One of my greatest mentors is Stu Campbell. He would ask me every year… “what is your truth this year?” He always questioned my belief system and made me re-examine it. In doing this I have spent countless hours examining “my beliefs”. This process has helped me grow my understanding of skiing as much as anything.
So I would love to start a thread about your skiing truths.
Thanks
Michael Rogan
Micheal,
Having spent the last two years preparing for the National Team tryout, I was “confronted” with some truths. Although leveling the upper body through the arc it true for me and directing stance and balance to the outside ski is true, I found the the most important truth for me was the process.
To make a decision and set a goal is essential, the process of setting the goal, the process of training on snow and off becomes an achievement in and of itself. Growing through the process was the most fulfilling part. Of course, I really loved being able to tryout and as Weems said, just do my magic, but I came out of the process with new insights and new energy for skiing and coaching.
I guess the other TRUTH in skiing for me now is that precision is a decision, not an accident.
Cheers,
Greg Luce
ps send some of that snow to Mt. Hood. We are getting annoyed by skiing in the sun everyday! Not really to annoyed though.
Glad to know the try out process was a positive experience. Today I skied with my fiancee, Robin Barnes, all over Heavenly. The snow was soft and the tree skiing was perfect. I do not think I carved a turn all day. Some were very highly refined skids, but none were a crave. Which leads me to one of my “truths”. Releasing edges is as much, if not more important then engaging edges. Just because I can get on my edges does not means I can release them well. But I think the opposite IS true. If I can release my edges well, I have a pretty good chance at engaging them well.
Glad you had a great day on the hill. I am off tonight to work a Mt. Hood Ski Pro session. I am going to look at this concept. Edge engagement versus Edge release. Both are skills are they not? I’ll let you know what I see as we have many pros from four different schools some in exam prep mode, others in personal ski fun world.
A few days ago I skied a lot of bumps with a group of Heavenly ski teachers. On one chair ride the converstion revolved around the importance of great pole activity to be successfull in bump skiing. This is what became our truth that day. If you believe that in bumps most of the time you use a “blocking” type of pole plant. And you believe that in bumps your pole plant helps stabilize your upper body so you can turn your legs. Then where you plant your pole comes mission critical. So, plant your pole just below the top of the bump on what ever bump face you are skiing into.
Not much of a Lurker, I seem to be committed to getting this forum more active. I hope I am not scaring people away.
Anyway, a new truth for me. If you are in a speed skiing competition, go for the Speed Suit and Super G skis. I only went 57 MPH in my puffy coat and cammo cargo pants and twin tip Fischer Watea 94s. Sad indeed. This put me back in second place. Next week is Skier Cross and I will break out the moto cross jersey for sure!
70MPH from a guy that was in the thick of things in the 1980’s. He even had his rubber suit on. The course was on a blue run with a flat bench in the middle. The hill got worried about killing people with the speed I thinks. One guy did take a tumble at speed and skipped arcoss the finish arena. Fun Stuff.
Greg
Long, wide, preferably stiff boards to stimulate and refine movement patterns related to dynamic parallel skiing. Strength training of sorts…
In my mind it appears that the movements patterns of dynamic parallel present a truncated learning curve at certain levels. People plateau because they don’t know or don’t wanna commit to foreign body/feet relationships. I believe that through a larger platform (ski to snow interface)a skier is forced into situations in which new relationships present themselves as well as the possibility to refine those already possessed.
Spend some time on the big ‘uns, play with your platform through dynamic parallel turns, then hop back on your daily cruisers. My truth for March 4th is that this drill promotes unfamiliar ranges of motion, develops greater confidence of already possessed ranges, and allows people to eclipse plateaus in the higher echelon’s of skiing.
My truth was one fall when Dave Merriam, who I had not seen for some time, greeted me with “Hi John, Still sitting back?” Humiliation, frustration, chagrin, followed and I developed the mantra of “relentlessly forward”. The mantra did not reveal the secrets of the universe (which I had actually discovered in my youth anyway), lead to self realisation or knowledge, but the shin did come in contact with the working end of the boot and the pointed end of the plank seemed to respond in a positive manner. Whew! Speaks to the saying of “junk goes in, junk comes out” (or something like that) and the universal truth that the manner in which a turn is started determines the entire outcome of the turn.
Holly, how that “razor” can cut. I bet he knew just how to motivate you. He has done it to me and I love him for it. Anyway, I have found that if I can get “neutral” in my ski boot with my new outside leg “extended” and keep both ski tips in solid contact with the snow I am moving in the right direction. Yes there might be some subtle tweeks depending on the situation but these have proven to be great indicators for me to key on.
True or False?
Purpose is my newest truth. I have to do things on Purpose. Sounds simple enough, or is it. What ever your truth is, be it technical or tactical or sensational, can you make it consistent on Purpose through out the day? Can you isolate you truth and really do it on purpose for the whole run, how about the whole day, let’s not go for the whole week. We don’t want any freaks out there, it is skiing right?
Greg
I am all about purpose. Having a plan on a given run is half the battle. To win that battle you have to base your purpose around a positive idea. Are you looking at opportunities or obsticles? Is your self talk about “I am going to do blank?” or is it “I don’t want to do blank?” It does get hard to keep up that level of concentration for a long time but it is vital to successfully changing and improving your skiing. It has been said that the first time you do something it is a mistake. It becomes a tecnique only when you do it a second time and when you can repeat it. In all the exams and tryouts that I have been a part of there has never been a run when I did not have a very specific plan. That plan sometimes changed on the fly but I always started with a purposeful plan.
Michael,
I have to say that by watching your runs (and those of a few others) at the National Try Out and on Sean Warman’s DVD I have been convinced of this Purpose.
Thanks for sharing,
Greg
This season I have been focused on teaching truths. We spend so much time setting instructors (and our students) up for success we sometimes overlook the value of learning from mistakes. Now, I’m not saying we give them nothing and let them learn for themselves. The idea is to develop training and lesson content to investigate, point out, and utilize the challenges our students will face for better teaching and coaching.
“An experience base that does not include failure leads to a condition of false security – which then increases the odds than when failure does eventually occur (as it surely will), the consequences will be much greater. Helen Keller said it best I think, “Avoiding danger is no less risky in the long run than outright exposure.””
-M. Sites
