Archive for February, 2009
Pre-Season Training and more…
Spring is on it’s way and you better get ready. This edition (February-March) covers a few ways to keep the ski-fire stoked in a cold winter, answers to some grip and stance questions, and a couple of ways to keep up with your skiing progress (a cool way to log your skiing and video coaching feedback). Take a read and see if there is something here for you. Can’t wait ’til Spring…how ’bout you?
As cold as it may be today, even tomorrow, next week, and next month, now is the time that you will set yourself up for an efficient start to the season or a flailing one. Planning ahead by putting in the time with other sports, gym-time, mental preparation, waterski video stimulation, and video coaching, can all be keys to big success right out of the shoot in the Spring of 09.
So there is no secret here. We’ve covered all of this stuff before. The key here is the motivational sequence. Here is how I see it. It is tough to go to the gym without a reason. Without going to the gym over the winter, you are going to have to spend the first month of your ski season getting back into ski shape and will have a harder time GAINING ground over the season.
Try a method of motivation first to insure that you will truly spend time in the gym or somehow getting in shape. Here are some ideas:
- Watch the ski videos! Whether you get them from us or from someone else, you have got to watch these things. I waterski and coach it for a living and I still get fired up when I watch some of the ski videos out there. Whether it is EVolve, Momentum, Edged in Water, LA Night Jam, Slash or some videos from youtube.com, watch something to get that inner waterski soul stoked. Get one here if you need it!
- Read the Mags! Whether it is WaterSki, the Waterskier, or some other waterski publication, pics of skiers, instructional articles, lifestyle photos, and more are guaranteed to help fuel the passion and get you off your ever growing rear end.
- Video coaching! Yeah, I do this, but even if you don’t use me, try some video coaching to get some details of where your skiing needs to go for 09. This will give you something to think about going into the season. Check it out!
- Keep it on the brain! Once you have some thoughts on your skiing via video coaching and you have got the desire burning from watching rippers bankin’ big turns to music on the ski videos, start doing some mental rehearsal to get your mind a few stpes ahead of your body. Find a quiet place and either walk through some motions or just visualize them to get some practice without spending any of your hard-earned gas money.
- Now take all this stoke and hit the gym! This one is self explanatory, but be sure you use a trainer to direct your training. Make them watch one of the ski videos if they don’t know the sport. That way they can help you gear yur workout toward your goals and the dynamics of the sport.
Stance versus Grip Thoughts by Seth Stisher
In responding to a post on ProSkiCoach.com’s web forum, I spent some time re-thinking and analyzing my thoughts on what grip is right for each skier. Below you will find my thoughts relative to this topic.
STANCE: This has been touched on with opposing ideas through over time, but I want to clarify a few things first (that I consider facts). Having grown up in an area of the country where football, basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis, golf, etc. were the prevalent sports, I find it boldly apparent that 99% of right handed athletes that have experience in these sports have a dominate left foot/leg. This is the plant leg in soccer, the front leg in baseball, golf and tennis (for a forehand). In these sports you finish your swing with most of your weight over the front foot. The power in throwing a baseball comes largely from trunk rotation but you finish strong over the front foot (Left foot for a right handed pitcher).
Relative to waterskiing I believe the front foot is more dominant and here is why. If you use your rear foot predominantly, yes you may be able to use the fin and tail of the ski as a rudder, but you also effect pressure on the ski that limits its ability to move. When too much force is placed on the tail of the ski through the turn, the ski stops and the tip rises. A more effective way (and Chris has discussed this on several other threads in various ways and is in fact one of the innovators of this concept in my opinion) to create velocity (movement in a particular direction) on a ski is to have that ski carve for you. This can be achieved by moving your center of mass in the desired direction of travel…which creates pressure on the leading inside edge of the ski which actually allows the ski to carve through the turn rather than placing undue pressure on the ski by forcing the tail of the ski to move through the water (i.e. backfoot dominant pressure). Quite simply, stand over the front foot through the apex of the turn enough such that the ski will find its way back towards the center of the course based on the design of the ski and not a tremendous amount of force on the ski.
HAND ORIENTATION IN THE TURN: People who play the ball sports I mentioned must have their opposite palm up (so a right handed batter finishes strong on the left leg and swings with the right palm up. This is predominantly due to the fact that with the right palm up/open it is easier to rotate to the left (this is what Rossi discussed relative to the turn and being open on your offside. In waterskiing, even though you guys have discussed the handle being largely vertical in the turns, I personally have it vertical on my good side and palm up on my off side. My hand grip helps this…I am LFF/RPU. I think even for those skiers who don’t move the handle going into the apex of the turn, a LPU skier has the handle anywhere from vertical to palm up through the 1-3-5 turn and anywhere from vertical to palm down through the 2-4-6 turn and the opposite for a skier who is RPU. The handle has to be slightly off of vertical to make a good connection with it out of the turn.
HAND ORIENTATION THROUGH THE WAKES: When the leading palm is up during the wake crossing phase, the skier will always be more able to maintain a countered and balanced through the wakes and keep your body between you and the load from the boat. We are not actually in a tug of war with the boat…things are much more dynamic than in a tug of war and in this case we are using the boat to create our speed and energy and shouldn’t be fighting the boat. Rossi does this so well and makes things look so effortless.
This is my philosophy, but I feel like there are some concrete ideas here that we can all agree on. There are so many factors to this whole game that one is dependent on the other. This sport is so dynamic that it is nearly impossible to assess one aspect of your skiing whether it be stance, grip, rhythm, gates, etc. without spilling over into another area.
At the end of the day we are all athletic geeks which makes it so much fun…a little bit of science, a little bit of athletics, and a little bit of finesses.
Ski Log
For years I have tried to convince my students and training partners that logging your ski sets is a good idea and making sure you log new things you learn whether from your coach or by self-discovery. Well, Wade Williams has come up with something great. He has a place for you to log your ski sets online. Go to www.myskilog.com to have a great way to keep up with your ski sets. Let me know how it works for you.
As always, please come ski with me when you can. Also, if you have a site and a group of skiers and would like me to come to you, let me know. Email me or call me at the Training Center at 843.793.4470.
