Skiing Technique / Photo Critique Thread

[jack97]

I think Austin's upper body position is more a reflection of too little ankle flex but I'm having trouble picking that up in the video.

Yeah, the upper half and mid part of the run was to fast and blurred, I thought he showed good ankle flex at the bottom.

 

[Marc]

Marc a role-model? What's this world coming to?

I'm no more a role model than ctenidae is a cheerleader for the Dallas Cowboys. Trust me on this one.

 

[Marc]

Yeah, the upper half and mid part of the run was to fast and blurred, I thought he showed good ankle flex at the bottom.

My camera skills aren't the best either. Well, at least I knew which direction to point the thing in.

 

[2knees]

I'm no more a role model than ctenidae is a cheerleader for the Dallas Cowboys. Trust me on this one.

maybe not a role model but that was some nice skiing.

 

[Greg]

maybe not a role model but that was some nice skiing.

Agreed! Nice short turns, good knee flex & hand position. How are the bumps skills coming along, Marc? Hopefully, you'll be ripping with us on Wednesday.......or maybe Sunday too? :idea:

 

[Greg]

Have at it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucCuYWUeoII

BTW, you can embed YouTube vids using &hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1">&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344">

 

[Marc]

Agreed! Nice short turns, good knee flex & hand position. How are the bumps skills coming along, Marc? Hopefully, you'll be ripping with us on Wednesday.......or maybe Sunday too? :idea:

Yes. I intend to be ripping up myself in the bumps next week. The skills are... eh, sometimes on, sometimes off.

I was going to ask you about embedding youtube videos too. I know this forum software supported it. Cool beans.

 

[hammer]

Yes. I intend to be ripping up myself in the bumps next week. The skills are... eh, sometimes on, sometimes off.

How long have you been skiing?

I can't speak to technique details but your skiing looks good to me...you seem to have a nice flow through the short turns.

 

[Marc]

How long have you been skiing?

I can't speak to technique details but your skiing looks good to me...you seem to have a nice flow through the short turns.

This is my seventh season skiing, second skiing bumps.

 

[Greg]

Yes. I intend to be ripping up myself in the bumps next week. The skills are... eh, sometimes on, sometimes off.

I think you'll like them. Good-sized bumps, low angle. Great for practicing A&E without getting wildly out of control.

 

[jack97]

I can't speak to technique details but your skiing looks good to me...you seem to have a nice flow through the short turns.

Look at his ankle and knee flex. It gets him in good position to control the edges as he releases and engages them as varous parts of the turn.

 

[jack97]

Marc,
BTW, now that I dragged you into to this, I hope you don't mind. :grin:

Sometimes the mouth goes off before the brain starts working.

 

[awf170]

Look at Marc's vid, on the same trail and conditions he is in control. He is using short turns, good edge angle on the skis. Knees and ankles flexed, upper body with a little forward lean.

Your vid, knee and ankle flex is good but the upper body was slighly back, don't know if this was due to excessive speed. But as stated you can can control this speed with short turns.

Good for him. I said I didn't want to make short turns or ski it any slower.

It's not the speed, although the speed makes it worse. It's lazy hands.

Austin, you should be able to see your hands in your lower peripheral vision at all times when you ski. Keep your hands up more, and allow your elbows to move away from your body a little. If you can't see your hands by just moving your eyes down a little and not drop your head, your hands are up to no good and your skiing will suffer.

Thanks Jim! Yeah, I defiantly have lazy hand problems. Next time at Wawa I just going to try taking a few runs just focusing on my hands. And about the looking down tip, good idea.

Yeah, the upper half and mid part of the run was to fast and blurred, I thought he showed good ankle flex at the bottom.

I'm pretty sure my ankle flex is pretty good in that whole video except for when I almost fall. But I'm still way in the backseat with my butt and upper body. My guess is that if I shoved my hands forward like I should I will be forward enough? Opinions?

BTW, you can embed YouTube vids using &hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1">&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344">

 

[jack97]

I'm pretty sure my ankle flex is pretty good in that whole video except for when I almost fall. But I'm still way in the backseat with my butt and upper body. My guess is that if I shoved my hands forward like I should I will be forward enough? Opinions?

