Emotional threshold for speed?

A snowHead

Two instructors this season have questioned my willingness to go quickly on skis (last week I was told I had a low emotional threshold for speed, which was a bit crushing!). I think what they mean is that I have the technique to go quicker than I do without loosing control, but back off when I start to go very quickly. How to resolve this? Are there any ways of changing that kind of deep-seated mindset? Has anyone else made step-changes in their confidence levels for skiing quickly?

A snowHead

rob@rar, Is now the time in your life to expand out of your comfort speed zone?. I that what you want?.

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rob@rar, speed is relative. I'm a snail next to Bode Miller but my wife says I now go like a Bat out of Hell (comparing to my Bambi-esque first week). I always stay within comfort zone, just that good instruction has given me a large zone Wink

I think your instructors simply need to provide more encouragement.

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rob@rar, blinkers? a blindfold? 1/2 a bottle of Glenmorangie?

I don't have a sensible suggestion but I do know that I can ski the Inferno course the day after a heck of a lot faster than I do during the race Puzzled

and it has been commented that my times in general are not what you'd expect if you just watched me free skiing... Puzzled

brian

rob@rar, I got faster skiing with faster, better, older kids when I was younger. Maybe you need to find someone faster to ski around with ?

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or find a slower instructor.. . Toofy Grin

I'm a wimp and am not particularly concerned that I don't ski fast enough. But one thing I have noticed is that I tend to ski a bit faster when dissasociated a bit more from my environment, wearing goggles seem to make me go faster and wearing a helmet possibly would. Maybe body armour would help?

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This from someone with 4 weeks skiing - so discard it at will, but as a relative beginner my lack of speed is due to my lack of faith in my stopping/remedial ability when going faster. I guess if you have faith in your stopping/ability to remedy at that 'nearly lost it' moment, you will have the confidence to go faster.

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rob@rar, Why do you want to ski faster? Do you need to ski faster in order to master a particular technique? I would much rather be in control and ski slower.

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i skied with martin bell in Breckenridge - now there's a bloke who skis fast !!! he was at the bottom and we were still putitng our hands in our pole straps !!!

halfhand, I like going quick when conditions allow, or at least I thought I did! The point that was made to me was that I have the control to go more quickly than I do. Both instructors were trying to get better performance out of me and independently they said that I could/should ski quicker without loosing control, both asking if I was aware of backing off when things got a bit quick. I think this kind of encouragement is made to a number of skiers at all levels of performance when they only lack confidence to go a bit more quickly, rather than lacking technique to control their speed and line.

You know it makes sense.

I have the same issue off piste, I think it's a mental thing, mine isn't helped by shattering my femur whilst in a tuck and cutting the corner of a track....

I guess all I'm doing is when I feel comfortable off piste, ie on a relatively wide shallow slope I'm trying to ski faster than I would normally, and taking it from there...

regards,

Greg

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

brian

rob@rar, I reckon building up incrementally is the way to go rather than a step change. You must have tons of fast wide pistes in Les Arcs, why not go let yourself go a little quicker over initially a short section and gradually build up the size of the "fast" section ?

btw, losing is spelled "losing" ! Other than "Courcheval" (aaaaarrrrrrrggggghhhhh) it's my top pedantry hate. There, I feel better now, back in my comfort zone. Carry on. Embarassed

A snowHead

If you dont fall you are not trying hard enough! Buy some body armour a helmet grow some cahonas Very Happy

and go for it! Speed is fun, But you have to be withing what makes you comfortable ask youself what you want to achieve and is speed needed to achive that? The only problem is mountains seem smaller when you go quicker!

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brian, thanks, that's one of my blind spots, although I get Courchevel right every time Smile

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Are you a man or a mouse?

Just point your skis downhill and let rip.

Find a public speedtrap with a digital scoreboard. This will quantify exactly how slow you are.

Then spend a day ragging up and down the speedtrap. Run by run, you will get faster and braver.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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rob@rar, do you wear a helmet?

