would be best left to the pros. Just one thing from me: all carved turns are parallel, but not all parallel turns are carved (at least not purely carved). I'm sure there'll be lots of other observations to follow!
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Megamum, I recommend you change your instructor. Best to keep your upper body as quiet as possible. You don't want to be thinking about swinging your shoulders anywhere.
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Contoversial thought (which I've had since she started posting) but.....is Megamum an imposter or agent provocatuer? Most of her posts have a knowing naiivety to them, very subtly casting bait and reeling in the sincere responses. rolling eyes

If this conspiracy theory is way off the mark then Megamum, please accept my apologies in advance. snowHead
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Hywel wrote:

If this conspiracy theory is way off the mark then Megamum, please accept my apologies in advance. snowHead


Translation: "I know I shouldn't be posting this, but I reckon to get away with very few repercussions" Very Happy
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Megamum, really? Honestly? I find it hard to believe that an instructor would do that at all these days.

There are much better focuses for you to have in order to achieve your goals, but they are better shown than described. The primary key is learning to release your ski edges first. Then allow your skis to find the fall line on their own. Paaaaaaaaaatience! The vast majority of skiers rush through the top of their turns instead of enjoying the rush of the skis accelerating into the slope and then out again.

Lots there.
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Quote:

the left shoulder to swing forwards when I turn right, but the other side is harder work


Shocked Shocked Shocked Shocked
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Sounds very Swiss to me and as a drill I can see the point.
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I'm no expert, but, (how many posts do I start with these words? Embarassed ), I have to comment that a lot of Megamum's post directly contradicts everything I've ever been taught. Swinging poles like a tennis racket sounds very strange, I was alway told to keep the upper body facing down the fall line, and the arms and poles slightly foward in a 'riding a motorbike' sort of way. The Aeroplane drill (when I was doing it) involved getting the outside arm low to keep weight on the outer (downhill) ski. Maybe I am misunderstanding the post, or my memory is deteriorating faster with age than I thought. Confused
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I will hold comment until I have seen the video but it sound like a series of drills, which has leftMegamum, with the impression in her mind that shoulder rotation is the key to turning her skis.
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Megamum, I'm way too inexperienced and early in my own learning to comment on the individual drills but it does seem to be perfectly normal for folks to turn better on one side than the other. I've been told it on just about every lesson I've had! According to the instructor community everyone has the same problem to some degree although it becomes less pronounced with experience and practice which is obvious if you think about it as the difference is much less between the 2)

Others will no doubt comment on the drill itself. A few weeks aho it was pointed out to me that I was doing TOTALLY the wrong thing with my arms ( as in diametrically opposite to what I should be doing) and that after 2 seasons of learning so don't 'unduly worry' about it !
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Heidi's grandad on 225 "straight" skis used to employ a sort of "swimming crawl" shoulder motion when teaching powder skiing. Perhaps he's still working at resort X? Laughing
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Hywel, I think you've only to look at that video I posted before to see that I am that same naiive novice I claim to be. Sorry to blow a hole in the theory.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
laundryman wrote:
Just one thing from me: all carved turns are parallel, but not all parallel turns are carved (at least not purely carved).


[pedant] not always - Javelin turns are carved but not parallel wink [/pedant]
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Megamum, I have to admit that I have thought the same thing!

Either...

...you must be an instructor's joy to teach as you clearly demonstrate motivation, willingness, a lack of pre-judice and an open mind....

or

...you are in fact a journalist with the Sunday Times, re-writing "We learned to ski" and you're viciously and unashamedly exploiting our collective's knowledge.

I am going to believe you are the former and will say again that I think your questions are beautifully framed. In fact, if you're not a journalist (etc.) I think you should collect your questions and selected responses and publish them!

[Oh, I'll probably get in trouble now over SHs IP ownership...]
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
stuarth, how dare you upstage me in pedantry? wink
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Megamum wrote:
Hywel, I think you've only to look at that video I posted before to see that I am that same naiive novice I claim to be. Sorry to blow a hole in the theory.


No need to apologise, but your first post about a Killy jacket for £7 in a charity shop set the tone, and your angling talents have gone from strenth to strength from there. wink

I wouldn't expect you to blow your cover so quickly anyway

Don't take this as an insult - you definitely kick off some interesting threads here which is no bad thing.

MegaDad
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Hywel, Clearly no insult intended, certainly none taken!! Very Happy Very Happy

Incidentally, I wore the Killy while I was away - lovely and warm!
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Hywel, this is his/her fifth skiing trip. Puzzled
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Hywel, it flitted across my mind too. However aj has well established credentials, and clearly believes Megamum exists.
This from equipment
Quote:

:... I think skeetex (chelmsford way) seemed good. Myself and megamum both went there and are happy with the boots...
aj xx


David
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Maybe Megamum is aj's mum.
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bh1, 4th actually, Yes, but the first two were 10 years+ ago and I had no lessons on planks of a huge length and I got no-where!
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So I don't exist.............Mmmm, could get away with tonnes now..........however, I'm an honest sort, I have mentioned the goat keeping before as well haven't I? Why shouldn't the rest be true? Try the following:

http://homepages.tesco.net/ajaosborne/
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Megamum, mmmmmm nubile goats eh?

