Skip to main content

Low edge drill

By
This December I skied with the wonderful Mermer Blakeslee and a group of really fun people. The lovely Jane skied with me and I'm putting our notes together to create a series of posts.

We experimented with different radii turns at different speeds and on different types of terrain. Then we moved on to skiing with little or no edge angle.

Mermer coached us to must resist the temptation to slip into a wedge by working the inside ski. If you work the outside ski only, the wedge will appear.

Why?
This drill helps you center yourself over your skis and gives you immediate feedback if you start getting back. If you can lean on an edge, you probably will. Taking the edges away means you have to center yourself. It’s a particularly a good drill to get things back in shape in early season.

You can take this drill in a couple of different directions.
Rotary - Add focus of turning the legs and shaping the turn
Edging - Add progressive edging to shape turns
Pressure - Add flexion and extention movement to release and slide
Tactical  - Take these low edge, slippy turns into the bumps

We did this drill on steeps and bumps. Jane writes: "sideslip pivot, initiate with new inside ski ... which i didn’t, and as a result traveled down the steepest part on my belly, why? Because my feet had a mutiny against my brain and initiated with the outside ski."
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Learning Styles – Doers, Feelers, Thinkers, Watchers

By
A learning style is the way a person’s sensory, perceptual, memorial, decision-making, and feedback mechanisms operate. Or more simply, the preferred technique to approach learning. Some students have a dominant style and others are comfortable in more than one. PSIA references different theories on learning styles, this is a classic one. Doers Values active experimentation Pragmatic, practical, functional Good problem solvers, work well with others Constantly active, doesn’t like being idle and gets frustrated with too much talking Learn by experimenting, trial and error Instructor should provide experiences that will guide the child Experiential learning is an effective method for all students
3 comments
Read more

Ages 7 to 12 – CAP

By
Cognitive I do best with one direction at a time I need to know “why” I’m asked to do certain things I will ask questions I can learn in a variety of ways I like process more than the goals I like to be challenged and successful I can describe and explain I will remember the highlights of my day Characteristics ---  Instructor Responses Can separate reality from imagination > Avoid the use of fantasy; it makes them feel that you are treating them like babies Can understand things they can’t see --- Use hypotheticals (what ifs) to introduce cause and effect and explain why something worked or didn’t work May overestimate their abilities (I can do anything!) --- Keep them reined in to avoid unsafe situations or setbacks Affective I want ownership in my day and can work independently I compare my achievements to those of my peers I want to have fun and like to play games I like to be responsible for my learning I like to know when I’ve...
Post a Comment
Read more

Getting ready to get into the bumps

By
I love teaching bumps. I’m a recovering bump-a-phobe. Learning lots of tactics and tricks really helped me love them. I like to think I can help someone make a similar breakthrough. This post has general ideas on teaching bumps. But I’d like to talk about how I develop tactics and skills before I take someone in there. My mom’s family is from New York and they love their bagels with a heaping mass of cream cheese. A cheese knife, spreader or what we call a “schmearer” is a key piece of equipment. The flat blade easily spreads cream cheese or peanut butter. I like to ski bumps like I use a schmearer by standing tall and keeping the edge angle low. This makes it easier for my legs to steer my skis and create nice “C” shaped turns. Standing tall gives us the added bonus of lots of room to flex and extend later. You can pair students up and ask the follower to watch the tips. Are the tips leading the tails? Are the tips pointing across the hill before they change direction? Once...
Post a Comment
Read more