We have great fortune at Harb Ski Systems, because we have the best ski technique, teaching and testing facility in the world. We ski with repeat customers, we ski with new customers, we ski with aligned skiers and we ski with unaligned skiers. This happens year after years and we gather great amounts of information from our coaches as to what is working and what is just going through the motions. We compare returning customer progress and new customer learning rate. Now going through the motions to us; is using already tried and true applications of PMTS, but we are always looking for better ways to apply our teaching.
That’s how we evolved to the Essentials DVDs and book; by trying to make skiing easier to understand and easier to apply for skiers. It also helps our coaches stay focused.
Last week I noticed a huge need in my group, 4 out of 6, needed help with torso and hip counteracting. I tried numerous anti hip and torso rotation exercises and drills, they helped, especially the hip-o-meter it was very effective for skiers with too much hip rotation. It is amazing how many skiers can’t get the hip locked back into a counter-acted situation. Also, we often see the outside hip jacked up higher than the inside hip, which is opposite to the way it should be.
So I did an experiment, after a few attempts, I left all the hip and upper body exercises alone and reintroduced tipping. I had everyone exercise their greatest amount of tipping while stationary. Then I let everyone traverse the slope doing, “on and off tipping”; engage and release tipping. No improvement, although the stationary tipping was perfect. I had them do it again, but this time I had them move very slowly only a few feet while tipping to high ski angles. I saw an immediate result of greater range of tipping.
Then I took out my video and taped everyone tipping stationary. Then I taped the traverse tipping and showed them the difference. The ones who had the range of motion in stationary tipping immediately were amazed how stiff they became while just traversing. Traversing means moving to intermediate skiers, and that’s when they freeze up.
HH Quote:
Skiing is about relaxing muscles, so individual body parts can move in the correct way, without dragging other parts with them, making everything incorrect and difficult.
The slow movement tipping traverse had a much more positive affect. I continued with it until the skiers could sense the results, and I’ll tell you the results were amazing. I had skiers getting to carving in half a run, true, but also skiers lost their fear of the transition and could make parallel releases even at very slow speeds. This means they also improved balance with this approach, because slow parallel turns require much more balance than fast skiing parallel turns.
Very satisfying indeed, but what it tells me is that there is always more to tipping than any other part of skiing; if introduced correctly. And PSIA and CSIA don’t even teach tipping. Well the poor students who are taking lessons there, are really missing out.
I have to add, many of the other exercises we did in the five half days of instruction contributed to the success, but that doesn’t diminish the amazing results you acquire with tipping your feet in skiing. Most skiers, 99% on any given slope, don’t tip their feet and they don’t know what it means.
Also, tipping doesn’t result from many days of free skiing; you have to practice it, to achieve, and increase it, and make it part of your skiing.
Once you remember your name, the date, what state you're in, and where you parked they aren't so bad.