Which 3 drills best predict competency?

[Fuller]

Premise:

You haven't free skied down the mountain with the client but you have viewed them doing 3 different drills at a high level (let's leave hucking a 50 ft cliff off the drill list).

Which three drills would you want to see and how much of a predictor to their overall skiing ability would you get with only the 3 drills to go by?

 

[crgildart]

One footed skiing on something challenging.
Bump run, not pillows, but slush bumps good enough
NASTAR run

 

[Fuller]

One footed skiing on something challenging.
Bump run, not pillows, but slush bumps good enough
NASTAR run

I'm think more basic than those examples, pivot slips would be the first to come to mind.

 

[Mike King]

Outside ski turn. Linked pivot slips. Railroad tracks.

 

[Fuller]

Outside ski turn. Linked pivot slips. Railroad tracks.

And if your student did all three at a high level but still couldn't put it together in everyday skiing how would you move forward? BTW, this isn't me, I'm just wondering if there are other factors besides core competencies that become real constraints to learning. An example of that concept would be fear of heights (again, not me!)

 

[David]

What is a pivot slip?

 

[teejaywhy]

What is a pivot slip?

Conveniently, a thread on the very subject:
https://www.pugski.com/threads/pivot-slip-demo.18208/

 

[Mike King]

And if your student did all three at a high level but still couldn't put it together in everyday skiing how would you move forward? BTW, this isn't me, I'm just wondering if there are other factors besides core competencies that become real constraints to learning. An example of that concept would be fear of heights (again, not me!)

It would be very unusual to find such a person. These three drills cover 4 of the five fundamentals: fore/aft pressure control, foot to foot pressure control with direction of pressure to the outside ski, rotation, and edging. The one missing fundamental is pressure regulation. But if someone has ownership of these four fundamentals and still has issues, I think it is time to move to another realm. Weems Westfeldt introduced something called the Sports Diamond in his book "Brilliant Skiing Everyday." The four corners of the diamond are:

1. Power describes the relationship between technique, movements, physical forces, your body, and your equipment.

2. Purpose is about intention, strategies and goals for manipulating the snow and controlling your direction.

3. Touch is about the senses, emotions, connections, rhythm, flow, timing, finesse, and intensity.

4. Will is about choosing, preparing, moving, doing, balancing, centering, managing anxiety and commitment to action.

Technique, which the drills above focus upon, is in the Power realm. A student with mastery of the drills but who still has trouble putting it all together probably needs to focus on any of the other three elements. All four of these involve skiing, but the focus would need to be redirected away from technique and toward something else, depending on what was seen to be the limiting factor and where the student is at the time of the encounter.

Weem's suggestion is a bit more specific -- if Power (or any of the other three) isn't working, go somewhere else in the diamond and work on that.

Mike

 

[Rostapher]

It’s responses like these that keep me coming back to Pugski for more insight & high level explanations. It also helps it live up to the motto: Ski talk at a higher level.

Thanks @Mike King

It would be very unusual to find such a person. These three drills cover 4 of the five fundamentals: fore/aft pressure control, foot to foot pressure control with direction of pressure to the outside ski, rotation, and edging. The one missing fundamental is pressure regulation. But if someone has ownership of these four fundamentals and still has issues, I think it is time to move to another realm. Weems Westfeldt introduced something called the Sports Diamond in his book "Brilliant Skiing Everyday." The four corners of the diamond are:

1. Power describes the relationship between technique, movements, physical forces, your body, and your equipment.

2. Purpose is about intention, strategies and goals for manipulating the snow and controlling your direction.

3. Touch is about the senses, emotions, connections, rhythm, flow, timing, finesse, and intensity.

4. Will is about choosing, preparing, moving, doing, balancing, centering, managing anxiety and commitment to action.

Technique, which the drills above focus upon, is in the Power realm. A student with mastery of the drills but who still has trouble putting it all together probably needs to focus on any of the other three elements. All four of these involve skiing, but the focus would need to be redirected away from technique and toward something else, depending on what was seen to be the limiting factor and where the student is at the time of the encounter.

