MA - what to work on next season?

[Beartown]

 

[Mike King]

I cannot get your video clip to play.

Mike

 

[PeteW]

I'm not an instructor, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

What I see is nice relaxed cruising with good rythm. But look at that still

Skis are pointed at fall line and there are 2 things that bother me
1. You are a bit in a back seat
2. You let inside ski to shuffle too much forward

The last thing which is a bit hard to judge from that camera angle is that it seems to me that there is fair amount of inclination but not enough angulation.

Again I'm not an instructor

 

[Mendieta]

I cannot get your video clip to play.

Mike

The video is in google driive. It plays for me but I use that service. @Beartown : withing the google ecosystem, you could upload it tp youtube. You can set it up to be "unlisted", so it is not found if searches, if you want some privacy.

 

[Jilly]

Yes back seat. Move the hips forward.
Arms - working on you're triceps. Try hugging a barrel to get them out front more. That may help with the back seat too.
Separation - very little. I see tipping of the shoulders too.

 

[Kneale Brownson]

The play icon on the bottom got the video open for me, Mike.

Beartown, things to work on:

Separation of upper and lower body. Your torso mostly faces where your skis are pointing.

Start turns by lightening and tipping the new inside ski instead of stepping onto the new outside ski.

Flex the inside foot ankle and knee to reduce the pushing ahead you're doing with the inside foot.

Learn to angulate so that your torso is not leaning into the turn so much.

 

[Steve]

Well I have a different reaction. I think that that is nice skiing, good rhythm, nice turn shape. I do agree that you seem to be a bit back. My suggestion is to not flex your knees so much, and flex at your hips (not waist) more. Also try to flex more at your ankles. Trying to not bend the knees and finding where those other joints are is a good exercise. Eventually you'll add back the knee flexion, but have a corresponding amount of ankle and hip flexion that you will be more forward. Like an articulated lamp (see my icon.)

I would focus 100% on that. Once fore/aft balance is adjusted everything else comes easier.

 

[JESinstr]

As some have observed, you are in the back seat. Before you address anything else, you must correct this condition. And for someone who has obvious ability on skis, this can be a tough nut to crack.

So let's address the fundamentals of fore&aft balance on skis and in the process, make our term definitions clear.

- Back seat. This term basically means that you are directing your mass (weight under gravity) primarily through your heels. ie, this is how you are managing balance (fore&aft) in order to keep standing, which for many, is survival priority #1. If you look at your fore&aft alignment it is pretty obvious.

Since the time when you developed the ability to stand up, this is how you statically balanced (fore&aft) when not involved in the process of locomotion (walking running skipping etc). Now, you put on a pair of skis which are basically a platform to statically stand on and you apply the only static balance configuration your brain and autonomic nervous system knows. Add to this, as you try and redirect you skis across the hill, this heel focus only intensifies and leads to an extended bracing action of the outside leg.

Ironically, the solution is only a couple of inches but many hours of implementation/practice away. You need to develop and train your brain (and drive into your autonomic nervous system) to consistently balance, not through your heel, but through the arch.

Let's think of it in the context of a sensor. Right now, the sensor for static balance is in your heel. You don't overtly think about it or recognize it because that sensor has been driven into your autonomic nervous system over your lifetime.

You now need to move that sensor forward to the center of the arch and place sub sensors at the back of the ball of the big toe and the heel.
To get an idea of how that feels, just spread your feet a little wider than the shoulders and stand on the insides of your feet and begin to bounce flexing your ankles, knees and hips. You need to feel the tension building in the arch supported by the ball of the big toe and inside of the heel.

You also need to recognize that the flex complex (ankles, knees, hips) is the new governing mechanism for controlling this method of balance The ankles being most important and the hips being most critical. Also, the torso remains steady and quiet in support of the flex complex directing pressure through the arch. In contrast, the heel based static balance relies on our skeletal structure because we are assumed to be at rest.

And that is one of the fundamental conundrums in skiing. Many skiers are applying static balance principles to a platform that moves.

I wish you well.

 

[Beartown]

thanks to all for the feedback! every year, I make small improvements, and I have to give a lot of credit to the folks here who share their expertise and advice. I really appreciate it.

I've always had trouble maintaining a more forward stance. last week in Taos, I went in to the BootDoctors to get some ZipFits and they had a few thoughts for me. Looking at my ankles, they said I have some of the most limited dorsiflexion they'd seen. I never knew there was an issue there! I got some heel ramps, and along with the ZipFits, I feel like I have much better control (no video, though). We'll see how this plays out next year! The video above wasn't filmed with MA in mind; it's just footage pulled from our annual guys' trip video:


Any thoughts or advice about improving or dealing with limited ankle dorsiflexion?

 

[Steve]

Stiff boots. Makes a little motion have a lot of effect.

 

[James]

Nice vid. Among the suggestions - ski with people who are better than you. Too much leaning, pushing, jumping to turn in that group.

 

[Jilly]

My husband's ankle was fused surgically. Heel lifts were the only thing.

 

[Skisailor]

thanks to all for the feedback! every year, I make small improvements, and I have to give a lot of credit to the folks here who share their expertise and advice. I really appreciate it.

