First day woes

PMTS Forum

Re: First day woes

Postby razie » Sun Nov 17, 2019 4:34 pm

Just got back from my third day now. Being in shape definitely helps and it's number 1, especially if "performance" is on your mind and you find good snow.

I'm not normally organized nor disciplined, but even so, the first days are about exaggerating the movements, for me. I'm too snow-happy to do many drills, but avoiding blacks, starting every run with a few super-phantoms, standing on the outside ski while maintaining a purposefully narrow stance, focused on relaxed but active feet and ankles, deep flexing to release and finishing with the skis across the hill while very counteracted were this weekend's cues. NSPP and outside pole drags are always good add-ons etc. Every run is just focused technical skiing for me, in the first few days.

noob - where did you go? Tremblant only opens next weekend and I'm thinking to get there the following... assuming it's top to bottom...
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Re: First day woes

Postby noobSkier » Sun Nov 17, 2019 5:31 pm

I wouldn't do tremblant in the early season, conditions are terrible. Sauveur is the place to be.
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Re: First day woes

Postby HighAngles » Mon Nov 18, 2019 10:24 am

noobSkier wrote:I wouldn't do tremblant in the early season, conditions are terrible. Sauveur is the place to be.


So there's a mountain in Canada whose name translates to "Savior"? How apropos for diehard skiers. ;)
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Re: First day woes

Postby gaku » Tue Nov 19, 2019 9:59 am

The first days I generally focus on the minutae of releases, as -for me - the sequence of movements that solves most other problems occurs in a good transition; proper releases sets that up, and to me transfering weight by flexing is the most foreign essential coming into the season. A lot of time I spend doing unlinked phantoms (and TFR) from a standstill, not linking them together until the tipping, lifting, retracting, and boot-to-boot tension/connection is there, jusst focusing on getting grip, matching shin angles, transfering (or, later on, delaying transfer) of balance. In particular, I find that the free foot tension achieved by exaggeratedly pressing the lifted foot to the stance boot In the phantom release really helps build the muscular discipline on the internal side of the torso/hips, directly through the lower leg tension, to encourage further tipping. I can dial it down later, but initially that focus helps me avoid being on the wrong side of the tipped vs tipping distinction. The activation also reinforces focus on foot pullback, so it"s a multipurpose decision for me.

A ritual I like to start each day with, particularly early season, is the dryland flexing to release excercise described in ACBAES, moving the hips inside 'the turn' until the pelvis rests against the wall, then flexing the stance leg /lowering the CoM quickly enough to "release edges" and 'recenter feet under CoM. If the recenter isn't happening and instead I fall inwards, it''s an indication I need to be more aggressive with the flexion. Nothing quite recreates so many essential movements for me as that one does, or tells me as effectively what is off.
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Re: First day woes

Postby geoffda » Tue Nov 26, 2019 6:26 pm

noobSkier wrote:To more experienced PMTS'ers, what's your first ski day like after a long layoff? Personally feel like I lost 80% of my technique...even basic things like tipping are a huge challenge. Does this get any better as years go on?

For me it certainly did. I can remember feeling exactly as you describe on the first day of many seasons. Sliding on skis felt almost foreign, movements felt contrived and balance felt non-existent. I often thought that I needed a week just to get comfortable again, and maybe a few weeks to get back to where I was at the end of the previous season. Eventually, this went away. While every year I still wonder what will happen on that first run of the season, I'm now at the point where I can pretty much just step into my skis at the beginning of the season and go. The underlying movements are solid enough that I don't have to think about what I'm doing. Certainly there will be some rust, but not enough that it causes any real difficulties. Basically, it now only takes me a few runs to get back to where I was at the end of the season. By the end of day one, I'm already working on improvements for the new season. Ultimately, I think that the degree of first day challenge is inversely related to how well you have mastered PMTS movements. The better you get, the less difficulty you will have coming back from long layoffs.
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Re: First day woes

Postby noobSkier » Wed Nov 27, 2019 9:02 am

thnx for the detailed responses gaku & geoffda. Im day 10 now and feel almost like myself again. Day 3 was when tipping & flexing started happening at an automatic level, hip & upper body is taking longer but progress is steady. Its been a learning experience for sure! My approach in previous years was to free-ski until I got comfortable with the sticks on my feet and only then start working in the essentials. This season made me realize how wrong that is because the moment I went back to grinding the phantom move progress became exponential.

Geoffda, you made an interesting point about inverse relation to PMTS mastery. I ski with alot of former racers, who can absolutely slay on the first run after a 6 month layoff. All of them have been skiing for 30+ years.
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Re: First day woes

Postby skijim13 » Wed Nov 27, 2019 9:30 am

I am are at day 4 on flat crud conditions on the Northeast, the videos showed issues with a slight extension at the turn transition and some loss of CA in the turns to the left. Spent many nights working on the slant board in front of a mirror to improve these movements. We take video on Friday again to see where my progress is. The more you learn about PMTS the more you can see problems with your movements.
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Re: First day woes

Postby dougtee » Thu Dec 19, 2019 7:30 am

i was really discouraged by how poorly i was tipping after really focusing on the slantboard 2 or 3x a week, but on a happier note i woke up feeling a strange new soreness around some strange muscles on my left and right sides between my ribs and hips...
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Re: First day woes

Postby HeluvaSkier » Thu Dec 19, 2019 8:21 am

dougtee wrote:i was really discouraged by how poorly i was tipping after really focusing on the slantboard 2 or 3x a week, but on a happier note i woke up feeling a strange new soreness around some strange muscles on my left and right sides between my ribs and hips...


If working on tipping on snow, you should also wake up with bruises on the medial and lateral sides of your feet. That's how hard one should be tipping when 'working on tipping'.
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Re: First day woes

Postby dougtee » Thu Dec 19, 2019 8:28 am

HeluvaSkier wrote:
dougtee wrote:i was really discouraged by how poorly i was tipping after really focusing on the slantboard 2 or 3x a week, but on a happier note i woke up feeling a strange new soreness around some strange muscles on my left and right sides between my ribs and hips...


If working on tipping on snow, you should also wake up with bruises on the medial and lateral sides of your feet. That's how hard one should be tipping when 'working on tipping'.

yeah, a long way from that so much work to be done
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Re: First day woes

Postby Basil j » Sun Dec 22, 2019 8:55 am

noobSkier wrote:Thanks for the advice ken. Spent the last few days getting back to basics; I am now fully convinced that the super-phantom is the single most effective exercise for shaking off rust.

Totally agree on this.
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Re: First day woes

Postby h.harb » Sun Dec 22, 2019 11:13 am

Super Phantom=Wedge Blocker!
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