 Poster: A snowHead
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| rob@rar wrote: |
| little tiger wrote: |
Hmmm now I wonder why they look familiar?  |
I've no idea? |
Haven't got up to Advanced Balance yet?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| little tiger wrote: |
| rob@rar wrote: |
| little tiger wrote: |
| Hmmm now I wonder why they look familiar? |
I've no idea? |
Haven't got up to Advanced Balance yet? |
I hope you're not accusing me of simply copying drills from Fastman.
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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?
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rob@rar, 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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little tiger, I only looked at the first one or two of Ricks DVD's but dont remember seeing any snowplough based drills... In terms of balance exercises tip and tail lifting drills are hardly new... I knicked dib dabs from a Scottish coach and sounds like you knicked snow plough wiggles from an Austrian Very few really unique drills out there, more of a case of how and when you apply them...
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I once did 3 hours of javelin ploughs with a group at a well known midlands snowdome that went through every possible variation, even eyes closed. I felt very centred after that and suitably stiff the next day; one of the group went on to top BASI fame if I remember rightly
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Hmmmmm,,, my nose was itching, so I knew I was getting talked about. 
skimottaret is right, the tip lift and tail lift drills are old drills, still as valuable today as they ever were. As far as combining them in a single turn, like rob@rar initially suggested, I self devised that MANY years ago to enhance my students/athletes fore/aft training, and to this day I rarely see it being used. Most instructors just don't go into fore/aft balance training that extensively. Thumbs up to you guys for doing so. Nothing provides a better skill foundation than working on expanding one's balance skills to a high level. Good balance skills, both lateral and fore/aft, supports every aspect of performance and further learning.
skimottaret is also right about there not being much new under the sun when it comes to ski training drills. However, if he were to observe the rest of my Building Blocks Instructional Series, he just may see some drills he's never been exposed to before. The program contains 30 years of my personal coaching innovations, packed into a 6 DVD series. Many of the drills found in the program were born of my own invention, out of a need for better or additional vehicles for helping my students acquire top level skills.
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FastMan, he's probably too modest to say so, but skimottaret is also wondrously imaginative when it comes to drills. You can almost see his brain cells whirring round as he dreams them up!
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| Pedantica wrote: |
| FastMan, he's probably too modest to say so, but skimottaret is also wondrously imaginative when it comes to drills. You can almost see his brain cells whirring round as he dreams them up! |
Cool. An ability to think outside the box is essential for becoming a great coach. No two students are the same, and unique challenges that require creative problem solving arise on a regular basis.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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How about a pole plant makes good skier better; I ski with ESF guys, the only time they use a pole is to take a ski off; I am a true member of the pole plant and where and when to plant it makes better skiers society.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Cynic wrote: |
| How about a pole plant makes good skier better; . |
Yes, definitely agree with that. Use a range of different pole plant drills from time to time to help with timing as well as other aspects of skiing.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| skimottaret wrote: |
FastMan, hey stranger hows it going  ? I think your DVD's are a fantastic resource and after all your years of coaching I am sure there are more than a few original gems in there. Back to the OP do you use snowplough progressions much? we are starting to with adults and it worked really well
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Things are good, my friend, thanks for asking. Dodged the forest fires that swept through Colorado this summer, by a whisker. Already been skiing this season, up at Arapahoe Basin, on the infamous white ribbon of death. Always fun
Sure do use snowplough progressions, I'm a big fan. In fact, I've long believed that in the rush to move students up the progression ladder mach schnell, the snowplough gets left behind far too soon. It makes an excellent platform for introducing so many skill areas, which will be needed at every level of the sport. Balance, rotary, edging, flexion/extension and angulation, they all can be learned at an introductory level within the safety and security of the snowplough.
When I was coaching I would start all my racers off each season, back in the snowplough, to start the process of refreshing and refining their skills for the coming season. I'm talking FIS level racers here, too.
Even with skiers who have been hitting the slopes for decades, the snowplough can be a good starting point for introducing new skills to them. And as you say, it exposes existing skill deficiencies very quickly. Not so much to the coach, they know they exist, but it's eye opening to the student when they discover themselves struggling with a task while in a snowplough.
