September/October Tips

Checkout this Month’s Tip which includes my “Dispelling the Myth about Fin Setup” Philosophy as well as some more applicable video clips that may help your skiing. Please read, view, and enjoy!

Dispelling the Myth about Ski Setup
This article stems from my current struglle to find any and every excuse for the skiing slump I have had over the last few weeks. I have done everything from move the fin, move the boots, try new boots, change skis, try different cruise control settings, and even switch from Zero Off to Perfect Pass and back again. Of course none of these things helped at all. The end result proved the answer to lie somewhere between the top of my head and the soles of my feet and nowhere else.

The fact is, ski setup can make a HUGE difference in your skiing, but sometimes you have to stop playing with a couple thousandths of fin location and decide that the guy standing in the boots may need a little adjustment.

I know you were looking for more info out of this article, but maybe that’s the point…sometimes you just gotta go ski…before it gets too cold. Have fun!!

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Examples of Drills and Course Skiing at 15 off

After posting my whipping drill video I had several requests to try and show the same drill at a longer rope length so as to make it more applicable to 15 and 22 off skiers. Below you will find not only the 15 off Rhythm and Mechanics Drill, you will also find a video of me skiing a full pass at 32 mph 15off so that you can see some of the same movements I preach in motion at longer line lengths. I hope it helps.

Here’s the Rhythm and Mechanics drill at 15 off. The key is to carve smooth turns with core centered movements and create efficient, progressive transitions each time you cross the centerline…which is the same as when you ski the course:

And here is a 32mph 15 off pass. This was the first time in a long time, so I don’t pretend to be the perfect specimen for technique at this line length, but I believe it is fundamentally accurate for the most part:

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Collapse, Compress or Squat-What do you do?There are a lot of skiers out there telling coaches such as myself that they have been working on skiing in a more compressed style like some of the pros who are pioneering new techniques and physical principles in slalom skiing. In fact many of the top pros do appear to ski in a more compressed style, but there are several important notes about compression that are often overlooked.

1. Compression is mostly a product of absorbing the load created by proper movement through the turn and a balanced stance on the ski, with an aligned body. It is not a forced stance.
2. Nine times out of ten, when a skier forces their body into what they think is a compressed stance, it ends up being more of a squat rather than compression (meaning that thips are not in alignment with the rest of the body. This position is inefficient and does not allow you to control the direction and movements of the ski.
3. Even if you stand in a more upright stance and try to allow the pressure created on the ski to compress your body, if your body is not properly aligned compression becomes collapsing. Collapsing gives you the same ineffective stance on the ski as squatting as described above.

Just remember to keep your body aligned meaning stand with your spine in alignment and try not to lose the hips to a squat-like stance.