Pinkie Leads the Way (learning to ski on shaped skis)

[markojp]

The anonymity provided by the internet and the abundant expertise that follows it is a remarkable sight to behold.

Zenny knows where to find me.

 

[Loki1]

This whole argument is ridiculous. First off any movements of the foot/ankle come from the hip/femur in a closed environment, which skiing is. So to talk about pronation/supination and knee angulation is really talking about what is happening at the hip joint. It all comes from there. Second one doesn’t have to tip the LTE to get the ski/leg out of the way. One simply has to flex the knee(vertically(redundant)) to get it out of the way. The reason most people think tipping the LTE is so effective is because it causes hip rotation which FEELS really strong but actually is very week. you’re getting the same sensation as a beginner skier rotating from the hips. Finally the whole idea of parallel legs is a farce, one has only to look at Lindsey Vonn to see that. Non parallel legs can be a symptom of a larger problem but they can also be nothing. When one sees non-parallel legs it’s just an invitation to look further into why it is happening and if it is a detriment or not. Too many people focus on it as problem when it is nothing.

 

[Zentune]

 

[Doby Man]

I, for one, appreciate any demand for less anonymous and less abundant proper expert biomechanical and ski technique acumen. There should be some kind of screening process for ski pedigree before being allowed to post here. Those not passing a rigorous background screening should be designated for immediate removal or at least having their avatar marked with some sort of symbol of the identification of inferiority. Some perpetrators on this website make recommendations on ski technique as if they were anonymously selling to underaged children expired generic Viagra manufactured in Russia online from Canada. Or, backroom chemotherapeutically augmented ski technique advancement with audio and visual sensory overload brainwashing administered anonymously, with industrial cleaning products, acupuncture needles and a car battery. A process also perfected in Russia and administered in Canada (currently in my basement). Your hair and teeth may fall out, you may never again pee yellow, but I can guarantee you’ll be skiing better … eventually, probably …. most likely and in conceivably due time. Yes … I would definitely say yes - to some sort of likely probability. Take it from me though, in particular, that while expert skiing may a worthy risk to future health, this can be very dangerous as the makeshift cemetery, mass grave, tomato garden mortuary, whatever you want to call it, in my backyard continues to grow while my do-it-yourself crematorium kit remains on back order from, you guessed it, Russia. As soon as they develop a GoPro that can withstand 1500 degrees, I will show you what I mean with my new Russian crematorium dashcam where a picture is worth a thousand screams of permanently plateaued intermediates. I digress … though, that is why I do not mince words and acumen regarding my own technical and developmental model for alpine skiing for which the following video demonstrates the youth instruction version:


Similar to the above video, I also teach with the hockey stick method but, instead, to adults. It is a new developmental and technical model called PTSD (Primary Traumatic Stick Discipline). I am the only one who teaches it. It is a very specific alpine ski developmental and technical model, with its own custom terminology, concepts and drills, all with an excruciating specificity that must be strictly adhered to under all circumstances. The hockey stick is used much like an electronic sensory and shock messaging device for the entire body as I smack, poke, push, tap and slap the student into the correct stance and movements while skiing alongside them with hockey stick in hand. We can think of the hockey stick in this case as a long and stiff riding crop with a nice hook on the end. It is the perfect ski training device for the under-responsive student (which means all of you). With PTSD, all faulty motor patterns receive immediate negative reinforcement in a manner that institutes a small but carefully forced manifestation of both physical and emotional trauma. Trauma has long been considered a psychological “shortcut” in creating both thought and motor pattern discipline when administered with the correct DIRT. Repetitive frequencies of motor pattern disobedience will institute longer durations, higher intensities, stronger rates and more sinister timing of the ISR (Instructor Stick Response). The PTSD concepts, “flex for relief”, “holding it in”, “sucking it up” and “the freudian slip” have drastically different meanings than other concepts from other schools that may sound similar. Enough slap shots to the forehead and, before you know it, I will have you sensing a previously unrecognized technical superiority above all others.

Ultimately, you will either: A. Quit and wind up dead to me and my eventual huge group of disciples or, B. Will be doing my laundry (light on the starch) and walking my dog (high performance titanium pooper scooper supplied) or, C. Thinking you ski like a world cup champion from a double locked, windowless, padded room with a 24/7 internet connection. Right now I am trying to get my new school off the ground and am looking for people to smack around with my hockey stick for free. Please sign up on my website, www.skiwithptsd.com but, please, not all at once so the site doesn’t crash (if you cannot log on, that is why). Please also check out my forum but just be careful what you post to avoid that late night, early morning sudden and frantic knock on the door immediately followed by your abrupt disappearance. I will be accumulating a congregation of fanatics to which I will shout with fire and fury from a large and lofty pulpit the superiority of my model across all ski organizations to include the world cup racing “secret” technical model that no one knows but me, my best friend, Marcel, … and my hockey stick. Ski race technique aside, I wouldn’t quite refer to my program as “racist” because the main focus is recreational. After all, skiing is about having fun, but (obviously) something that will absolutely never occur until you are a PTSD expert. Yes, we can all pretend but we all know that the pre-expert “fun” experience is a foolish ski pipedream. The eventual plan is to work our way into national governments and international organizations by whatever means necessary, overtaking all other alpine ski technique entities and absorbing them (through complete and utter termination) into my New World Order International Workers Party Ski Technique Authority, (NWOIWPSTA), pronounced “nowipsta”, whereby anyone caught teaching any other type of ski technique will be dealt with swiftly and severely. There is only one superior ski technique and a holy order by which all others, by default, are officially deemed as drastically inferior. We must destroy and eliminate all these other subversive factions before they catch on like the famine, disease and crippling poverty of ski technique that they truly are.

