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How far ahead do you look?

Bad Bob

I golf worse than I ski.
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Got thinking about this topic a bit. Our peripheral vision must be a key. We may be focusing out but processing, on a more cerebel level what is at our feet. Like walking down a sidewalk you are not looking at the next step but farther ahead. We process what is at our feet by a lifetime of walking.

Same-same, just a bumpier sidewalk. :philgoat:
 

jack97

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^^^ IMO trust in your peripheral vision applies in the flats just as much as in the bump field, The flats can have variable conditions or small bumps. Keeping the eyes looking ahead is preparation for how you want to ski that part of the terrain when they come up.

IMO2, skiers get fixated at looking at the skis or down because they are checking their stance width or the proper tip lead or if they planted the pole at the right spot of the turn. All this will work out by knowing that feeling from the body when they are done right.
 

François Pugh

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@SSSdave has hit on something that resonates with me (and some others I see). It's all about peripheral vision and peripheral attention. My attention may be focused on near by, but I have peripheral attention stretching down the hill (or highway when driving) as far as I can see. When something comes up (e.g. heard of deer bounding across the road, Groomer coming up the hill with closing speed 70 mph, trees shading road on corner indicating likely ice, boarder flying in from the trees at 2 o'clock, unmarked cop car on side of road, Dad and small child skiing in distance, etc.) I automatically have more of my attention focused where it needs to be.
 

Sibhusky

Whitefish, MT
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I am guessing that we all know that you should not look at the tips of our skis, so I was wondering how far ahead do you look as planning your next turn or the line you are skiing. Does it depend on the hill or if you are skiing on 15 or 20 M ski?
I'm scanning forward and back as I ski, WITHIN THE SIGHT DISTANCE AVAILABLE. I really didn't even look at this topic when it was first posted, because the fog is so ongoing here that my reaction was to be flip. Seriously, if you can't see the next chair ahead of you on the way up, there's no point in looking out thirty feet on the way down. So there are days when I'm looking best case ten feet or even at my feet.

So I didn't answer sooner until I'd had a non flat light, bluebird day or two. And the answer is I'm looking everywhere, scanning other skiers, scanning trail surfaces, scanning pitch, upcoming intersections, etc. And I just wish that I could always have that kind of luxury. Because when the light is so flat you can't see moguls immediately in front of you, let alone at ten feet, you're going to have to be ready for what you encounter either way.
 

Goose

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^^^ IMO trust in your peripheral vision applies

.

@SSSdave has hit on something that resonates with me (and some others I see). It's all about peripheral vision and peripheral attention. .

Well.....yes and no.

Truth is..... from what I understand, we naturally don't have all that much "good" peripheral vision. At least not focus wise as our primary field of focus is a rather somewhat narrow cone. We can see better further away in that cone than we can to the sides (or top/bottom) of it. Our peripheral vision is mostly about being enough to promote an awareness. Then we need to move our eyes (and/or also head) to actually focus on it. We are basically designed to look ahead. Hence why we mostly do. We need to scan and move that focus cone in order to truly process what our peripheral vison may have detected and/or if we want (have/need) to know whats in our peripheral field.

So while imo its important we do need to process all that is in a large field as we ski, its not so much only our peripheral vision per se that is so important because it somewhat lacks. But technically its our consciously made efforts to scan the peripheral field......and even more. And then process it all at once as we move about.
 

LiquidFeet

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There's peripheral vision. And then there's short term memory, and sensory memory (even shorter than short term memory, and probably more applicable to this topic). All three are at work for recreational skiers when they look ahead while skiing. For racers, long term memory comes into play because they memorize the course during inspection.

Here's a good diagram showing the reach of peripheral vision. I wish we could post images like this smaller but not tiny.
peripheral large.png
 

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Goose

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And hence our rather thin cone of true focus i referenced. The peripheral vision is not good vision. It sort of a warning system but requires mental awareness and effort to pay more attention to it. If most of us didnt make some extra efforts to intentionally better scan and process the peripheral views there would be many more accidents than we already currently have.

This is one the problems most ignore while driving a car and in part why there are so many car accidents. There is a false sense of protection while inside our cars and so due to that false sense of safety and the fact that we are stationary even though the car is moving us too many dont make the extra efforts to scan the peripheral field (and also use all mirrors regularly) so that they can better process it. Until "Bam"! its too late and after the fact. Since we are unprotected (not enclosed in anything) while skiing and also now not stationary most of us by nature tend to consciously make "some" more effort to scan. But often still not enough and since many are concentrating on the skiing itself it can narrow things a bit further still. In the end effort needs to be made and an awareness that we need to make the efforts to scan needs to be ingrained.

Its like little kids running into the street or out in a parking lot. They need to be taught to make the efforts to scan because peripheral warning system is not enough. So those efforts need to be ingrained.

whether skiing or driving a car or whatever...the mental focus needs to command a much wider arch than our rather narrow vision focus cone can. We cant just leave it up to a relatively weaker peripheral vision alone to warn us. Imo we dont just want a warning but we want a calculation especially while we are moving. So imo its an effort and an awareness that the effort needs to be made.
 
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Wolfski

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How far ahead and or how far behind or to the side?

Hockey coaches kids to skate with "your head on a swivel" to know and to be aware of your surroundings. This gives you an awareness of your "Time & Space" so that you can approximate the space you have and the time it will give you to make a play.

I use this analogy as it also works with skiing, how much time or space to avoid that skier or how fast are you traveling while trying to pass that boarder before the trail merge or how much time do I have before the person out of control behind me catches up.

Now when you look ahead what do you see or more importantly what do you see?

Going tree skiing in tight glades do you look and focus on the trees or the pow path between them? Obviously we need to be aware of the trees but we need to focus our attention on the path between.
The better racers are aware of the gates and focus their attention on their line, the top racers have the technique to back their crazy tactics.

Too often our brains are focusing on what to avoid than to what do you want to do. Be aware of the surroundings, tree, skiers and conditions, then use that focus or attention on the needed course of action

Awareness raises attention so that we're able to formulate proper response..
 

Goose

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How far ahead and or how far behind or to the side?

Hockey coaches kids to skate with "your head on a swivel" to know and to be aware of your surroundings. This gives you an awareness of your "Time & Space" so that you can approximate the space you have and the time it will give you to make a play.

I use this analogy as it also works with skiing, how much time or space to avoid that skier or how fast are you traveling while trying to pass that boarder before the trail merge or how much time do I have before the person out of control behind me catches up.

Now when you look ahead what do you see or more importantly what do you see?

Going tree skiing in tight glades do you look and focus on the trees or the pow path between them? Obviously we need to be aware of the trees but we need to focus our attention on the path between.
The better racers are aware of the gates and focus their attention on their line, the top racers have the technique to back their crazy tactics.

Too often our brains are focusing on what to avoid than to what do you want to do. Be aware of the surroundings, tree, skiers and conditions, then use that focus or attention on the needed course of action

Awareness raises attention so that we're able to formulate proper response..

The different scenarios have cause for different focus. Racing down a planned existing laid out track is different from recreational skiing. And it also has a different purpose and is done in a different surrounding.
 

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