It look’s like the ankle and knees are flexed around the middle of the run, hard to say at the top of the run. IMO, just have to lean the body forward; yeah, lazy hands could be the cause, getting the hands in front would help. I would add pole planting to start the turns, just a flick on the surface. Even initiate the plant early would get your upper body forward.

You’re flying out of the bump because of too much speed (obviously). Try absorbing as you get to the top of the bump, just lean forward and bend the knees. Absorption is at its maximum at the top of the bump. After you crest the bump, extend the legs to maintain snow contact. When the bumps are spread out like it is in the vid, another set of forces comes into play; the A&E helps in this case to stabilize the center of mass. I can explain the physics but I might cause a fire around here.
Another soultion around the bump problem, use your edges more. Practice short turns to release and engage the edges. Engage in the sense of not locking them into a carve, but to set them in the snow to help steer and guide the ski.

 

[awf170]

It look’s like the ankle and knees are flexed around the middle of the run, hard to say at the top of the run. IMO, just have to lean the body forward; yeah, lazy hands could be the cause, getting the hands in front would help. I would add pole planting to start the turns, just a flick on the surface. Even initiate the plant early would get your upper body forward.

You’re flying out of the bump because of too much speed (obviously). Try absorbing as you get to the top of the bump, just lean forward and bend the knees. Absorption is at its maximum at the top of the bump. After you crest the bump, extend the legs to maintain snow contact. When the bumps are spread out like it is in the vid, another set of forces comes into play; the A&E helps in this case to stabilize the center of mass. I can explain the physics but I might cause a fire around here.
Another soultion around the bump problem, use your edges more. Practice short turns to release and engage the edges. Engage in the sense of not locking them into a carve, but to set them in the snow to help steer and guide the ski.

Cool, thanks. Yeah, I defiantly need to pole plant. I keep getting told to, then once I get to the mountain I totally forget. :dunce:

 

[jack97]

I defiantly need to pole plant. I keep getting told to, then once I get to the mountain I totally forget.

Don't forget! IMO planting and hand action is becoming a lost technique. My theory is that modern skis have made it so easy to turn that skiers are placing them to the sides or don't know what to do with them. Been reading that some race coaches are saying that the plant is important to get the body setup while in the turn transition, getting the body lined up for the upcoming turn.

BTW, for the absorption, play around on the how deep you want to squat down. You will see that it does stabilze the CM and can lower the speed. At Wachusetts, look for the kick outs that riders use to launch themselves. Go ski that kick out, instead of pumping up, absorb (pump down), you will feel the difference.

 

[bvibert]

I'm sure no one cares with all the snow falling and all, but here's a couple of clips of me at Hunter last Friday, have at it...

Clip 1:
HiRes (~6.5MB)
LoRes (~1.5MB)

Clip 2:
HiRes (~2.8MB)
LoRes (~1MB)

 

[2knees]

i'm not much for giving tips but it looks like you could benefit from getting your hands up a little higher and a little more out front. It appears as if you are crouching a little bit. The turns seem to be a little bit skidded, not bad, but a little. I think jim or someone more qualified would be able to help there. Its most likely a hip or ankle thing. but all the miles you've got in this year are obviously paying.

 

[JimG.]

I'm sure no one cares with all the snow falling and all, but here's a couple of clips of me at Hunter last Friday, have at it...

Clip 1:
HiRes (~6.5MB)
LoRes (~1.5MB)

Clip 2:
HiRes (~2.8MB)
LoRes (~1MB)

More ankle flex B...alot more.

Get your hands up and a little more away from your body.

EDIT: and I didn't see Pat's post until after I wrote that.

 

[bvibert]

Thanks guys, I've been getting lazy with my hands need to concentrate on that more. I was playing with trying to get more ankle flex on the flats between bump runs last night with limited success. I definitely still crouching, haven't had much luck fixing that. I guess that's linked with the ankle flex. I've been trying to concentrate on getting my hips up and forward.

The turns were skidded for sure. I was working on trying to make short turns on very stiff GS race skis, which aren't really ideal for doing anything other than large, fast GS turns..

One thing that I've been working on is trying to quiet my upper body, which I think is looking a little better than the last time I posted a video...