Tech Talk in Nov 19 Ski Racing Mag

[nugget]

I wrote a long treatise and lost it thankfully.
Ron describes movements that he sees from photos and and this is fraught with danger. You can extrapolate and be completely and utterly wrong (or right I guess). The following convoluted descriptions are couched in semantics and seem to bear little resemblance to real world skiing. Kinematics (and kinetics) of human motion are touched on but seem to be misunderstood. How can u decouple something consciously at high speed (for a start)? Skiing is sequential but analysis of fixed positions alone mean nothing. One can't see the forest for the trees.

Thanks Harald for simple but not simplistic info re ski instruction with real world results.

[h.harb]

Thanks, I'm not finished with this article yet, there is more coming, this article is a total disaster.

[kman]

Thanks, I'm not finished with this article yet, there is more coming, this article is a total disaster.

Yes it is.

Makes absolutely no sense.

Scary, that they would actually print it.

It would be far better if they just posted his pictures and left out the text.

[Max_501]

Is the article on the web? I checked the site but couldn't find anything that fit the description.

[Bolter]

this article is a total disaster.

Yes it is.

Makes absolutely no sense.

Scary, that they would actually print it.

It would be far better if they just posted his pictures and left out the text.

Even better, use his photos with someone else doing the MA. How about the MA text being a combined effort of a coach (Harald or ? . . . a person the athletes respect) and a current WC skier. What if the skier in the photo was consulted? That would be a switch.

Now that I think of it, we have it pretty good right here on this forum BUT the Journal has Ron and is read by thousands in the race community!

[Bolter]

Is the article on the web? I checked the site but couldn't find anything that fit the description.

It is in the print version, don't you get it?

[Bolter]

I can’t believe there isn’t a bigger uproar in the coaching community about Ron’s articles.

Well maybe this is a start or a way of getting banned.

I posted this in the coaches thread in SR Forum . . .

Hello,

Is Ron LeMaster the right man for the job? Not in my opinion.

Great photos BUT what about the text of the Tech articles?

I find most of it to be nothing that I bring to my athletes or use in my own skiing.

His scientific methods may be great but the conclusions he draws from looking at photos . . . knee drive, inside ski pressure, steering, wide stance and all sorts of misinterpretations over the years. Leading readers down the wrong road. Must we suffer along with him while he tries to figure this sport out.

Credibility is lost.


Please tell me where I am going wrong. Don't be . . . "closed lips icon"

Waitig for a reply,

JR

[Max_501]

It is in the print version, don't you get it?

You mean its only available in those old fashion relics called magazines? Bah...can't be bothered with that.

[h.harb]

Bolter, how about providing SR a link to this thread. I'm sure your post to them would be enhanced if they knew there was a whole community that felt the same way you do?

The Editors of Ski Racing know me, from my racing years and coaching. Still the same guys, McKee and Black.

[h.harb]

The trick is to decouple the dorsiflexion of the ankle from the inward rotation of the leg. She keeps her outside knee in while sliding her foot forward. Where the natural tendency is to let the outside leg turn outward as the foot slides forward and thus reducing knee angulation, the best skiers can keep the outside leg rotated inward while sliding the foot forward. In other words they control the skis edge and fore aft pressure independently.

First dorsiflexion is a very weak movement that by itself has almost no influence on knee angulation, fore/aft balance or anything else to do with skiing except possibly helping to hold the ankle flexed. However, if the hampstring is not activated and the foot pull back is not used to lever the hips back to a forward position relative to the boots dorsiflexion is useless. So there are many other things that need to happen before dorsiflexion can even be part of the discussion. In addition, dorsiflexion has absolutely nothing to do with knee drive, which Ron thinks are linked.

Where the natural tendency is to let the outside leg turn outward as the foot slides forward

I don’t get this at all, that’s not a natural reaction. If it were every WC skier would have the knee turning outward after the gate is passed, as that is when the pressure comes from more forward on the ski, to more middle, to back on the ski. This is usually achieved by leg flexion, not lack of dorsiflexion.

Ron may be reading the anatomy books, but he doesn’t understand practical applications. Even by Ron’s or PSIA standards of confusion, this is overboard. I think that every year Ron has to invent something new about technique to keep an audience; so now he is throwing out these absurd notions. If the hip is inside and the ski is pressured, the ski can move forward naturally if the hamstring is relaxed or if pressure is transferred toward the heel of the foot. There is no natural tendency here for the leg to turn outward, if anything, it is locked onto the edge and the ski will rail away.

[Bolter]

Bolter, how about providing SR a link to this thread. I'm sure your post to them would be enhanced if they knew there was a whole community that felt the same way you do?

The Editors of Ski Racing know me, from my racing years and coaching. Still the same guys, McKee and Black.

Here is the SR Forum and I posted a link to this thread.
http://skiracing.com/srforums/YaBB.pl?n ... 718731/0#0

[MonsterMan]

You mean its only available in those old fashion relics called magazines? Bah...can't be bothered with that.

Hey Max, maybe someone could fax you a copy.

[Max_501]

Hey Max, maybe someone could fax you a copy.

What's a fax? Seriously, do they still sell fax machines and fax modems?

[MonsterMan]

I pay 8 bucks a month to a service that converts the silly things to a pdf and emails the attachment to me. There are some still living in the last century.

[Max_501]

That is a great service. I'll have to look into it.