Pole planting drills

[BenedictGomez]

I'll make a bold statement....poles are like a pancreas. We use it because we have them but in reality we could live without them. Skis are designed nowadays to make turns without much help. With the exception of tight trees and moguls, poles are kind of useless and even then I imagine we could re teach ourselves to not rely on them.

Even if everything you said was true (and I dont agree as I think they're more useful than that), they're still of great use in the flats for cross country techniques.

 

[MadMadWorld]

Even if everything you said was true (and I dont agree as I think they're more useful than that), they're still of great use in the flats for cross country techniques.

Okay fair enough about the flats but throw your poles down for a few runs and dive into the bumps. I guarantee your balance, stance, and pressure will all be better.

 

[deadheadskier]

I'll make a bold statement....poles are like a pancreas. We use it because we have them but in reality we could live without them. Skis are designed nowadays to make turns without much help. With the exception of tight trees and moguls, poles are kind of useless and even then I imagine we could re teach ourselves to not rely on them.

I think you mean appendix.

you wouldn't last long without a pancreas

 

[MadMadWorld]

I think you mean appendix.

you wouldn't last long without a pancreas

Okay well I should have said you can live without a pancreas if you take insulin. Happy?

I will say the appendix is the more obvious choice! Haha

 

[Not Sure]

The only injury in 40yrs on slopes happened on Hunter west, planted a pole and it did'nt come out. I kept going and it hit me in the stomach(pancreas)I heard a loud snap and doubled over in pain my pancreas (stomach)really hurt. I could'nt hold a pole the rest of the day.
One surgery later I'm good. got rid of the pole grips with the cap on top.Went back to my 1985 Scott grips , I still have the same grips 3 sets of poles later. Still would'nt ski without them ...especially Moguls!

 

[Scruffy]

I'll make a bold statement....poles are like a pancreas. We use it because we have them but in reality we could live without them. Skis are designed nowadays to make turns without much help. With the exception of tight trees and moguls, poles are kind of useless and even then I imagine we could re teach ourselves to not rely on them.

You could ski without goggles or sunglasses, you could ski on one ski (even if you have two perfectly good feet), so why would you want to; other than a drill.

 

[MadMadWorld]

You could ski without goggles or sunglasses, you could ski on one ski (even if you have two perfectly good feet), so why would you want to; other than a drill.

It becomes a crutch for some people and prevents them from progressing in other areas. For example, we all drag our uphill pole sometimes when the terrain gets overwhelming or we are just tired. Take the pole away and bad habit gone.

 

[MadMadWorld]

The only injury in 40yrs on slopes happened on Hunter west, planted a pole and it did'nt come out. I kept going and it hit me in the stomach(pancreas)I heard a loud snap and doubled over in pain my pancreas (stomach)really hurt. I could'nt hold a pole the rest of the day.
One surgery later I'm good. got rid of the pole grips with the cap on top.Went back to my 1985 Scott grips , I still have the same grips 3 sets of poles later. Still would'nt ski without them ...especially Moguls!

Well that's a scary story. I'm not saying poles are not useful in the bumps to good skiers but I'm very confident that a good bump skier could do really well without poles. If your are learning bumps and the only thing you are struggling with is pole planting, then I can assure you that you are doing really well and better than most.

 

[Scruffy]

It becomes a crutch for some people and prevents them from progressing in other areas. For example, we all drag our uphill pole sometimes when the terrain gets overwhelming or we are just tired. Take the pole away and bad habit gone.

The have lessons for that. The poles aren't the issue with dropping a shoulder, or not facing the fall line. Poles in and of themselves, don't contribute to bad habits, you'd do that with or without poles.

 

[Savemeasammy]

Well that's a scary story. I'm not saying poles are not useful in the bumps to good skiers but I'm very confident that a good bump skier could do really well without poles. If your are learning bumps and the only thing you are struggling with is pole planting, then I can assure you that you are doing really well and better than most.

The next time we ski together, I will be delighted to hold your poles while you ski bumps without them. I will also get it on video for future entertainment purposes.

Maybe it's just me, but my poles are both bent at the bottom. I'm PRETTY sure it's from skiing bumps They seem like a pretty important and well-used tool to me!


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[MadMadWorld]

The next time we ski together, I will be delighted to hold your poles while you ski bumps without them. I will also get it on video for future entertainment purposes.

Maybe it's just me, but my poles are both bent at the bottom. I'm PRETTY sure it's from skiing bumps They seem like a pretty important and well-used tool to me!


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That's BS.I've seen you do bumps and you could easily rip without them but you don't have any bad habits in the bumps. I on the other hand could definitely benefit from it. You just have cheap poles

 

[MadMadWorld]

The have lessons for that. The poles aren't the issue with dropping a shoulder, or not facing the fall line. Poles in and of themselves, don't contribute to bad habits, you'd do that with or without poles.

If poles don't create bad habits then why do drills that don't involve them?

 

[Scruffy]

If poles don't create bad habits then why do drills that don't involve them?

Eliminates the noise. Same as skiing on one ski ( if you have two perfectly good feet ) is a drill to enhance your senses of using both edges of the ski.

 

[MadMadWorld]

Eliminates the noise. Same as skiing on one ski ( if you have two perfectly good feet ) is a drill to enhance your senses of using both edges of the ski.

Eliminating the noise sounds a lot like what I just said and I don't know how taking 1 ski off eliminates noise. It usually creates a lot more. Mainly the person swearing.

 

[Scruffy]

Eliminating the noise sounds a lot like what I just said and I don't know how taking 1 ski off eliminates noise. It usually creates a lot more. Mainly the person swearing.

You can also correct those problems without eliminating the poles. They have drills with poles for correcting body position problems. The tray drill being the most widely recognizable, but there are others.

 

[jack97]

Here's what competitive bumpers do with the poles, scroll to time mark 0.51.

The thinking is that an aggressive plant will jar the upper body, the approach is to keep the upper-body separate from this so that it can shift the weight to the dh ski.

 

[drjeff]

To try and return this semi hijack of the thread.

How does one/what type of drills have people used to get a 6 YEAR OLD who is just starting out with poles to get the hang of their proper use??

 

[Domeskier]

Here's what competitive bumpers do with the poles, scroll to time mark 0.51.

The thinking is that an aggressive plant will jar the upper body, the approach is to keep the upper-body separate from this so that it can shift the weight to the dh ski.

I've been trying to develop a lighter touch in the moguls, including by not planting at all on lower angle bumps. It's way to easy to get your hands stuck behind you when planting too hard, particularly in softer bumps, and your shoulders/upperbody usually follow suit. I still catch myself planting hard in larger/steeper bumps - probably as an instinctive attempt to control my speed and/or leverage my turns.

 

[MadMadWorld]

To try and return this semi hijack of the thread.

How does one/what type of drills have people used to get a 6 YEAR OLD who is just starting out with poles to get the hang of their proper use??

Point taken.

 

[SIKSKIER]

How appropriate.Found this on Wildcats snow report today.

Today our Snow Sports team is throwing down some great clinics to help you step your game up on the slopes. At 10 a.m. we'll have "Get Pole-arized" to teach you how to use your poles to their maximum potential.