The Korean's arm position and timing of pole plants looks off to me. Both men and women. Both short and long turns. I don't like it.
The Korean looks like he's "growing" away from the skis. And up not diagonally.
But that's what Interski is all about.
If I understand correctly the Korean technique is to generate plenty of inclination above the fall line and angulate from fall line onwards. That rising arm is about getting the inclination
Ted raising that new outside shoulder and arm to tilt his torso downhill over the skis:
Here it is, demonstrated, shown in slow motion, and I assume explained,
I had previously Pooh-poohed the Korean’s long turns at Interski. But, now that I understand it, I’ve come to like it the best
Here it is Long Turns Men
He actually makes long turns, turns that are significantly wider than two groomer widths, unlike just about all the others, who are really making medium turns And, he does it without a traverse, with dynamic turns, not park and ride turns. He does that with 165 SL skis. Here’s my analysis of how he does that.
1. At turn initiation, with that upward motion, he delays pressuring the skis, allowing a short radius ski to track a longer radius turn.
2. Having done that, he is very patient in developing higher pressure, again keeping the turn radius.
IMO, the turn symmetry and length could be improved by being more patient coming off max edge angle, but boy, that would be a hairy ride, like running, not walking, a tightrope.
I’m a PSIA Level 2. I’ve never really comprehended and applied DIRT. But, I’m working on using DIRT to analyze his skiing. But, I’m not going to do it on what the skis are doing at various parts of the turn I’m going to do it on what his core is doing, because In think that’s what is paramount in achieving his turn.
The required core stability, I’d say, is pretty intense. His legs are more flex to release. The upward motion, I think, is more an uncurling of the core, accompanied by a raising of the arms, simular to doing crunches on the floor, lowering the pelvis and bent legs while rolling the spine back to the mat and raising the arms above the head. What the Korean is doing is very athletic. An uncurling of a crunch might be considered to be a relaxation. But, I think, to do what he is doing, the core needs to be Rick solid. Think of it as a slow squat, not a collapse into a squat. Intense.
Duration, long and patient. Think real slow squat, down and up.
Rate: faster uncurling, slower curling
Timing: uncurling happens before transition, at the very end of a turn. Curling happens after transition and ends at apex, a long curl.
That’s where I think improvement and a longer turn can be had. Start uncurling earlier, soon after apex, uncurl more slowly, that will take reduce pressure on the skis at the finish, making that part of the turn longer. But, like I said above, it would be a hair-raising ride.
Would appreciate feedback of my analysis.
