Slacklining!

[RyanAllen]

Hey everybody! Here's another off-season project I've started this year. Anyone else doing slackline training? I really think it's fantastic - also humbling.

I had a very interesting breakthrough a few weeks ago after beginning to focus my mobility practice on improving my feet, or reducing over-pronation. It was almost an immediate improvement in balance skill.



-Ry

[Max_501]

From 2014:

Todd nailed it. Dyland is a serious part of my ski training.

1 - Wobble board
2 - Balance board (Pivit)
3 - Infinity 8 board
4 - Slant board
5 - The floor (ski specific stretches and CA range of motion movements)
6 - Indoor Slackline
7 - Carvers for June - November practice
8 - Skiers Edge
9 - Mountain Bike (one of the best form of cross training for skiing I have found)

2016:

Dyland is also a serious part of my training.

1 - Wobble board
2 - Balance board (Pivit)
3 - Infinity 8 board
4 - Slant board
5 - The floor (ski specific stretches and CA range of motion movements)
6 - Indoor Slackline (incredible for increasing balance skills)
7 - Carvers for June - November practice
8 - Skiers Edge
9 - Mountain Bike (one of the best form of cross training for skiing I have found)
10 - Weight lifting
11 - Hiking/Snowshoeing

and 2017:

I've had one of these for a couple of years and my balance has improved a bunch.

Harald in 2006:

So the 'Question of balance' must come into play when we learn skiing or want to improve our skiing, yet few trainers, instructors, coaches, understand what balance is, does and how to use it.

One affirmation of certitude that was pointed out in my Expert Skiing 2 book is,

"World Cup racing is a balance competition."

The idea of 'Destructing Balance' as a direction for ski technique is not only unique, but very a propos. I can sense a new book in the works.

As a reference, TTS have more or less (PSIA more, race Coaching less) taught balance as stability, (they attest to that, until you confront them with what it does to skiers later). They do not teach movements that destruct and reassemble balance. A two footed wide stance, with weight equally distributed on both skis, is a PSIA constitution, but it can not be argued to be anything less then an attempt to produce stability. The reinforcement of stability costs skiers later in their development. The stability progression builds in defensive, balance destruction 'avoidance' movements, that becomes obvious in skiers stuck or fighting through their TTS background. Examples are: avoiding the release, avoiding any movement to the falline, letting go, flexing or bending. In order to control that stability they so dearly cling to, skiers build these horrid dead end movements.

PMTS on the other hand challenges balance with movements that destruct balance and then assemble it.

What besides balance destruction is the Phantom Move? What about stepping to change direction in the first time lesson? This is clearly (unless you are looking through PSIA glasses) a huge difference in approaches. PMTS is constantly accused of rehashing previously used techniques. There has never been a ski system that organized and assembled a collection of disruption like PMTS. 'Pun intended.'

When I'm skiing my best, on difficult terrain, I am a perpetual balance destruction mechanism. Skiing difficult terrain on steep slopes requires confidence in balance destruction. But you will only destruct balance so far as your ability to regroup or reassemble it allows. As Yogi would say, if you want it, you got to know where to get it.

What happens to a skier who learned that the right way to ski is to look for stability? Can any one name movements in PMTS that set up the steps for balance destruction and reconstruction?

Harald wrote this in 2012:

If you want stability take up golf and ride 4 wheels on a flat surface. You will never experience the true nature of skiing trying to become stable. Skiing is an inherently unstable activity, requiring balancing techniques. PMTS movements are all balancing techniques. TTS are all about slow stability, which only results in destabilizing a skier whenever the first surprise unplanned perturbation occurs.
Golf carts are stable, when going slowly on flats. Doesn't sound like much fun.

[RyanAllen]

Thanks for the reply. I was hoping to spark a conversation about slacklining specifically. Maybe other forum members would like to share about their experiences?

[oggy]

Yeah, I started slacklining too this year, I remember mentioning it already in one of your MA posts. It's good fun, especially after a couple of beers at a BBQ for an added challenge And hopefully some of the balancing ability will also translate into better skiing. I got the basics down after a few weeks or a couple of months, like crossing a ~10m line, turning, hopping onto the line. It definitely goes away if you don't practice though; after about a month of not practicing, it took me a few sessions to come back.

I don't really have much wisdom to share technique-wise. I also didn't take video (I know, bad). The only thing that I deliberately worked on was hip "counterbalance", i.e., working on keeping the hips level or slightly tipped towards the stance foot even. Other than that, was just trying it over and over again and playing with it. It was really hard to get going, the first sessions I would celebrate getting past 2 or 3 steps, but after a while it just clicked.

I'd like to learn how to mount the thing properly next, so far I've always started close to the ground. If I can get that down, I don't know, maybe I'll buy a longer line (I got a 15m one) or maybe try a different kind of line (I got a Gibbon classic now). Ideas? And yeah, if you're thinking of buying a line, I'd recommend getting a longer line - the extra slack is a bit more work to set up when you start with short distances, but you might outgrow a short line rather soon, the lines are generally not extensible, and for some reason, they don't really seem to sell the webbing separately.

[RyanAllen]

Being inebriated would certainly raise the level of challenge! I noticed the same thing - it's very sensitive to hip movement. I also focus on my ankles and core quite a bit.

One thing I've noticed recently is that when getting out to the full length - mine is 50 feet - I have to mount it quite a bit higher on the endpoints to avoid bottoming out while standing in the middle. There's also tension to play with. Part of me likes it soft because it seems to slow it down. When you get to the ends where it speeds up, do you find it to be much more difficult?

Watching the longliners is fun, but that looks really dangerous, and I think the free solo stuff is just stupid. I don't want to mount mine above waist height. If you're able to turn around on your line then you're much better than me! My son can do it and he hardly even practices.

[oggy]

Mine is a bit shorter, 15m, so by the time I hang it up, I guess it maxes out at around 10m of walking length. I can attach it at a bit higher than knee height at the ends and still tension it sufficiently (mine came with a ratchet) so that I don't hit the ground in the middle. I think with a longer line (25 or 30 meters) I'd have to install it higher and learn how to mount it off the ground. But yeah, at that point it might be useful to think about waterlines Have you tried those?

Highlining obviously look fabulous, but I don't think I'd have the guts, I do have a bit of height anxiety that I'd have to get over first. I've done what the Germans call Seilparks, these obstacle course set high above trees - I've no idea if they're a thing in the US? Anyways, those took a couple of hours before I could relax enough that they'd start getting enjoyable, and they're definitely less challenging than slacklining.

Generally I find the hardest bit to be going "downhill", i.e., from the ends towards the middle, but other than that, I actually find the middle a bit more challenging than the ends. I find it's also a mental thing, on the days when my focus is sharp, I'll have a reasonably easy time balancing. Though I don't know if the end game is being to do it automatically and start juggling while walking the line