Archive for September, 2009
Humility…
Over the years I have done things to try to get the perspective of the skiers I coach. One of the biggest things I have done is to ski opposite foot forward which takes you back to the original days of slalom skiing where your body automatically retreats back to a “safety” position instinctively. Well, when Scott Reardon was skiing with us, we decided it would be a good experiment for me to try skiing on one leg like him. I thought you might enjoy the video links below. The first is a video of me, and the second is a video of Scott…please bear in mind that Scott skis up to 36 mph/58kph at 28 off/14 meters. I had to slow the boat down originally to 23 mph and eventually a little faster to be able to even run the course…humbling, but good fun!
Seth Stisher on one leg in the course.
Scott Reardon Skis into 28 off
You can see that Scott is an unbelievably accomplished skier. Scott, thanks for the dose of humility!
Momentum
Whether you are just learning to ski back and forth acros the wakes or you are running shortline slalom, momentum can be a powerful tool. The idea of carrying your speed and potential energy with you through the course helps to make you ski more effectively and more efficiently. In other words, once you start skiing back and forth or pull out for the gates if you are a course skier, you should never find yourself pausing in a static position.
Here are a few tips to keep things moving:
1-Initiate a transition out to the turning edge as you pass through the ”bottom of the swing” or in our case, the wakes. This means you need to carry your energy from the prevous turn all the way OUT to the turning edge of the ski.
2-Reach slowly. If you punch the handle out toward the pylon too quickly, you will often end up “paused” riding a flat trajectory down course waiting for the point where you need to turn.
3-Maintain your composure in the turns. There is no need to crank the turn so hard that you stop the ski…this causes you to give away energy to the boat in the very next phase.
Short and sweet, but super important. Email me if you have questions and I will clarify. Better yet, come ski with us at the H2Oz Training Center or host a clinic at your site.
Hope you’re having a great September.
