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Favorite Drills/Progressions for Fore/Aft

AchtungSki

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Missed this, I teach ollies on the flat before dolphin turns as making that movement whilst turning is hard. But yeah it's the same movement pattern
Do you have any tips on how to go from straight line ollies to dolphin turns? I've been trying to get dolphin turns down but I seem to be kind of stuck with make a turn > dolphin movement straight across the hill > next turn.
 

geepers

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Do you have any tips on how to go from straight line ollies to dolphin turns? I've been trying to get dolphin turns down but I seem to be kind of stuck with make a turn > dolphin movement straight across the hill > next turn.

Dolphins much easier using a bump or ridge.

But here's a progression...

 

AchtungSki

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Dolphins much easier using a bump or ridge.

But here's a progression...

Yea I've seen this video before and it's good. I'm just having trouble crossing over my skis during dolphin movement, I feel like I'm stuck in the old turn. Maybe I'm not getting enough femur rotation when I'm in the air to steer the tips around.
 

Prosper

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Dolphins much easier using a bump or ridge.

But here's a progression...

Absolutely agree that they're infinitely easier using a bump or ridge. For me, the ollie part is much harder than the flapper part. Over the past few seasons I've watched that video a number of times. It's the best one I've found for dolphin turns.
 

jimtransition

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Do you have any tips on how to go from straight line ollies to dolphin turns? I've been trying to get dolphin turns down but I seem to be kind of stuck with make a turn > dolphin movement straight across the hill > next turn.
if you find you are doing the dolphin across the hill it might be you're on too steep a pitch, try doing them down the fall line on a flatter run.
 

geepers

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Yea I've seen this video before and it's good. I'm just having trouble crossing over my skis during dolphin movement, I feel like I'm stuck in the old turn. Maybe I'm not getting enough femur rotation when I'm in the air to steer the tips around.

Hmmm... my view is that the primary purpose of dolphins is skills for fore/aft balance. As the dolphin completes, the tips are being pressed onto the snow and then there's no easy way they can be pivoted anywhere. The tails OTOH are in the air or lightly loaded so are then easy to displace around a pivot point towards the tips.

Which is what I'd say we are seeing the Section 8 guy do. A good deal of the ski redirection occurs after the skis are back on the snow.

XQVQ5o.gif
 

Noodler

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Hmmm... my view is that the primary purpose of dolphins is skills for fore/aft balance. As the dolphin completes, the tips are being pressed onto the snow and then there's no easy way they can be pivoted anywhere. The tails OTOH are in the air or lightly loaded so are then easy to displace around a pivot point towards the tips.

Which is what I'd say we are seeing the Section 8 guy do. A good deal of the ski redirection occurs after the skis are back on the snow.

XQVQ5o.gif

These are not good dolphin turn drills shown in the video. This guy is doing a movement that he's calling a dolphin turn, but he's not actually getting any benefit out of what a real dolphin turn movement produces. This should be a drill/movement to improve your fore/aft and he's not actually pulling back and he's really not getting forward. He's just flipping the skis up and down to "check a box" that he's doing a dolphin turn.
 

Fuller

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I'm sure your dolphin turns are better than mine but your comments don't seem to apply to the video.
 

AchtungSki

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Hmmm... my view is that the primary purpose of dolphins is skills for fore/aft balance. As the dolphin completes, the tips are being pressed onto the snow and then there's no easy way they can be pivoted anywhere. The tails OTOH are in the air or lightly loaded so are then easy to displace around a pivot point towards the tips.

Which is what I'd say we are seeing the Section 8 guy do. A good deal of the ski redirection occurs after the skis are back on the snow.

XQVQ5o.gif
I agree with your assessment of what he's doing, I phrased that inaccurately. That's what I'm having the trouble with though, pivoting the skis with the tips down but tails up.
 

Seldomski

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With railroad tracks, you can tip the skis and then end up in a skid if you don't let the skis turn your legs in the hip socket. So similarly, a quick pivot of the skis caused by the tip engaging won't work unless you let the skis turn your leg. In the gif, you can see that his upper body is not turning very much. The turn of the ski is rotating just the legs. How much of this he is letting happen vs actually assisting with a bit of active help to spin the ski around, I don't know.

So if you are tensing up your legs and being rigid throughout the dolphin turn, you won't get that quick pivot action. You will just keep going straight without the redirect.
 

geepers

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These are not good dolphin turn drills shown in the video. This guy is doing a movement that he's calling a dolphin turn, but he's not actually getting any benefit out of what a real dolphin turn movement produces. This should be a drill/movement to improve your fore/aft and he's not actually pulling back and he's really not getting forward. He's just flipping the skis up and down to "check a box" that he's doing a dolphin turn.

Looks like plenty of tip n tail loading to me.

1645213005673.png

1645213180854.png



Plenty of pullback there, too.

1645213536655.png

1645213589394.png

1645213132838.png



We're not judging half-pipe where amplitude is part of the DAVE criteria.
 

Noodler

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geepers

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Yeah, these stills looks much better. I was commenting on what was in the post that I replied to. These stills obviously didn't come from that.

From same video. Basically same movement, just different DIRT.
 

Prosper

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Yeah, these stills looks much better. I was commenting on what was in the post that I replied to. These stills obviously didn't come from that.
The video lays out the progression nicely with a specific emphasis on fore/aft foot movements to load the tails for the ollie and tips for the flapper and not just hopping/jumping.
 

geepers

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I agree with your assessment of what he's doing, I phrased that inaccurately. That's what I'm having the trouble with though, pivoting the skis with the tips down but tails up.

Maybe find a ridge and dolphin back and forth across it. The ridge will make it easier to get the tips up and down so less focus needed. Once that's happening try to make the most turns for the least vertical drop and probably the dolphin and turn will merge.
 

Fuller

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I see my instructor flashing the tails of his skis in all sorts of situations, he kind lives in this bouncy, hoppy, redirective state when he skis. It serves him well.
 

James

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Ski a few bumps where you launch then pull back the heels to cone down the side. Kind of the whole point anyway + fun. Or flagellate yourself on flat terrain.
 

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