Sorry, getting confused from the 'other' thread Laughing
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Megamum, you've convinced me, "Mid-Essex Goat Club" couldn't be made up! Toofy Grin
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Megamum,don't worry , I think some of us may be gently 'winding you up'? snowHead
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Agenterre, worried.....? me? Well, sometimes I guess I'm a legitimate target.........but, it don't take that long to get street wise, I know when you're all on a wind up - sometimes its fun to wind the winders........ just a little!! Twisted Evil Twisted Evil
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www.goatheads.com
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You know it makes sense.
David Murdoch,
Quote:

...you must be an instructor's joy to teach as you clearly demonstrate motivation, willingness, a lack of pre-judice and an open mind....



That's a lovely set of thoughts.....but, wouldn't anyone new into a sport and who wanted to do their best at it (and personally I can't stand not doing something to the best of my ability) approach things from a similar perspective? I am always prepared to act like a sponge and absorb any tips anyones prepared to take the time to give me. The problem comes when you are new at something that, until someone tells you that the advice you have been given is wrong for a good reason, you have no other basis for not believing and not doing what you are told to.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
http://www.rsn.com/ram_file/200923.ram
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
http://www.rsn.com/ram_file/200926.ram
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
http://www.goski.com/rsntv/welcome.html
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
professorpool, very interesting. I'm sure I actually found the edges of the skis this year, I was conscious of pushing them into the snow, particularly if I suddenly hit a wetter patch and I felt the downhill ski fall away from me - I found it was possible to turn the edge into the slope and get the grip back again. Also, I actually found myself thinking about what I had been told here on snowHead 's and as I went down found myself recalling the comments to set the ski on its edge and stand on it. On some odd occasions I'm sure I got it 'bang on' and when I did it felt terrific - as though I was actually skiing! Very Happy

It was interesting to see the clip you posted about doing the short rhythmic turns. I actually tried something like this a couple of times when I was practising - lots of people seemed to work down the hill using lots of quick short turns so watched what they were doing and tried it - I actually wondered if 'rhythym' might help me - I don't think mine were quite as short as those on the video, but it was not as difficult as I thought it would be.
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Megamum, the reason why rhythm is important is that the end of one turn normally sets you up into a good position for the beginning of the next turn. If you complete one turn, then pause a little as you traverse across the hill it's actually harder to initiate the next turn. It is much easier to 'flow' from one turn to another than it is to pausing between turns.
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rob@rar, that was more or less how it felt - by thinking about the next turn straight away I was almost doing it - the momentum generated from one turn almost rolled you into the next. (I bet DH hasn't got a video of me doing it though to show you - I haven't seen all he took yet). One will appear when I've got the couple of hours to sort it out.

I've spent the last few hours considering they way many people skied on holiday and also those video clips. I keep looking at the confidence angle from the perspective of being able to fling myself down the fall line like my 7 yr old kid and the 7yr old of my Swiss friends do, but is it absolutely necessary to be able to do that? If I could master this shooshing to and fro in little (or larger) turns (which I would imagine I could in time) would that be sufficient to ski most areas or are there some situations where you need to be able to go down hill in a straight line?
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Megamum wrote:
I keep looking at the confidence angle from the perspective of being able to fling myself down the fall line like my 7 yr old kid and the 7yr old of my Swiss friends do, but is it absolutely necessary to be able to do that? If I could master this shooshing to and fro in little (or larger) turns (which I would imagine I could in time) would that be sufficient to ski most areas or are there some situations where you need to be able to go down hill in a straight line?


You very rarely need to go straight down the fall line for any length of time. The only skiing which demands this is the Flying K speed skiing. However, just about every turn you do will involve your skis pointing down the fall line, for no matter how brief a time. You will also need to be able to project your upper body down the hill so you fully commit to changing from one set of edges to another as you start the next turn. This, obviously, can be intimidating on steeper slopes. But you should be assured that your confidence will build as you gain experience, and in the meantime you should concentrate on your core technique which is the bedrock of all your skiing. Rather than trying to understand situations (like 7 year olds bombing down the fall line) I think you should focus more on technique (what technique for steering your skis is best for different contexts). Once you can put your theoretical understanding of technique into practice you will find that the 'situations' look after themselves.
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rob@rar, I just know you are gonna be right............It's just terribly difficult to feel you're getting anywhere fast when your own 7 yr old is bombing down the fall line without a care in the world after no longer on ski's than you've had and your 4 old is rapidly following suit. At least if I can master this swoosh swoosh thing I will at least be able to follow them, even if it was 5-10 minutes behind them! The thing is for a little while at least I wouldn't mind keeping up (ish), I am seriously considering some dry slope practice later on this year. I will also have to do something about the 7yr old's cheek - this year she was zazzing past shouting out 'that looked better mummy' sheeesh......... Blush Blush
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
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Megamum, if we compare ourselves to 7 year olds on skis that way madness lies. The ability and fearlessness of children on skis is a little joke on us adults by the Snow Gods Wink
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rob@rar, Are you sure you're not Yoda's alter ego?!! Laughing Laughing
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Megamum, Laughing
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