Skiing at the highest level: How to Transition with Fore/aft

[enric]

https://harbskisysems.blogspot.com/2022/11/skiing-at-highest-level-how-to.html
Thanks a lot Harald, very interesting and illustrative in deed. Excellent hints on how to achieve better ForAft balance during transition using PMTS movements.

I am in the process of explaining in detail this sequence of movements to a friend of mine who is a certified ski instructor from the EEE (Escuela Española de Esquí, i.e. Spanish Ski School, yes another national TTS)...but unlike me he has not read all of your books .....he has seen the radical transformation in my skiing in the last couple of years (thanks to PMTS Obviously)...he is amazed at how well defined and structured are all of these movements, terms and concepts...and eventually he has come to accept that his skiing technique has serious opportunities for improvement

I will definitely share these pictures with him next weekend. Actually, these great pictures are very helpful (at least to me) to better grasp the sequence of movements in the transition, not only in the foraft sense but also in the lateral sense. Hence, I would like to take the opportunity to share some doubts and comments:

IMHO in the picture "at the release" the WC racer, in addition to bending the old stance leg action (by both closing the stance hip joint and flexing at the knee) he seems to be producing a kind of a HIP HIKE at the old stance hip

... If so, is this the same action that you demonstrated in your well-known video "counterbalancing at the hip" as you are standing on one leg on top of a box?

Is this action the begining (the first step) of the CBing for the new turn at the transition?

...this HIP HIKE would be then the famous EARLY counterbalancing (inmediately following or simultaneous to the early transfer of balance to old inside lte at transition) AT TRANSITION

Do I have it correctly that this is part of the release and transfer of balance is prior to initiating the tipping to LTE of new inside foot?

...and at this point the skier is still holding the old CAing, even increasing it, to facilitate the transfer of balance to the old inside ski LTEdge by providing stability to the old inside hip, ankle and edge at this very delicate moment.....and by the way, this is why I was so worried about sorting out the "correct way" to produce CAing in my last post a few weeks ago.

...the following tipping to the lte of the new inside ski will passively release this old inside ski LTEedge and proceed to passively engage the new stance ski edge.

Thank you all for your valuable help and contributions in this forum. The season starts in less than two weeks in the Pyrenees.

[geoffda]

Counterbalancing movements must always be made in conjunction with tipping. As part of changing edges in transition, counterbalance must also reverse, meaning that the uphill hip begins to lower, collapse or settle, while the downhill hip must begin to rise in order to maintain balance as the feet begin tipping to new edges. This is all done while holding counteracting--which should be at the maximum at the end of the turn so there is no increasing it. See the "stationary release to new edges" drill in Essentials of Skiing.

[Jwthe2nd]

All of this integration of the essentials make skiing with control at the desired speed on hard snow just as rewarding as great turns in powder.
In other words, skiing in any conditions, especially those that are way less than perfect, is just as satisfying...if not more.

[ChrisV]

"As part of changing edges in transition, counterbalance must also reverse, meaning that the uphill hip begins to lower, collapse or settle, while the downhill hip must begin to rise in order to maintain balance as the feet begin tipping to new edges."

This may be the best lesson Walter ever gave me. And there were many good ones. It just made everything else click.

[h.harb]

I'll make one point about previous posts. I don't ever and I mean "ever" focus on lowering my hip on one side compared to the other side in transition. I don't have time for all this. I'm focused on tipping both legs to the new angles using the forces generated from the turn. Which means letting go of the stance ski edge.

Lowering the hip, uphill side, (keeping it the same level when releasing is correct) is specific to those who extend too much on that side. Those skiers rather than letting go of the stance leg edge, end up holding the edge too long because when lowering the hip, therefore the edge is held too long. And that is no better than an extension!!!!!

As far as the focus of moving or focusing on your hips crossing into the next turn, that's not for me. I've never done that and never think about it while skiing. When someone can explain to me where the hip moving muscle is in the body then I might buy in. However, the hip or hips do cross over the skis to begin a new turn. The action for that movement isn't to focus on the hips, if you are doing that you are missing the most important "Essential in skiing" which is Tipping!!! How do you get tipping or in this case releasing or un-tipping? You bend or retract from the snow the stance ski of the last turn. If you have been focusing on the hip movement or trying to move your hips across, you are missing the boat. It simply means you aren't letting go and you never will with that focus.



