John Mason wrote:Bob said:
"Steering is essential ... Without active steering, skis will indeed turn--as will that runaway train. But blending in steering movements as necessary is the key to controlling your line PRECISELY, the key to OWNING your turn shape, the key to skiing in CONTROL".
Bob believes that leg steering is mandetory to control speed. In my own experience doing a brushed carve by simply not having as much edging does the same thing without leg steering.
John, that's not how I interpret Bobs comments. I read that steering is essential to control DIRECTION. I've bolded why. "In control" is the opposite of that runaway train going solely where the rails are pointing.
The "brushed carve" I think your talking about, won't shorten your turn radius: that's just skidding to control speed, and misses the mark a touch...
piggyslayer wrote:The ski radius is adjusted by:
1. bending the ski
2. pressuring the ski over the pressure threshold that will result in carved turn (HH calls them brushed turns, where the ski front cuts into the snow and the tail brushes).
Now this is more like it! But there is a third approach as well, and that is the pivot, which you've all read can be initiated with tipping little toe edge to cause femur rotation. Observe that if the edges are not yet firmly set ( via lower than usual edge angles )
the skis pivot.
So the
lack of steering is a red herring. I can't imagine anyone devising a system that does not allow one to control their direction.
If I were to hazard a guess, it's all about how to steer the skis. I'd guess that Bob would prefer to pivot the feet in direct response to a "go there" impetus, as opposed to having the feet pivot at the end of the kinetic chain that gets yanked by tipping little toe edge.
IMO, PMTS turns qualify under Bobs definition of "the perfect turn". I would even imagine certain evasive maneuvers that PMTS style turns eg. Super phantom, could be far better at doing than active pivoting!