Weem's suggestion is a bit more specific -- if Power (or any of the other three) isn't working, go somewhere else in the diamond and work on that.

Mike

 

[jimtransition]

Railroad tracks, javelin turns, dolphin turns.

 

[Fuller]

@Mike King That was a great answer!

 

[LiquidFeet]

Outside ski turn. Linked pivot slips. Railroad tracks.

Great question, @Fuller. Here's my list:

1. Pivot slips
2. Railroad tracks on low pitch terrain
3. Outside ski turns, carved
4. Ski a moderate bump run with variety of turns, including a direct line
5. Short radius turns down a steep icy groomer

I'll affirm what @Mike King posted. Pivot slips and railroad tracks are exact opposites. Pivot slips reveal the pilot's ability to do a number of things, including rotating the skis separate from the upper body. Railroad tracks show one can tip the skis and feel them engage, tip to tail, and ride them in a ski-controlled arc, without any rotation of the skis across the snow. If one can do both, one has the potential to blend all those skills. That right there confirms a ton of versatility.

Outside ski turns (carved; aka advanced railroad tracks) show that the skier is able to direct pressure from outside ski to outside ski. Neither pivot slips nor railroad tracks focus intensely on this skill, so outside ski turns it is.

I'll add bumps. Skier needs to be able to ski a bump run with moderately sized bumps - making a variety of turns, some of them directly down the fall line, with skis remaining parallel and stance width constant. If one can do that, then the ability to blend everything is there for groomers and presumably fresh snow.

I'll also add SRTs in steepish ice. Skiing short radius turns down a steep icy groomer, with the skis engaging above the fall line, and with the turn shape providing speed control, is the bread-and-butter of the PSIA Level III skiing exam. These turns should be included in the list. This is a tactical choice we all could use. It calls for all the skills in pivot slips, railroad tracks, and bump skiing, plus the proprioception to tell if the skis are actually engaging above the fall line and providing speed control through turn shape.

 

[KevinF]

I'd say:

• Pivot slips for all the reasons listed above
• White Pass Turns. There's no way to do them if you habitually stem step into a turn and the only "good" way to get the outside ski back down is via angulation. Takes care of one ski balance while you're at it.
• Skate-to-shape because I feel like being evil. Covers all kinds of things.

 

[Rich McP]

short radius turns down a steep icy groomer

You Easterners. You keep talking about skiing on ice. When there is ice on the ground you are supposed to go to the bar and put the ice in your glass. That's the only thing ice is good for.

 

[Mike King]

You Easterners. You keep talking about skiing on ice. When there is ice on the ground you are supposed to go to the bar and put the ice in your glass. That's the only thing ice is good for.

I'm no Easterner, but I'll quote @Bob Barnes: "There is no such thing as bad snow. There's good snow, and snow that is good for you..."

 

[Fuller]

We have a bit of list inflation going on here but I like the answers. The white pass turn is the only one I don't have in my toolbox. I've heard all the explanations as to why I should learn them but I still don't have an intuitive grasp as to why they are so important to a sport that focuses on the big toe edge of the outside ski. Maybe if I spent a week mastering them I would come to a better understanding.

 

[tch]

I'm no Easterner, but I'll quote @Bob Barnes: "There is no such thing as bad snow. There's good snow, and snow that is good for you..."

I'd agree with Bob's statement, but add this: "the snow that is good for you is not really good fun".

 

[LiquidFeet]

If NE skiers avoided ice, they wouldn't ski very often.

 

[Seldomski]

Weems Westfeldt introduced something called the Sports Diamond

Thanks for sharing your perspective @Mike King . It helps explain how following someone more skilled can make you ski better. You can borrow some of 2, 3, and 4 when following a better skier.

 

[Uke]

Flat spins in all their variety and flavors.