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Just revisiting this thread as result of a week's coaching I've just completed. It was nice to be on the other side of the instructor:student interface and was reminded how powerful a learning tool skiing very slowly, where you need to be in a plough shape, can be. Spent some time on the nursery slopes tuning in to where exactly I was standing on my skis in the various stages of the turn, and was very surprised at the results. Took that information back in to my performance skiing and made significant changes to my long radius carved turns, which have never been so good.
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You know it makes sense.
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Spent some time on the nursery slopes tuning in to where exactly I was standing on my skis in the various stages of the turn, and was very surprised at the results. Took that information back in to my performance skiing and made significant changes to my long radius carved turns, which have never been so good.
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how interesting. What were the results?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| pam w wrote: |
| how interesting. What were the results? |
In the setup phase of the turn I was too forward by a couple of inches (balance point was ball of foot/toes) which meant that I wasn't getting a strong enough stance through the turn. When I settled my balance point on the middle of my foot I felt less vulnerable at the start of the turn and was able to get massively improved performance from the skis when doing long radius turns. Probably the biggest "single change" I've made to my skiing in years, and underpinned by making snowplough turns on a very gentle nursery slope.
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Poster: A snowHead
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rob@rar, This goes well, hand in hand with the practising skiing thread and shows practising and focus on core aspects can improve skiing at all levels, the sessions I join in on are nearly all made up to some degree on a theme, plough turns variation, using steering, pressure, edge, trying to feel the differences by isolating each one during runs. We will spend time focusing on balance also. We would work to blend these feelings and gradually take this into parallel turns, continuing to feel the differences in pressure between our skis and actively attempting to apply the difference earlier & earlier into the turn (we did this during the plough stages too). All of these drills were done without poles, for some of us it was like having our crutches stolen, but focus was increased on making correct movements, notably a lot of the "up" movements transformed to more lateral movements by alternating pressure between both skis, the difference felt overall once the poles were reintroduced was very noticeable.
One of the things I took away from this and reconfirmed something to me was, I love my poles, they are a great accompaniment to skiing, but they can distract focus on feeling basic moves, they can also mask bad habits, taking them away once in a while during practise isn't a bad thing.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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gatecrasher, we had our poles taken away for a couple of laps of bumps down a black piste. Wasn't my most enjoyable part of the week!
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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?
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rob@rar, 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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rob@rar, did you stay centered through the whole turn (in longs) or move forward as the turn progresses into the front of the boot?? I too was too far forward a touch in my boots when doing snow plough glide and was working on trying to feel more centered....
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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kitenski, I prefer to stay centered.
stewart woodward, now that's brutal!
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stewart woodward, sounds like fun ! any other top 4 Tech torture drills ?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| gatecrasher wrote: |
| rob@rar, This goes well, hand in hand with the practising skiing thread and shows practising and focus on core aspects can improve skiing at all levels |
I watched 2 of the local Tignes girls practicing their slalom technique this morning on a very gentel slope. 1 course was stubbies, 1 course had gates, they did both with and without poles. Their coach only wanted to know what they were feeling on different runs.
Their standard  1 is in the French WC team the other is French EC team.
So as previously noted get the basics right and you can improve drastically
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wait whilst you go on tech 4 they normally take away 1 ski so you have to bump runs on 1 ski
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my son had a ski delaminate on the Grand Motte, skiing with two of his cousins. He gave it to one of the others to carry and managed to get back to Val D'Isere on one. He did say the bumps were hard, and that he'd had to change legs from time to time. And I think they downloaded Le Face - his legs were giving out by that time! He's had no lessons since he was 9 but he did spend a winter living with a top BASI instructor and said that compared to him, he felt like a veritable beginner.
It's great to read about high level skiers being coached and learning tons of stuff on gentle runs, doing simple turns. Makes me feel better about not always seeking out the most difficult runs, which I know I can't ski properly.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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rob@rar, Interesting reading. A few years ago I spent a week with Rick learning drills and that's where I realised that essentially all snowsports have identical roots to their practice. It's also where I learned the real meaning of 'centered balance' Completing all his drills in a telemark binding focused me on the small nuances that are needed to maintain or adjust that balance point.