I am currently working on some kind of special solute to help in branding my program in case anyone has a good idea. I do like the theme of “pinky toe leads the way” type of solute.

We also offer alignment services. Once it has been determined that a PTSD student’s alignment is off (which means everybody), we immediately schedule an alignment correction procedure with our ankle alignment specialist, Annie Wilkes.

 

[wyowindrunner]

Dobyman!! hellava Douglas Adams /Mel Brooks rant! Or u got some awful speedy acid!

 

[Tim Hodgson]

I need someone to ski next to me with a hockey stick...

 

[Sandy Powell]

I needed someone as well to be a lot more harsh about my A frame skiing... I could even rename this whole thread how ski properly or some various nomenclature like how to ski intermediate... Either way I've been able to ski at a very high level by not understanding basics for many years. It's taken slowing down and actually breaking down step by step how movement happens to get the basics down. It's crazy how instinct takes over at some point and you don't have to understand basic movement patterns.

Crazy enough becoming an instructor is what has got me to a level of understanding to break down each step of a turn. Obviously to break out of a wedge we move both knees at once and have our weight properly balanced. To get to a higher level we need to move both knees at the same amount. It's even stated as others pointed out that the inside leads the way. Crazy how instinct and g forces can compensate for a poor understanding of what has to happen. It's taken me years to understand each step and skiing on an artificial surface to get to this understanding. To bad I didn't have a Russian with a hockey stick to the knees so I could get to this understanding sooner.

 

[geepers]

I need someone to ski next to me with a hockey stick...

Be very careful what you wish for...

 

[Tim Hodgson]

 

[François Pugh]

For a one-year old, that kid is a giant!

 

[Loki1]

Sorry I haven posted in a while been busy. But...

Not really. It’s backed up by science. Do a little research. Look into some things. What we feel isn’t what is happening. I’m not saying we take the focus away from the ankle and foot as the driver of what is happening. I’m just saying we need to understand those movements are happening somewhere else and because of that we need to be aware of the consequences of those movements.
Oh yeah, and if you need my credentials, just ask I’ll post them anytime. But one of the problems we have always had in this country with ski coaching/instruction is the belief that your credentials matter more than your knowledge. Let’s change our focus to those who know movments rather than those who have “feelings” and “know” that this is how it works, “because I felt it.” It always amazing to me the amount of those that will argue science based on their beliefs or feelings.

 

[razie]

This whole argument is ridiculous. First off any movements of the foot/ankle come from the hip/femur in a closed environment, which skiing is. So to talk about pronation/supination and knee angulation is really talking about what is happening at the hip joint. It all comes from there. Second one doesn’t have to tip the LTE to get the ski/leg out of the way. One simply has to flex the knee(vertically(redundant)) to get it out of the way. The reason most people think tipping the LTE is so effective is because it causes hip rotation which FEELS really strong but actually is very week. you’re getting the same sensation as a beginner skier rotating from the hips. Finally the whole idea of parallel legs is a farce, one has only to look at Lindsey Vonn to see that. Non parallel legs can be a symptom of a larger problem but they can also be nothing. When one sees non-parallel legs it’s just an invitation to look further into why it is happening and if it is a detriment or not. Too many people focus on it as problem when it is nothing.

Well, I've done tons of research and reading and experimenting and I'll disagree with some of that. The notion that foot and ankle movements come from the hip is strange. I can invert and evert, rotate and dorsiflex me foot/ankle while sitting on a chair, with no hip involvement. In fact, "inversion" is defined as a whole foot deformation - there's zero hip involvement in that.

There's also a misunderstanding between movements like inversion, versus a pronation - it's quite common confusion, but an important one. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatomical_terms_of_motion. Pronation is 1) a closed chain deformation of the foot/ankle - i.e. a passive one and 2) as a movement, it is a rotation of the foot - i.e. the one we use for pivoting.
Inversion is a specific foot movement to tilt the foot to one side, i.e. the one we use for tipping! Really big difference, even given the complex articulation of the foot!

So, it's inaccurate to state that all foot and ankle movements come from the hip. In fact the important ones, dorsiflexion and inversion, most certainly do not!

If you're thinking "in ski boots", the tibia sure has to move as the foot tilts the boot, so the femur has to rotate somehow and there is truth to the kinetic chain driving some reactions up the stack, but nowhere does it mean that you have to tip the boots from the hips or the femurs.