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On the other hand, if you're happy with the speed you're doing, why go faster? Skiing's about enjoying yourself, not trying to break the world landspeed record. If you do actually want to go faster, then I'd go with the advice to build up your speed tolerance gradually by going faster on easy patches. (I had a similar thing in France with the instructor constantly telling me that my technique was fine, which was all very lovely but didn't address the main issue at all which was that I had no confidence. The thing that got me past that was having another instructor who thought skiing was about having fun, and not trying to contantly push the boundaries. Surprise, surprise, my speed picked up no end as I bounced merrily along behind him without having to worry about whatever was coming up next on the piste. I was also dropped down into a lower group where I was by far the best skier, which did my confidence no end of good as well.)

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rob@rar, maybe find a downhill course with a steep finish and a good run out and practice "letting" go from further and further up the hill. It worked for me! snowHead

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rob@rar, Pay your money hire the skis and give the KL a blast, everything you ever do after that is slow, believe me. wink

You know it makes sense.

rob@rar, I ski a fair bit slower on a normal piste than I do on a race course. Even if there are other race lanes alongside the one I am using, I feel much more confident that other racers will act predictably than I do the rest of the time.

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I'm a fairly quick skier (relative to my ability- not necessarily a good combo). IMost of the time I prefer to be in control as oppsed to skiing on the edge. My firends I ski with tend to ski on the edge most of the time. I tend to have a day just letting go just to let them know I can, but not sure that's how I want to ski all the time. Slightly different if you are doing race training.)

A snowHead

rob@rar, I went to the office in Arc 2000, hired 225cm's, DH Suit, booked a slot, bit of tuition and off I went. 131KPH. YeeHaa. It was years ago, don't know what the deal is now.
The very top was closed, but to go from there you've got to be mental anyway. DH boards and DH suit is a lot safer than KL gear, at least the skis will turn and you'll stop if you fall.

A snowHead

rob@rar, on the first day of the course I was asked exactly the same thing Shocked

- pretty much the first time that's ever happened to me too. In my case it was not being comfortable with my equipment in the conditions at the time. A few times I was backing off where I probably shouldn't have, and that's generally when I start thinking about the consequences and likelihood of making a mistake at that speed. A rather distubing trait in the last year or so though is the rapidity with which my legs now pack up - fine one turn and the next it's getting a bit iffy and I have to plan a pretty quick slow down before it all goes pearshaped big-time. Unfortunately, I think this is a touch of anno domini, so make sure you make hay now before you catch me up.

More generally body armour, and possibly higher binding settings (to avoid popping out when you shouldn't - as you ski harder pre-releases get a lot more common) help. Other than that, a few good falls to show you actually can do so without hurting yourself - something I seem to practice rather more than maybe I should Embarassed

.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Spyderman, nice. I've not skied anything quicker than GS skis. Giving DH boards a go would be 'educational'. I'd probably give the catsuit a miss though, as it's not a pretty sight Smile

rjs, I think I ski a bit quicker outside gates, although only if the piste is clear enough to give me confidence that there's be no collisions even if I got things badly wrong. I've had a couple of close shaves on the very narrow training lanes on the Grand Motte. That's often on my mind in the start gate Sad

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GrahamN, interesting. I was hoping it was an Emma thing, given where her emotional threshold is, but it was also said to me last week (fortunately not when snowploughing Wink

), so it's got me wondering. It's definitely a subconscious thing with me as I'm not aware of scrubbing off speed, and I don't think it's a technique thing either. So maybe it is natural caution of age (although I ski much faster now than I did when I was young and stupid). I do up my bindings a point or two when GSing, but no body armour as yet other than padding in my catsuit or slalom vest. Maybe a spine protector or similar would help with the demons in my head who seem to take over from time to time?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

rob@rar, The thing that was the scariest on the KL was not the speed, it was the accelleration. 130 came up in about 5 seconds. Shocked

It's like someone pushing very hard on your back, then you start to get tunnel vision and I started to notice the tiniest bit of snow out of place, then the ski tips started to lift and sway gently from side to side. Then I needed to change underwear.

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rob@rar, I also find that I am much less aware of speed when skiing in my catsuit, even with shorts & softshell top over it, than I am in a normal suit.

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Emotional threshold for speed?

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