Timothy, Rodion, Roc

Timothy consolidated his confidence today with more mileage in varied terrain, steep off-piste and challenging snow conditions - varying from ice, to wind pack, melted spring snow and slush. He is light enough to stay on the surface of everything so that helps to build confidence at this early stage. 

Timothy has found a good "skating" stance, naturally well placed on his hip joints. When I see something like this I don't try to change anything in that department but just try to find ways to make use of it and strengthen it. Skiing steep terrain was one way to reinforce the stance so that his body remembers it the next time he skis.

Today Timothy was already less against the back of his ski boots. All children lean against the back of their ski boots - simply because they are light enough to get away with it. This isn't necessarily a bad thing because it gets their feet ahead - where they need to be. There are much better ways to get the feet ahead - but it's probably more important that they are are ahead than any issues about leaning on the back of the boots. 

Victor's skiing was also becoming stronger and much more fluid. The combination of the chi stance and racing timing (apex of the arc at the side and not below) were allowing him to move with greater freedom. I'd still like to see the upper body being more involved and active. The answer to this is probably to work on  spreading the upper/lower body separation all the way from the hip up to the ribs - twisting the spine more actively (chi skiing!) Even when the spine is twisted the other way as in traditional technique it is still active. Most people learn to block the upper body and keep it still with a view to working the lower body against it. This is often interpreted as the job of the core muscles - to stabilise. This is not correct as the core muscles have to be used in a more dynamic way - as a primary source of power.

Turn Completion Dynamics
Both Victor and Timothy needed to work a little on the turn completion when on steep terrain and in challenging snow. Those conditions make people "hold back" a little. The key is to first of all be well placed "inside" the turn with the centre of mass down towards the snow and the bottom facing uphill. Once the turn is secure and stable so that there will be no surprises you then use the pressure that this low position builds up (increased edge angle) to stand strongly on the outside ski and allow yourself to be lifted up and out of the turn. This lifting up gets the centre of mass flowing smoothly into the next turn without the need for any stepping or "glitches". If the turn is closed off - that is the end of the turn is downhill instead of over to the side  - then this "lifting up" action has to be more deliberate and stronger. If judged skilfully this can still be combined with a pivoting action. Dynamics are however more important than whether or not the ski pivots from the uphill edge. You can make mistakes with "pivoting" and get away with it but not with dynamics.

Rodion was desperate to get into poles to prepare for his race the following day - however, unlike Val d'Isère there were no slalom training facilities outside either of the two main ski school operations. This wasn't really a problem as Rodion has not been properly race trained all year at his school because there has been no use of slalom protection. All the children have been assumed to be at the same level and treated as if they have never been in slalom poles before - which is totally inappropriate for Rodion as an individual and a big failure of his school at this level. Skiing is important to Rodion and it's incredible that his level has not been respected by a school based specifically  in a ski resort in the Swiss Alps.

Accepting that the racing would be a formality - with no protection or correct preparation for tactics in the poles - we focused on technical skiing and how to be more secure and maintain speed. I just looked for the main weaknesses in Rodion's skiing and set to work to improve them. The main weakness in Rodion's skiing can be seen in the first section of the video clip. His entire upper body is counter rotated to the extreme (facing downhill at the end of the turn). This is nonsense that he has been taught recently in Switerland. It is causing him to let his outside ski fall behind his body and his inside ski to slip ahead so that he falls backwards and onto his inside ski. The fastest cure for this is to learn the "chi skiing" stance. This stance also gets the body to move in the correct manner for clearing slalom poles with the outside ski pole - so this was the obvious place to begin.

Chi Skiing Stance

We worked on the chi skiing stance - with the spine twisting the opposite way to his original stance - and immediately he was stronger. 

Clearing Slalom Poles

Once this was secure we applied it to clearing slalom poles correctly - by using my ski poles stuck in the ground to hit. The point was to show that correct technique makes this pole clearing automatic - and that you don't need to "reach" for the poles or to rotate your body in an effort to do so.

Generating Pressure

We worked on generating pressure by exaggerating the vertical movement pattern that Rodion had remembered from Zermatt. I explained that with the hip in the chi position he could drop more into the turn and harder. This increased edge would cause pressure to build quickly and for the direction change to be more powerful. I also pointed out that the most important way to increase this pressure was to increase speed. This has the greatest influence of all on turning power and is a secret that only racers understand. Everyone else tries to brake instead thinking that it will make turning easier.

Race Timing

We worked on brining the apex of the turn to the middle instead of the end so that speed would be used to generate pressure and not gravity - thus avoiding braking and slowing down as much as possible.

Lower Stance

I showed how a seated stance facing downhill keeps the feet downhill of the body without falling backwards and getting caught on the inside ski. This stance combines with the race timing for the most effective and secure outcome.

Front of Ski Pressure

The wasn't just an issue of generating overall pressure to deal with but also where the pressure was placed. Rodion for various reasons was only pressurising the backs of the skis and was not using the front of the ski. I explained that just as with a bike or a car it's the front that has the most influence on changing direction. You can aim to pressure the ski at any point from the binding toe piece to the tip of the ski. This may appear to be abstract - but so is the "centre of mass" of the body - or the tip of a pencil against paper - but we learn to treat those things like we can feel them directly. With this in mind and the chi skiing stance keeping him better centered over his feet, Rodion was able to use the ski much more effectively.

There were a lot of things for Rodion to work on. Rodion's skiing without those changes was ineffective for slalom as his stance was causing severe loss of grip and falling onto the inside ski - so there was nothing to lose in trying to change things now. In addition the chi skiing mechanics reveal a much deeper understanding of how the body functions so the sooner he starts to use this the better for many reasons. Rodion is a fast learner - but he can also pick up the standard ski school nonsense quickly too so it's important to safeguard against this. Not many people can succeed when exposed to unintelligent coaching.

Liliana had no technical input today - but she was working away on things by herself. Her main issue is lack of fitness - and NO - it's not Victor's fault Liliana! If you are not fit it's because you have not made it a priority in your life - and that's probably because it's very hard and painful work that is extremely easy to avoid. It's no accident that most of America's population is obese! It's much easier to go and eat than to go for a run.

Roc was present at his post on the peak over his cliff face. 

We learned that he is there all winter - it's his home. I'm sure that the restaurant isn't specifically named after him and that the "Since 1959" isn't referring to him - but it might be!