Drill Tips and drills for for-aft balance?

[Zentune]

I think that no matter what, ideally the feet will move though one end of the spectrum to the other (pronation, neutral, supination) in pretty much any ski turn, and so, any advice to stay in one spot may need to be looked at through this lense. Again, this is how I have been viewing it mentally for a while now.

Of course, turn forces play a huge role and change the shape of the foot, so the range of manually manipulation may be smaller e.g., the "sweet spot" would be smaller.

zenny

 

[Zentune]

I think that no matter what, ideally the feet will move though one end of the spectrum to the other (pronation, neutral, supination) in pretty much any ski turn, and so, any advice to stay in one spot may need to be looked at through this lense.

zenny

I should add that this means the balance axis and center of pressure underfoot definitely moves fore and aft as we move through ski turns------->>normal pronation = mid-foot, to supination = mid-to ball of foot, so the trick is to find drills that encourage explorations of these ranges.

zenny

 

[JESinstr]

I should add that this means the balance axis and center of pressure underfoot definitely moves fore and aft as we move through ski turns------->>normal pronation = mid-foot, to supination = mid-to ball of foot, so the trick is to find drills that encourage explorations of these ranges.

zenny

Thinking back...way, way back , one of my leaps in ski improvement came in the 70's when Wayne Wong and Airborne Eddie Ferguson came to our area for a weekend and conducted 2 morning clinics before the afternoon shows. Between the outriggers, javelin turns, Royal Christies, 360's ect. my "envelope" of balance increased considerably. It taught me a vital lesson on how extreme exercises are a great way to develop my skill set.

 

[Mike King]

And then there is this

http://ussa.org/sites/default/files...iomechanics USSA Academy 2013 by Ron Kipp.pdf

 

[JESinstr]

And then there is this

http://ussa.org/sites/default/files/documents/athletics/freestyle/2012-13/documents/Biomechanics USSA Academy 2013 by Ron Kipp.pdf

I was just going to "Like" your post but it is too important so I am reposting it.

For those struggling to break out of the intermediate plateau this is an important doc. Especially understanding the centripetal push and that it is up to the skier to make that happen.

 

[Zentune]

I agree on the importance of that understanding (on a basic level at least), but it is just as important (or more so?) to understand how to coach the where and when or movements. The movements of different joints and their respective muscle reactions/engagements are what help *create that centripetal "push" and are also what allows us to stack against the load optimally....hence why I've brought up foot mechanics e.g. pronation ---->>supnation. For instance, if pronation isn't allowed for, then the conditions for the posterior chain to be able to eccentricly contract properly won't arise and achieving true BTE pressure will be very difficult to achieve at the right time.

Super important stuff! Does the student need to understand all that? Not necessarily, unless they want to I suppose. But it certainly can help on the coaching side of things....

zenny

 

[Don in Morrison]

Thinking back...way, way back , one of my leaps in ski improvement came in the 70's when Wayne Wong and Airborne Eddie Ferguson came to our area for a weekend and conducted 2 morning clinics before the afternoon shows. Between the outriggers, javelin turns, Royal Christies, 360's ect. my "envelope" of balance increased considerably. It taught me a vital lesson on how extreme exercises are a great way to develop my skill set.

I never thought of these as drills, but rather as something I wanted to learn how to do because it was fun, but it turned out to be beneficial for the rest of my skiing. Balance is critical for spins; not just fore-aft, but also lateral balance. One-legged spins, in particular, require you to have your ducks in a row, balance-wise.

"If you can't ski, do tricks", was meant as a put-down directed at early free-doggers, but I've always treated it as helpful advice, instead, because for me, it actually worked that way.

 

[James]

It sounds like something of a cross between a J turn and a white pass turn (definitions courtesy of @razie )

No, he was just describing a traverse on the uphill ski, little toe edge. No turn. No lateral body movement other than for balance.
"find a moderate, smooth slope and traverse across the hill on the little toe edge of my uphill ski while lifting the downhill ski a bit off of the snow."

A white pass turn is going from big toe to little toe edge on the weighted outside ski and the body crosses over.

 

[razie]

I was just going to "Like" your post but it is too important so I am reposting it.

For those struggling to break out of the intermediate plateau this is an important doc. Especially understanding the centripetal push and that it is up to the skier to make that happen.

There's a lot to like in there, like the fact that the upper body must rotate an equal amount to counter the lower body rotation into the turn to appear "stable" - I think we just had a long thread on that few weeks ago...