I've always had trouble maintaining a more forward stance. last week in Taos, I went in to the BootDoctors to get some ZipFits and they had a few thoughts for me. Looking at my ankles, they said I have some of the most limited dorsiflexion they'd seen. I never knew there was an issue there! I got some heel ramps, and along with the ZipFits, I feel like I have much better control (no video, though). We'll see how this plays out next year! The video above wasn't filmed with MA in mind; it's just footage pulled from our annual guys' trip video:


Any thoughts or advice about improving or dealing with limited ankle dorsiflexion?

I would really have you reconsider those heel lifts!! For many (most?) skiers, heel lifts tend to put them MORE in the backseat! I know it sounds counter intuitive. But there you have it. In your stocking feet, try putting a couple of magazines under your heels and then take note of what you do with your hips in order to stay in balance and not fall over. Now put those magazines under the forward part of your foot. For most, lifting the forefoot (called a gas pedal in skiing) is the thing that tends to bring people forward. Not the other way around.

Limited dorsiflexion is one of the reasons used to add heel lifts to someone's boot. But we only need 15-18 degrees or so of range of motion in the ankle within our ski boots! Do you really have such a static ankle that you cannot move it that much? Even if you can't flex in the forward direction as much as others, you can use your other joints - particularly the hip socket - to compensate.

Maybe you really do need heel lifts. But IMHO, I would be HIGHLY skeptical of any bootfitter who suggests them using that reasoning. It's that much harder to get your hips more forward (over your feet) with heel lifts installed.

I use gas pedals (shims under the toepiece of my bindings) after much experimentation and they have helped my fore-aft stance immensely. When I demo skis, I can instantly feel the difference without them. It's not as easy to stay forward.

 

[Fuller]

You might try ditching your backpack for a couple of runs to see if that improves your fore / aft balance. I know in my case that even a well designed pack with only a few things in it is enough to put me on my heels and make me feel like I forgot everything I know. It's mostly because I'm not acclimated to it and perhaps you are to yours, but give it a try just to see the difference.

 

[peterm]

I find it hard to judge pole length when watching someone ski but you might want to experiment with shorter poles to see if that helps. I know it has helped me, and many others.

 

[markojp]

I would really have you reconsider those heel lifts!! For many (most?) skiers, heel lifts tend to put them MORE in the backseat! I know it sounds counter intuitive. But there you have it. In your stocking feet, try putting a couple of magazines under your heels and then take note of what you do with your hips in order to stay in balance and not fall over. Now put those magazines under the forward part of your foot. For most, lifting the forefoot (called a gas pedal in skiing) is the thing that tends to bring people forward. Not the other way around.

It's a case by case basis and depends on other factors of one's leg anatomy, but by and large, limited dorsiflexion can VERY OFTEN (not always) be aided by heel lifts. What one does in their stocking feet has NOTHING to do with what happens in the boot. It's a bit like a person saying that since their heel strike area of their tennis and street shoes wear out on the outside of the heel, they must need to be canted inward in a ski boot...

 

[markojp]

I would really have you reconsider those heel lifts!!

For many (most?) skiers, heel lifts tend to put them MORE in the backseat!

It's that much harder to get your hips more forward (over your feet) with heel lifts installed.

I use gas pedals (shims under the toepiece of my bindings) after much experimentation and they have helped my fore-aft stance immensely. When I demo skis, I can instantly feel the difference without them. It's not as easy to stay forward.

It's great your set up works for you. Gas pedalling can work well in conjuction with heel shims for some believe it or not, and THAT's counter intuitive. There might be other factors in your foot and lower leg anatomy that make heel lifts problematic for you a la the volume of your lower leg and the boot you're in, but in general, heel lifts DO NOT put anyone in the back seat, and what happens in stocking feet has little to do with what goes on in boots.

Your second sentence might be true for you, but in my experience fitting a lot of boots, this isn't the case most of the time, including my own boot set up.

 

[Beartown]

You might try ditching your backpack for a couple of runs to see if that improves your fore / aft balance. I know in my case that even a well designed pack with only a few things in it is enough to put me on my heels and make me feel like I forgot everything I know. It's mostly because I'm not acclimated to it and perhaps you are to yours, but give it a try just to see the difference.

I definitely feel more "free" without the backpack. Used to always wear one (primarily to carry lunch), but now I only wear it if I'm doing a lot of hiking or to lug around camera equipment.

 

[Skisailor]

It's great your set up works for you. Gas pedalling can work well in conjuction with heel shims for some believe it or not, and THAT's counter intuitive. There might be other factors in your foot and lower leg anatomy that make heel lifts problematic for you a la the volume of your lower leg and the boot you're in, but in general, heel lifts DO NOT put anyone in the back seat, and what happens in stocking feet has little to do with what goes on in boots.

Your second sentence might be true for you, but in my experience fitting a lot of boots, this isn't the case most of the time, including my own boot set up.

@Beartown - It's not that heel lifts can never be the proper prescription to address certain problems. But they come with side effects, so to speak. And IMHO, they are over prescribed relative to the number of situations where they are truly the most effective solution. In my experience, I have seen over and over and over again, how heel lifts have adversely affected the fore-aft stance and balance of my students. This is not some situation unique to me. But you don't have to take my word for it - nor should you - or that of @markojp , or anyone else. This is something you can manipulate on your own and see what YOU feel, and then do what works for YOU. Take your heel lifts out for a demo day. Do the same run in the same conditions with and without the lifts. Be sensitive to your fore-aft balance. Perhaps have a friend take some pictures or video of you from the side - static and while skiing. And see what YOU think.