While it is totally possible to ski "top down" and tip the boots on edge by dragging them on edge with the hips or by strongly rotating the femur and articulating the knee in different ways, it doesn't mean we have to... or that the feet are inactive!

I think all this likely stems from the assumption that skiing is a closed chain environment... which it is, for some... but for some others, it is not: skiing is not a closed chain environment unless you're standing with weight on the skis (say in the middle of the turn... but at that point, you've built your angles and everything is set). In transition and early in the turn, the feet are free to move, be repositioned and tipped on edge... if you've done it right... This will also explain why some focus on the unweighted inside foot more

Random obligatory quote:

• 
  A squat, for example, where the foot presses against the floor to raise the body, is a closed chain kinetic exercise. Using a leg curl machine, where the lower leg swings freely, is an example of open chain.

If you're released the ski properly, you're in open chain mode, that's quite different... and it stays in open chain until it's engaged again.

There is one theoretical aspect indeed, that in open chain mode, muscle activations are usually proximal to distal, but tipping is not related to moving the foot towards or away from the body. It's a different movement - it's not flexion/extension.

IMHO, it is generally recognized that big strong muscles are less precise and the femurs can't really feel the snow... so I'll prefer to focus on using me feet, tilting the boots on edge from the feet via inversion/eversion and less big muscle action.

 

[Monster]

Inversion is a specific foot movement to tilt the foot to one side, i.e. the one we use for tipping! Really big difference, even given the complex articulation of the foot!

So, inversion of the foot is tilting the foot laterally from the ankle joint? Do your boots let you do that? Mine don't. For sure, the tib/fib rotational movement is available in ski boots and depending on the boots, more or less fore and aft ankle flexion and extension. But my boots allow only the most minimal lateral flexibility at the ankle joint. I mean, isn't that the whole point of rigid boots? If I'm understanding the terms correctly, I don't see any foot inversion in that lovely turn in your avatar, e.g. - looks to me like your ankles are fixed in that plane.

 

[François Pugh]

So, inversion of the foot is tilting the foot laterally from the ankle joint? Do your boots let you do that? Mine don't. For sure, the tib/fib rotational movement is available in ski boots and depending on the boots, more or less fore and aft ankle flexion and extension. But my boots allow only the most minimal lateral flexibility at the ankle joint. I mean, isn't that the whole point of modern boots? If I'm understanding the terms correctly, I don't see any foot inversion in the lovely turn in your avatar, e.g. - looks to me like your ankles are fixed in that plane.

My boots allow approximately no inversion/eversion, but executing the command and resulting muscle/tendon tension is highly beneficial to my skiing.

 

[Monster]

My boots allow approximately no inversion/eversion, but executing the command and resulting muscle/tendon tension is highly beneficial to my skiing.

I don't doubt that for a moment. But anatomically, where then does the change of the plane of the base of the ski come from if not lateral ankle joint movement?

 

[Average Joe]

The choice of footbed composition (rigid vs. soft) will affect your ability to evert and invert your ankle within a hard plastic ski boot.

 

[Monster]

The choice of footbed composition (rigid vs. soft) will affect your ability to evert and invert your ankle within a hard plastic ski boot.

True - But a footbed that lets your ankle invert inside a boot means that the inversion isn't having any effect on the plane of the base of the ski. That's not something I want - boot fit slop.

 

[Uke]

The foot has to function as it is designed to function for us to ski well. For this to happen we need just enough give in the boot/liner setup to allow the foot to articulate between eversion and inversion even if the outcome is little actual movement of the joint as FP commented above, For me personally everything is more solid and stable feeling if I actively feel eversion or inversion. There isn't slop in the boot setup just a little give.

uke

 

[Average Joe]

True - But a footbed that lets your ankle invert inside a boot means that the inversion isn't having any effect on the plane of the base of the ski. That's not something I want - boot fit slop.

Boot slop is a fit problem.
Assuming the footbed properly supports the ankle at subtalar neutral, and the forefoot is properly supported to compensate for forefoot varus or valgus, I have found that a soft arch allows me greater pressure on the ball if the foot and greater edge pressure.
I ski a Lange 130 with almost zero instep buckle pressure, no slop.
The improvements in my skiing since switching from hard footbeds to soft have been significant.
A while back I came across an article that accurately described the benefits of eversion when an athlete was maximizing their strength and leverage, as it relates to skiing. To demonstrate the strength and power of a locked ankle versus an everted, stand in a way that your foot is totally restricted from moving as you push off. It could be with a heavy block on the inside of your foot, anything that restricts you from developing the maximum power you can when in a one legged push off.
Given the choice of footbeds, I’d rather have the flexible arch than the rock solid arch. Just sayin’.

 

[Monster]

Preference item. . . Even if true for you, if the inversion is happening inside the boot, it makes this less correct, not more:

"Inversion is a specific foot movement to tilt the foot to one side, i.e. the one we use for tipping! "