We spoke recently of 'COM' and the 'mass insertion point' and you experienced that in the change to your skiing. You've brought it back inside the envelope of movement that doesn't require large changes of position or force to ski more effectively or efficiently.
Cheers Rick, I've never forgotten that week and I'm still gaining improvement and knowledge from it to all my disciplines.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Cheers Rick, I've never forgotten that week
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ditto. Those runs doing "3 turns fore, 3 turns centred, 3 turns aft"! I try to do that when I'm getting it all wrong.
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Masque, can you remind me what you mean by mass insertion point?
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You know it makes sense.
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can you remind me what you mean by mass insertion point?
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rob@rar, are you sure you're ready again so soon?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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pam w, I'm assuming its something simple with a slightly obtuse title.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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rob@rar, You have no idea just how hard I'm working to keep this short, simple yet clear 
Pedantica, go 'hover' yourself . . .
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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?
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| Quote: |
mass insertion point
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Just as long as it's nothing to do with group sex I think we should be OK.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Masque, honestly, it was a genuine question. I was using my phone to browse because I was stuck on a plane at T5 waiting to taxi to the terminal so couldn't search for the answer you gave me the last time I asked that question. The fact that mine and Megamum's mind is heading towards a whole different thread might indicate it's not simple and clear...
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Not that I object to group sex of course, just don't think it mixes well with ski lessons.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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rob@rar,
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rob@rar, I'm pulling it together for you and trying to bear in mind your other advice . . . In the meantime, how do I stop bleeding from the ears with the effort to STFU
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Masque, cotton wool should help. In the meantime, WTF is a Mass Insertion Point?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| rob@rar wrote: |
| Not that I object to group sex of course, just don't think it mixes well with ski lessons. |
FNT's anyone?
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rob@rar, pam w, mardy cow! Obviously not enough gin for brakfast
rob@rar, it's easy, just stand head up, with your knees slightly soft/flexed, feet hip distance apart . . . bare feet . . . in your boots . . . on your skis . . . doesn't matter. Where do you feel the most pressure? through your heels, the balls of feet? Is it equal in both feet? In between your feet where you feel that pressure is the 'insertion point' where your centre of mass is passing into the ground. (sometimes called a ‘force vector’)
If you are perfectly 'stacked' (your word) you should feel equal pressure, fore/aft in each foot, the insertion point for all the forces you body generates in this circumstance is straight down from the top of your head through your gentleman's bits and into the ground between and aligned with just about the top of your insteps (caveat - body morphology 'can' screw with this). . . . now, ONLY moving your head look down at your feet. If you haven't stuck yer bum out you are already falling forward . . . your 'CoM' and the insertion point (IP), has moved forward from your balance position and you now have to move to recover your balance. A very tiny change of position that needs a lot of compensation to recover from.
Now try the same experiment but this time just reducing pressure in one leg by a small amount . . . the IP moves with the imbalance of forces and you fall sideways. You compensate your body to balance and the IP moves to edge of the foot (ski) you’re putting pressure into. Now flex the pressured leg. To stay balanced you put weight into your toes, the IP has moved forward along the ski edge toward the leading edge (if sliding on a ski it will start to cut and turn)
If you do the same flex in boots the boot act as a lever between you and the ski and move the IP even further forward along the ski edge while you stay centered over the ski.
Where it gets interesting is the size of the envelope and type of movement needed to influence your tool . . . skis or board . . . The ideal for me is to have the minimum of body movement to create the maximum change to where your mass is focused to influence the ski or board.
It’s a lot easier and simpler to demonstrate than describe and it’s rooted in my trampolining where you have to use very subtle differences in foot pressure and where my CoM is inserted into the tramp bed to initiate a summersault or twist. As in skiing the hips are the driving and control mechanism.
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FAQ
Don't know about "wonderously" but after 6 years of training 7-12 year olds on the same strip of snow unless you keep it fun cries of I'M BORED ring out so you gotta keep it fun 