Extending also holds the ski edge, lowering the hip rather than releasing holds the edge therefore the transition is delayed. Any extension on either leg kills your transition. The idea of lowering is to reverse the tendency to extend, not to actually get the hip lower at this point. however for those that do extend it will feel like you have to lower it, to stop extending.

Those skiers who are still extending or pushing off or raising their CG rather than staying bent should slow down and practice stabilizing on the new ski, not pushing. Letting go of the old turn should be the focus for edge changes for the new angles. A new turn means moving the knees toward the falline. Lowering the hip on the uphill side interrupts transitions. Trying to lift the opposite side delays the transition even more and makes things worse.

If you retract your outside stance leg (Bend it, lift it, release it) and time that with the end of the arc of the turn, then un-tip the skis, there is no need to lower the uphill hip. The uphill hip at the end of the turn should be close to the ground already. Of course, you have to tip and bend the inside leg on the free-foot side and keep that leg bent and tipping until the end of the turn. If you continue to focus on lowering the hip, instead of releasing the stance ski, you will never accomplish a high C turn. The inside leg or uphill leg is naturally low due to the tipping and bending through the arc. So lowering that side as described in the previous posts is a bandaid for not accomplishing inside leg bending and tipping through the arc. You should therefore address the cause, not the effect.

[h.harb]

If you want more clarity on this topic go to my Facebook or BLOG page and study my last post about releasing and tip lifting. Look at the photos and descriptions of Ricki Berger in the release phase, he doesn't nor do I lower or lift a hip. The hips stay level, dues to the bending of the stance leg. The hips are level in transition when the skis are flat.

[enric]

....very enlightening Harald.....HH says....

should slow down and practice stabilizing on the new ski

...in this regard, to improve the execution of this delicate sequence of movements in the transition, I have found it very useful reading several pages of the CHAPTER BLACK PROGRESSION of the PMTS INSTRUCTOR MANUAL, especially the ones describing the one-ski skiing drills (one footed garlands, advanced banana turn, one footed linked turns; excellent demos and pictures by HH and Diana) with plenty of biomechanic hints to help practice stabilizing on the new ski (uphill, old inside, soon-to-be new stance, outside, downhill ski). I definitely recommend carefully reading (and rereading) this excellent Manual. Thanks HH and Diana for your very insightful and generous contributions!

[h.harb]

Thank you for your dedication to learning and reading as few people do these days.

[h.harb]

The post I put up with the Red letters is probably the most misunderstood part of skiing. Instructors, coaches, and those who want to be good skiers always see what is the most obvious, which in skiing is almost always misleading. There are few that study and learn the whole PMTS System, and especially no PSIA instructors have studied it, have used it, understand, or learned it, except those that have given up on PSIA and now work for Harb Ski Systems as coaches. There are a few skiers on this forum who have an in-depth understanding of PMTS, JBotti, Max501, obviously Geoff D. and Gregg, ie. Hellova have.

I can tell by the questions who has a good grasp of the fundamentals. Many of the questions are based on previous misconceptions or old worthless techniques. You can't just cherry-pick what you might see or like because all the "Essentials of PMTS" are linked and are totally dependent on each other. So if you really what to change your skiing and reach a new level you have never experienced; you have to forget what you were previously told about skiing, and I mean everything. You have to commit completely to PMTS and its movements for your understanding or you will always be trying to justify your old approach and never be able to adapt to what real skiing feels like.

[HeluvaSkier]

I can tell by the questions who has a good grasp of the fundamentals. Many of the questions are based on previous misconceptions or old worthless techniques. You can't just cherry-pick what you might see or like because all the "Essentials of PMTS" are linked and are totally dependent on each other. So if you really what to change your skiing and reach a new level you have never experienced; you have to forget what you were previously told about skiing, and I mean everything. You have to commit completely to PMTS and its movements for your understanding or you will always be trying to justify your old approach and never be able to adapt to what real skiing feels like.

This really cannot be stressed enough.